Shiseido Travel Retail has partnered with media agency SHIFT, part of WITH Group, to launch Max Mara Le Parfum across airports in Venice, Rome and Milan.
The digital campaign combines targeted social media advertising with digital coupons to encourage travellers to visit Max Mara podiums and sample the fragrance. It began in August and runs to January 2027.
The activation targets women aged 25-45 with confirmed trips to the three airports. Facebook and Instagram advertising reaches the women up to 14 days before departure. This is followed by further messaging closer to their flight to build anticipation.
At the airport, geofenced social media advertising around the duty-free area directs passengers to a dedicated campaign page. Here, travellers can access a digital coupon and present it to a Beauty Advisor at the Max Mara podium to receive a complimentary sample.
English and Italian headlines and captions are available on the campaign page. In addition, the partners are tracking impressions, unique travellers reached, campaign page visits, coupons saved and redemptions in real time.
Shiseido Travel Retail and SHIFT review results weekly, with advertising delivery also aligned with Beauty Advisor availability. Media delivery is also aligned with Beauty Advisor presence to maximise coupon redemption.
The campaign launched in Venice in August, followed by Rome in September and will conclude in Milan in December. The Venice activation recorded click-through and coupon enrolment rates above benchmarks for comparable campaigns, the partners said.
“Max Mara Le Parfum is one of the most important launches of the year for Shiseido EMEA, and travel retail had to play a central role in it,” said Shiseido Senior Director, Marketing, Travel Retail West Claire André de Chillaz.
“With SHIFT we chose to do something we had not done at this scale before in EMEA: put digital media at the heart of the launch plan, follow the traveller from the moment she books to the moment she reaches our podium, and measure every step.
“The first weeks in Venice show that this approach works, and it gives us a model we can replicate for our other brands in the channel,” she added.
“What makes this campaign different is the mechanic,” commented Shiseido Head of Operational Marketing Travel Retail West Elodie Ferreira Lima.
“We are not only building awareness in the terminal, we are giving travellers a reason to come to the counter, with a coupon they save on their phone and redeem with our Beauty Advisors for a sample of Max Mara Le Parfum.
“Creatives in English and Italian, weekly optimisation and a clear read on Shiseido Travel Retail x SHIFT coupons and redemptions mean we learn from every airport. Venice has set the bar, and Rome and Milan will build on it.”
SHIFT Founder and CEO Vadim Wichmann added, “Launching a fragrance is about being present at the right moment, and the airport is one of the few places where a traveller has both the time and the appetite to discover a new scent.
“With Shiseido Travel Retail we built a campaign that reaches travellers before and during their journey, and that brings them to the podium with a simple, trackable mechanic.”
“This activation shows that travel retail media can be agile, creative-led and accountable,” Wichmann added. “When digital formats are targeted on real traveller signals and tied to an in-store action, they deliver on awareness, on engagement and on footfall, and every step can be measured. That is what gives a brand the confidence to scale digital across its travel retail strategy.”
Max Mara Le Parfum is the first fragrance developed under the long-term licensing partnership signed by Shiseido and Max Mara in July 2024. The agreement covers the development, production, marketing and distribution of fragrances under the Italian fashion house’s name.
Launched globally on 24 August, the woody-floral fragrance takes inspiration from the Max Mara coat. Its composition features tuberose from Grasse and Guatemala, alongside vanilla, sandalwood and cedarwood. ✈
