Changing the way the world looks at your brand: Experiential marketing with pop-up containers

Using pop-up shipping containers for marketing

Are you tired of the time-tested models of marketing? Is your current marketing model not giving you enough returns in this hyper-competitive market? Are you standing at the brink of hiring Kim Kardashian to speak about your brand?

There might be another cost-effective way to reach out to your potential customers. If you have been following the recent trends in marketing and advertising, you must have noticed how leading brands have shifted away from land-based marketing models, popular media advertising, and print advertising to experiential models.

These are the event-based marketing methods that help brands reach out right where all the people are.

Who has been acing experiential marketing?

Big brands like Nike and Adidas have already tried experiential marketing in different markets. One of the most notable was Nike’s “risk everything” campaign in New York during the 2014 World Cup.

The layout, surprise, and the relatability of the brand’s presence made the event more memorable than the marketing campaigns of the World Cup’s official sponsor, Adidas. Among all experiential retail and marketing campaigns, the pop-up stores work best for product-oriented companies.

Any brand could think of it as setting up a small version of their shop in the neighborhood of their target customers. That provides a sensory experience that is more personal than activation campaigns inside malls or promotional events with flyers and brochures.

Most pop-up container marketing adventures have shown us that it is possible to sell almost anything to the target customers if you can approach them in the right way. The best advertisement always relies on human emotion to build a connection with the audience.

That is how any product sells, irrespective of brand value and recognition. Shipping container stores have a nostalgic simplicity that makes them your brand’s best instrument for recognition. They have the perfect interior space for setting up a fully functional shop, complete with a POS setup.

In fact, several salons, cafes, tattoo shops and musical instrument companies have resorted to a highly customizable marketing experience with these pop-up stores.

How are pop-up container activation ideas unique?

These are different from mobile marketing trucks and trailers. The latter has limited space and can only support so many products at a time. The managers have to restrict the entry of the customers into smaller trucks for everyone’s safety.

The pop-up shops are the size of a standard shipping container (which is quite massive), but on special request, the marketing company can arrange for bigger containers for your upcoming event.

It is possible to organize large-scale activations with pop up containers since they can support heavy foot traffic with ease.

These engagement marketing methods are impressively cost efficient. The real-estate cost is less significant than hiring a space inside a mall or renting a small shop for a couple of days.

Additionally, since these containers are mobile, you can set up shop in parking lots, empty sidewalks, and spaces outside city centers. During peak seasons, the parking spaces and empty corners around malls become the hot spot for millennial shoppers.

Real estate brokers are always looking forward to making good money by renting out whatever they have. Therefore, convincing them of space in a city is not difficult, especially since your competition has not yet caught up to the idea of experiential marketing.

Why do new brands love the idea of pop-up container activation?

Aside from the factors we have mentioned above, several subtle aspects contribute to the popularity of this experiential marketing technique. After learning about them, even you might fall in love with shipping container activations, so tread with caution –

  1. They are sustainable, pop-up containers were shipping containers, that marketing companies have cleaned up, repainted and pimped up for your marketing dreams. Aside from being inexpensive, these utilize unused containers that people had forgotten about for years. It is one of the most sustainable activation locations that you can take with you wherever you want to.
  2. They are safe, just like the regular shipping containers you have seen. The pop-up containers come with a secure locking system. Once the event is over, you can lock up your inventory inside, go back home, and sleep in peace. Moving the container is the marketing company’s responsibility.
  3. Pop-up containers are personalizable, in 2018, it is not enough to customize things. You must personalize them for the desired effect. Aside from attractive signage, you can add several personal touches to the interiors at amicable pricing. From setting up a POS to offering free haircuts to customers; your pop-up container can do a lot and host a lot of features.
  4. Shipping container stores are easy to set up, depending on your company’s necessities, your pop-up shop could take between three to six weeks. Several restaurants and cafes are opting for container-based models for regular business. These fire-retardant and weatherproof constructions have an external framework. They require provisions for doors, windows, lighting, and appliances that expert marketing and decor teams can set up in weeks.
  5. You don’t have to wait for the shoppers, that’s right! You no longer have to wait for the customers, because you can go to them directly. Whether you are manufacturing sports equipment or you are selling designer, clothes made from organic cotton, you need to find your audience. Once you locate your market in a particular geographic space, all you need to do is point the marketing team towards that direction. Your shipping container pop-up shop will be ready on time.

Pop-up containers are the perfect option for smaller companies, startups, and even large businesses, who are looking for a way to reinvent their brand. They are budget-friendly, customizable, personalizable, easy to set up, and sustainable. There are enough reasons to make you fall in love with shipping container activation ideas, and we have given you five of them. Experiential marketing can radically change the way your customers interact with your brand in-store and outside the store.

Image source: PopShopolis.com

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