In the fall of 2013, L’Oréal Paris and the MTA partnered to create the L'Oréal Paris Color Match Machine, a pilot project designed as the next incarnation of experiential marketing and out-of-store shopping. The L'Oréal Paris Color Match Machine is an interactive machine that uses cameras and sensors to scan the colors in a shopper’s outfit. After detecting the three primary colors in the outfit, the machine offers the shopper personalized matching (or clashing) product options from the L’Oréal Paris Colour Riche line. Shoppers can purchase the suggested nail polish, eye shadow, mascara, and lipstick directly from the machine or choose to email the options to themselves.

Housed in the 42nd Street–Bryant Park subway station, the L’Oréal Paris Color Match Machine drew immediate attention from commuters and the press. Kicking off with a nationwide press release and ribbon-cutting ceremony, the unconventional launch ensured that the news spread quickly, with media calling the machine the “futuristic beauty store for the city girl on the go.” An exclusive article by The New York Times announced the project and highlighted the ingenuity of the idea and L’Oréal Paris’ position as a leader in the beauty space.

The challenge that L’Oréal Paris faced was a very small media allocation, so awareness of the experience had to grow organically. We knew that the target we needed to bring skewed younger, but also one that was inherently mobile. So we partnered with AOL to produce Taxi TV spots that harnessed prominent New York City bloggers representing various neighborhoods. They created content that was showcased on the machine, shared their recommendations on how to wear the featured products on www.lorealparisusa.com/bringyourbold and promoted the program on their own social channels.

Street teams around Bryant Park brought commuters to the experience from above ground, and helped to walk women through the experience.

Social media also drove people to the Color Match Machine via Twitter and Instagram harnessing the #BringYourBold hashtag.

The #LOrealParisLive activation established L’Oreal Paris as the go-to authority on red carpet beauty. While other brands and publications took a passive approach to red carpet activity, we tapped into the new needs of the digital woman tuned into the live event. During the course of the activation, we earned 21.8 million impressions and 234,000 engagements across channels. The on-the-ground nature of the lab gave our audience a fresh perspective on L’Oréal Paris as a key player in the social space, and a trusted source for innovative beauty content she actually wants.