Pop-up shop strategy

Pop-up shops continue to be the most vibrant marketing trend in retailing, bringing new products and new formats to where shoppers work, walk, shop or visit. The strategy is to showcase a brand or a range in a specific place for a specific time, or to test new brands or new products before widespread introduction. Obviously, social media marketing is a must to build buzz and make the most of this limited retail opportunity.

Above, Temple Cycles previews its new range of bespoke steel frame bicycles at Bristol's Harbourside Market, just weeks before the startup opened a pop-up shop for a week at Cheltenham Market. The strategy for introducing the brand via pop-up is to allow buyers to see and experience the product for themselves before placing an order.

Fashion brands are increasingly using pop-ups for or by viral marketing. Marc Jacobs used a "pop-up shop" last year to promote Daisy, a new fragrance. The twist: This was a tweet shop, with no money changing hands, and the location shifting from city to city as the promotion continued.

Restaurants and food brands are using pop-ups to take their products to where the crowds are, such as at Field Day in London's Victoria Park.

The prestigious Olivier Awards is using a pop-up in Covent Garden to promote the awards, present workshops and unroll the red carpet for celebrities.

Where will the next pop-up appear?

Adverts go viral on YouTube

Marketers work hard to help their TV adverts go viral so millions more people will see their brand messages day after day after day.

Why try for viral status? Most of the time, well-established brands want to grab a larger audience and increase awareness of a new product, reinforce brand preference or defend market share. Specific objectives vary from campaign to campaign . . . but sometimes brands get an extra jolt of publicity simply by garnering the most online views in a given time period.

 

So which adverts are the most-viewed?

• At the end of 2012, when YouTube issued a list of the year's 20 most-viewed advert videos, Nike's ode to the world's best footballers topped the list. (Watch it here.) To date, this Nike advert has been viewed more than 20 million times.

• YouTube's 2012 list of the most-viewed adverts in the UK put the Honda Civic's 'Spark TV' ad at the top. (Watch it here.) Compare the 2012 top UK views with the 2011 top views, when T-Mobile's royal wedding advert was the leader.

• The Viral Video Chart maintained by Unruly Media presents a snapshot of the most popular adverts viewed during the previous 24 hours, the previous week, the previous month, the previous year and since the chart started tracking views. (This chart also shows advert views via Facebook and blogs.) 

And don't forget that YouTube has its own reasons for publicising advert viewing statistics. 

Coca-Cola's latest viral campaign

Coca-Cola has just made a "happiness" viral video for the UK market. The US version, introduced in January, became a viral hit right away. Here's the US version:


 
Now compare it with the UK version, which has just been released. What do you think?

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Viewing What's Viral

Have you seen the Viral Video Chart of top 20 ads and commercials, as ranked by Unruly Media? The main part of the page shows the most-watched ads, like the T-Mobile Dance commercial, which has been on the list for months but continues to gain viewers. I also like the section with news about the latest viral campaigns, an increasingly important element in marketing communications.

But how long do we remember today's viral hits? Test yourself: Here's a Times Online listing of the top 10 viral campaigns from mid-2007, which includes Nike's ad for football boots, featuring Ronaldinho.

And here's Campaign's listing of top 10 viral ads of 2008. Do you remember the Pot Noodle "Tipping Pot" ad (pictured above)? Did it change your mind about the brand, encourage you to try it for the first time, remind you how much you like (or don't like the brand) or motivate you to make a repeat purchase? The real test of viral advertising's power is its ability to influence how we think, feel or act toward a brand or product.