The Brief

Fingernail paint brand Ice Gel believes that nail painting is an art. It wanted to promote this brand proposition to a new market in Hong Kong and increase brand awareness among new customers within a limited budget.

Creative Execution

By creating an art gallery in the unexpected venue of a "cube shop", we enhanced the creative image of the brand and positioned our message in a highly targeted environment (surrounded by nail salons). Visitors to the museum could scan a QR code to instantly visit Ice Gel's website, enabling consumers to become style-setters even before their own stylists.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

We created the world's first "Cube Shop" advertising campaign. Hong Kong's high rents have led stores to divide their retail spaces into 1-foot-square cubicles, called Cube Shops. We knew our targets liked to visit Cube Shops, so we rented one in a mall with many nail salons. We commissioned an artist to paint on acrylic fingernails and displayed them in our Cube Shop as "The World's Smallest Art Gallery".

Results

With a budget of just 1,000 US dollars, the campaign was highly effective. In just one month, the QR code generated 24,000 page views for Ice Gel's website against projections of just 1,500. New client bookings increased 10% in the next three months for their flagship nail salon. Telephone enquiries were up 30%. Women began asking for Ice Gel by name at their favorite salons.