This gigantic Clarins bottle took a year to materialise

JCDecaux's Greater China CEO, Stephen Wong, said the display was "in harmonious coherence with the airport ambience".

Behind the scenes, it took a year for various approval processes to be completed as safety issues regarding the "massive structure" were considered, according to JCDecaux's transport unit, which has managed advertising sales for the airport since it opened in 1998.

The structure, deliberately constructed near duty-free point-of-sales locations, is in the shape of the brand's pioneering product in the facial-contouring segment: the Clarins Shaping Facial Lift serum.

Wong said the display is a "genuine magnification" of the product in every aspect "from surface texture to packaging assemblage". To that end, the bottle is made with steel instead of the plastic typically used for large outdoor structures (the actual product bottle is also metallic, although likely aluminium).

In the overall Clarins’ campaign that will run until the end of August, the brand is rewarding passenger engagement by giving free samples to those who post selfies with the display on Facebook, Instagram or WeChat.

"We want to be the first to break the norm and try something new at the busiest airport in Asia," Clarins CEO Philip Shearer said. "We will be the winner. People always forget who is number two." 

The usual airport advertising formats are lightboxes and banners, but those have little "stopping power" in a cluttered airport environment where travellers are mainly concerned with flight timings and gate numbers, added Althea Lee, communication manager for Asia Pacific at Clarins. This installation, in contrast, turns departure dwell times into an interactive and fun experience, she said. 

There are no immediate sales targets, but the aim is to maintain the "upscale" brand image of Clarins and its market-leader position in the contouring serum segment, Lee told Campaign Asia-Pacific.

Source: Beaute Research

Here are some photos of the structure's construction: