How two leading cosmetics brands added that certain personal touch to their high-reach taxi advertising campaigns.

Chantecaille

Botanical skincare and cosmetic specialist Chantecaille recently returned to taxi advertising to help promote their new Lip Cristal collection – every sale of which will see a tree planted in Kenya to help off-set C02 emissions and the effect of climate change on our planet. This ethical message is promoted strongly on both the exterior and interior of their taxis, alongside a beautiful creative that shows polar bears – one of many of Earth’s creatures suffering through climate change – amongst hues inspired by the glacial environment. Quite an unusual angle for a beauty brand to take.

So why do this and why use taxis to promote it? Well in June 2018 Alex and Philippe Chantecaille travelled to the North Pole with The Perfect World Foundation and experienced an intrepid journey into nature and a deep education into the mounting crisis of global warming. They returned from their polar journey committed to find a way to inspire action and change and have used the city-centre reach of their taxi advertising to do so. 

To further promote this great idea (and their new lipstick), Chantecaille harnessed the combined power of the iconic black taxi and social media, by hosting an event at the Savile Club in Mayfair, at which one of their taxis had its interior transformed from practical grey upholstery into a beautiful botanical winter environment. The taxi was on hand to transport VIP guests to and from the event and the unique interior encouraged guests to take to Instagram, to share the beautiful taxi and its environmental message.

M·A·C

Make-up brand M·A·C have hit the streets with a multi-creative SuperSide taxi campaign in London, Manchester and Birmingham. With the aim of dominating the city centres, the brand for all ages, all races and all genders created the #MEETYOURMATTE campaign, focused around three different matte lipstick textures.

For those that don’t know, M·A·C is a proud and prominent supporter of London fashion and when taxi advertising is booked to run concurrently, they often leverage their investment to promote the brand at London Fashion Week.This year was no different and saw M·A·C use two of their taxis for VIP transport during LFW events, providing a bespoke branded service that kept M·A·C front of mind with the social influencers and bloggers enjoying the rides.

To bring the brand to consumers, in addition to the huge audience reach achieved by the taxi campaign, M·A·C were able to harness the unique brand-to-hand opportunity presented by the taxi drivers; our hand-picked ambassador cabbies were able to hand out product samples to female passengers during LFW, allowing them to try the product for themselves, see all the shades on offer and walk away from their taxi ride with a positive brand experience.

Luxury British fashion house Burberry, created a stunning Livery taxi campaign to coincide with a global push for their new house logo, designed by Riccado Tisci.

To build on the promotion of the logo, during London Fashion week Burberry utilised their taxis to showcase the brand on the move and at strategically important locations, such as outside both their Bond Street and Regent Street stores.  The striking livery taxis provided a fantastic photo opportunity for Burberry fans and the passing public. More than this, the taxis were available to transport Burberry customers between their two stores within the hours of 10am – 7pm each day.

Promoting the brand even further, the taxi drivers themselves were provided with Burberry trench coats and polo shirts to wear during the event activity.

The taxis and their Burberry-attired drivers featured across many social media posts, with the hashtag #BurberryRiccardoTisci.

The opening of the new Mulberry flagship store on Regent Street coincided with London Fashion Week this year, so the brand created beautiful wrapped taxis to promote the store and turn heads in the city centre.

On the day of the store opening (also the first day of LFW), the taxis were at the centre of a photoshoot outside the flagship, accompanied by Creative Director, Jonny Coca. Photos where instantly uploaded onto social media sights and encouraged Mulberry followers to catch a taxi to their opening weekend with a complimentary G&T’s also on offer.

Later that evening, Mulberry hosted their launch party for LFW at 193 Piccadilly, attended by a host of journalists and influencers. Key guests were provided a complimentary taxi journey straight from the last fashion show of the day to the party, which became a hit online, after being featured on various social media posts. 

British footwear and accessories retailer Kurt Geiger created a dual-sided SuperSide taxi campaign to roam London’s streets and create a strong brand presence during London Fashion Week 2018. Featuring various styles from the brand’s new collections, a handful of the taxis were on hand to provide VIP transfers between the LFW shows.

Each taxi was allocated to a specific VIP guest, including Iskra Lawrence, Sarah Ann Macklin and Portia Freeman, to name a few. The taxis ensured that guests would reach each show on time and also doubled up as useful storage space for their luggage and goodie bags.

The VIPs were extremely pleased with the generosity of Kurt Geiger, sharing their experiences on social media to thousands of followers.

To encourage Londoners to "Take Pleasure Seriously," Magnum opened the doors of their annual pop-up pleasure store in the hot Summer of 2018.

Located on King's Road, the Magnum Pleasure Store invited guests to indulge their passion for luxury ice cream by creating their very own Magnum. Incorporating a Chef’s table, dipping station and photo-booths, the immersive experience encouraged participants to share their creations online, socially.

