NARS' sensual digital chatroom promises ‘Orgasm’ experience

Cosmetics brands NARS has unveiled a sensual digital activation titled “Invitation to Thrill”, to promote the launch of its latest Orgasm blush. Done in collaboration with Access Communications, the activation seeks to bring consumers and fans on an experiential self-exploration ride through chatrooms of the 1990s and 2000s. In return, visitors can expect to experience an "orgasm".

At the start of the chat, consumers are asked – Are you “Orgasm”, or the more intense “Orgasm X”? This personality reflects the intensity of the actual blush shades. Artistry tips on cheek application techniques are also cleverly weaved into the conversation. After the chat ends, a sample will be mailed to the consumers’ home. To close the loop on the activity and drive conversion to sales, included with the sample will be a discount code for your next NARS Blush purchase on sephora.sg or the Sephora Singapore mobile app.

In a conversation with Marketing, Celeste Ng, marketing manager of NARS Cosmetics said that the digital activation is a bold expression of NARS’ modern, audacious, and iconic style. “Known for its provocative shade names, we aim to push boundaries to offer consumers an exclusive experience – something that is uniquely NARS,” she added. Timed with the repromotion of the best-seller Orgasm, this activation was done in the moment to increase brand awareness, deepen loyalty among existing Orgasm fans, and importantly, recruit new consumers. 

The NARS team also partnered up with Havas Media Singapore to fully optimise its media investment. Ahead of the launch, media, influencers and artists were gifted the Orgasm X Collection. The heightened awareness garnered through the XXX CHAT will help make the Orgasm X Collection a success commercially.

The XXX CHAT is currently hosted on NARS newly-launched marketing site (narscosmetics.com.sg). Traffic is driven through the brand’s owned database and social media channels - such as Instagram and Facebook. The brand is also exploring new platforms, such as TikTok for the first time to reach to a wider consumer database. Additionally, NARS also invested in product sampling, with a goal to engage the digital-savvy consumer who has seen it all and lead intuitively to a product sample collection. This led it  to the concept of “sexting”, Ng explained.  

Without giving full details on the amount spent, Ng said that the cost of the digital activation is close to the budget required to build a pop-up at a physical retail space. She added that accelerating in digital is a key priority for the brand, and it is even more so in the new normal as brands have to find innovative ways to pivot and engage with consumers in the comfort (and privacy) of their homes.

The brand also hopes to promote the chat through strong storytelling, in a bid to leave customers with a  “memorable way to learn more about NARS and inspire artistry”.

NARS has been known for breaking boundaries and launching bold, sensual campaigns. Lats year, it rolled out a series of saucy ads on Instagram featuring phallic-shaped lipsticks as part of its #NARSAFTERHOURS which promoted its latest "After Hours" lipstick range. The ads showed a short animation of a melted lipstick solidifying to form the NARS logo, resembling the male anatomy in the process. One of the posts, which said "when the nudes keep you up all night", drew over 984,000 views in two days.

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