An article on pop-up stores in the November 15-21 Bloomberg Businessweek got me to thinking about some of the rich ethnographic opportunities they present to researchers.
Beyond including one of the best unintentionally great quotes I’ve seen lately (“This whole notion of temporary retail is here to stay”), the story looked at how the latest iterations of pop-ups have focused on selling experiences not just products. Procter & Gamble’s New York store, for example, had no cash registers because nothing was for sale. Instead visitors could get a makeover from CoverGirl or a shampoo from Head & Shoulders. Levi Strauss opened a “workshop” in a SoHo art gallery at which visitors could rent vintage cameras and sign up for free classes. In the Levi’s case, the goal was to get people to “talk, text and tweet” about their experiences and look at Levi’s in a whole new way.
With the current glut of open retail space at malls and other commercial areas, location options should be plentiful, as should potential store configurations. How about a test kitchen to showcase new meal options? Or an impromptu playland for kids (or adults) to test-drive a line of toys or games? Or a 15-minute wardrobe coaching session?
And the best part is, along with giving consumers a new and different experience (which they will hopefully talk about with friends and relatives), marketers could also use pop-ups as ethnographic goldmines, gleaning a host of valuable ideas for advertising and product development by observing their products – and customers – in action.