Give ‘em an Experience to Remember

 

Here's a Riddle: What has a bouncy house, a DJ, lots of yellow and is incredibly chic? Why the Coach Tabby Shop pop-up, of course!

Pop-ups are huge right now and is there really any wonder why? Consumers don't just want to see an advertisement; they want to have an experience. As Grazia Magazine says in the article Coach Tabby it’s not just an immersive experience, the Coach Tabby Shop is an “immersive journey into the spirit and creativity of the Tabby bag itself”.

The article talks about what this pop-up brought to the streets of Melbourne. Attendees got the opportunity to jump in an inflatable Tabby bag jumping castle, listen to local DJs and have some fun Tabby purse and Daisy themed treats from the acclaimed Le Yeahllow bakery. They described the pop up as a “playful dream”. The focus of this pop-up was the style evolution of Coach’s classic Tabby bag and an introduction to this season’s daisy print hero bag.  As such the pop-up included an “exclusive journey for shoppers to delve into a specially curated collection of Tabby bags”.

This pop-up is just one in a line up Coach has planned, with others already scheduled to take place in Korea and Taiwan. It’s funny to think of pop-ups doing tours the same way one may view a popstar or band doing a tour, but with the design of Coach’s Tabby Shop giving the perfect photo op for both influencers and social media fans alike word spreads fast about how much people are enjoying the pop-up sparking interest in other countries long before the pop-up arrives at its next location.

 

With so many brands taking advantage of pop ups, why should Coach be any different?

So, I’ll be honest, pop-ups generally aren’t my thing. I do, however, understand the appeal from a marketing perspective. An experience creates deeper meaning for people than just seeing an advertisement in a magazine or watching a model walk down a runway. The sights, the sounds, the smells, everything is going to stick better. The product, the person or the event is going to mean more to you. It will create a memory, hopefully a happy memory. The problem for me with pop-ups is spending hours standing in a line followed by being actively shuffled from one space to the next so the next people in line can also have “the experience”. To me that doesn’t form a happy memory. I didn’t always feel like this though. When I was younger, I remember stumbling upon a pop-up or two and really enjoying them. Maybe it was exactly for that reason. It wasn’t a giant line up, it was a short line up and felt like a bit of a fun secret for me and the other people that happened to be walking by.

Now that I’ve mentioned that I’m not the biggest fan of pop-ups and why, it’s time to mention how Coach solved that problem. For the Coach pop-up you book your experience. It's not just a show up and wait around in a huge line. You register for your time and only so many people can register for each time slot. I love it! It makes complete sense, and it takes away all the aspects of pop-ups that I don't like. It means the experience is not just chock full of pushy people both in line and inside. You know when you're going and you don’t have to waste all that time just standing around. Time is money and time is precious. If it's only about shopping? Instead of waiting in line I'll probably look online and see if I want the item. I don't feel the need to be in a jumpy castle to know if a bag fits my personality, but for all those people who are keen for an immersive experience I hope other brands take a page from Coach’s handbook and consider making their events a little more tailored and a little more organized.

How about you? What are your thoughts on popups? Do you love them? Do you hate them? Have you been to any? And how long are you willing to stand in the line?