UK. The Moodie Davitt Report was on location yesterday (22 May) for the official unveiling of Lancôme’s new rose-themed counter in Heathrow Airport Terminal 5. Named ‘Rose Agora’, it was opened in partnership with World Duty Free (Dufry) and Heathrow Airport.
The dazzling counter was designed around the Lancôme Rose emblem which features prominently throughout the space. The counter is the first in global travel retail to feature Lancôme’s elevated new retail concept.
It underscores the power of Lancôme as a multi-axis brand and showcases its diverse portfolio of fragrance, skincare and makeup products.
The counter also offers an impressive array of beauty tech features which include the Lancôme Shade Finder, Lancôme Youth Finder and Modiface Virtual Try-On Tool. The Lancôme Shade Finder tool helps travellers find the perfect shade of foundation based on their specific skin tones and undertones and matches them with a Lancôme foundation from between 40 different shades available in-store.
The Lancôme Youth Finder measures different skin parameters including redness, wrinkles, dark spots, pore size and skin hydration to give travellers an in-depth skin analysis. Afterwards, beauty ambassadors offer bespoke product recommendations using various Lancôme skincare lines.
The Modiface Virtual Try On enables passengers to try on a wide selection of Lancôme products which include lipsticks, blushes, eyeshadows and even mascaras.
The counter offers several of Lancôme’s hero lines including its premium Lancôme Absolue, Advanced Génifique, and Rénergie skincare lines, La Vie Est Belle, Idole and Maison Lancôme fragrance lines and Teint Idole Ultra Wear, L’Absolu Rouge and several mascara lines among others.
A dynamic digital screen sits at the centre of the space showcasing a number of key Lancôme campaigns across categories. Currently, the screen is showing the new ‘Life is Beautiful’ fragrance campaign for La Vie Est Belle, which stars a diverse cast of brand ambassadors across all ages and races.
The campaign features Julia Roberts, Zendaya, Isabella Rossellini, Amanda Seyfried, Penelope Cruz, Aya Nakamura, Lily Collins and Ho Yeon. The campaign photos were photographed by renowned Italia fashion photographer Mario Testino while the campaign film was shot by rising filmmaker Emmanuel Adjei.
The counter is being supported by a pop-up space which shines the light on La Vie Est Belle and the new campaign. The pop-up, which is running until the end of May, offers free engraving services and special couture ribbons which travellers can tie on their La Vie Est Belle fragrance bottles.
A skincare table is another key attraction and features a giant bottle of Génifique. Here, travellers are encouraged to discover several of Lancôme’s key skincare lines, whose USPs and skin-enhancing benefits are clearly signposted in various zones.
The counter was celebrated with a ribbon cutting ceremony which was attended by executives from L’Oréal and Dufry. L’Oréal Travel Retail EMEAI General Manager/General Manager of Dufry Flavien de Paillerets; Lancôme Travel Retail Worldwide General Manager Priscilla Foucault; and Dufry Group Head of Beauty Delphine Poultney were in attendance.
Foucault said: “This is the first airport location to feature the new retail concept. If you look at this retail design, you’ll see that it is all about the rose. The rose is a very strong Lancôme symbol and has been infused in this new retail design. This new concept puts the consumer at the heart of the experience that is powered by beauty-tech services.”
“Heathrow is a key international hub welcoming over 60 million passengers, with over 40% of that traffic in Terminal 5,” added Paillerets. “All that helped inform our decision to launch this new visual identity in London and in Heathrow, with our partner Dufry who have been instrumental in making this project a reality.
“This counter shows the power of this multi-axis brand,” he added. “We are a very strong brand covering three categories that are presented equitably in this space. There is also a lot of flexibility in the retail design so that we can easily adapt to the new passenger reality, which is constantly evolving. With Lancôme being the number one brand globally for L’Oréal Luxe Division, we really have the capacity to capture all passengers across all countries. It’s really important for us to share this vision everywhere, starting here at Heathrow.”
Foucault remarked: “This Lancôme store is welcoming, caring and ultimately feminine, and will appeal to the many different nationalities passing through Terminal 5 every day. The Lancôme rose has now a home in Heathrow.”
Poultney said, “We are extremely proud to be able to open the very first new Lancôme store design in an airport location worldwide and we would like to take this opportunity to thank our partners at L’Oréal, who have worked in such close partnership with us to make this possible. At Dufry, we strive to ensure to ensure that we deliver the most luxurious and elevated travel experience to our customers and this new retail concept is definitely setting new standards for Heathrow.
“If you see the before and after of the counter, the transformation speaks for itself. This new concept is beautiful and offers an amazing experience for our customers. So far, the response has been amazing.”
Dufry Senior Category Manager for Beauty in the UK Floriana Bove added: “This project took more than a year of strong collaboration, with both Dufry and L’Oréal sharing the same ultimate goal of putting the customers at the centre of our shops. This translates into pioneering the best beauty-tech innovations in skincare and makeup.
“L’Oréal has done a splendid job in creating a place for Lancôme where its values of care, generosity, trust and science merge for our beloved travellers. Working together on this project has, once again, proven the strength of the partnership between Dufry and L’Oréal.” ✈
