Perrier wanted to engage with millennials to amplify Perrier through social-first content created by influential lifestyle and culture social stars, as well as drive household penetration through sampling opportunities, and create an experiential narrative anchored in Perrier's core pillars of art, culture and all things extraordinary.
To achieve this, Perrier broke away from the ordinary and partnered with Refinery29 on the #29Rooms event. They brought together an inspiring cultural event that celebrated art, personal style and self-expression. However, Perrier and Refinery29 wanted to make #29Rooms more than just an event. They wanted to create a fully immersive, visually driven experience built for social sharing. To do this, they leveraged inspiration from style, beauty, wellness, film, culture, editorial narratives and brand moments to inspire visitor participation and consumer content creation. Timed to New York Fashion Week, the all-inclusive event was hosted in a 70,000 square foot warehouse in Brooklyn. The event was a sensory experience that transported social gurus into the extraordinary world of Perrier, surprising and delighting over 10,000 guests over four days.
Leading up to and after the event, the campaign generated a total of 1 billion+ press impressions, 250MM+ social interactions, and over 730,000 mentions of #29Rooms. #29Rooms also reached one in two globally on Instagram. Additionally, the campaign was a massive press success, with coverage from an array outlets, including Vice, Time Out New York, Page Six, and Billboard.
In an effort to drive household penetration, Perrier created an experiential, sampling-led promotion that brought their "Extraordinary" campaign to life for the core audience – "Social Guru" millennials 18-34. This audience is aspirational and creative. They are heavy internet mobile users, with engaged and social mindsets. To keep this target highly engaged, Perrier needed to be disruptive and deliver a unique experience that extended into digital.
Perrier created this experience by partnering with Refinery29 to create the "Beyond the Bubbles" experience at #29Rooms. The activation was fully immersive and built for social sharing by inspiring visitor participation and consumer content creation. Guests were invited to write what makes them extraordinary on an orb and then place the orb in the Perrier pool. Over 8,000 orbs were cast into the pool. To encourage sampling, three brand ambassadors also served Perrier to as guests as they entered Perrier's Beyond the Bubbles room.
To extend the offline experience to the online world, Perrier and Refinery29 leveraged their paid and owned channels to drive awareness around Perrier's Beyond the Bubbles room. Refinery29 partnered with three content creators, Jessi Malay, Tim Bryan, and Serena Goh, on behalf of Perrier to garner more reach across Instagram, as well as drive more awareness for #29Rooms. Perrier was also featured in a custom Refinery29 dedicated e-mail newsletter, along with Perrier and Refinery29 cross-promotion across social channels. Additionally, on Perrier's behalf, Refinery29 created a custom Snapchat filter, which ran over the course of the event. Supporting paid media with real-time content alignment against Brand-relevant editorial and paid social post amplification drove more SOV and reach. The event was also attended by media influencers, garnering media coverage from top-tier outlets such as Vice, Time Out New York, Page Six, and Billboard.
#29Rooms surprised and delighted thousands of guests over the course of four days with an immersive sensory experience that transported guests into the extraordinary world of Perrier.
Through media amplification and influencer social support, Perrier was able to make #29Rooms a fully immersive, visually driven experience that bridged offline and online experiences.
Perrier garnered over 32.8MM press impressions, 180MM+ Instagram impressions, 1.9 million+ views of the custom Snapchat filters, and over 730,000 #29Rooms mentions across Instagram. By leveraging influencers, Perrier was also able to garner 11.7MM earned reach. Additionally, the activation reached one in TWO globally on Instagram, with over 10,000 attendees for the event. This tremendous engagement helped Perrier exceed benchmarks for the #29Rooms, doubling CTR, and achieving an email open rate 5% over Refinery29's benchmarks.
The event also received widespread press coverage, with many news outlets highlighting Perrier's success in inspiring creativity and social sharing:
- AdWeek: "29Rooms, an installation that is full of funky works of art that are designed to inspire creativity – and Instagram posts"
- Observer: "There are near infinite possibilities for gorgeous selfies found around each corner, plus a chance to escape reality for an hour or two inside a tricked-out warehouse of fantastical art."
Ultimately, the #29Rooms event enabled Perrier to reach their millennial target audience through an extraordinary phygital experience that led to equally extraordinary results.