Maximising brand presence, Magnum arrange for their five golden wrapped taxis to drive in convoy around specific city-centre areas, creating unique brand stand-out in key locations. The eye-catching taxi turned heads and raised awareness of the nearness of the pop-up stores.

After completing their convoy route, the five golden taxis were used to transport VIP guests from their homes to an exclusive pop-up opening party. Live-streaming key moments and photographing their arrival, the VIP’s were quick to share their exclusive Magnum experience online to their many followers.

L’Occitane booked their first taxi advertising campaign with Ubiquitous to celebrate the up-sizing of their flagship store on Regent Street.

With an abundance of famous faces and social influencers being invited to their flagship opening party, L’Occitane used their eye-catching taxis to ensure that their guests were transported in style.

Each driver was allocated a specific VIP to transport to and from the invite-only party. Once drop-off was completed, the taxis showcased in close proximity to the store, to further raise brand awareness amongst shoppers on Regent Street. When the party was over, each guest was provided a trip home in their branded taxi, and during the ride they were given a L'Occitane product gift bag.

VIP Guests included Amber Le Bon, Sarah Ann Mackin and Vogue Williams, who was also event DJ. With guests truly impressed by L'Occitane’s gesture, the branded taxis were well documented on social media, igniting brand amplification online - in fact the following day, MailOnline featured images of Vogue Williams departing in her taxi.

Continuing to spread the word about their new Regent Street store, L’Occitane dominated the skyline with their very own bright yellow hot air balloon. Strategically placed next to the Tower of London, the balloon was joined by one of the brand's wrapped taxis, filled with product samples, which promotional staff handed out to target consumers.

A further 3 taxis were hired to rank-up nearby, with Promotional Staff offering complimentary trips to the Flagship Store, so that consumers could enjoy the full brand experience. Photo Credit: Paula Beetlestone.

To celebrate the arrival of Texas jewellery brand, Kendra Scott’s at London department store, Selfridges & Co., the brand painted London icons yellow, including the city’s most famous icon, black taxi!

To create brand stand-out and a feel-good experience, a fleet of brightly coloured Kendra Scott taxis were used to pick-up and drop-off the VIPs who were invited to take part in the special events taking place throughout the launch month.

Additionally, leading up to the festive holiday season, Kendra Scott were keen to spread even more bright yellow joy throughout London by gifting their female taxi passengers with a very special present.

Handed out by the trusted drivers of the Kendra Scott taxis, the beautifully packaged gifts included necklaces, rings, bracelets and earrings, with a retail value of between 50.00 and £165.00.

Due to the success of the gifting initiative, the brand repeated their sampling activity to distribute their Spring 2018 jewellery collection, during London Fashion Week.

Polish fashion giant Reserved, debuted their first UK store in conjunction with their brand ambassador, Kate Moss, who took a Reserved branded taxi to and from the event.

In fact, a Reserved fleet of branded taxis was used from 9am – 9pm on event day, undertaking a wide range of brand awareness and promotional activities throughout the celebration; for example, VIP guests were treated to a Reserved taxi chauffeur service to and from the star-studded store opening event on London’s Oxford Street.

The taxi VIPs included supermodels, music icons, bloggers and TV personalities, with Mollie King, Tanya Burr, Reece King, Laura Whitmore, DJ Blonde Ambition and of course Kate Moss all on the guest-list and enjoying a taxi ride.

Drumming up public interest, five of the taxis showcased outside the Flagship Store main entrance, alongside show-stopping dancers, who turned heads and added to the celebratory atmosphere.

As the crowds gathered, eager fans and press were anticipating the arrival legendary Supermodel, Kate Moss. At 12pm, a Reserved taxi pulled up in front of the crowds so that Kate could make a fashionably grand entrance, dressed head to toe in clothing by Reserved.

J Brand’s taxis showcased outside of their London garden party, which celebrated the launch of their newest collection “J BRAND X BELLA FREUD”.

J Brand’s VIPs were picked up in their own Bella Freud branded taxi and driven straight to the entrance of the exclusive event in Notting Hill, where they remained outside, in full public view, until guests were ready to depart.

Additionally, their taxi campaign played an active part role across their social media channels, as fans around the world clicked ‘like’ on posts that included the iconic British vehicle.

Dom Lever & Jess Shears (from ITV2’s hit show, Love Island) took over social media by filming a live Instagram interview in a Missguided taxi, before their Bluewater appearance.

Arriving straight from Love Island, the popular power couple endorsed Missguided by posting a live video interview that was filmed in the back of the taxi on their social media accounts, which attracted thousands to all of the participants sites.

This acted as a fun way to actively interact with fans whilst engaging and promoting the brand across various social media channels. And of course these internet celebrities couldn’t disappear without a quick photoshoot to promote their meet-and-greet appearance later on, at the newest Missguided store in Bluewater Shopping Centre.