Welcome again to "Rock Your Customers", a place to share some thinking on staging experiences in business. One of my favorite statements regarding marketing continues to be "The Experience is The Marketing" coined in a book called "The Experience Economy- Work is Theatre & Every Business a Stage", by Joe Pine and Jim Gilmore. They provoke businesses in this statement to start creating places either permanent or temporary, physical or virtual, fee based or free--where people can actually experience your goods or services as well as who you (your organization) actually are. These experiences (if compelling enough) will not only grab customers attention but create greater demand for your offerings, and result in customers paying happily for the goods or services your business offers. Let's take a look a closer look at an example of this concept in the real world of business. Have you ever heard of a Pop-Up Experience ?
Defining a Pop-Up Experience
A pop-up space is a venue that is temporary — the space could be a sample sale one day and host a private cocktail party the next evening. Pop-up retail is specifically an idea or mindset that allows a company to create a unique environment that engages their customers, as well as generates a feeling of relevance and interactivity. It can also be for the duration of a peak in demand anticipated to be short.
The trend involves “popping-up” one day, and disappearing the next. These spaces, while small and temporary, can build up buzz by consumer exposure.
The term is most often, yet not exclusively applied to stores offering items of apparel, and intended less to transact profitable sales than to promote demand for the goods and thereby produce profitable business at other locations, or in modes other than walk-in stores. (Paraphrased From Wikipedia)
3 Pop-Ups For You
A Pop-Up Concert
Keith Urban Rocks Penn Station
Since this Blog is titled "Rock Your Customers", it seems fitting to share a pop-up experience related to ROCK - A Country Music Show at a Train Station. Country rock star Keith Urban recently staged a surprise music experience, a 30-minute pop-up show, at New York City's Penn Station, during the middle of the morning rush. He followed up that "FREE SHOW" with two more free gigs, for lucky Amtrak audiences traveling to and from Philadelphia. It was all part of a marketing effort called "Get Closer to Keith" to promote his new album "Get Closer". Urban's goal was to connect on a personal level with his fans and to give something back to them. See Article NY Post
Pop Up Retail Stores -P&G, Toys R Us, Levi Strauss
Do you think it would be a good investment for your business to attract and engage 14,000 visitors in 10 days ? How about hiring 10,000 workers to operate 600 stores during the holiday season ? Check out this article on Pop-Up Retail Stores. Business Week -The Staying Power of Pop-Up Stores,- Here's the bottom line. The big guns of marketing understand the importance of building brand loyalty by connecting with customers through the staging of unique and memorable experiences. When is the last time you had a FREE full CoverGirl makeover or a Head & Shoulders wash & blow dry, or left a store with a free Febreze scented candle ? (Sorry male readers!:)) Christian Charapata, a pop-up veteran and store manager, for one of P&G stores sums it up best when he said, "The women getting her hair colored will remember this the rest of her life." Is there any one interaction your business has with customers that will create a lasting memory?
A Pop-Up Cafe
You don't have to be a major retailer or manufacturer to stage Pop-Up experiences. I recently came across a networking group of creative and innovative women in Albany, New York, who staged a Pop-Up Cafe in a large commercial complex. Their experience was a collaborative Pop-Up, that included a commercial real estate enterprise (Larkin Commercial Properties ), an office coffee company (Prestige Services) , and ( Panera Bread ). There were a few other small businesses that participated. Individuals who worked in the office complex were treated to a free cafe, including high end coffee, baked goods, and fresh fruit, as they entered their office. the pop-up cafe lasted a couple of hours and vanished. The people loved the idea as it was unique and provided a cool atmosphere for these women to start a conversation with potential customers.
A Final Pop
A business stages an experience whenever they engage customers, connecting with them in a personal, memorable way. The Pop-Up Experience examples above, are only the tip of the iceberg of more and more businesses that are redefining marketing by connecting with customers in new and innovative ways. Yes, The Experience is the Marketing. What do you think ?
If you're doing something unique and compelling to connect with customers and want to share in the storytelling, get in touch with me. Until the next time we meet............
Keep Rocking Your Customers !
Bill
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