| Title | SAMPLE EVOLUTION AUPRES SMART CUBE |
| Brand | SHISEIDO LIYUAN COSMETICS CO. |
| Product / Service | AUPRES |
| Category | B02. Use of Other Digital Solutions in a Direct Marketing Campaign |
| Entrant | BEIJING DENTSU ADVERTISING Beijing, CHINA |
| Entrant Company | BEIJING DENTSU ADVERTISING Beijing, CHINA |
| Advertising Agency | BEIJING DENTSU ADVERTISING Beijing, CHINA |
| Advertising Agency 2 | BEIJING BEAT PROMOTIONS & ADVERTISING, CHINA |
| Name | Company | Position |
|---|---|---|
| NUMATA YUTARO | Beijing Dentsu Advertising CO., LTD. | Senior Account Director |
| SAITO RYOSUKE | Beijing Beat Promotions & Advertising inc. | Manager |
For a cosmetics brand, handing out samples is the easiest and most important means of getting the product to the customer’s hands. Samples help raise brand awareness as well as allow the consumer to try the product. It is a way to get into the door. We take advantage of the fact that customers are glued to their mobile phones and supplement traditional sample distribution with digital imaging. We bring a mini-shop directly to the consumer, and allow them to get product consultations while trying out samples, thus allowing for a more direct and effective consumer contact
As few young consumers hang out in malls nowadays, we attempt to revolutionize AUPRES’ sales interface, from the traditional store format to the AUPRES smart cube. The smart cube is distributed through fashion magazines, which brings the entire brand experience directly to the consumer. Samples are, of course, part of the process. The consumer folds the magazine insert and makes the smart cube, which has a 2-D barcode printed on top. She then scans it in order to view assorted informative 3D videos with beauty recommendations. Skin care product promotions and professional consultations are no longer limited by time and space, as AUPRES is brought directly to the user through digital technology. We break the mode of the traditional sample distribution and combine it with high resolution videos to realize benefits of modern technology.
Distributing samples has always been a passive exercise, where the consumer is stuffed with products in micro-packaging, and throws them away without so much as learning the brand name; it is as ineffective as can be in terms of attracting new customers or retaining existing customers. Through newly designed campaigns, we encourage our customers to interact with us and learn about our brand and product information through more interesting and lively means, as well as for them to test our products and enhance the bond between the brand and the end user.
As AUPRES’ new mini-counter, the AUPRES smart cube is distributed through magazine inserts, member experience events, key city roadshows, and shopping mall and office building distribution to reach a total of 150,000 customers in 21 cities. The AUPRES video generated over 100,000 views through the duration of the promotion.