On any given walk through London, it seems like there’s a new pop-up store, event or truck announced E-V-E-R-Y, S-I-N-G-L-E, D-A-Y. Brands are quickly latching on to pop-up experiences as a quick way to build intrigue, start social conversation, create time-limited demand and test new products and markets. Beyond that, it gives them a chance to be playful and experiment with the limitations of their brand and the experiences it can deliver.
With the rise of The Experience Economy and traditional consumerism being overshadowed, brands are turning to entertainment to help surround their products and offerings. Live music and entertainment spaces are an especially powerful way for brands to deliver compelling pop-ups — from activations at festivals to events with surprise artists in unique locations, it’s the new way to see and be seen.
Let’s take a deeper look at some of the benefits and success stories of recent pop-ups.
Elizabeth Layne, CMO of Appear Here, specialises in finding temporary spaces for brands. She believes more brands will start looking at retail space as media space, ultimately becoming part of a company’s marketing spend. She says, “Brands are discovering that pop-ups are their best performing brand marketing channel and they’re getting better CPMs than other traditional advertising; they offer much needed flexibility to create bigger experiences and allow brands to be in the right place at the right time.”
In hip and trendy Shoreditch, London’s Boxpark — the world’s first pop up mall, fuses modern street food and local and global brands side-by-side creating a unique shopping and dining destination. It’s entirely constructed out of refitted shipping containers, creating affordable and flexible leases for brands.
READ MORE: Retail Focus: Pop-ups: Sense of Excitement
Taylor Smith, CEO of Blueboard, an employee rewards company says, “Millennials aren’t spending their money on cars, TVs and watches. They’re renting scooters and touring Vietnam, rocking out at music festivals, or hiking Machu Picchu.” It’s no surprise that 88% of Millennials value experiences over material goods (LN Travel Study 2016) and other generations are quickly adopting this mindset as well. From media to spirits to airlines to CPG and everyone in between, brands are rising above beating out their traditional category to a new level of marketing competitiveness.
Considering the growing passion Millennials have for live music — experiential activations at music festivals are a great way for brands to enter the pop up space in a relevant way. At Wireless, V Festival (South) and Creamfields, Live Nation Experiential created a two tier house party made out of shipping containers for Smirnoff. It allowed the brand to showcase and pour new products, whilst festival fans partied the day/night away.
READ MORE: http://www.livenationexperiential.com/smirnoff-house-2016
With pop ups being one hot moment in time, what does that mean for brand loyalty? Have consumers turned fickle and reactive to the flashiest next thing? Is society being taught that new is better than known? The answer is no. According to Facebook Insights, 77% of people are considered to be brand loyal. Pop ups should be considered as peak moments in a long-term engagement strategy to build relationships with their trusted consumers.
READ MORE: Acorn Influence, Why Brand Loyalty is Not Dead
Brands are remiss if they don’t consider the power of pop ups when planning their long-term media strategies. If brand loyalty is all about building long term emotional relationships with consumers — then it might be time to spice things up and get them excited. It might just be time for a pop up.
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