L’Oréal Paris presented its art exhibition in China, featuring its Age Perfect Renaissance Cellulaire line, the brand’s most premium collection, from March 5 to 12. Unveiled at Tank Shanghai, the pioneering arts center and cultural hub, the exhibition provided visitors with immersive experiences across six themed spaces highlighting the natural ingredients and advanced technologies behind the range’s products.
One such space, named South French Forest, mimicked the landscape of France's Rhone River region, a truffle-producing area. Strolling through the room, visitors learnt about the growth trajectory of black truffles, and experienced the energy of the precious flora.
Through visualizing Age Perfect Regenerating Serum’s key ingredients, including black truffle extract, L’Oréal Paris elaborated on their rarity and how they help stimulate skin cell renewal. To maximize engagement, the brand sent out complimentary gifts, including black truffles, to visitors.
L’Oréal Paris Brand Spokesperson Xin Zhilei and L’Oréal Paris Brand Ambassador Yang Caiyu visited the exhibition, posting videos of the exhibition on their Weibo accounts, which drove online traffic to the exhibition. Meanwhile, 115 beauty KOLs visited the exhibition and shared their experiences on social channels. The endorsements significantly boosted offline traffic to the exhibition, as evidenced by its fully-booked reservations. The L’Oréal Truffle Art Exhibition hashtag attracted over 2.4 million views on Weibo within one week, which is impressive for a pop-up project. On Xiaohongshu, the same hashtag garnered over 221,100 views, and hundreds of visitors posted about their experiences at the exhibition on the platform.
This level of engagement and positive reactions from netizens demonstrate the pop-up’s success.
The exhibition conveyed the concept of the beauty products as creative works of art, while highlighting the Age Perfect skincare line. The initiative was also an opportunity for L’Oréal Paris to explore its brand identity beyond its status as a cosmetics giant and enrich its stories with new perspectives, such as botany and fine art.
Communicating a narrative that highlighted the products’ formulas, ingredients, and related imagery, the campaign educated visitors on the preciousness of the rare black truffle extract, a patented ingredient owned by the brand.
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Changsheng·Energy of Heart, embodies the core energy of the "Truffle Spores". (Swipe left) Photo: L’Oréal Paris
Ingredients and scientific integrity have become primary factors shaping consumers’ beauty-product purchasing decisions, according to a 2022 report co-released by Chinese research firm CBNData and Xiaohongshu. The report also reveals that plant-based beauty products have become increasingly popular in China since the outbreak of the pandemic.
As such, this exhibition resonated well with local beauty enthusiasts who are ingredient-centric and interested in natural, organic components.
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Holding a branded art exhibition is a useful marketing tactic in the Chinese market. (Swipe left) Photo: L’Oréal Paris
Through its agility in adapting to local trends and consumer insights, L’Oréal Paris has contributed greatly to L’Oréal Group’s performance in North Asia, including in mainland China. According to the company’s 2022 annual results, the Consumer Products Division in North Asia has capitalized on L’Oréal Paris’ notable success in the skincare and haircare categories.
The exhibition at Tank Shanghai shows that this year, L’Oréal Paris is betting on branding itself as a higher-end beauty name in China. Though not necessarily driving direct transactions, the initiative enabled the brand to consolidate awareness and acquire a broader customer base for its luxe line.