Key takeaways
- Fenty Beauty is launching a UK roadshow-style popup combining cosmetics and coffee.
- The activation promotes new Grip Trip primers and offers experiential retail.
- The trend towards mobile popups reflects a wider shift in beauty retail strategy.
LVMH’s Fenty Beauty is the latest brand to embrace the roadshow popup format. This September, the Fenty Beauty Café will tour the UK, combining product discovery with iced coffee and expert advice.
The coffee van will stop off at five UK cities – starting in London’s beauty hub Covent Garden this week, before moving on to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow.
The activation is designed to launch the brand’s new Grip Trip Hydrating and Mattifying Primers. Guests will also enjoy a complimentary iced coffee as they browse new and classic Fenty Beauty products.
The Fenty Beauty Pro Make-up Artist Team will be on hand to assist with shade matching. Plus, visitors will have the chance to win £1,000 worth of Fenty Beauty products, and get 30% off all foundations purchased online using an exclusive discount code.
Experiential retail shifts towards mobile popups
As more beauty shoppers seek out experiential retail, the popup format continues to evolve. Increasingly, brands are opting for mobile activations that travel to consumers rather than relying on fixed locations.
According to James Barnes, co-founder at creative experiential agency Backlash, this year has seen a noticeable shift in the popup retail landscape.
“We are seeing a noticeable shift from bricks-and-mortar popups to more transportable outdoor roadshow experiences that travel the UK,” he told CosmeticsDesign-Europe.
“Our location booking partner – the largest booker of popup and promotional site spaces across the UK – is also seeing this trend, with 70% of all bookings being outdoors for the year to date.”
Barnes also shared examples of outdoor roadshow-style popups that Backlash has worked on over the past year. These included L’Oréal Paris’ Worth It popup, which featured live beauty tutorials broadcast on a big screen in Piccadilly Circus, and Jo Malone London’s Christmas Special popup, which took place in London’s Covent Garden and Edinburgh.
These activations appear to reflect a growing appetite for immersive beauty shopping experiences that can also meet consumers wherever they are, across multiple locations.
