The Amika Smooth Over Tour – Unfriend Fizz

Temperatures rise as spring turns to summer, and in many parts of the United States, so does the humidity. For consumers whose hair is curly, wavy, or any combination thereof, humidity is the enemy — the arch-nemesis of sleek hairstyles, the bff of frizz and flyaways.

But where some see a seasonal hair styling disaster, beauty brand Amika and Promobile saw an opportunity. Designed to tame frizz by as much as three-fourths, lasting for up to 72 hours, Amika’s Smooth Over treatment offers time-released benefits that have to be experienced to be believed — so the brand set about distributing its newest anti-frizz product to as many consumers as possible.

The Objective

Create an engaging, sustainable, and scalable mobile sampling tour designed to generate awareness and distribute the new Smooth Over treatment.

The Strategy

Share the perfect hair routine through a mobile pop-up shop that traveled to four of the muggiest U.S. cities.

Amika’s pop-up targeted consumers in four famously humid American cities — Nashville, Austin, Houston, and Miami — to promote its Smooth Over hair treatment. Custom-designed for the brand and the product, the Amika “frizz mobile” demonstrated a key principle behind the success of mobile pop-ups: “ how versatile vehicles can be as an event venue—and without skipping all the tech, touch points, and Instagram-worthy moments eventgoers know and love” (bizbash.com).

At each stop, knowledgeable frizz experts (brand ambassadors) entertained and engaged visitors through interactive moments, generous product sampling, and thoughtful, personalized education to highlight the brand’s core differentiators.

The project began with identifying the best cities for the pop-up, then finding locations within those cities with especially high foot traffic. A plus in favor of some locations: proximity to Sephora, which carries other Amika products.

Meanwhile, Promobile worked with its mobile activation experts to create a custom glass truck with a design that was both eye-catching and aligned with Amika’s brand identity and look. The truck was designed to offer an indoor and outdoor experience and elegant-yet-approachable ambiance with plenty of interactive, social media-ready moments. Teams of brand ambassadors were hired and trained on product talking points and brand differentiators.

Finally, savvy public relations work stirred up buzz for the anti-frizz treatment, both online and on the ground, to build both anticipation and curiosity.

Over the course of eight days, Amika’s frizz mobile covered some 4,300 miles and distributed over 10,000 product samples, which included both Smooth Over and shampoo/conditioner combos. The pop-up also held contests, which gave away more than 200 prizes. The brand also collected over 2,000 email addresses, creating both an audience for future events and a target group for news about future Amika offerings.

Promobile Marketing is a dynamic experiential marketing agency based in New York City. For over a decade, Promobile Marketing has collaborated with a range of brands—from budding startups to major CPG brands—on immersive marketing campaigns. Get in touch to discuss your next project.