Every year, the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix draws ire from racing fans for being too hot and muggy, but Florida’s humid climate proved to be the perfect testing ground for SheaMoisture’s newest frizz-fighting product, Silk Press in a Bottle Prep Cream.
The brand identified the May 2-3 race weekend as the next stop for its Sheacation experiential platform, popping up its Hot Off the Press Newsstand in the Lincoln Road Shopping District to highlight the second edition of its Yes, And magazine that debuted in New York City last June.
This time, the newsstand was redesigned with a bright Miami flair that leaned into tropical colors and greenery. The activation’s theme was “where everything comes freshly pressed: your juice, your news, your smooth silk press.”
Promoting SheaMoisture’s retail partnership with Walmart, co-branded fruit stand baskets were filled with real lemons, limes, oranges, dragon fruit, melons and mangos adorned with custom branded produce stickers, and bananas hung on the inside of the newsstand. SheaMoisture product bottles were displayed in crates, and printed issues of the Yes, And magazine (featuring three different covers), hair tools and bandanas took over the build’s interior and exterior walls.
On the side of the newsstand was The Pressed Parlor, where three live hair styling demos took place each day. Brand ambassadors in “Too Pressed to be Stressed” tank tops distributed full-size samples and swag, like branded fans. Attendees could also relax in a seating area and sip on cold-pressed juices from a local Black-owned business. A color-block mural with the tagline “Silk Press Season Never Ends” was a popular photo spot.
“When we started thinking about bringing [the newsstand] back, it wasn’t about repetition, it was about evolving it. With the launch of Silk Press in a Bottle, the timing felt right to reintroduce the newsstand in a fresh, new way that was more connected to product experience this time around,” says Reema Amin, head of marketing, demand creation at SheaMoisture. “And then Miami during race weekend allowed us to reimagine the newsstand as a beauty pit stop, tied to the energy, not only of the race, but the energy that Miami naturally brings.”
Building Community Around a Flourishing Fandom
The pop-up brought SheaMoisture closer to F1’s growing female fan demographic. F1 and Motorsport Network’s 2025 Global F1 Fan Survey found that women account for three in four new fans. That kind of data inspired the brand to look into activating around the first U.S. race of the F1 season.
“More related to the race, it was aligned with the core principle of Sheacation, which is really around creating access and visibility for Black women in spaces where they haven’t always been represented or centered,” Amin says. “We saw this as an opportunity to show up at a cultural moment and make it feel inclusive, relevant and reflective of our community. We want to ensure that as this is growing, Black women really felt represented and invited into the space from the beginning.”
Before opening the pop-up on both days, 30 to 50 people were already waiting in line, and the footprint ultimately welcomed about 3,500 attendees. All 2,000 swag bags with products and magazines were distributed, along with 1,000 juices and an additional 800 product samples and 750 magazine copies.
Community building was an important pillar of the event, Amin says, adding that a few consumers flew in for the pop-up and fans of the brand who had connected online got to meet one another IRL in Miami.
Revving up Influencer Partnerships
Outside of the newsstand, SheaMoisture was “loud, not subtle” about its multiday presence in Miami with OOH, including murals, wild postings, wrapped Lyft cars on the streets (with in-app rider incentives and product giveaways for Shea car drivers), and a billboard boat that moved through the marina.
The brand engaged a diverse group of beauty content creators, reality TV personalities and micro influencers with several exclusive events that brought Sheacation to life. Hairstylists took care of influencers’ hair at the Silk Press Styling Suite, which was decked out with styling stations, products, branded pillows, magazine displays and mirror selfie moments. The content creators were also treated to room drops.
“If they didn’t have an idea of what they wanted before they came for their styling session, the newest issue of the magazine, with so many silk press styles, was there so they could get inspo,” Amin says. “One of the coolest things in the magazine is that we break down the step-by-step and products of every look. It also has some fun, very nostalgic magazine things like a horoscope tied to our Shea products and ‘what’s in my bag’ from three of our Shea Baes (brand ambassadors).”
The S.S. Press yacht hosted an influencer event on the water, and on race day, SheaMoisture took over a cabana, featuring a sports car wrapped with a Shea Racing Team logo and branded decals—the “premier photo moment” of the weekend, Amin says.
Extending the Story on Social and Beyond
With so many events running concurrently, from the two-day pop-up to the influencer program that spanned Friday through Sunday, capturing and sharing all the action on social media was a big undertaking for the team, with a particular focus on presenting the touchpoints as one cohesive story.
“We had a killer social strategy that really balanced both entertainment and education. It wasn’t just about showing what was happening, but making sure that people understood the product benefit and could still get value even if they weren’t physically there,” says Amin. “We pored over the plan for weeks with this massive spreadsheet where we blocked out what was happening every day hour by hour and what we wanted to capture, while leaving room for that fun, social flexibility.”
The team also wanted to make sure its Miami activations had components that were accessible to consumers at home. A digital version of the magazine is available online, and SheaMoisture partnered with Walmart on a retail promotion and discount for the two weeks following the grand prix weekend for those who wanted to try Silk Press in a Bottle for themselves.
“Overall, it was really about creating that 360-degree ecosystem. Marketing works best when we use all the channels. Experiential is such a fun thing, but you need to make sure that social supports it, out-of-home supports it. We had creator support and retail, and they all worked great from an awareness and action perspective,” Amin says. “We always say, we want to be the girl that you just want to come kick it with. Bring your girls, we’ll bring ours, and let’s have some fun.” (Agencies: The Brandtech Group; Collectively; LaForce; Mirror NYC; WPP)
Photos: Courtesy of SheaMoisture
