Engage, sustain, rinse, repeat

We knew the most effective way to reach our audience would be by creating a campaign that would get Garnier products directly into the hands of consumers and demonstrate their value in a credible and relatable way. However, research showed that hair care products are most often tested at home – away from the reach of immersive brand interactions. Overcoming this obstacle would require us to speed up the typical trial timeline by devising new ways for consumers to test Garnier’s new products directly on-site.

To identify the most viable opportunities for immersive brand engagement, we took a deep dive into the millennial mindset, rigorously studying their motivations and interests. Not surprisingly, music and fashion emerged as prevailing passions, supported by a quest for style, self-expression, and individuality as central priorities. Armed with this knowledge, we set our sights squarely on the quintessential intersection of fashion and music in contemporary millennial culture: large-scale music festivals.The disconnect between the hottest new music and styles on display and the often primitive campsite facilities at these festivals created a gap which Garnier could fill.

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To reach the audience of over 13 million consumers aged 18-24 who attend major music festivals each year, we created #GarnierMusic, an innovative product immersion experience at five of the nation’s hottest festivals: Bonnaroo, Coachella, Big Barrel, Firefly, and iHeartRadio.

#GarnierMusic provided festival-goers with a shareable, lasting experience, designed for full brand immersion with direct on-site product sampling that included free hair-washing and styling.

At the heart of our program, we provided something all festival fans crave – a cool hair wash and hot new style, delivered via a multi-sensory experience that maximized brand immersion: The Garnier Salon.

Over the course of these three-day festivals, our 40’x40′ custom-built, fully-enclosed Garnier Salon provided on-site hair washes, color consultations, and styling by professional stylists, using Garnier products, for up to 80-90 concertgoers at a time. To manage the crowds that would start forming as early as 7:00 AM, we developed a sophisticated digital queue system that ensured a seamless, hassle-free brand experience.

The Salon experience also allowed attendees to ‘Rock Their Style’ socially via photo activations and social integration on-site.

Given the nature of camping-based festival weekends, on-site showers are always in hot demand. So, Garnier took over all showers on the grounds at each of the five festivals during the dirtiest of days, providing free product upon entrance and exit, thus allowing every consumer who showered to directly experience Garnier products.

Given the nature of camping-based festival weekends, on-site showers are always in hot demand. So, Garnier took over all showers on the grounds at each of the five festivals during the dirtiest of days, providing free product upon entrance and exit, thus allowing every consumer who showered to directly experience Garnier products.

For concertgoers rushing between catching their favorite music acts, we set up Garnier self-style stations throughout each festival. These mini-stations enabled attendees to quickly touch up their looks using Garnier’s hottest styling products, while the brand benefited from engagement across the entire festival footprint.

We built credibility and relevance with our audience by partnering with notable artists like ToveLo and Phoebe Ryan to style their looks for their festival performances, while also giving select consumers VIP access throughout the weekend.

We further leveraged artist relationships with ToveLo, Tori Kelly, and Phoebe Ryan by aligning with audience-relevant media outlets like MTV, VH1, and Fuse to capture and seed on-site content and interviews.

Before, during, and after each festival weekend, we partnered Garnier with beauty and style influencers like @imjennim and @happilygrey to seed product, encourage reviews, and give engage followers. Bloggers and vloggers visited the on-site Garnier Salon to chat with fans, get their hair styled, and capture content for their online fan bases.

To implement this platform, we prioritized journey toWe helped Garnier establish unique pre-event partnerships with Walgreens to drive trial and purchase at retail. Our unique POS displays and aisle end-caps promoted online sweepstakes that would send grand prize winners on a VIP trip to one of the festivals, while providing free product gift bags to thousands of winners. These giveaways also included coupons to drive purchase at retail.

Across and beyond the entire campaign footprint, we helped Garnier support a multi-year free recycling program with TerraCycle that offered opportunities for attendees to recycle their hair care sample packets safely on-site. Recycled packets that were upcycled by TerraCycle were transformed into new products such as benches, backpacks and totes. To further drive home the partnership, we placed upcycled benches made from previous Garnier products near Garnier Salons for attendee seating while they waited for their hair wash and style appointments.