Behind-the-scenes video
Saks' Beauty Week is furthered with a Pinterest contest that asks consumers to pick their beauty personality, pin an image of one of the Faces of Fall, enter their information and then create their own personal “Four Faces of Fall” beauty board. The winner of this contest will receive more than $1,000 worth of cosemetics.
"The Pinterest contest, both furthers the reach of the campaign, and strengthens the consumer’s sense of loyalty to their chosen Face of Fall," Ms. Abas said. "By encouraging the audience to create an entire personality around their chosen look, Saks is creating a direct link between the personal interests of the consumer, and the campaign; ultimately setting the stage for brand loyalty down the line.
"[Also,] the Pinterest contest appeals to aspirational consumers with either social media presence, because they don’t actually have to have the means to purchase the products to be able to participate," she said. "Choosing a Face of Fall in hopes of receiving free product, still has the same impact on establishing audience identification and further drives the incentive for future purchases."
Through Sept. 28, Saks is celebrating Beauty Week and consumers who spend $100 or more on beauty products will receive a gift tote bag.
Special events
The week of celebrations will likely bring consumers to Saks’ Web site and drive interaction. This approach of a social media contest in conjunction with a special week has been done by other brands.
For instance, Germany’s Montblanc introduced a new fragrance for men that was promoted through an Instagram contest.
The Montblanc Emblem promoted on social media and the brand is asking consumers to enter using the hashtag #Emblematic. The contest raised awareness for the brand and its new fragrance and drew attention to Montblanc’s social media pages (
see story).
Similarly, Italian automaker Ferrari asked fans to design the next T-shirt collection for the brand.
The Draw Your Passion contest asked fans to create, upload and vote upon other entries for a chance to win Ferrari-related prizes. By asking fans to participate by drawing something that encapsulated the passion, emotion, speed, technology and heritage behind the brand, Ferrari shined a positive light on itself while engaging the attention of fans (
see story).
A competition mixed with special events brings consumer interest to brands.
"Through formatting the campaign as an 'event' they are promoting consumer engagement. Saks Fifth Avenue is inviting those who love beauty and fashion to actively participate as their, “guests” rather than their as target audience," Ms. Abas said.
"The tote bag, rather than an incentive to buy, is more of a token or symbol of inclusion, almost like a goodie bag, demonstrating that the receiver was a 'guest' of Saks Fifth Avenue’s Beauty Week," she said. "The exclusivity and limited quantity of bags available, also creates the notion that participants are tastemakers who have access to the most coveted products on the market."
Final Take
Nancy Buckley, editorial assistant on Luxury Daily, New York
