Two brands. Two days. An in-store activation at Kiehl's Since 1851 in New York City, produced end-to-end by THKT Studios. Here is how it came together.
THE BRIEF
GINSIX came to us with three clear goals. Make the Kiehl's store feel more alive, warm, and inviting. Introduce GINSIX to a new audience in a natural, lifestyle-driven way. And bring steady energy and movement into the space across two full days.
The activation needed to do two things at once: give Kiehl's a culturally credible moment in their own space, and give GINSIX a platform that put their brand in front of the right people without it feeling forced. A partnership activation is harder to execute well than a solo one. The risk is that it reads as two brands awkwardly sharing a room rather than one cohesive experience.
Getting that balance right was the core creative problem.
THE CONCEPT
We approached this as an atmosphere project, not a branding exercise. Rather than filling the store with GINSIX signage or building a loud pop-up moment, we focused on how the space felt, how it sounded, and how people moved through it. The idea was to make visitors feel good about being there, and let both brands benefit from that feeling naturally.
Both brands needed to feel like they belonged in the same space without one overshadowing the other. The concept had to have a reason for being that was bigger than either brand on its own, and the answer was the experience itself.
"The experience would not have made sense without both brands in it. That is what made it an activation rather than a co-sponsorship."
THE BUILD
THKT Studios handled the full setup inside Kiehl's Since 1851 in New York City. That meant designing the overall flow and atmosphere of the activation, curating the music across both days to guide the mood and pace, managing promotion before the event, and supporting the experience on the ground while it was live.
The music programming was the backbone of the whole thing. Sound shapes how a space feels more than almost anything else, and getting the energy right across two full days, morning to close, is genuinely hard to do. We built the playlists so the room had a consistent feel without ever becoming background noise.
The visuals were intentionally subtle. This was an in-store environment, so we kept the production clean and worked with the existing space rather than against it. The goal was a store that felt elevated and alive, not a pop-up that happened to be inside a store.
THE FOOT TRAFFIC
Around 900 people came through the store across the two days. That is not a ticketed guest list, that is real foot traffic walking into a retail environment and choosing to stay. Visitors spent more time in the space, explored more of the store, and engaged with the atmosphere we built around the activation.
That kind of dwell time is what brands actually want from an in-store activation. Not a photo opportunity and a quick exit, but people genuinely present in the space and associating that good feeling with the brands that made it happen. That was the goal, and that is what we saw.
WHAT BOTH BRANDS WALKED AWAY WITH
Kiehl's got two days of genuine energy in their store and a clear signal that the right activation concept, executed well, pulls people in and keeps them there. GINSIX got a brand introduction that felt natural and community-aligned, not like a paid placement dropped into someone else's space.
- Experience and production design — full setup, flow, and atmosphere crafted for the Kiehl's store environment
- Music programming — curated across both days to guide the energy and keep the pace right from open to close
- Promotion and on-site support — handled pre-activation promotion and managed the experience on the ground while it was live
- Brand positioning for GINSIX — introduced to a new, culturally relevant audience in a lifestyle-led setting that aligned with both brands
WHAT WE LEARNED
The biggest takeaway from this project is that experience beats visibility every time. The brands that get the most out of activations are the ones that focus on how the room feels, not just how much of their logo is in it. When you get the atmosphere right, people stay longer, engage more, and associate that feeling with your brand without being told to.
Sound design, in particular, is underused as a tool in brand activations. Music programming is not a nice-to-have. It is the thing that sets the energy for everything else, and most activations treat it as an afterthought. Getting it right from the start changes the whole room.
The Ginsix x Kiehl's activation was one of the first projects THKT Studios produced in New York City. It was the proof of concept: that a lean, founder-led studio can build the kind of experience that larger agencies charge significantly more to produce, without the overhead and without losing the creative thread in the process.
If you are planning a brand activation or partnership activation in New York City, read our full brand activation planning guide or send us your brief directly. We respond within 24 hours.