For a business with nearly 1000 stores all over the world, Lush does some mad stuff.

Recently, my friend Rich Ford, who among many things writes children’s books, asked Lush if he could do a reading of his pancake-themed book on pancake day, in their Brighton store.

And they said yes.

They then offered goodie bags to kids who attended (all free) which included pancake mixes from Sostrene Grene (another massive retailer) and pancake flavoured tea (from a smaller, local company called Bird & Blend).

This was a multi-brand collaboration for an event. And for most retailers, this is big news – and involves a lot of people, and a lot of signing off. 

It involves various calculations and decision-making (Is this on-brand? How do we benefit? Is it OK to host a book reading during normal opening hours?!).

But with Lush, as seems to be the case with everything they do all around the world, from opening hair labs to giving their spaces up to charities, they just did it.

And I think the way Lush approaches community and events offers a really important clue for the future of genuine community engagement.

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