Dive Brief:

• YSL Beauté hosted the YSL Beauty Station and pop-up store in Cathedral City, California, located along Route 111 on the road to the Coachella music festival, according to a company press release. The campaign includes a YouTube video and special Instagram content that showcases a desert road trip taken by makeup influencer Kaia Gerber and the brand's Global Beauty Director Tom Pecheux.
• At the activation, which included a gas station-like beauty pop-up, visitors over the weekend could experiment with a virtual mirror to try on shades, shop a product vending machine and learn how to achieve two distinct YSL makeup looks. The pop-up was open April 12-14, during Coachella's first weekend.
• The YSL Beauty Station was equipped with pink gas pumps and a lipstick sign paying homage to its Rouge Volupte Shine lip color. Along with product showcases, the activation included an area where visitors could customize their own YSL lipstick.

Dive Insight:

Like many beauty brands, YSL is looking to connect directly with consumers in unique and memorable ways, and this desert journey takes visitors on a dreamy and aspirational trip. The promotion, with its hours that coincided with Coachella's first weekend, was strategically placed along the music festival's route to draw in passersby to sample products and explore the activation. The visually appealing pop-up likely compelled visitors to snap photos and share on social media, extending the activation's reach and spreading positive brand mentions.

Along with YSL, several other brands have tied into Coachella this year including Amazon, Bose and Postmates, which in conjunction with AEG, is offering a special in-festival food ordering feature to ease lines. With campaigns at the festival, brands attempt to reach not just those in attendance through physical pop-ups and events, but through social sharing and viral posts. In this case, YSL is aiming for broader exposure of its Beauty Station via Instagram and Snapchat.

Studies show that millennial women feel happiest when they spend on an experience like the one offered by the YSL Beauty Station. Forty-five percent of this cohort said their biggest purchases in recent months were on experiences, and 54% said experiences would drive their biggest purchases over the coming year, according to a study by Merkle and Levo. To this group, knowing the brand's origin story is of importance and 40% indicated they follow the founder or someone affiliated with their top brands on social media. To this point, YSL used company executive Pecheux, in addition to influencer Gerber — the daughter of supermodel Cindy Crawford — to achieve familiarity and extend its reach to their respective online networks.

Studies have shown too that millennials are particularly responsive to videos, with 85% saying they purchased a product after watching a video, according to a Brightcove study. YSL's road trip video featuring Gerber and Pecheux could resonate with key audiences of the beauty brand. Plus, it's no surprise that YSL should seek to warm up to millennials, as established beauty brands have become vulnerable to trendy newcomers like Kylie Cosmetics and Rihanna's Fenty Beauty.