SEPHORiA has more than 30 activations developed in partnership with 26 brands from the Sephora portfolio in Brazil
Sephora brought SEPHORiA to Brazil for the first time last weekend with the theme “Beauty Funhouse”. The beauty event was also held in Atlanta, Paris, Shanghai and Dubai and, in Brazil, it arrived in Rio de Janeiro on the 2nd and 3rd of November.
The event, held at Copacabana Palace, brought together brands and industry professionals for a program that included product launches, sensory activations and masterclasses with national and international experts.
Participants had access to more than 30 activations, which were developed in partnership with some brands from Sephora’s portfolio in Brazil, such as Sephora Collection, Sol de Janeiro, Anastasia, Nudestix, Laura Mercier, Rare Beauty, Benefit, Fenty, Nars, Caudalie , Drunk Elephant, Lancôme, Mac, Mari Maria, Too Faced, Rabanne, Carolina Herrera, Authentic Beauty Concept, Jimmy Choo, Braé, Keune, Wella, Shiseido, Real Techniques, Tangle Teezer and Glow Recipe.
Global strategy
The event is part of Sephora’s global strategy to get closer to the public. “It’s an opportunity to fully express the brand and invite people into an immersive experience. It’s also a great hospitality moment for us to invite our customers to experience this world with us,” says Deborah Yeh, director of global marketing at Sephora.
Furthermore, the company sees the novelty as a result of what the Brazilian public expected. “SEPHORiA is the best example to explain what Sephora is, because we have our exclusive brands and we have experience. Brazilians love to understand brands and they love beauty. Bringing SEPHORiA to Brazil is very important, because Brazilians They love social media, so they already knew or saw SEPHORiA in Los Angeles, Atlanta or New York. We knew they were waiting for SEPHORiA in Brazil”, explains Cataldo Domenicis, marketing director at Sephora Brazil.
Differentiation in the market
Brazil promotes different beauty events throughout the year and Sephora seeks to differentiate itself through brands and dynamics. “60% of the total participating brands are exclusive, that is, you can only buy at Sephora. Furthermore, the dynamics of the event are different. We have booths where people can understand the products, the brands. And we also invite brands’ global makeup artists to talk about trends and teach the public”, says Cataldo.
Regionalization of messages
Sephora’s communication follows a hybrid model seeking to localize the brand’s messages. “We have a global platform that is built on belonging and inclusion. The slogan in English is ‘We belong to something beautiful’ and it’s about bringing people together at the end of the day. The essence of the Sephora brand is inclusion, so we have to recognize all the local cultures in which we participate. It is important that we provide a structure, but also give freedom to each of the local markets to find what is relevant to their consumers”, highlights Deborah.
The search for a consistent brand and identity across different countries and continents and that maintains regionalization can be challenging. “When we’re launching a campaign, we want to represent the faces of that local community and that adds more complexity to the work that we do. One of the things we do all the time is try to figure out how we create a global community of our marketers, so we can talk about how we’re really supporting the brand together, but also learning from each other when there’s an interesting best practice, adds Deborah.
Physical and digital experience
Sephora also pursues innovation through customer experience when it comes to e-commerce and the app. “We want the public to have the best experience possible and to be with Sephora at all times, not just when they are in our stores, but also when they want to shop from the comfort of home. Our goal is to make our e-commerce so magical , beautiful, fun and organized like our stores”, points out Anca Marola, global digital director at Sephora.
Furthermore, the company uses technology and global presence to evolve on certain issues. “We want to bring digital to the in-store experience, helping our employees, our beauty consultants with powerful tools, so that they can accompany the customer with the best recommendations. But also with tools that allow the customer to better diagnose skin characteristics and select the right product for him”, says Anca. “Because we are global, we have the possibility of doing a lot of testing and learning in different markets. And that is why for us it is important to preserve the agility and autonomy of each market, because we can learn much faster what is working and then take that learning and scale it”, he adds.
Just like communication, e-commerce and application strategies also have the freedom to think regionally. “Even though we are a global brand, we have the autonomy to carry out all operations locally. We are always paying attention to how Brazilians behave online and, of course, we have to bring all the fun environments we have in stores to our website. We also thought about all the convenience that we know Brazilians seek when purchasing online. For example, express shipping is a convenience that we have just launched, because we know that customers want to receive their order very quickly”, explains Paula Machado, director of operations. Sephora Brasil e-commerce.
Credit: Estúdio Ondina/Sephora Disclosure
