RETAIL POP-UPS
general overview of products or a hard push on sales.
As a result, these spaces are fostering greater levels of loyalty, creating a new kind of close-knit community and converting offline interactions into online sales.
“The trap a lot of brands were falling into before was being too retail-driven and not being brand-driven enough,” says Katie Peake, Creative Director at experiential agency model Backlash, which creates events and experiences for beauty brands. “The creative twists were so often getting diluted down because talk of KPIs and the return on investment started creeping in.” Phygital interaction, using in-store technologies to create an exciting and engaging experience for consumers that blends the physical and digital world, has been key to the boom. This is particularly timely when mobile device scanning is the ‘new normal’ behaviour for consumers post-pandemic. “You cannot just be like, ‘well we do X, Y and Z’ products. People are looking for real engagement, as well as a nice look in pop-ups,” says Peake. “They want to be looked after by these brands and given something different to what they would just experience online.”
THE ART OF GAMIFICATION A standout example is Rosie Huntington Whiteley’s make-up line Rose Inc, which held a pop-up in New York in April to celebrate the launch of its Satin Lip Color Rich Refillable Lipstick. Created in collaboration with TH Experiential Agency, it turned the traditional pop-up model on its head by creating a mobile-first experience which matches the brand’s D2C service.
As consumers entered the space, they scanned a QR code which then launched a personalised experience. “They were able to order hospitality, schedule a one-on-one make-up service with the focus they preferred, and could scan to see themselves as part of the campaign using an augmented reality (AR) beauty filter,” explains Falco. “By leveraging mobile technology, we enabled people to feel like they could control the experience.” Using people’s phones as the vehicle to drive engagement worked, with the brand delivering an 87% sales conversion rate, with an additional 68% sitting down for a service.
This is an amazing figure when the average conversion rate for pop-ups is 11.09%, according to stats from personalised shopping experience creator OptiMonk.
“The brand had a tremendous amount of success with this approach, capturing a lot of new customer data and exceeding its retail sales targets,” adds Falco.
Sephora also gamified its The ‘
The trap a lot of brands were falling into before was being too retail-driven and not being brand-driven enough
A-mazing Beauty Adventure pop-up, which took place in the US in August 2021. The beauty retailer turned its physical space into a mobile game, where users collected digital tokens throughout by interacting with the brand at different touch points. “It had sections for different categories – skin care, fragrance, make-up, etc – and visitors collected tokens by giving their opinions, sharing their likes and dislikes,” says Falco. “Once they had collected all of these tokens through the AR game, they could then claim a prize.”
This immediate gratification rewarded visitors for their behaviour, “which is something they could not do at home,” adds Falco.
TAPPING INTO THE EXPERIENTIAL Other beauty companies leant into the immersive, understanding the value this kind of experience can provide for boosting brand awareness. Among the stand-out experiential concepts of the past 12 months is Maison Margiela’s Replica Memory Box pop-up, which took place in London’s Soho in September.
Rose Inc (above) used people’s phones to drive engagement; Sephora’s (left) experiential London pop-up generated interest in the retailer’s permanent store opening
The ten-day activation allowed guests to explore the French brand’s Replica fragrance through eight themed zones, using a mix of scents, sounds and sights to create an interactive space. It hammered home the message that fragrance can invoke powerful memories, with guests given a bespoke memory box to fill up as they moved through the experience. “Visitors were encouraged to invoke a memory through a visual, so there was a Polaroid camera where they could have their picture taken and printed to put in their box,” says Maddie Malone, Research Analyst for Beauty and Personal Care at market research consultancy Mintel. “While in another room, which focused on the olfactory senses, Replica samples were given out for guests to take home.” The pop-up showcased what the brand was about via a memorable
50 January 2023
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