When Polite Society’s Jerrod Blandino left his home in Bel-Air this fall to go to the University of Florida, it wasn’t for the football.
Instead, he hit the road with Ulta Beauty & Her Campus for a multi-campus tour, popping up at universities with other buzz-worthy brands.
Together, they’re kicking off the school year by bringing beauty straight to campus with product drops, giveaways and pop-up moments curated just for students.
For Blandino, it was kind of a no-brainer: “I think college campuses are the perfect playground to introduce Polite Society to the next generation of beauty lovers while building lasting connections,” he says. “For this takeover, we joined forces with fellow Ulta Beauty exclusives, highlighting Ulta’s dedication to bringing students fresh, fun and relevant beauty experiences! We’re here to prove that clean beauty can still be loud, fun, and rebellious.”
The response was “beyond anything the brand could have imagined,” Blandino says, with what he describe as lines of students waiting to check out the experience. “I love seeing students posting about the event on social and sharing their love for Polite Society. They were excited to discover Polite Society and all the Ulta Beauty exclusive brands during the activations. There was overall so much hype built around the event. We’re exploring future opportunities in partnership with Ulta Beauty and would love to visit more campuses. Stay tuned!”
For Blandino, these activations are also about sparking a movement—building brand awareness, encouraging trial and creating unforgettable moments that pull students into the Polite Society world. “It’s more than a pop-up; it’s an experience that lives on in their feeds and their makeup bags, always hand-in-hand with our partners at Ulta Beauty.”
Kathleen Moor, head of marketing at Tangle Teezer‘s offers the same sentiment.
“College students are so engaged with what’s buzzy and the best, and they love sharing that with their friends,” Moor says. “They’ve always been eager to spread the word about their favorite products within their social circles, influencing their peers, creating “virality” before that was even a widely used concept or term. In planning Office Hours, we felt it was so important to meet them where they are to get their attention, and we were confident the best place to reach them was on campus (and in our case, at their favorite coffee shop).”
“Our team did an amazing job building interest prior to the event using campus ambassadors, strategically localized press pitches and social media content, and the students showed up in a way that truly blew us away!”
The numbers also back it up: More than 1,400 attendees came through over the four days, with the lines for the pop-up reaching an hour and a half wait time. And Moor says everyone who attended was so excited to be a part of Office Hours—and she has the data.
“Our social channels saw YoY impression growth of +88%, the brand was tagged in 143% more content than the same time last year, and engagement rate on Office Hours-related content far out-performed our average. It was so much fun to see so much love for the brand. We are definitely looking at ways to recreate this on more campuses in the future. It was such a great opportunity to connect with a wide audience to thank loyal fans of the brand (so many attendees told us they’d been introduced to the brand by their parents when they were little and still used our hairbrushes!) and excite those who hadn’t yet heard of Tangle Teezer.”
Moor says the brand saw Office Hours as a truly multifaceted activation. “At its core, it was a way to increase brand awareness, drive product trial of our bestselling product collection, and grow our social audience. It was also a great opportunity to drive sales with custom coupon codes driving to our top retailers and increase brand relevancy by partnering with a group of trendy brands in sweepstakes and contest prizes. After seeing the incredible turnout and response, it could certainly be a strategic lever we pull in future product launch plans.”
