Lacoste creates NFT treasure hunt with Christmas campaign

Lacoste, one of Coty’s leading fragrance brands, has launched its latest campaign, with a two-day experiential pop-up and sampling activity at Westfield London on 19 and 20 November.

Dubbed ‘Lacoste Superheroes’, the brand’s first ever augmented reality (AR) out-of-home (OOH) activation features an experiential pop-up with AR and a Lacoste Superhero photo booth, spotlighting participants in real-time on the big screens located around the shopping centre.  

This campaign targets Gen Z (16 to 34-year-olds) who expect more from brands than just a product, such as offering an immersive experience.

Katie Morrison, Planning Account Director, at Zenith, who led the media planning and buying, said: “The lead up to Christmas is a busy time for fragrance campaigns, so we wanted to bring the Lacoste Superhero concept to life and differentiate ourselves from other fragrances by giving an experience back to our consumers, and having a bit of fun which reflects our audiences’ behaviours in the merging of digital and real-life experiences.”

NFTs for Christmas

Through the immersive experience and gamification, Lacoste interacts with consumers in both digital and real life.

When players sign up, they automatically receive two NFTs alongside a virtual wallet. They then launch the game in AR mode and gain access to a virtual map allowing them to scan the area to find a virtual prize box location.

By locating NFT drops on the virtual treasure hunt, participants unlock AR experiences linked to prizes, including vouchers to Boots and The Perfume Shop, Lacoste sampling, gift packs, full sized fragrances and more. The NFTs will be available nationwide. 

The experience lasts till 4 December with a total of 120,000 NFTs up for collection through the AR game which is accessible via QR codes located on Ocean’s Digital Screens across the UK in Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, and Newcastle.

The campaign also includes a full funnel activation of social media, online video, influencer marketing, and retail POS. 

“We are really excited to launch this experiential activation as part of this campaign to lean into the likes and interests of Gen Z,” said Susie Thompson, Media & Communications Senior Director, Coty UKI. 

“The interactive element is an entertaining touchpoint to get everyone involved and to bring Lacoste fragrance to the forefront of everyone’s mind when thinking about Christmas wish lists this holiday season.”

Melanie Blood, Head of Project Management, Ocean Labs said: “This is Ocean’s first tokenised OOH campaign using augmented reality to connect players to our large format screens to win premium fragrance samples and gifts. It’s very shareable, fun, memorable and puts Lacoste’s fragrance collection front of mind and on everyone’s Christmas wish list.”