design:retail - March 2018 - 36

style made simple

036

Get Moving

ERIC SAMUEL GREEN
VICE PRESIDENT,
EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Charming Charlie
ericsamuelgreen.com

sustaining brand
awareness are
constant challenges for both
new and seasoned retailers.
Shoppers have more choices
than ever before, including
online stores, and there has
been a huge cultural shift in
how customers make their
purchasing decisions. They
want to be inspired by real
people in real situations sharing their stories and lifestyle,
rather than faceless brands pushing their products
in manufactured environments.
In order to stay relevant, retailers need to get directly in front of their clientele and show potential
customers how their products fit into their lives.
One fun way to do this is to take the show on the
road and test out a mobile pop-up shop.
A pop-up shop itself isn't a novel concept, which
is why I recommend you go mobile. It's exactly as it
sounds-a temporary retail environment that you
can pick up and move at a moment's notice. Mobile
pop-ups provide more benefits than the traditional
format and here's why:

1. BE EXACTLY WHERE YOUR CUSTOMER
NEEDS YOU MOST
Mobile pop-ups allow you to disrupt your customers' daily lives (in a good way) and integrate
yourself into their routines. Let's say you're a cooler
manufacturer like YETI. How great would it be to
showcase your products to consumers at an official
NFL stadium tailgating event? Instead of waiting for
customers to find you, you can go where they are.
This provides a prime opportunity to show how your
product adds value to the activities they're already
doing, thus increasing their chances of buying.

2. BECOME A MOVING BILLBOARD
Once upon a time, traditional advertising like
MARCH 2018

featuring real people and
real stories that speak to
their target audience.

R EAT I NG A N D

DESIGNRETAILONLINE.COM

4. BUILD A MOVING
SHOWROOM

TV or radio ads was the only option if you wanted
to reach customers. But the cost to truly maximize
visibility via these methods is expensive, and the
return on your investment isn't as safe as it may
have been a few years ago. A mobile pop-up is a
great alternative because it works for you 24 hours
a day, unlike a TV commercial that could be missed
if a viewer wasn't watching the right channel at the
right time.
You can use distinctive design and strategic logo
placement to draw attention to your vehicle-and
even prompt people to take and share photos online. Whether it's en route to a location or parked
overnight, your mobile pop-up will be constantly
building brand awareness.

3. CREATE UNIQUE CONTENT
Content is KING, and successful brands are
always finding new ways to tell stories that take
their customers on a memorable journey. A mobile pop-up shop provides the perfect opportunity
to showcase your products in different locations
with unique narratives that you can share both in
real time and on your social channels. Imagine a
sporting goods store that sells products at a rodeo
in Dallas one day and then at a baseball game in
Houston the next. Not only are there a ton of opportunities to engage customers at each event,
but the retailer also can gather authentic content

GLOBALSHOP.ORG

Mobile pop-ups aren't
just a retail store on wheels-
they can also function as a
showroom where people
can interact with your products. In the fashion world,
new brands often have difficulty getting the attention
of editors, and even existing
brands rarely get a chance outside of Fashion Week
to get them engaged. We faced this challenge at
C. Wonder as a new, unknown company, and our
solution was to use our mobile pop-up shop as a
PR showroom.
We parked our van featuring bold graphics
outside Condé Nast and other publishing houses
to give editors a chance to experience the brand.
They loved the convenience, as it didn't interfere with their schedules, and we were able to
engage several hard-to-get editors while they
were in transit between outside meetings. By
placing ourselves directly outside their physical space, we got people excited about our brand
and exponentially increased our chances of being featured.
These days, retailers need to work harder than
ever and get creative to grab the attention of customers. Try hitting the streets with a mobile
pop-up and going to your customer for a change!
ERIC SAMUEL GREEN HAS WORKED WITH TOP BRANDS SUCH AS
C. WONDER, BURBERRY, GAP, COLE HAAN, NEIMAN MARCUS,
LIMITED BRANDS AND THE NORTH FACE. HE CURRENTLY IS THE
EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR FOR CHARMING CHARLIE. HIS
LIFE MISSION IS TO CHANGE THE INTIMIDATION AND STRESS
ASSOCIATED WITH DESIGN, WHICH HE IS DOING THROUGH HIS
NEW BOOK, "STYLE MADE SIMPLE: THE 10 STEPS TO DECORATING
WITH STYLE."

Photo by ERIC SAMUEL GREEN

http://www.ericsamuelgreen.com http://www.DESIGNRETAILONLINE.COM http://www.GLOBALSHOP.ORG

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