Rare Beauty partners with Shopify’s Shop app on scratch-and-sniff OOH fragrance campaign
This week, Rare Beauty is running an interactive out-of-home ad campaign to promote its new fragrance.
Beginning this week, Rare Beauty scratch-and-sniff billboards will feature the brand’s new fragrance, giving fans an exclusive first sniff of the scent. By scanning the billboard’s QR code and opening Shopify’s Shop app, fans can request a mail-in rollerball sample of Rare Eau de Parfum. The OOH activation is in partnership with Shopify Shop and powered by the app’s geogated capabilities, which will require users to verify their location is within the billboard’s zone. The Rare Eau de Parfum was announced on July 29 and marks the brand’s first foray into fragrance. The fragrance and layering balms will be previewed on August 6 on the Sephora app, and online and in stores on August 7.
Amanda Millan, who heads partnerships at Shopify’s Shop app, said this campaign marks Rare Beauty’s first bespoke partnership with Shop. At the end of last year, the brand was part of Shop App’s holiday edit, which featured its Black Friday-Cyber Monday campaign. Rare Beauty has had a partnership with Shopify since its DTC launch on the e-commerce platform.
“We have done a number of geogated out-of-home activations before,” Millan said. “But this is the first time that we’re pairing this geogated power with the scratch-and-sniff innovation.”
Ashley Murphy, vp of consumer marketing at Rare Beauty, told Modern Retail the scratch-and-sniff campaign is meant to bring a sensorial approach to traditional out-of-home billboards, which Rare Beauty has done before.
“We’re always thinking of new ways to test a classic medium in a new way,” Murphy said. With this campaign, the brand wanted to take its billboards a step further by using them as a sampling channel.
Murphy said the scratch-and-sniff idea was inspired by the famous lickable wallpaper from the beloved family film, “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.” “It’s an invitation to be a part of the scent’s experience, and a way to bridge out-of-home with the power of mobile technology,” Murphy said.
One of the reasons Rare Beauty decided to test the in-person sampling, Murphy explained, is because fragrance notes are often difficult to message through digital marketing alone. “I tell my team every meeting: We have to sample while we sleep,” Murphy said. “We know that [sampling] is the key to purchase, and we’re driving trials through this [activation].”
According to Rare Beauty, the new fragrance features notes of creamy caramel and pistachio, with hints of vanilla and spicy ginger, and dries into an earthy sandalwood. Murphy said the company strategically chose New York City for the billboards for its walkability, which makes stopping to scratch the billboard easier. There are three scratch-and-sniff locations throughout Manhattan, two in Soho and one in the Chelsea neighborhood. “This exclusive sample is a replica of the actual bottle, so it’s not your traditional long card or peel-off that you often see in fragrance,” Murphy said.
Rare Beauty is also working with Ty Haney’s TYB platform on the sampling portion, having worked with the platform on past community activations. “We’re creating a challenge to encourage our communities to head over there to scratch-and-sniff and redeem for a sample,” Murphy said.
The Shopify Shop app has been on a brand partnership spree in the past year, specifically for OOH and geogated activations.
In August 2024, Glossier and Shop app partnered on a geogated campaign to give fans early access to Glossier’s Boy Brow Arch release. The product was available exclusively on the Shop app from August 2 through the 5th via QR posters scattered around select cities like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.
In May, the Shop app partnered with beauty brand Summer Fridays on a geogated OOH experience, allowing fans early access to the brand’s Bronzing and Illuminating Drops. That month, Shop also partnered with Fenty Beauty for an exclusive Fenty Gloss Bomb launch on the Shop app, timed with a Times Square ad.
As brands try to cut through the noise, they’re looking to maximize the potential of each marketing campaign.
Chris Gadek, CEO of AdQuick, said out-of-home is no longer just for building awareness. It can also deliver real-world utility while offering fans surprise-and-delight. “Rare Beauty’s scratch-and-sniff boards are a smart example, letting people actually experience the fragrance before it hits shelves,” Gadek said.
Gadek also pointed to past examples, such as Klarna’s OBIE-winning dog-first campaign. That mural of cartoon pups and over 900 real dog toys drew actual dogs and their owners on the way to a Brooklyn dog park. The QR code led to a curated list of dog toys in Klarna’s app. “These kinds of creative executions that are tactile, sensorial and context-aware show how OOH is evolving from billboard to brand experience,” Gadek said.
As for metrics, Murphy said the company is measuring total samples sent out. But the campaign is also meant to engage Rare’s Gen-Z fans, by giving them a chance to smell the product firsthand. “If we excite the [community], they’re usually thrilled to share it on social,” Murphy said.
Millan said the Rare Beauty collaboration builds on recent OOH collaborations by Shop. More of these types of partnerships are expected as Shopify looks to strengthen its relationship with merchants on the platform. “The geogated samples are a great example of how we’re trying to help brands further that relationship with their customers,” Millan said.