Rituals Cosmetics UK & IE is set to bring an immersive experience to London’s Covent Garden with its two-day pop-up, designed to offer visitors the chance to experience the beauty of Sakura blossom and celebrate new beginnings. The event will take place from 21-22 April 2023 at 4 Henrietta Street and will be an opportunity for customers to immerse themselves in the brand’s best-selling The Ritual of Sakura Collection, featuring the delicate aromas of cherry blossom and rice milk.
Penny Grivea, Managing Director of Rituals UK & Ireland, said, “We want to help people improve their wellbeing and focus on harmonising their body, mind, and soul. Our immersive experience celebrates the notion of new beginnings, and Springtime is the perfect opportunity to re-prioritize ourselves, reset our routines and look ahead positively towards the next bright chapter. We look forward to welcoming visitors to Celebrate New Beginnings with us!”
The event has been designed and developed by Backlash Creative, offering customers the chance to interact with the Sakura blossom landscape through a WebAR guided tour. Visitors will also have the opportunity to try a variety of products, win prizes, and access advice from brand ambassadors.
Upon arrival, customers will be met by a Rituals ambassador who will introduce them to the space before explaining how the Web AR aspect will work. They’ll be invited to interact with the Sakura blossom landscape, including watching a haiku animate to a blossom and have the chance to win prizes by catching blossoms via their personal device. They’ll also learn the story behind Rituals’ best-selling The Ritual of Sakura Collection.
Throughout the event, customers can purchase products from The Ritual of Sakura Collection and enjoy complimentary hand massages. Those who spend £40 or more will receive a personalised limited edition Rituals tote bag as a gift. There will also be opportunities to win branded products with a ‘spin to win wheel’, including the chance to win a beautifully scented bath, body, home, or gift set prize from The Ritual of Sakura Collection.
Jenny Hernon, Senior Art Director at Backlash, said, “Everyone knows the Rituals stores for their physical Cherry Blossom Trees, so we wanted to bring this key feature to life in a new digital format with an augmented reality blossom experience to celebrate the Ritual of Sakura range. The aim of the physical experience is to keep the whole space as natural and harmonious as possible, so we created the Sakura landscape as well as all the pieces of furniture and display items out of wood and folded paper – the latter also being a nod to the Japanese influence behind the collection.”
Carmen Lai, Account Director at Backlash, added, “The use of augmented reality to create a phygital pop-up experience has allowed us to create a much more fun and immersive experience that drives huge amounts of value for Rituals. The augmented reality experience allows guests to capture and share beautiful animated branded content and offers an interactive gamification element that encourages users to explore and learn more about the collection. As this is a digital experience, it has the added benefit of being able to scale across other Ritual stores to give consumers across the UK and Ireland the chance to experience the immersive promotion.”
Tickets for the London event will be available to purchase via Eventbrite from w/c 3 April 2023, priced at £10 per person, redeemable against £15 worth of The Ritual of Sakura products at the event. Regional events will also be hosted over the same dates within Rituals stores in Dublin’s Grafton Street, Manchester Trafford, Glasgow Buchanan, Liverpool, and London Battersea Power Station.
The event promises to be an oasis of calm and tranquility, with the chance for customers to rejuvenate their mind, body, and soul while celebrating new beginnings.
