Pop-Up Fails: 4 Essential Pitfalls to Avoid


We have talked a lot about the advantages of a well-executed pop-up. A fantastic pop-up is a memorable consumer experience, a buzz generator, and a brand invigorator. But all pop-ups are not created equal. Pop-up fails only fall short -- wasting your time and money or, worse, making a bad rep to your own brand.

With the proliferation of pop-ups around Manhattan at the end of the year, we took the chance to tour a variety of those. What we found ranged from amazing to downright awful. If you could not make it to NYC or did not have an opportunity to do a pop-up excursion, here are a few of the more common pop-up drawbacks we discovered and what you will need to do to prevent them.

Inability to wow = yawn factor

Pop-ups don't always have to be over-the-top (although if you've got the funds for it, by all means, go big), but they still must make a splash.

If you currently have brick-and-mortar shops, creating a pop-up that does not detract from the permanent places isn't enough. Odds are your shop layout is remarkably familiar to your audience -- and, possibly, a bit stale. We have seen brands draw customers in with the promise of exciting pop-ups that, upon walking in, are basically the same as existing stores. That is not a pop-up; it is the opening of a new (albeit temporary) shop design.

If you inform your audience that you are hosting a pop-up, it better have the creativity and innovation of a pop-up. It can not be the same old, same old. The simplest way to do it is to make everything about the experience, something they can not get at one of your regular shops. Your pop-up visitor should walk away with a feeling of uniqueness and excitement.

Lack of goodwill false advertisements

You can not allow this wow factor stand alone. The excitement must expand back to your permanent stores.

Continuity works two ways. First, if you can not efficiently or financially produce a continuity of expertise, do not create a pop-up which deviates too far out of your brand. To put it differently, do not wow your shoppers too much with a pop-up which each and every prospective interaction with the brand fails to live up to. Consumers hate the bait and switch -- experiencing so much enthusiasm in a pop-up but in their neighborhood shop nothing has shifted.

Second, don't allow the finish of your pop-up mark the end of your effort. Pop-ups might be temporary, but they ought to leave lasting impressions and can often direct the story for your permanent locations going forward. You do not need to completely redo your shops. Adopt modest essences in the pop-up: a screen, an experiential jolt, or maybe a fun social media minute.

Inattention to detail = faulty execution

Consumers have strong opinions that could make or break what they think of you -- you are your pop-up. You can do a million things right, but only one mistake and you may risk doom. A flickering light, cluttered inventory, ugly signage -- these are the things which can make or break how customers view you.

Attention to detail on the granular level is absolutely crucial. You have taken your pop-up from a glimmer of an idea to a full size, living, and breathing idea. You don't need to see your pop-up stumble and falter due to something you missed.

Take the time to be certain everything is clean, organized, and on par with your brand. I like to think about it when it comes to cooking competitions. You may have a killer idea for a recipe, but if you overcook the food or add a lot of salt, you are sent home. Every ingredient should work -- and they should work together.

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Improper promotion = important no shows

You have spent months putting together a perfectly executed pop-up -- every shop detail is accounted for, each duck is in a row. Opening day comes, and nobody shows up.

What is the point of spending money on an exciting installment if nobody is there to gratify? It is like throwing bucks down the drain. Frequently, the media is the message (also!) .

Your pop-up plan should include a communications plan. Social posts, email campaigns, news articles -- pull out the stops to ensure folks know about the pop-up and are incentivized to appear. And don't forget shop windows both to tease the opening and to reel people in as soon as you launch. Your windows can be a portion of your hardest-working assets. It's simple for customers to shop online or just walk past. The onus is on you to excite them enough to get them into your store.


Will Digital Personalization be the Best Retail Trend of 2019?


In 2019, we've got more options than ever before. And maybe that is a terrible thing. Or... maybe not. It depends if the options lead to purposeful and true digital personalization.

See for yourself: if girls search for make-up concealer on Amazon, they will return over 10,000 (!) Results -- but that one of those thousands matches what they need -- their precise, unique complexion? In 2019, consumers are not looking for more goods ("more" is overpowering ). Instead, they are on the search for something private.

The push for electronic personalization should come as no surprise. As brands continue to fight back against the tide of e-commerce, in-store, electronic personalization and superior customer service are strong keys to success. Plus, younger shoppers, particularly those in Gen Z, expect more personalized offerings. After all, if music and video streaming apps can deliver customized playlists, why can not their favorite athletic shoe manufacturer or restaurant offer the identical level of customization?

73% of customers prefer retailers who tailor the shopping experience to fulfill personal preferences. And the brands that provide? Well, chances are they will come out on top in 2019 -- if they are not winning market share currently.

Beauty manufacturers are leading the charge

Consider Fenty Beauty. Founded by celebrity musician and style icon Rihanna, Fenty Beauty disrupted the market in 2017 as it launched its revolutionary brand platform: make beauty products more private.

The concept is simple enough, but only a couple of decades back, it was revolutionary. Before Fenty Beauty came onto the scene, many firms offered fewer than 20 shades of one product (and of these 20, more than half will veer towards the lighter end of the spectrum, neglecting darker complexions). Rihanna and her staff demonstrated an acute comprehension of this oversight. They developed an inclusive brand, starting its signature base product in a whopping 40 shades. Additionally, they leveraged Sephora's advanced Color IQ instrument to make it easier for clients to locate their exact skin tone. Fenty Beauty's approach was an immediate success. Before the official launch, the brand earned its status as an industry game-changer, garnering praise from cosmetics fans and celebrities alike. And in only 40 days, the business raked in over $100 million in earnings .

