Product Launch Ideas

The models almost completely blended in with the custom-painted backdrops.

Product launches and press previews for beauty products have historically been dominated by clean, all-white decor, allowing colorful product packaging to take center stage. At a February 21 brunch for L'Oréal, designer and producer Joe Moller added subtle branding to the setup on the Viceroy Miami's outdoor terrace, adding L'Oréal lettering to the backs of chairs and using shallow gold vases filled with products as tabletop centerpieces.

As a twist on the white-on-white look, Calvin Klein launched Euphoria in 2005 with an artsy installation that put the fragrance's tropical derivatives in display cases atop pedestals and on the floor. Videos of tropical landscapes could be viewed through metal portholes in the walls of the TriBeCa venue.

Schwarzkopf Professional chose a different route for a January event in Los Angeles, bringing bright hues to Exchange LA with a color-blocked runway and fringe chandelier. To add branding into the decor, organizers surrounded the catwalk with Ghost chairs marked with the signature silhouette logo.

Lacoste introduced its first men's scent collection in 2011 with an installation in New York's Grand Central Terminal. For the opening event, the sporty fashion brand used the colorful packaging of the Lacoste Eau de Lacoste L.12.12 fragrances to decorate the façade of the bar.

Avon wanted a sophisticated look for the 2007 launch of Rouge, a fragrance created in partnership with Christian Lacroix. Held in New York, the red-and-black event included a chandelier with vials of the fragrance instead of lightbulbs.

Red was also the dominant hue at the launch of Beyoncé Heat in 2010, noticeable from the lights that emanated from the New York venue. Coty's marketing team decided to create a public spectacle out of the intimate press conference and after-party—held at 15 Union Square—by making no secret about what was going on inside.

To put editors in the right frame of mind, Avon introduced the 2005 fall collection of Mark—the brand's younger, hipper cosmetics line—by hosting an autumnal-themed event in the summer. Orange and red foliage littered the New York affair, where wrought-iron gates, warm yellow lighting, and a small faux maple tree hung with votive candles set a park-like scene for the hair, fragrance, skin, and makeup products.

For the 2008 launch of its revamped Tea Tree line of shampoos and conditioners, Paul Mitchell built cabanas on a rooftop garden in New York. Drinks and displays highlighted the ingredients of each product, with fresh sage lemonade served in the area for the Lemon Sage line.

Bulgari focused the visuals of a 2007 launch on natural ingredients by filling the New York event with fragrant greenery and pretty blossoms. The luncheon for the Omnia Amethyste fragrance saw garden roses in hanging birdcages, a Lucite tasting bar filled with wood chips and balsa wood, and a wall of pink damask roses that gave off a subtle aroma.

In 2010, Victoria's Secret turned one of its New York stores into a makeshift flower shop and put Alessandra Ambrosio, Candice Swanepoel, and Miranda Kerr in aprons to help promote the launch of the Heavenly Flowers perfume. Standing amidst buckets of artificial flowers, cases of new product, and watering cans, the models autographed glossy photos of themselves for customers who spent $35 or more.

Lacoste was ahead of the game when it chose to integrate digital art from social media fans into a sculptural installation for the launch of its Eau de Lacoste L.12.12 fragrance. The 2011 promotion at New York's Grand Central Terminal projected animated videos generated by fans online across the surface of the piece, which loosely resembled the brand's iconic crocodile logo.

Art installations were part of Diesel's launch for the Only the Brave fragrance in 2009. The event, held in Miami's Moore Building, displayed commissioned works from 30 artists who were told to explore the idea of bravery. Three oversize machine gun-shaped pieces by Canadian artist Bob Parrington, ranging in size from four to eight feet, hung from the ceiling in the atrium.

To create a setting that would work for a breakfast presentation as well as a luncheon, Shiseido Cosmetics America mixed classic and modern furnishings for the launch of its spring 2007 collection in a turn-of-the-century townhouse in New York. A color palette of white kept the look clean, while lighting took on hues matched to the shades of Shiseido’s packaging and makeup.

As a way to integrate Rimmel London's identity and heritage into a 2007 product launch, Coty Canada dressed a Toronto event space with British decor. Tabletop decorations included custom acrylic purple, white, and gold Union Jack placemats and miniature gold-colored double-decker buses.

To prevent a 2011 launch from looking too clinical, Canadian skin-care brand Dermaglow used a 10-foot-tall floral arrangement, bright uniforms for the waitstaff, and macarons to add color to the space. Each hue corresponded to a different product line.

Joico opted to emphasize its scientific approach to hair-care products by styling a 2005 event as a laboratory. That included serving champagne cocktails in test tubes.

In 2007, Bourjois Paris spread the word about its new Docteur Glamour line by creating a beauty ambulance of sorts. A vehicle with glass sides served as the setting for prearranged appointments with beauty editors outside the offices of several large magazine publishing companies.

Betsey Johnson didn't look far for inspiration for her perfume's launch in 2006, bringing 55 beauty editors and fragrance execs to her Greenwich Village apartment for a party. Johnson's own family photos and bric-a-brac gave the affair a personal touch, while balloons, streamers, and rose petals played up the designer's fun-loving personality.

Dove drove home the idea of the key consumer for its Men+Care line by hosting the 2010 launch event at Toronto's Hockey Hall of Fame. Inside the space, the logo for the new products decorated jerseys in the locker room, while displays were set against trophies and hockey pucks.

For a 2005 cosmetics launch, Bourjois Paris invited beauty editors to a model apartment at an unfinished apartment building in New York. Part of the unusual setting included a Bourjois product developer preparing pink eye shadow in the kitchen with the aid of a pink KitchenAid blender.

L.V.M.H.-owned beauty purveyor Fresh created a gifting bar at an event last year that allowed guests to pick the products they wanted to take home. Packages were sent via messenger to attendees the following day.

For the launch of the Secret Obsession fragrance in Toronto, Calvin Klein sent private cars to chauffeur guests to an undisclosed location. The 2008 event blindfolded attendees and led them through a sensory experience set up inside a bank vault.

As a creative way to leave a lasting impression with busy editors and remind them of its key scent for the season, Victoria's Secret gave out individual cakes at an event in 2010. The edible souvenir was handed out as guests left, presented in a simple white box wrapped in pink ribbon.

A club-like vibe pervaded the launch of Salvatore Ferragamo's Attimo fragrance in 2010, the first official event at the Standard New York's bar, Le Bain. To avoid a branding-heavy look, Ferragamo put a neon sign and decor beneath a dance floor that was built over the drained pool; elsewhere the design was a subtle play on the perfume's packaging and ingredients.

When Victoria's Secret launched the Pink fragrance collection in 2009, the brand relied on models, rather than brand representatives, to articulate and embody the concept behind the three scents. Thoroughly briefed and scripted on their distinct characters, the models became living, talking props and guided editors through the apartment-like vignettes that represented the lifestyle of their specific consumer profile.