On 25 November, Australian luxury skincare and cosmetics brand Aesop announced a cinema-inspired event. Teaming up with the Power Station of Art Museum in Shanghai during the weekend between 30 November and 1 December, they launched an immersive film screening combined with the extra olfactory sense provided by Aesop products. The is Dustin Hoffman’s 2012 directorial debut: Quartet, based on the West End play of the same name, starring the late great Dame Maggie Smith.
This is a localised part of the brand’s cinema-themed campaign, which is centred around a series, or four acts (screens in Western marketing), of skincare products. The brand also brought an immersive pop-up space to one of its recent new openings, the MixC World Shenzhen store. The space is just outside the ground floor Aesop shop, which is a darkened space that serves as an ad hoc cinema. Visitors can also get a free portion of popcorn to enhance their viewing experience every Friday evening in November and December.
Apart from the pop-up in Shenzhen, Aesop brought cinema and film-inspired decorations, such as film reels and CRT TVs, to all of its stores in Mainland China, except airport locations. The brand also posted a compilation of international store decorations and screenings for the campaign on its official WeChat account. A short film titled “The Soap Service” has also been released globally, including on Chinese social media platforms such as Weibo.
With localised cinephile posts like listicles of recommended films and quotes from films and filmmakers, the campaign is deeply rooted in the arty and cultured “xiaozi” (lit. petite bourgeoisie) cohort. They are not only the cinephiles who go to special screenings and film festivals but also those who care about lifestyle and presumably who Aesop’s campaign is aimed at. The localised campaign takes the cinema-inspired holiday gift box to a specific audience in China.
