Clarins and travel retail media agency SHIFT, part of WITH Group, have reported strong results from a data-driven digital campaign that linked traveller engagement directly to airport retail conversion.
The eight-week campaign, centred on the Clarins Double Serum Foundation range, ran at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in March and Montréal-Trudeau International Airport throughout April and May. The campaign linked digital media engagement directly to in-store conversion and provided measurable performance data throughout the customer journey.
As reported, Clarins unveiled its hybrid Double Serum Foundation with its biggest activation campaign in global travel retail in April.
The campaign centred on a digital coupon mechanic. Travellers were served targeted advertising through Meta platforms before departure and while at the airport. This directed them to a dedicated campaign page where they could save a digital coupon to their Apple Wallet or Google Wallet. The coupon could then be redeemed at the Clarins podium within the airport.
SHIFT said every stage of the journey was tracked, enabling performance analysis from media exposure through to coupon redemption.
The campaign generated close to 1.8 million qualified impressions in the seven days before departure. Pre-trip click-through rates exceeded planned benchmarks by between +28% and +46%. In-airport click-through rates reached up to seven times typical placement standards, SHIFT said.
The partners said that almost 79% of users who clicked on the advertisements landed on the dedicated Clarins campaign page.
Beyond awareness and engagement metrics, hundreds of digital coupons were added to travellers’ mobile wallets, while dozens were redeemed at the Clarins podiums, tracking the path from advertisement exposure to purchase intent.
“Targeted digital buys in LAX and Montreal were integral to the Double Serum Foundation launch. They drove measurable shopper traffic to our retail points, delivering additional commercial impact for Clarins Travel Retail Americas,” commented Clarins General Manager Travel Retail Americas Deborah Seckler.
Clarins Global Marketing Director Travel Retail Sandrine Tesnière added: “With SHIFT, we were able to drive qualified traveller traffic to our airport podium through a measurable coupon mechanic, and to monitor performance from media impressions all the way to the counter. That level of clarity, market by market, is what gives us the confidence to scale digital across our travel retail strategy.”
Clarins and SHIFT said the ability to track the full customer journey offers new opportunities for optimisation, enabling campaigns to be refined based on traveller behaviour and conversion data.
According to SHIFT, the same model could be applied across different categories, including beauty, spirits & wine, fashion and confectionery.
SHIFT Founder and CEO Vadim Wichmann remarked: “Digital media works in travel retail. It works for awareness, for engagement, and, when built properly with the right audience signals and a measurable in-store mechanic, for footfall and conversion.
“The Clarins activation shows that travel retail marketing can be agile, quantifiable and accountable. We see no reason these results should remain the exception.”
Clarins and SHIFT are now reviewing insights from the North American activation as they plan future campaigns. The partners are planning to extend high-performing creative formats to additional airport locations, refine bilingual communications and introduce dedicated re-engagement campaigns. ✈
