It was social media mayhem during the launch of color cosmetics brand Purple Lab on HSN last week.
For starters, a party marking the TV debut of the brand was held at Meet in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood last Thursday night and was attended by 200 people. But it wasn’t your typical launch party. The festivities at Meet were aired live at different times on HSN — via a Skype connection — during an 8 p.m. appearance by Purple Lab founder Karen Robinovitz. The Skype connection allowed HSN viewers to catch a glimpse of the goings on at Meet, thanks to a monitor positioned behind Robinovitz on the HSN set.
Simultaneous to the Meet party-Robinovitz appearance, 25 bloggers across the country (in places like Washington, Texas, Hawaii, California and Wisconsin), who were supplied with Web cams and Purple Lab products, hosted Purple Lab-themed parties of their own. They watched the HSN broadcast, connected to each other’s parties via Skype and discussed and played with the Purple Lab products, a spokeswoman for the brand said.
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Robinovitz’s first appearance on HSN actually took place at 9 a.m. last Thursday. During that day’s 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. telecasts, blogger Temptalia — aka 22-year-old business and law student Christine Mielke — covered the two broadcasts from HSN’s green room in its Saint Petersburg, Fla., studios.
As Mielke was blogging and tweeting away behind the scenes, HSN saw tweets attracting consumers outside of its core audience, according to the Purple Lab spokeswoman. Back at the Meet party, there were four makeup stations, where attendees were given makeovers. There were also 10 computer terminals, on which attendees could make online purchases. (HSN offered a 15 percent off coupon to first-time buyers.)
There were a total of three Skype connections from the Meet party that were displayed on the HSN monitor behind Robinovitz. The first showed the scene at Meet, while the second call showed a partier at Meet applying a Purple Lab lip plumping gloss called Huge Lips Skinny Hips — as Robinovitz discussed it on TV. During the final Skype call, at 8:30 p.m., two party guests gave product testimonials: a blogger, who spoke about a mascara and eyeliner duo called Lashionista Modelista, and a consumer, who talked about a collagen-infused blush called Cheek Implants.
Aside from Huge Lips Skinny Hips ($22), Lashionista Modelista ($26.50) and Cheek Implants ($24), other Purple Lab products featured on HSN included a foundation called Silk Sheets ($28.50), a lip color compact called Luvah ($22.50) and a highlighter and concealer called Luxury Squared ($24.50).
The full Purple Lab debut on HSN comprised five one-hour shows. In addition to the 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. shows on Thursday, there were two shows Friday, at noon and at 7 p.m. The fifth show took place at 2 a.m. Eastern time on Saturday — to tap into a West Coast audience on Friday night.
A total of 19,261 units were sold during the launch, according to industry sources, who estimated that, based on an average price point of $26.21, almost $505,000 in sales was generated.
“HSN has always believed in delivering new products in an innovative and informative way. This philosophy captures Karen Robinovitz and her Purple Lab collection,” said Mindy Grossman, chief executive officer of HSN Inc. “Karen’s passion, background in the beauty category and social media savvy were key components behind the launch of Purple Lab.” Amid the HSN launch hoopla, Purple Lab revealed during the 8 p.m. Thursday show the winner of a recent online model search it conducted with HSN, which began in December and ended earlier this month. The winning model, Jessica Harlow, 20, from New York, was selected via a consumer vote and is scheduled to accompany Robinovitz on-air during Purple Lab’s next HSN appearance, which is slated for April.
Additionally, two more girls from the model search have been picked to appear on future Purple Lab shows on HSN, including one slated for July.
The Purple Lab brand was originally launched at selected independent boutiques in May 2009.