The Art (and the Heart) of the Pop-up Moment
Why just make a quick sale, when you can make a timeless pop-up moment?
We created the Shopper Moment as the logical evolution of the old-school in-store retail experience. The Shopper Moment isn’t about size. It’s about the size of its impact. And there are no clocks ticking during a Shopper Moment; what matters is the weight of the memory it creates. A Shopper Moment is emotional. It’s a conversation. It’s relevant.
We didn’t choose the word “moment” on a whim. There was much deliberating and knife fighting and pizza eating. We wanted the exact word that described what we saw as this new and necessary level of customer interaction; we wanted a word with solid intent. That word was “moment.”
A moment transcends time; it speaks to a shopper interaction that is satisfying, poetic, soulful, and maybe even a little romantic. A Shopper Moment is way better – and way more effective – than a retail experience.
And the ultimate Shopper Moment? The pop-up moment.
Think of the retail pop-up as the material manifestation of the Shopper Moment. It is a physical setting, but it’s also a mind-set. The pop-up is the place where a brand’s digital and in-world personas meld, creating a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. The retail pop-up moment is attitude, amplified.
A Shopper Moment-centric pop-up up must do six things:
- It evokes emotion. The retail pop-up should serve as a connection. An invitation. A provocation. A promise. The tone should be heartfelt, authentic and memory-tapping.
- It reflects meticulous planning. A pop-up moment is a major undertaking where details matter enormously, and the big idea is to seem intimate. Plan for everything to go perfectly, and for everything to blow up. Definitely worry about the small stuff.
- It is driven by a single, measureable objective. To make the pop-up moment resonate – and to see some good ROI – one must have a clear, measureable objective. That objective must be specific and finely honed. Articulate it clearly. And get it accepted across the organization.
- It surprises and delights. The goal is to astonish the shopper; disrupt her routine and astound her. Give her an honest and unexpected interaction that demonstrates you know who she is and what she wants. Make her smile. Or laugh. Or wonder. And give her something to talk about. (And Tweet and Pin and Share and Like and Snap.)
- It features a robust social media component. Give the shopper authentic reasons to care and share. Empower her to get the word out. Build in physical opportunities for selfies and real-time reporting. Reimagine every physical element of the pop-up as a potential stage or backdrop or set or green screen for shopper expression. Strategic, unexpected, creatively integrated social media executions will expand the impact of your pop-up exponentially.
- It is temporary. How can they miss you if you never leave? Just make sure to leave them wanting more. Harness FOMO; the Fear Of Missing Out is powerful. “Limited time only” is a motivating phrase that can get shoppers to buy.
Have any questions? Want to know more?
This information is from “Pop-up or Perish: A Retail Marketing Mandate,” a new webinar from MR Pop-up. In this free session, pop-up experts (along with this guy) share the whys, hows, whens, whos and what-the-heck-happeneds of modern retail pop-up. Learn more here.
