L’Oréal Professionnel Shake to Shine Montreal & Toronto Launch Event Series

Client

Services

TL;DR

To launch Absolut Repair Molecular Oil, Sundae Creative produced a two-market event series for L’Oréal Professionnel across Montreal and Toronto. The “Shake to Shine” concept blended professional education brunches (B2B) with high-energy influencer cocktail evenings (B2C), uniting salon Pros and top-tier creators through immersive product storytelling. Across both markets, we welcomed 65+ influencers and 46 salon Pros. The events generated 216+ pieces of social content and an estimated 19.79M+ impressions, significantly exceeding the initial 432K impression goal. Challenge: Launch a highly technical innovation in a way that felt experiential, premium, and culturally resonant. Solution: Design dual-format experiences that balanced education, personalization, and visually compelling content moments to drive authentic advocacy.

L’Oréal Professionnel Shake to Shine Montreal & Toronto Launch Event Series

Client

Services

Event Planning & Production

Influencer Marketing

TL;DR

Overview

L’Oréal Professionnel introduced Absolut Repair Molecular Oil as a high-performance innovation within the professional haircare category. The objective was twofold: 1. Deepen relationships and product understanding within the professional salon community. 2. Generate large-scale social awareness and cultural relevance through influencer storytelling. Sundae Creative developed a multi-market event strategy spanning Montreal and Toronto. Each city hosted a daytime Pro brunch focused on education and hands-on discovery, followed by an evening influencer experience centered on sensorial storytelling and elevated hospitality. The goal was to create meaningful, tactile product engagement while driving measurable reach across Instagram and TikTok through organic, creator-led content.

Challenge

Launching a professional-grade product requires balancing technical education with emotional connection. The Absolut Repair Molecular Oil needed to resonate with two distinct audiences: salon professionals seeking efficacy and innovation, and influencers prioritizing experience, aesthetic, and shareability.

Additionally, executing back-to-back events across two cities introduced operational complexity. Venue capacities, staffing logistics, guest flow, and content capture needed to be carefully managed to maintain intimacy while accommodating ambitious attendance targets.

For B2B, ensuring meaningful hands-on product trial without overcrowding was critical. For B2C, the experience needed to feel exclusive yet high-energy, structured yet effortless, all while encouraging organic content creation rather than staged posting.

The overarching challenge was to unify both audiences under one cohesive “Shake to Shine” narrative that translated seamlessly from brunch education to cocktail-driven cultural moment.

Solution

Sundae Creative built the “Shake to Shine” platform around three strategic pillars: education, personalization, and sensorial storytelling.

Dual-Audience Strategy
Each city featured two distinct but connected experiences:

Pro brunch events designed for education, demo moments, and meaningful salon community connection.
Influencer cocktail evenings designed for immersive content creation and brand storytelling.

Experiential Product Integration
The oil’s bi-phase formula inspired signature “Shake to Shine” cocktail moments, reinforcing the product narrative visually and conceptually. Touch-up stations allowed creators to experience real-time shine results, while Pros trialed the product hands-on during brunch.
Personalization & Shareability
A live engraver customized branded martini shakers, creating a tactile takeaway that drove excitement and organic social amplification. Polaroids, step-and-repeat moments, and a light tunnel photo-op in Toronto increased visual impact while preserving authenticity.

Every touchpoint from cocktail colour palettes, to custom signage, was designed to translate the product’s science into a sensory, social-first experience.

Implementation

Execution prioritized seamless guest flow and high-impact visual storytelling across both markets.

In Montreal, the Pro brunch delivered strong engagement through education sessions and hands-on product testing, followed by an influencer evening featuring touch-up stations, curated cocktails, and personalized engraving moments. Despite venue intimacy constraints, thoughtful layout pivots ensured guest comfort and content capture.

In Toronto, refinements from Montreal created an even more streamlined setup. The Pro brunch emphasized live product testing and deeper engagement, while the evening influencer event leveraged a standout light tunnel installation and elevated cocktail program to drive high-volume content creation.

Across both cities, professional photographers and videographers actively facilitated group shots, product integration moments, and candid lifestyle content. Vendors were carefully selected to enhance hospitality, while staffing structures were optimized to maintain smooth check-in and minimize overcrowding.

Post-event, thank-you communications included photography links to encourage continued posting, extending campaign longevity beyond the event window.

Results

The Shake to Shine series delivered strong attendance and exceptional digital performance:

65+ Influencers Attended (100% of Toronto target; 117% of Montreal target)
46 Salon Pros Engaged across both cities
216+ Pieces of Content across Instagram Stories, in-feed posts, and TikTok
19.79M+ Estimated Impressions (vs. 432K initial goal)

Content highlighted touch-up transformations, cocktail storytelling, engraving moments, and immersive photo-op installations, reinforcing both efficacy and aesthetic appeal.

Beyond metrics, the events strengthened brand affinity, increased professional trust, and positioned Absolut Repair Molecular Oil as both scientifically innovative and culturally relevant.