CHINA. Urban Decay – part of L’Oréal Travel Retail – recently celebrated two major Hainan milestones with a spectacular KOL and livestream event that blurred the lines between virtual and reality.
The American makeup brand marked its first anniversary in the island and the opening of a new counter in partnership with China Duty Free Group (CDFG) in December.
From 22 to 26 December, KOLs, media and VIPs flocked to Urban Decay’s Venice Beach-inspired pop-up located in the IPK Bar in Houhai Village, Sanya. Special guests included Chinese singer-actress and Urban Decay Chine Spokesperson Chloe Xie on her first Hainan brand visit.
In honour of Urban Decay’s milestones, the brand brought an exclusive collaboration with virtual influencer AYAYI to life. Urban Decay describes AYAYI as “China’s hottest virtual icon”. The campaign reached a wide audience through KOL activities that showcased AYAYI-inspired makeup looks using Urban Decay’s vegan and cruelty-free products.
These included the All Nighter Setting Spray, the new Naked Mini Palette, and the high-performance 24/7 long-lasting Moondust Eyeshadow that offers “maximum sparkle and expressive longwear colour.”
Brand muses were invited to the private preview party on 22 December, where they sampled a trio of Urban Decay experiences.
These included the ‘Lock Your Look’ station where they discovered the brand’ s products; the ‘Naked Your Way’ room where they expressed their inner selves by taking the stage; and a ‘Glitter 24/7’ booth where the influencers posed for professional photo shoots. The event had a remarkable collective reach of 43 million viewers.
The experiential space was then opened to the public on 24 to 25 December and invited travellers to join in the brand’s celebration, which highlighted its values of inclusivity and individuality.
Urban Decay’s anniversary event culminated with a blockbuster livestream on CDFG’s social platforms on 26 December, co-hosted by CDFG and Urban Decay China Spokesperson Chloe Xie. It drew over 10.1 million followers on Weibo.
The livestream event clocked an impressive 6.3 million views in under 45 minutes, while the overall celebration amassed an extraordinary 63.4 million views across social platforms Weibo and Red.
Urban Decay said that the launch has strengthened its presence as a key makeup player in China. “The Urban Decay purple wave took Hainan by storm since its entry to the market in late 2021, disrupting with innovations and inspiring through reinvention,” the company said.
L’Oréal Travel Retail Asia Pacific General Manager of Makeup Business Unit Marin Vialle commented: “This is a breakthrough pop-up of many firsts for Urban Decay Travel Retail – our first anniversary in Hainan, our first and exclusive collaboration with the unprecedented virtual influencer AYAYI, our spokesperson Chloe Xie’s first-ever official brand visit to Hainan, and the opening of our new counters with China Duty Free Group.
“We are proud of the brand’s strong momentum in the past year and are delighted to have our fans, friends of the brand, and partners join us in this monumental celebration of firsts in Hainan.”✈
