‘Celebrate endlessly’: YSL Beauté takes Lunar New Year celebrations to new heights
YSL Beauté commits to offering top-tier retail experiences that engage consumers and boost conversion via a 3-axis cross-selling approach
YSL Beauté Travel Retail Asia Pacific, in partnership with key retailers including China Duty Free Group and The Shilla Duty Free, greeted Lunar New Year travelers with standout 'Infinite Star' activations this year.
Promotions included gifting options, exclusive products, and never-before-seen retailtainment such as the AR experience and phygital red packets.
Expanding its reach to Chinese consumers across Asia, YSL Beauté celebrated the New Year in Haikou and Singapore, where there is a strong comeback of travelers post-COVID, with eventful O+O New Year takeovers in February. According to the company, the pop-ups and activations in Haikou and Singapore provided an “unparalleled experience for travelers, thanks to interactive live makeup shows and fragrance customization at Libre Atelier”.
Synonymous with empowerment and elevated luxury, the star motif was highly favored by brand Founder Saint Laurent and continues to lie at the heart of the YSL legacy. Throughout the years, this icon has been reinvented for different collections and in 2024, the New Year celebration came alive with the star in red and gold, embellishing customer touchpoints including digital assets, retail displays, gift boxes and the AR experience.
YSL Beauté invited travelers to discover the new The Slim Mattes on Fire collection, with star shade the #2024 Fiery Vermilion, an incandescent orange that’s infused with hot red undertones. Other featured products included the limited-edition red latex Touche Éclat Glow-Pact Cushion and Rouge Pur Couture.
At CDF Haikou Mova Downtown, a pop-up offered a full range of the brand’s key products across makeup, skincare and fragrance categories, including premium franchises Or Rouge and Le Vestiaire des Parfums. With a strong focus on customer engagement, travelers could also enjoy live onsite makeup shows by YSL Beauté makeup artists.
First-ever AR retailainment
Continuing YSL Beauté’s commitment to elevating retail experience, travelers could discover the YSL 'Infinite Star' and New Year blessings in AR via the WeChat mini program. This allows customers to experience product animation, try their hands at putting together virtual gift boxes using YSL Beauté products, receive New Year greetings and redeem gifts in-store. YSL Beauté also introduced ultra-premium new year red packets decked out in the YSL Infinite Star and Cassandra logo as a gift with minimum spend. Thanks to AR technology, customers can send out personalized phygital red packets and customizable blessings with their names through WeChat.
At The Shilla Singapore Changi Airport events, guests were treated to interactive YSL Beauté Shows by makeup experts. Three shows per day on weekends maximized exposure to travelers. Guests were able to choose the look to be demonstrated by the makeup artist before redeeming a gift after participation. Each makeup show featured expert tips in the creation of a YSL Beauté New Year New Look using the Touche Éclat Glow-Pact Cushion, Couture Mini Clutch #100 eye palette and The Slim #YSL2024. Travelers transiting through Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 1 also enjoyed the fragrance customization service Libre Atelier at The Shilla Duty Free. An artist was on hand to transform any gifting experience by applying gold, black or silver leaves to bottles of fragrances purchased.
By adopting this novel business model focused on creating scalable, interactive activations, YSL Beauté underlined its commitment to foster innovation, and to offer top-tier retail experiences that engage consumers. “This creates a conducive environment for conversion via a 3-axis cross-selling approach spanning makeup, skincare, and fragrance categories,” the company said.
With its consumer-centric approach, YSL Beauté said it continues to bring an immersive O+O experience to travelers. On top of incorporating AR technology for phygital red packets, customers were also treated to interactive live makeup demonstrations and fragrance personalization.
Marin Vialle, L’Oréal Travel Retail Asia Pacific General Manager of Makeup Business Unit, commented, “Through our collaboration with partners like China Duty Free Group in Hainan and Shilla Duty Free in Singapore, we are excited to present new and engaging retail experiences to our customers. This year, we have once again taken things to the next level with eye-catching events like interactive live makeup demonstrations and for the first time ever, AR retailtainment. We are proud to position YSL Beauté as the ultimate gifting destination for all travelers while ushering in the New Year with our customers.”