Immediately, shoppers felt a romantic connection to the brand's digital personalization. After using the brand's base, Krystal Robinson, a young woman with albinism, composed "I felt that ultimately, being myself was worth it...It really means that [Rihanna] not only made a diversity of sunglasses for many women of colour, but she brought us together."

As a result of Fenty Beauty, 40 has become the magical numberfor makeup shades: many different brands, such as Dior, have followed suit. Rihanna's lineup sells both in-store, at Sephora (where shoppers can easily find their perfect colour match...more on that in a minute ), and on the internet.

Sephora delivers digitally personalized adventures in-store

Needless to say, personalization is old hat for Sephora. Shoppers rank the international attractiveness franchise first for providing a personalized shopping experience, over Walmart and Nordstrom -- and these results make sense, given the brand's longstanding commitment to curating a winning customer experience.

For starters, Sephora, like Fenty Beauty, recognized that buying cosmetics is not always straightforward. To assist, they developed tools to make the experience more unique and individual -- beginning with Color IQ. Produced in partnership with the Pantone Color Institute, the Color IQ apparatus can match a shopper's complexion into a 4-character color code. For this, she can quickly pinpoint which products will work for her, making the buying experience simple (and enjoyable ).

Johanna Marcus, Sephora innovation Laboratory's senior manager, summed up Color IQ's worth in a 2016 interview:"By allowing our clients to learn, we are allowing for both higher conversion and deeper brand loyalty... Color IQ answers a big question: what is the ideal shade for me? There are thousands of colors on the market, so we narrowed down that world to make things simpler," she said.

A shopper's information saves to her Beauty Insider profile, Sephora's free rewards profile. In this way, every time she comes into shop, sales partners will instantly know which products work for her skin, helping make the whole process more individual.

Making health personal

Needless to say, beauty brands are not alone in their pursuit of a more personalized experience. Require Care/of, the trendy wellness brand which provides personalized packets of daily vitamins to client doorsteps. Launched in 2016, Care/of capitalizes on personalization at every level -- particularly when it comes to advertising.

First, the website prompts visitors to have a brief online quiz to find out more about what they want and need from their daily vitamins. On the way, the quiz gives people more information on the benefits of taking certain pills -- such as vitamin B12, which will help you stay awake, or elderberry, which helps with digestion -- including an excess dose of fun learning into the procedure.

While their e-commerce experience is high-level, Care/of packaging plays a critical part in the provider's success. Monthly, a box of personalized packets arrives on your doorstep; the vibrant box includes a pop-out tab which allows you easily dispense one packet per day. And the packets themselves well, they take the cake. On each, a personalized greeting is published, in addition to instructions for dosage. These uniquecustomizations change the experience of carrying your everyday vitamin and spark loyalty.

While Care/of is a strictly ecommerce-only brand, its customization genius readily translates offline. With consumer's enthusiasm for health for an all-time high, a company which provides in-store vitamin personalization options -- a station where advisers create custom bottles of daily supplements, for example -- would like instant success.

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Blending technology with in-store support

Personalization doesn't simply have to come in the kind of clever packaging. Electronics merchant Best Buy chooses to take personalization to another level with its multi-channel, mixing digital solutions with in-store shopping to make a holistic, high-tech encounter. The Best Purchase mobile app recognizes when clients enter among its brick-and-mortar locations and switches into"local shop" mode. This setting gives users insight into the store's stock, cross-referencing the user's search history to give a personalized interface. Additionally, the app has an"On My Way" attribute, which shoppers can use to allow store partners know they are en route to pick up an order. Best Buy executives expect these elements will give clients a more holistic, positive shopping experience.

According to Best Buy's Chief Digital Officer Bala Subramanian, technology is important to facilitating a more personalized in-store encounter. "We want to get obsessed about the client and the customer experience and making sure the technology works for them," states Subramanian. "So what type of services could we really bring to bear, together with the goods, so that we're providing solutions to clients and we are making the technology work for them?"

Adding personalized value to retail

As advanced as Best Buy's app could be, Nordstrom's hi-tech tech inventions may take the prize. The shop's flagship Manhattan men's shop , which opened last spring, brings electronic personalization to another level with fashion-forward technology. From the match section, shoppers can attempt sports coats and tuxedos almost: their life size avatar is projected on the screen, decked out in different garments.

For shoppers who prefer to try on clothes the old-fashioned manner, Nordstrom lets you book a product online. When you arrive in the shop, your items will be waiting in a dressing room, complete with your name on the door. The fun does not stop there, though: in one corner, a large embroidery station offers shoppers the opportunity to digitally customize their Levis jeans.

Nordstrom executives see technology as crucial to heightening the client's experience -- provided that conventional service practices are already in play. "If we do not get (customer support ) right, no amount of technology or whiz-bang features will be sufficient," said Ken Worzel, the brand's Chief Digital Officer, in an interview with Fortune.

For younger shoppers, part of the appeal for personalization comes from a desire to possess something unique -- whether it is a pair of jeans or a one-of-a-kind encounter. When brands provide, they induce loyalty: 45 percent of shoppers say they are likely to stay loyal to shops that foster a personalized link.

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