The seven step plan.
A pop-up store or exhibition stand is the perfect opportunity to extend your visual branding. To showcase your brand story, your products and your services in the real world. Anywhere in the world in fact, at a time of your choosing. It’s also a way for digitally native brands to test the retail waters. To experiment, make a standout statement and get talked about. To deepen your relationship with your customers.
Embedded shortened video VS “Asics” case and text:
Heading: ASICS at the Paris Marathon by Van Straaten.
Copy: A landmark event for ASICS to launch its new running shoe. 1,650 m2 pop-up store for three days, set up in just two days by Van Straaten.
Step 1: Start at the beginning
You may have many brilliant ideas about your pop-up store, but who is going to help you realise it? Who is going to build it to your exact and exacting specifications? Who can you rely on to meet your deadline? Which is always too short. Make a shortlist of three companies specialized in this area. Talk to them all. Give them a briefing and see which company proposes the best plan. Our company, Van Straaten, has over 100 years of experience in visual branding, perhaps we can help.
Step 2: Use right thinking
According to studies, 90% of customers turn right when they enter a store. It’s to do with how we think, most people are right-handed and therefore tend to be drawn to the right hand side of any space. So, what to do with this insight? Your “power wall” should be on the right wall. That’s where you should be highlighting premium products, promotions, new merchandise and seasonal goods.
Step 3: Take advantage of all the senses
Seeing is only one sense. You can strengthen a customer’s brand experience through sound, smell, touch and taste. Obvious examples include the smell of freshly baked bread in a bakery. Or the opportunity to sample food products before buying in a food shop. Or instore music that reflects your brand’s values. Less obvious and more creative, offer a unique brand experience. Nike saw an 80% increase in intent to purchase when they added scents in their stores.
Step 4: Create the right atmosphere
Every brand has its own unique look and feel. Create your own unique brand atmosphere. Use iconic images that support the brand values. You can support these images with tablets, touchscreens and interactive displays to get customers interacting with your brand.
Step 5: Tell your story
Your pop-up store or exhibition stand is a dynamic and emotive channel. it’s where the customers can experience your brand story in person. Using colour, design and the way you display your product, you can create something that lives long in the memory.
Step 6: Make it social media-worthy
If your pop-up store is visually unique, customers will want to take pictures of it. They will share these images with their social networks. They literally become influencers advocating your brand. Louis Vuitton opened a travelling pop-up store with limited edition good, which has been shared several million times. The Pop-up store is now a standard tool in the Louis Vuitton marketing mix.
Picture: Louis Vuitton pop-up store. Text: Louis Vuitton went green for its pop-up store in New York. Promoting the new men’s collection. (Source: Forbes.com) – Link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/marioabad/2019/07/11/louis-vuitton-created-a-pop-up-in-nyc-covered-entirely-in-neon-green-for-its-fall-mens-collection/#47c51a172031
Step 7: Whatever you do, do it sustainably
Whether you’re building a pop-up store or exhibition stand, do it sustainably. This can be by getting creative with your displays. For example, using leftover building palettes, or items made from driftwood. Or by simply working with partners who use only 100% sustainable materials. Producing a great store that’s great for the planet, what could be more beautiful than that?
Picture: Van Straaten case – Eurobooth 2017. Text: Van Straaten is one of the most sustainable printing and production companies in the world. Our exhibition stands and pop-up stores are made from reusable aluminium frames. Our production process in 100% CO2 neutral and all productions are 100% PVC free.
These seven steps were provided by Van Straaten, who have over 100 years of experience in visual branding. We produce pop-up stores and exhibition stands all over Europe and the US.
If you would like to know more, contact us
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