Scent-sational: Rare Beauty’s OOH Pre-Launch Campaign for Rare Eau de Parfum
Billboards are excellent marketing tools for introducing new products. However, when it comes to fragrance, visuals alone are not enough. Rare Beauty understood this challenge and turned traditional Out of Home (OOH) into a sensory experience, allowing people to interact with the fragrance in real time.
Before their launch on August 7 for Rare Eau de Parfum, Rare Beauty partnered with Shop (Shopify app) to redefine how consumers experience and engage with the fragrance. They also brought the scent into the heart of New York City through billboards, allowing passersby to stop and smell the fragrance. By scanning a geo-gated QR code, which is only accessible when in front of the billboard, passerby could request a free sample delivered directly to their doorstep via the Shopify app. This strategy combines real-world curiosity with digital convenience, making the experience more interactive and memorable for the audience.
In this blog post, we explore Rare Beauty’s sensory approach to OOH advertising, why it works, and how other brands can apply similar tactics from the approach to amplify their pre-launch campaigns.
Why Rare Beauty’s Approach Works
1. Creating a Tangible Experience
Marketing a fragrance solely through text and visuals can be quite limiting, especially since scent is the main element. To engage fragrance fans, Rare Beauty introduced the scent to the public, allowing them to experience it before the launch. Using a geo-gated QR code and the scratch-and-sniff feature offers a personal, immersive experience, making them active participants even before the product's official release.
2. Meeting People Where They Are
Providing convenience is key in today’s fast-paced world and consumers appreciate brands that make their experiences easy and accessible. Instead of inviting them to the store for samples, Rare Beauty brought the fragrance to the busy city streets where thousands pass daily. They then, made sampling easier, sending it straight to their doorstep, making the process of sampling the fragrance convenient. By using the shop app to deliver their samples, the brand creates a seamless path from curiosity to conversion.
3. Tapping into Exclusivity
Exclusivity drives engagement by tapping into consumers’ fear of missing out. That is the feeling or perception that other people are having fun or living a life that is better than yours. When products or services are exclusive or part of a limited collection, people are more likely to buy them to satisfy that feeling. By geo-gating the QR code so it could be accessed in front of the billboard, Rare Beauty creates a sense of rarity and urgency. This scarcity encourages people to act immediately, turning a simple sample offer into a must-have moment.
4. Building a Direct Connection
First-hand experience with clients helps to get first-hand data. By using the shop app to deliver their samples, the brand is able to gather valuable first-party data and can follow up with personalized communication. This way, they are also able to track engagement, identify potential customers, and follow up with tailored communication. This also helps Rare Beauty create a direct connection and strengthen their customer relationship beyond the billboard.
5. Creating Buzz Before the Launch
Pre-launch efforts are key to building anticipation and creating buzz for the actual launch. And Rare Beauty knows this as they implemented this fresh approach to build hype for the launch, each touchpoint, from scent sampling to doorstep delivery, is meant to generate excitement and give audiences a sensory preview of the fragrance, long before it officially hits the shelves.
How Other Brands Can Apply This
Make sampling an experience: Don’t just give products away, create an experience people can touch, smell, or interact with.
Go where your audience is: Bring your brand to places people already visit daily instead of waiting for them to come to you.
Blend offline and online: Use QR codes or other tech so people can easily go from real-world discovery to taking action on their phones.
Create a sense of exclusivity: Limited offers or location-based access can make people feel special and spark quick action.
Collect useful data thoughtfully: Offer samples or perks in exchange for sign-ups to build a direct connection with your audience.
Start the buzz early: Warm up your audience before the official launch so they’re already curious and excited.
Design for shareability: Make your campaign something people want to post about, turning them into brand storytellers.
Conclusion
Rare Beauty’s campaign stand out because it transforms fragrance marketing into something people can actually experience, not just see or read about. By engaging their audience where they are, leveraging exclusivity, seamlessly blending offline and online touchpoints, Rare Beauty is able to generate meaningful hype around their new fragrance, which amplifies their reach and makes their audience excited for the launch.
At Coral Communications, we believe the most powerful OOH campaigns are ones those that break conventions to truly cut through the noise.
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