Barely a week goes by without news of a pop up launching and the media and consumer fascination doesn’t look like ending soon. For many brands it is an opportunity to experiment and to surprise and that can seem like quite a liberating opportunity for many brands who are constrained by their retail channels or relationships with the consumer.
We have organised and been part of many pop up experiences over the last few years. Some have been for stunt purposes or for design collaborations but the common factor of success has always been to generate media coverage. Create something which the media will find interesting and more often than not, the mechanic will generate consumer excitement through social media channels.
Pop ups can generate news because of their location, timing and content. Get all three of these things right and you will be well on the way to success. Timing and content are easier to get right than location though.
We created a pop up for Moneysupermarket on Oxford Street in the build up to Christmas. It allowed consumers to firstly browse the shops and then come back to Moneysupermarket to compare the prices online – and it proved very successful, delivering coverage on BBC and Sky News. What made it successful though was the location – one of the UK’s most famous shopping streets. The pop up made sense, the context made sense and there was a clear and obvious need for the brand to be there.
One of our clients is a large property company in a desirable and media friendly part of central London. We receive regular approaches from UK and international brands to create pop up opportunities in the area and I would say that we probably turn down approximately 99% of them. Many of the brands are just not suitable or in keeping with the area to allow us to accommodate them – regardless of how creative or newsworthy their presence would be.
Property owners on the whole however are more open to pop ups than ever before. There are many empty retail spaces for which the pop activity will provide an unexpected source of income. Unfortunately many surveyors that represent these properties are traditionally inflexible and can be difficult to deal with! The key is to target landlords that own large estates in key parts of London or the UK which have experience in working in this way.
While Pop ups may feel very short term and low cost, be careful and ensure that everything is costed out properly. We have seen situations when brands have underestimated all the work that needs doing to make a successful pop up. Often, the retail unit that is available will require a good clean and refit as well as the venue dressing which is required to make the experience a memorable one. Don’t forget all the practical issues such as insurance, staffing and most importantly, promotion.
Brands cannot rely on footfall from passing traffic to generate the buzz. If the available pop up was in a prime piece of retail space then it is unlikely to be available in the first place. Brands must create an effective promotional campaign in the build up to and during the pop up activity.