Lush goes public with creative showcase
In its largest interactive public stunt so far, the British beauty player’s ‘Lush Creative Showcase’ event in East London offered consumers the chance to find out about the brand’s winter launches.
It offered an insight into the creation of products through live demos, product testing and a ‘Fragrance Gallery’ installation, alongside a program of workshops and talks.
The event also, crucially, featured seven film crews, which recorded the action for use across Lush’s digital platforms and social media channels.
Gearing up for video
Speaking to Digiday, the brand’s chief digital officer Jack Constantine explained that on the back of the success of its Lush Kitchen digital platform, which heavily featured video content, the brand believes they have both the content capacity and the consumer appetite to launch a full-time TV portal.
“End to end, there are so many things we capture,” said Constantine. “We’re not far off being able to fill a TV channel,” he told the media outlet.
It may prove a savvy move: according to Pixability, last year saw beauty content on YouTube reach 45.3 billion views, with the total number of subscribers to beauty-related content sitting at 123 million.
Speaking back in 2014 to CosmeticsDesign of the launch of its Kitchen platform, Constantine explained it came as a response to the demand from internet-age consumers to have a much more hands-on, participatory approach to their retail experiences.
“We’re now in an environment where it’s about community, it’s about sharing, it’s about interacting with the products, and being able to have that reactive mentality,” he observed.
Ethics in focus
Lush has made a name for itself as one of the leaders of the natural beauty world by combining natural-based beauty products with a strong pro-environment message, and the brand does not shy away from politics.
This was made clear yet again in the content of its talks and workshops during the week, with the programme including an appearance by UK shadow chancellor, John McDonnell.
“Thanks to @LushLtd for inviting me to speak at your #LushCreativeShowcase event this morning in East London,” he tweeted.
