LONDON—Benefit Cosmetics scored big with a five-day, basketball-themed pop-up showcasing its new BADgal Bounce Mascara. Dubbed Club Bounce, the sporting arena was more of a pink playground where every touchpoint referenced the mascara’s promise for a “full, fluffy, and lifted” effect.
But the venue didn’t start as a pink-clad basketball court at all: Benefit Cosmetics tapped experiential agency Heaps + Stacks to transform the 850-square-foot, blank-canvas space at Noho Showrooms in London’s West End into a beauty game zone. The result: Club Bounce, where, upon entering, guests explored “Benefit’s hero products in the Hall of Fame,” explained Heaps + Stacks’ Eva Phelan, the firm’s senior creative producer, and Kate Facer, its experiential designer. 
In the Locker Room area, guests could trial Benefit's new BADgal Bounce Mascara, which served as the inspiration for the experience.Photo: Courtesy of Heaps + Stacks
Then, guests were led into the locker toom area, where the new mascara could be found behind purple lockers lined with fuzzy wallpaper. Here, all 1,500 guests who passed through the ticketed pop-up from Feb. 26 through March 2 “could trial the new mascara with the help of Benefit Educators,” the duo added.
Next in the customer journey was the Training Zone, where gamification stations included a basketball shooting drill—where pink nets were labeled “full," "fluffy, and "lifted”, respectively—that allowed guests to collect badges on the Benefit Loves app to ultimately collect complimentary products. Heaps + Stacks customized the entire half-court to include a “Club Bounce Community Board featuring team attributes, some fun merch and, of course, polaroids of every player,” said Phelan and Facer.
In an adjacent corner, a photo booth created in partnership with Megabooth had a fuzzy pink trampoline fit for a “custom GIF moment,” explained Phelan and Facer.
The Training Zone featured a half-court shooting drill where each of the basketball nets highlighted the mascara’s promise for a “full, fluffy, and lifted” effect.Photo: Courtesy of Heaps + Stacks
There was also a “giant mascara ‘bounce-o-meter' game” where an oversize tube of BADgal Bounce Mascara doubled as a pump. “By pumping up the mascara, the dial on the wall illuminated to a flashing 242% neon light,” Phelan and Facer explained—a nod to the “mascara’s key claim of adding 242% more volume to your lashes.”
In an extra touch of whimsy, Phelan and Facer pointed to the ceiling, which was decked out in fluffy, three-dimensional clouds and an inflatable, Benefit-branded hot air balloon (courtesy of Glow Inflatables), in what they called a “head-in-the-clouds moment.”
Before snapping back to reality, a store stocked with exclusive Club Bounce merchandise served as the final stop.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at the thoughtful touchpoints that scored big with attendees both IRL and online (Club Bounce generated hundreds of thousands of views on TikTok and Instagram)...
Benefit Cosmetics' Club Bounce popped up in London Feb. 26 through March 2. The first two days were reserved for influencers and press, while tickets for the final three days were available to the public via Eventbrite. In all, more than 1,500 guests visited Club Bounce.Photo: Courtesy of Heaps + Stacks
Oversize, on-theme inflatables were scattered throughout the pop-up, which Heaps + Stacks created in partnership with Glow Inflatables.Photo: Courtesy of Heaps + Stacks
"Custom props were a key feature of the space and helped to create an immersive world," said Heaps + Stacks’ Eva Phelan, the firm’s senior creative producer, and Kate Facer, its experiential designer.Photo: Courtesy of Heaps + Stacks
A "bounce-o-meter" game featured an oversize tube of BADgal Bounce Mascara that doubled as a pump in a playful nod to the mascara’s key claim of adding 242% more volume to lashes.Photo: Courtesy of Heaps + Stacks
A photo booth created in partnership with Megabooth had a fuzzy pink trampoline for a custom, on-theme GIF moment.Photo: Courtesy of Heaps + Stacks
Even the ceiling was decorated with fluffy, three-dimensional clouds and an inflatable, Benefit-branded hot air balloon.Photo: Courtesy of Heaps + Stacks
The final stop: the Club Bounce merchandise store.Photo: Courtesy of Heaps + Stacks
Another custom prop moment: branded sneakers and sweat towels that hung from hooks in the Locker Room.Photo: Courtesy of Heaps + Stacks
The five-day pop-up took place at Noho Showrooms in London’s West End.Photo: Courtesy of Heaps + Stacks
