PARIS — The Ordinary has always taken extraordinary approaches to marketing, plus ingredient and pricing transparency. Its new pop-up concept, called The Markup Marché, is no exception.
“As we look at pop-up experiences for The Ordinary as a whole, and the moments of bringing people together, we approach it from the standpoint of community-building, but also fun, immersive experiences that allow us to educate and inform our consumers about what it is that we stand for as a brand,” said Amy Bi, vice president of brand at Deciem, parent company of The Ordinary. “And to do it in unique, disruptive ways.”
Over the past few years the Estée Lauder Cos.-owned brand has hosted pop-ups up in some key cities around the world. The Makeup Marché is the first time a global brand-voice campaign will spring to life in physical retail for The Ordinary.
This will be launched globally in six cities in May: Toronto, London, Paris, São Paulo, Mexico City and Melbourne. Toronto and Paris will open first, on May 7.
The surreal, minimalist pop-ups are to have attributes similar to grocery stores, including shopping baskets, fridges, produce sections, toilet paper, garbage bags and checkout counters.
An “all-natural magical energy-boosting bar” (think banana) goes for $175.90, while an “exotic thirst defying hydration vessel” (a coconut) is $195.50.
At The Markup Marché pop-up created by The Ordinary.
Courtesy of The Ordinary
There will be an area where consumers can create their own exaggerated ingredient description for, say, a lemon. A traditional food scale can show various elements contributing to a product’s often hyped-up price.
Bi said in starting the concept’s ideation, research showed some luxury products are marked up by as much as 700 percent.
“What we’re trying to show is that there is another way,” Bi said. “That you can have efficacious products without that high price point. That’s the overall ethos of The Ordinary.”
In all the pop-ups – except in Toronto – no products will be sold. Visitors are to be gifted branded items, and some can receive a free travel-size product from The Ordinary.
The Markup Marché, according to Bi, is meant to give “perspective to the consumer about what it is that happens in beauty with respect to markups — luxury packaging, marketing fluff — and bring that analogy to something else that we can all relate to, which are items in a grocery store.
“We would find it absurd if we had an avocado priced at $300 simply because there’s flowery language and unique packaging to it,” Bi said. “A similar thought process is often taken in beauty. It ties back to our belief that nobody should pay extra for The Ordinary.”
The brand is also readying its first freestanding store in Paris, where it has numerous pop-ups, drawing lines out the door. The Ordinary revealed before the pandemic that it would have a location in the French capital.
“We’re happy to be moving into Paris now,” said Vanessa Giugovaz, senior director global retail and consumer education at Deciem. “We took our time here, because we wanted to open in a way that felt really authentic to Deciem. Our goal in this location is to offer an experience that we can’t provide anywhere else.”
It includes custom regimens and science-backed education.
The new store, at 40 Rue Vieille du Temple in the Marais district, is slated to open this summer. It will measure around 175 square feet and be the second location for the brand with a very small format.
A rendering of The Ordinary’s freestanding store in Paris that’s due to open this summer.
Courtesy of The Ordinary
The one in New York’s SoHo that is slightly smaller inspired the Paris store, which will carry The Ordinary’s full lineup, save for the Colours Serum Foundations, and an assortment of Niod products. It is the first physical distribution for the latter brand in France.
The Ordinary is already stocked in various retailers in the country, including Sephora, Nocibé, Marionnaud, Galeries Lafayette, Samaritaine and some pharmacies.
“We’re very well-received by both the locals and the tourists,” Giugovaz said.
The Ordinary has about 25 freestanding stores globally, including most recently three openings in Malaysia and one in Los Angeles. Its first European store debuted in Amsterdam in June 2018.
