Product-Free Pop Ups

What would a product-free marketing event look like? Better yet, what would it feel like?

Life Coach, the interactive pop-up launched in June 2018 in NYC, created by luxury designer label Coach, is a Coney Island-esque world offering psychic sessions, astrology readings, carnival games, and as many opportunities to look inwards as to post on Instagram. The best part is that there wasn’t a handbag or Selena Gomez poster in sight.

At their highest level, experiential marketing events don’t sell, but facilitate a story. These events are opportunities for consumers to become immersed in
the ideal world which a brand exists within. It’s storytelling in action.

In a time when trust is dying, it’s a golden opportunity for brands to be humble and give something back — and what better way than with a truly memorable experience someone could only encounter because you thought to make it happen? By holding back on the product samples and trials, the audience is more likely to believe that this event really is for them.

Another way to look at it is this: you’re an expert in something. You have access to something your audience doesn’t — don’t you? Use these resources to create an experience only you could create, and you’d be set apart from the competition in the best way possible.

Coach used their financial resources, contacts, and insights to create a multi-sensory, playful and nostalgic event that millennials actually want to participate in, because streetwear parties with free drinks don’t cut it anymore, nor does a sponsored lounge with a branded wall backdrop you can’t crop out of your photo. When designed with the customer really at the centre, experiential marketing is mutually beneficial. We’ve all read the studies on millenials buying experiences instead of stuff, and on the ROI after a positive brand activation.

While this is still a somewhat novel approach, we’re noticing that being generous and creating an experience that is geared at solving problems for your audience, can evoke loyalty and brand love. Time to try something new?