INTERNATIONAL. L’Oréal Travel Retail claims to have “set travel retail ablaze” with a flurry of worldwide omnichannel activations, installations, visuals and video for new women’s fragrance Yves Saint Laurent Libre. That’s a reference to the flame-fuelled visuals that feature across various mediums in the multi-media campaign.
Throughout October, the global beauty giant rolled out experiential pop-ups, e-sampling events, and multi-media campaigns across Middle East, the Americas and Asia Pacific travel retail.
The 360° degree campaign was launched at DXB (Dubai International), JFK, Suvarnabhumi and Incheon International airports.
YSL Libre took over DXB with an experiential pop-up and high-visibility media campaign in partnership with Dubai Duty Free. The pop-up was located in Concourse D of Terminal 1, while the visuals were displayed on 355 screens across DXB.
“With Libre, Yves Saint Laurent and Dubai Duty Free took the launch activation to the next level, offering millions of passengers an immersive beauty journey, including exclusive services and exceptional experiences around a one-of-a-kind scent while breaking new records and ranking N°1 fragrance across the airport in October.” – Dubai Duty Free Vice President Purchasing Saba Tahir
The Yves Saint Laurent Libre pop-up was hard to miss. It featured giant golden letters spelling out ‘LIBRE’ and a striking sculpture made from over 100 Libre fragrance bottles. The installation also highlighted the brand’s latest fragrance campaign starring singer songwriter Dua Lipa.
The immersive pop-up was a multi-sensorial showcase that took travelling customers on a journey to ‘express their freedom’. The experience began in the Libre photobooth where customers showed that expression by taking commemorative photos.
This was followed by the ‘Sounds of Freedom’ experience, which told the story of three key women behind Yves Saint Laurent’s new fragrance –Libre perfumer Anne Flipo, bottle designer Suzanne Dalton, and global ambassador Dua Lipa. The three women appeared on digital screens as they shared their individual contributions to the Libre project and also their personal interpretations of freedom. The Libre journey concluded in the customisation zone, where customers had Libre bottles engraved with their initials.
https://youtu.be/3PiTcle2K54
L’Oréal Travel Retail added an extra omnichannel element by launching a complementary ‘e-sampling’ campaign in partnership with Dubai Duty Free. For a limited time, DXB customers could register online ahead of their journey and receive a free sample of Libre delivered straight to their homes. According to L’Oréal, the e-sampling campaign allowed travelling shoppers to “discover the fragrance both before and during their journey.”
For Dubai Duty Free Vice President Purchasing Saba Tahir, the launch was a fantastic showcase of the retailer’s 360° partnership with L’Oréal Group. She said: “With L’Oréal Travel Retail as our N°1 Perfumes & Cosmetics partner, we aimed to strengthen our fragrance category by maximising the new Yves Saint Laurent Feminine Launch. Our collaboration for Libre launch is proof of how a successful 360° partnership between Dubai Duty Free and strong brands can be.”
“The magnificent Yves Saint Laurent Pop Up in Concourse D is the illustration of a complete plan also including several events spots, online and offline digital activations, our first-ever pre-sampling operation, and the presence of a regional beauty influencer at our airport.
“With Libre, Yves Saint Laurent and Dubai Duty Free took the launch activation to the next level, offering millions of passengers an immersive beauty journey, including exclusive services and exceptional experiences around a one-of-a-kind scent while breaking new records and ranking N°1 fragrance across the airport in October,” she added.
L’Oréal Travel Retail also rolled out the YSL Libre campaign in Americas travel retail across airports in Mexico City, Cancún, Buenos Aires and New York. The YSL Libre pop-up was also launched at New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) Terminal 4.
The pop-up, a first for travel retail in the region, offered the same multi-sensorial elements as its counterpart in DXB. It featured the Libre photobooth, the Sounds of Freedom display, and the complimentary engraving service. The JFK activation also offered the brand’s Rouge pur Couture the Slim lipstick range.
The pop-up ran throughout October, propelling Libre to become the #1 selling fragrance in JFK Terminal 4.
The eye-catching YSL Libre media campaign was also rolled out in Asia Pacific travel retail at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Thailand and Incheon International Airport in South Korea.
As reported, the new campaign features singer songwriter Dua Lipa, who was recently named as a Next Generation Leader by Time Magazine. Known for hits such as ‘New Rules’ and ‘One Kiss’, Dua Lipa was nominated for five different categories during the 2018 Brit awards. She won the awards for ‘Best British Female Solo Artist’ and ‘Best Breakthrough Act’.
Libre provides “a couture twist on a classically masculine style” and plays on the tension between masculine and feminine olfactory structures. The scent offers sparkling neroli and juicy mandarin top notes, orange blossom and diva lavender heart notes, and sustainably sourced vanilla bourbon base notes from Madagascar.
Footnote: The Libre campaign will also feature in the next edition of Sight Lines – our new eZine dedicated to the burgeoning world of airport advertising and communications.
