The Promo Pro: Edna Hall, Senior Account Manager
The Distributor: Harper + Scott (asi/220052)
The End-Client: Ralph Lauren
The Job: Create a custom zero-waste mailer with a luxe feel to promote a new sustainability-themed unisex fragrance. The target audience was fashion and beauty influencers.
Order Size: Five figures

STEP 1

Live Your Values

At Harper + Scott, ethics aren’t optional.

The New York City-based distributorship wants to grow sales and craft creative, results-producing promo campaigns for clients, but it works to do so while doing operating in accordance with its values.

That’s a key reason why the firm earned B Corp Certification, a designation that a business meets high standards of verified performance, accountability and transparency on factors that range from employee benefits and charitable giving to sustainability.

Living its values in that way has made Harper + Scott a more attractive partner to like-minded clients – a dynamic that came into play when Ralph Lauren was looking to launch a new unisex, vegan fragrance. The brand’s public relations agency and parent company L'Oréal, both of which Harper + Scott had previous business relationships with, saw the distributorship as an excellent collaborator to help make the scent’s debut a success.  

“The launch centered around Earth Day, so sustainability was truly at the forefront of this project,” explains Edna Hall, the Harper + Scott senior account manager who led the project. “With Harper + Scott being a Certified B Corp, this was a perfect partnership.”

STEP 2

Understand the Client’s Values, Goals & Audience

Once Hall’s foot was in the door, she took a consultative approach and learned the ins and outs of the campaign. Ralph Lauren was gearing up to come to market with POLO EARTH EAU DE TOILETTE, a 97% natural-origin vegan fragrance made without sulfates, phthalates, artificial preservatives or colorants that features seven sustainably sourced ingredients, including bergamot heart, diva lavender, green mandarin, Turkish rose, sage heart, Haitian vetiver, and Bourbon geranium.

A branded insert in the mailer was made of seed paper and featured information about the POLO EARTH scent.

Ralph Lauren wanted to spark excitement about the new fragrance with the help of influencers in the world of fashion and beauty. To get influencers on board, the brand desired to send them a complementary bottle of the fragrance in a mailer.

That’s where Hall came in.

It couldn’t just be any mailer. The hoped-for unique solution had to convey the eco-minded ethos that both informed the scent’s creation and that propels Ralph Lauren’s sustainability efforts more broadly. Says Hall: “The objective was to create a zero-waste mailer that felt luxe and impactful.”

STEP 3

Move Quickly

With only a month to bring the project to fruition, Hall had no time to waste. “We needed to deliver at least a week or two before Earth Day to be relevant,” she explains.

Fortunately, Hall and the team at Harper + Scott are adept at working on a time crunch.

To keep things moving, Hall communicated clearly and consistently with the client about what milestones they needed to meet in order for the project to deliver on time.

Hall, of course, took care of things on her end, too. Given the distributorship’s sustainability focus, she knew where to go to source the products, materials and decoration that would meet Ralph Lauren’s green-themed and design parameters – a knowledge that helped speed the process. Still, she had to deftly manage the particulars through to completion – something she and the Harper + Scott team managed with aplomb. “There was close work with the client, collaboration internally, and leveraging our relationships with our vendors to keep things on track,” she shares.

STEP 4

Deliver a Solution the Client Loves

Ultimately, Hall spearheaded the creation of a custom mailer box – made from recyclable materials – in which the tray was molded to fit the client’s fragrance bottle perfectly.

The box’s exterior was intentionally nondescript, but once opened it revealed the fragrance and an underlid featuring a full-color graphic of foliage with POLO EARTH branding, along with details about how Ralph Lauren was planting one tree for every 100ml and 200ml refill of the fragrance purchased in partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation. There was also information about Arbor Day Foundation on the underlid. A QR code printed on the tray base linked to a call-to-action for influencers and more educational information.

The mailer was made of recyclable materials and featured a tray that was custom-molded to fit the client’s fragrance.

Additionally, the mailer included a POLO EARTH-branded insert card made from seed paper. It featured details about the fragrance, as well as instructions on how to plant the paper. 

The packages, which Harper + Scott kitted and shipped to a location for subsequent distribution to influencers, managed to communicate the earth-conscious essence of the fragrance and have a high-end feel.

“When people think ‘earth-friendly,’ they might think the look can’t feel elevated, but through different decoration methods, like water-based or soy-based inks for example, we can create a presentation that’s luxe,” Hall explains.

STEP 5

Build the Relationship

Hall reports that the mailer was a hit with influencers and the client was well-pleased. “This campaign created a buzz within L'Oréal and, as a result, we’re now partnering with new teams and departments,” she shares. “This POLO EARTH project has opened the door to others.”

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