Shiseido Travel Retail brought its successful NARS Cosmetics Lip Gallery to T Galleria Beauty by DFS, Causeway Bay, in downtown Hong Kong this October.
The month-long “animation roadshow” coincided with China’s Golden Week holiday. Shiseido Travel Retail said the aim was to boost the brand’s exposure in the Chinese market where it is “experiencing strong growth”.
“NARS is really leading the charge in lips, particularly when it comes to capturing female Chinese Millennial travellers.” – Shiseido Travel Retail Asia Pacific General Manager Kenji Calméjane
The design featured dropping liquid lips and showcased a limited-edition lip set, reflecting NARS’s “focus on lips”.
Shiseido Travel Retail commented: “The outpost is a milestone for NARS, as it is the first time that the brand has occupied this highly coveted spot in Hysan Place.”
The company added that travel retail sales of NARS in China have “more than doubled compared to last year” and that the region’s consumers were an important focus for the brand.
Throughout the month, the Lip Gallery saw various customer engagement events.
From 5 to 7 October, NARS make-up specialist Lu conducted complimentary beauty demonstrations at the Lip Gallery’s Lip to Style Lip Bar, educating customers about the NARS products.
On 6 October Chinese KOL 桃子 Carol attended the Gallery. She experienced a makeover by Lu, during which the audience was encouraged to give suggestions for lip colours. The event was live streamed to 桃子Carol’s followers via Weibo-owned live-streaming platform YiZhiBo. 3.21 million viewers tuned in.
Shiseido said events like this were designed to drive footfall and enhance the NARS reputation in Asia Pacific travel retail.
Other elements of the Lip Gallery pop-up included a giant Digital Lip Wall featuring motion sensors that made lip-shaped clouds mirror consumers’ movements; and a Virtual Lip Trial App, which allowed visitors to explore NARS lip shades through augmented reality on their own mobile phones.
The pop-up focused on lip products as part of a 2018 NARS strategy called Always on Lips. These included a new limited-edition Full Vinyl Lip Lacquer and a NARSissist WANTED Velvet Lip Glide Set. The WANTED set comprises six limited-edition mini Velvet Lip Glides.
The pop-up also featured two eye products: the relaunched Duo Eyeshadow and the new Climax Mascara.
Shiseido Travel Retail Asia Pacific General Manager Kenji Calméjane commented: “NARS is really leading the charge in lips, particularly when it comes to capturing female Chinese Millennial travellers.
“The multi-faceted and comprehensive online-to-offline elements of the Lip Gallery provide a tangible glimpse into the future of the beauty category in travel retail, and it is very exciting to see the evolution of the animation in its next chapter.
“We have cultivated a strong partnership with DFS, which enables us to collaborate on such events, as we both share common perspectives on innovation and shopper engagement.”
DFS Group Senior Vice President Beauty Christophe Marque said: “The NARS Lip Gallery at T Galleria Beauty by DFS, Causeway Bay, further highlights DFS’ commitment to innovation and customer experience in the beauty category.
“We are proud to continue our partnership with Shiseido Travel Retail to reinforce both of our leadership and expertise in beauty, and our understanding of what inspires and excites our discerning travelling customers.”
