For a May 17 event celebrating its new premium skincare collection, Target pulled a move typical of most beauty launches and sent guests home with a sampling of its latest products.
But rather than let guests swing by the Beverly Hills estate where the event took place and simply scoop up a swag bag, the retailer compelled attendees to collect gifted goods from four theme stations, where beauty concierges gave them in-depth introductions to the skincare items and helped them find products suited to their skin type.
“For Target, the hero of the event was the products themselves, and we really wanted to educate guests about them in a natural way,” said Caravents’s Cara Kleinhaut, who worked with the retailer to produce the event. “Four experiential areas made sure guests left with an understanding about what products were about and helped them become brand enthusiasts.”
The educational approach was particularly apropos given the event’s carefully curated guest list of media, bloggers, and tastemakers. “These are social influencers who are looking to create content,” Kleinhaut said. And as social media posts gain almost as much value as a blog posts, Kleinhaut also made sure to create what she called “Instagrammable” decor.
"The idea was to create inspiring design moments so guests felt inspired to share,” Kleinhaut said. “If a handful of the right people make the right posts, that makes a huge difference. When it comes to actually speaking to consumers, we’re all way more influenced by regular people than we are by even celebrities.”
At the end of the afternoon, the guest with the most online engagement for a single social media post received a gift bag that included Target's entire skincare collection.