“We’re offering people to be able to come in and tangibly experience the world of Rhode” said Haily Bieber about her beauty line ‘Rhode’s’ LA pop-up store.
Excited fans, beauty enthusiasts, influencers, marketers and tweens from all over the country lined up to experience sugar cookie, her next peptide lip shade drop.
But that is beside the point.
The real content began when just a few hours after the opening time, more people couldn’t be let in and the wait-in-line turned into setting up camp outside the store, just to be a part of the brand’s latest launch.
What the unexpected waiting time was supposed to do is create a negative buzz around the brands management, how little they value their customers and how tiring the entire ordeal was.
Instead, everyone in line left with happy faces, limited edition goodies and branded scratch offs, where you could win freebies.
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This is how you turn negative PR into an “experience” that creates loyal customers.
A lemon8 user posted a tasteful picture of a croissant with a clear “Rhode” logo alongside the bakery’s name. The logo also appeared on the wrist bands, the juice bottles and even the delicious burritos that were served to those in line!
Rare beauty by Selena Gomez, isn’t far behind in creating an experience that almost jolted the entire concept of a linear sales funnel out of its designated shape.
Take a look at this.
This is a video posted by @anastasia_shtompel a brand growth & marketing influencer on her instagram handle. The “sniffable billboard” campaign was unexpected, personal, interactive – unforgettable!
And then there’s MIU MIU. transcending generational and geographical boundaries like never before. I mean look at her, S.T.U.N.N.I.N.G!
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Whos this you ask?
“Its Qin Huilan, a distinguished 70-year-old doctor from Shanghai and a revered client of the Prada group brands, to grace the catwalk” states institutomaragoni.
This is marketing genius at play.
Whether the buyer is interested in buying from MIU MIU or not, it certainly gets the right people interested in their designs. On the surface this is a brand that designs for the Gen-Z and partially millennial audience.
But a move like Qin Huilan walking the runway practically wrote the book on how all generations can play with pieces by MIU MIU. This drew attention to Qin’s social media showing buyers how she styles her purchases, ultimately leading to a wider buying audience for the brand.
The ‘unforgettable experience’ roller coaster doesn’t stop here.
Skims, a brand known for its collab first approach isn’t far behind in getting personal with its audience. In a first of its kind, Skims set up a pop-up cafe in Mel’s drive-through and hundreds stocked to experience the ambiance first hand.
The messaging was subtle but loud. Eat what you want, and let Skims handle the rest.
After all they are a shapewear brand!
I mean those are some delicious looking pancakes with SKIMS branded onto them, subtle but noticeable product pictures plastered onto the table top and the syrup promoting the brand as buyers dined in.
Influencers and buyers alike filmed their experience at this pop up, showcasing the designs, the food, the branding while being a part of the campaign.
While these examples may be from established giants and B2C businesses, smaller brands are adopting the strategy rather quickly.
Not to forget the B2B genius that is Ramp.
A financial operations platform designed to save businesses time and money. Trusted by 45,000+ teams, or so says their Instagram bio. Sounds boring, right?
Nope.
After their latest stunt marketing their services in real time, in a glass box, in the middle of New York city, I’d like to go through their services and probably get my finances sorted.
Remember Kevin from the office. Yes this guy.
Ramp put him in this.
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A fishbowl makeshift office, with glass walls and a live audience.
Kevin, Ramp’s new ‘CFO’ was seen doing expense reports in real time while a score board displayed Kevin Vs Ramp, positioning Ramp as the better option for businesses.
Now everyone’s talking about it, brands and businesses are aware of Ramp’s game and the real time score card just validates their offering as a whole.
This of course was a large scale commitment. A wider spending bracket, Hollywood inspired collaboration and event management that probably left a dent in Ramp’s bank balance.
Brands like Rhode, Skims, Rare Beauty and such are multi million dollar giants with relatively few limitations and unabandoned star power to draw attention to the experiences they are selling.
For startups and SMEs the playbook is different BUT achievable.
Take Patrick Ta for instance. Yes its another million dollar brand but their recent stunt is one that can be calibrated to fit any brands needs.
All you need is a social presence, a strong creative team and you’re ready to pull-off an immersive experience that will get your target audience, or at least a chunk of it talking.
Here’s how it went.
It started with a total social media grid wipe and a cryptic post that said “let him cook”. What followed was a complete sensory yet immersive experience that got tastemakers, influencers and Patrick Ta enthusiasts excited, engaged and “ready for whats to come”.
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Then came the five course menu.
Five posts that featured actual food being plated luxuriously and thematically to introduce the Essential Artistry Edit Eyeshadow Palette.
Then came the PR.
Selected influencers and tastemakers were asked to ‘serve looks’, using the launch and the powerful collab wheel began drawing in attention, demand and curiosity from the beauty world.
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But the campaign did not stop here.
They took the food theme further by co-creating a dessert with Top-Chef winner Mei Lin. This was inspired by the buttery texture and tones of the palette itself.
To complete the food themed sensory experience, 88 Club and Patrick Ta held a dinner for content hub and VIPs, where weekend guests could order the palette inspired dessert and get a complimentary palette!
This is something any brand can pull off!
Of course a restaurant collaboration may be possible on a larger scale, but a sensory experience, mystery, anticipation and the rewarding exclusivity that Patrick Ta achieved with this campaign can be replicated with the right creative team by your side.
“Hey Beautiful! Your Smile Deserves Some Extra Love. Treat Yourself With a Sync Lip Balm Today!”
That’s what the poster read. Syncbeauty.co, a vegan skincare brand pasted a poster with free lip balms on it and a scannable social handle code on a random wall in London and got the attention of anyone passing by.
People enjoyed the experience of being treated with a luxurious surprise and many were seen scanning the code and following the brand.
This made anyone that interacted with the poster a part of the brand’s journey as it is comparatively still growing as a brand!
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Its almost 2026, your audience is Gen-Z, with a sprinkle of Millennials
“But anyone can buy my products”, you say.
Yes, anyone can, but the ones posting about your experience fall in these two primary categories. What they are looking for is personalisation, virality, aesthetic and function.
For instance if you decide to sell butter, it has to be more than just butter. Grass fed, sweet or savory, can be stirred into matcha or coffee, or bite sized energy butters for the carnivore preferences – you get the gist.
We are your very own on-demand creative team ready to carefully curate an experience focused brand offering for your business.
We might even throw in some spatial design expertise when your brand decides to do pop-ups or more!
