Quick insight: Rare Beauty didn't just advertise its new fragrance in New York City—it let people smell it. By transforming traditional billboards into scratch-and-sniff experiences, the brand brought Rare Eau de Parfum directly to pedestrians and turned a product launch into a sensory experience.
When A Billboard Becomes A Perfume Sample
Fragrance is difficult to sell through a traditional advertisement. A beautiful image can communicate the mood of a perfume, but it cannot actually deliver the scent.
Rare Beauty found a creative way around that limitation.
To introduce its first fragrance, Rare Eau de Parfum, the brand transformed billboards across New York City into interactive scent experiences. Instead of simply looking at the advertisement, pedestrians could scratch specific areas and experience the fragrance for themselves.
The result turned an ordinary advertising surface into something people could physically interact with.
Making Fragrance Impossible To Ignore
The campaign uses scented ink encapsulated in tiny microbubbles printed onto sections of the billboard. When people scratch the surface, the capsules release the fragrance.
This simple interaction changes the role of the billboard.
Instead of telling people what the perfume smells like, Rare Beauty gives them an opportunity to experience it themselves.
For a fragrance launch, that makes the medium part of the product demonstration.
Bringing Nostalgia To New York
The concept also taps into a familiar memory: scratch-and-sniff stickers and perfume samples found in magazines.
Rare Beauty reimagined that nostalgic interaction at a much larger scale, turning a familiar childhood experience into a modern city activation.
The unexpected sight of people stopping to scratch and smell a billboard naturally creates curiosity, making the campaign itself part of the spectacle.
From The Billboard To A Free Sample
Rare Beauty didn't stop at the sensory interaction.
The billboards also featured QR codes that connected the physical experience to a digital sampling opportunity. People near the installations could scan the code and request a free sample of the fragrance.
This creates a clear path from awareness to product trial: see the billboard, interact with the scent, scan the code and experience the product at home.
It is a strong example of how physical advertising can become the starting point for a digital customer journey.
Turning The Streets Into A Fragrance Experience
The campaign appeared in high-traffic areas of Manhattan, including SoHo, Canal Street and the High Line.
These locations gave Rare Beauty access to pedestrians already surrounded by fashion, beauty, culture and tourism.
Instead of asking consumers to visit a store to discover the fragrance, the brand brought the first interaction directly into the streets of New York.
Final Thought
Rare Beauty's scented billboard campaign shows how a familiar advertising format can become something completely different when brands rethink how consumers experience a product.
Instead of simply showing a bottle of perfume, Rare Beauty brought the fragrance itself into the streets of New York.
Sometimes the most memorable advertisement isn't the one people see. It's the one they can actually experience.
Frequently Asked Questions
It is an interactive advertising campaign that transformed New York City billboards into scratch-and-sniff experiences for Rare Eau de Parfum.
Scented ink containing tiny fragrance capsules is printed onto sections of the billboard. Scratching the surface releases the fragrance so pedestrians can smell it.
The campaign appeared in high-traffic Manhattan locations including SoHo, Canal Street and the High Line.
Yes. QR codes connected the physical fragrance experience with a digital sampling opportunity, allowing people to request a free sample.
It turns a passive advertising format into a sensory product demonstration, allowing consumers to experience the fragrance instead of simply seeing an image of it.
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