Issue #33: Popping up outside of the box
More and more brands are unaffiliated with event organizations, but still activating around them.
Hi everyone! How is it nearly the middle of September already?
Housekeeping 🧹
Yesterday, Ad Age published my piece about how Gen Z thinks about entrepreneurship. You can check it out here.
I met up for coffee last weekend with the lovely Stella Brown of Think with me for a few, and we talked about active consumption vs. passive consumption online. Stella wrote about our conversation in her most recent piece, which you can read here.
zoya of on my mind as of late wrote about brand activations and how we’re living in a Poppi-fied world here. We strolled past Poppi World in Soho over the weekend and it inspired a lot of thoughts on pop-ups (more on that below!).
Alright, let’s get into it.
Popping up outside of the box 📦
I know that everyone and their mother has written about Poppi at this point, but after passing Poppi World last weekend, I wanted to use the healthy-ish soda company as an example of a trend that I’ve noticed in brand marketing: brand activations continue to align with major cultural events and moments, but these activations are increasingly unaffiliated with the official events.
What do I mean by that?
Jake Bell wrote in Who Do You Know? yesterday that, “NYFW is constantly derided as ‘over’ by critics who feel the official schedule and the numerous brand activations have become too commercial.” And it’s true – NYFW has become too commercial, and as a result, some brands are (wisely) choosing to host their events free from an official NYFW partnership.
Brands continue to plan events around the time of NYFW to engage with the cultural moment and reach target audiences. But by hosting independent events, brands have much more freedom than they would if engaged in a partnership. They’re not beholden to NYFW’s co-branding guidelines, schedule, venue limitations, or partnership fees. And while competition with other brand activations persists regardless, independent events can distance brands from potential competition within the NYFW brand space.
It’s a smart way for brands to rally around major moments and engage with audiences, while still maintaining a high level of control.
So how has Poppi done this, specifically?
Rather than sponsoring NYFW and activating in a NYFW-owned space, Poppi activated at an unaffiliated pop-up space in Soho. They still hosted their event in the week around NYFW, they still invited major influencers, and they still curated an incredible opening night event. And they did all of that without a NYFW partnership.
Earlier this year, Poppi did a similar thing at Coachella. While a lot of other brands partner with the festival to host VIP suites or on-site experiences, Poppi hosted influencer Alix Earle at Casa Poppi/CoachEarlea (can someone tell me what the official name of the house was?). They created an incredible bespoke experience for Alix and her friends, driving continuous social content creation throughout the week. Rather than show up next to other brands at the festival, and potentially competing for influencer and audience attention, or pay a hefty sum for a private tent, Coachella activated outside of the literal Coachella confines. And it paid off.
CoachEarlea gave audiences a glimpse of the experiences that Poppi is capable of creating. So when Poppi World was teased on Poppi’s social channels over the past few weeks, I’m not surprised that so many people showed up to experience it firsthand. CoachEarlea was an effective way to build early excitement for Poppi experiences, opening up an opportunity to create a more accessible version for influencers and non-influencers alike at Poppi World.
But what are the benefits of an official NYFW or Coachella partnership or affiliation? Well, the big piece is that you get to use the organization’s logo, which warrants credibility. You also receive access to venues and spaces that are pretty much guaranteed to see high foot traffic. Unaffiliated pop-ups are risky – how do you know people will turn up? You have to invest a lot into the event’s promotion to ensure a high turnout.
But, if you’re a brand like Poppi, with a huge audience, budget, and buzz, then an unaffiliated pop-up makes sense. And it definitely did – with a line of hundreds stretched around the block on Sunday morning, it was clear that the pop-up was a success.
I’m curious to hear when you think brand partnerships make sense, and when brands should explore independent events. Do you have any examples of other successful independent brand events that have popped up around specific cultural moments, like NYFW or Coachella?
Thanks for reading, and see you next week for a fun interview :)
love this!! trying so hard to think of another brand pop up and Poppi is occupying my mind lolol
Living in a poppi world!! Loved this 🤭