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Top 10 Best Pop-Ups of 2023

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It’s been a big year here at Food Truck Promotions. With the holidays on the horizon and the new year quickly approaching, we’ve been looking back at all the incredible pop-ups we’ve been a part of in 2023. Time flies when you’re having fun, as they say, and this year has flown by with all of our fun-filled activations. 

To celebrate a wonderful year coming to an end (and to embrace the new chapter that’s about to begin), let’s take a look at some of our favorite pop-ups of 2023.

1. Beis Revolve Festival Ice Cream Truck

What do you get when you combine the Revolve Festival, Wanderlust Creamery’s sherbet, and Beis? A Weekend(er) packed with enough color and fun to be remembered all year long. Our stand-out truck served up custom-hued sherbets, and Beis founders Shay Mitchell and Adrienne Borlongan were there to help keep things vibrant.

2. Gisou Honey Glow Truck

We can’t talk about an event that created serious buzz without talking about our Gisou Honey Glow Truck. Gisou’s honey-infused hair oil had already gone viral, so they decided they wanted to get Los Angeles buzzing over their new lip oil with a three-day event. We wanted to keep honey at the center of the pop-up, so we created a sweet truck complete with buttery yellow visuals, florals, branded beehives, and plenty of sweet treats. 

3. Malin + Goetz SPF Pop-Up

This year, we ushered in the summer season in style with the bright (and we mean bright) orange vintage Citroen we created to promote some of summer’s most essential products: Malin + Goetz’s SPF offerings. The pop-up took the streets of NYC by storm for two days, and we handed out hundreds of SPF samples to help New Yorkers safely soak up the sun.

4. Augustinus Bader Smoothie truck

Augustinus Bader launched a three-day celebration of two major milestones in NYC. The brand called on FTP to help commemorate their fifth anniversary and launch their new spa at The Webster in SoHo. “Bader Blue” helped color the entire event, and everything from our custom-wrapped truck to superfood smoothies (which featured Augustinus Bader’s nutrient-packed supplement, of course) were bright, fun, and colorful.

5. Ulla Johnson x Erewhon E-Tuk

To promote the opening of Ulla Johnson’s first boutique opening in Beverly Hills. We created a custom Ulla Johnson branded E-Tuk, complete with built-in refrigerators and a Beverly Hills-inspired wrap design. Throughout the weekend, the E-Tuk not only generated buzz for the boutique, but it also resulted in Erewhon selling out the healthy and tasty juice.

6. Glossier Cloud Paint Pop-Up

This fun and playful event featured not one, not two, but three matching pink and white, Cloud Paint-inspired vehicles outside the Glossier stores in SoHo, Williamsburg, and West Hollywood. The event was all about the brand’s new, summer-inspired blush shades, Whisp and Soar – so we served up sorbet and gelato in matching hues. The bi-coastal event was a huge hit, and one of our favorite days of the year.

7. Laneige x innisfree “Glow On-The-Go-Tour”

It’s no surprise that when two of K-beauty’s most iconic brands, Laneige and innisfree, came together for a pop-up, the experience was unforgettable. The tour made 12 stops in 9 cities, but the number of “glow-ups” were countless. 

8. La Prairie Luxe Cream Airstream

We put luxury and relaxation on wheels with the custom Luxe Cream Airstream we created for the luxury skincare brand La Prairie Switzerland. This was no ordinary vehicle, either. Rather, it was a full-blown mobile spa that we brought to The Wine Stand at Wölffer Estate Vineyard. Product discovery, skin consultations, and Art of Perfection treatments made for a memorable five-day activation. 

9. Pura's Scent The Season Tour

Pura made NYC, Atlanta, and DC the best-smelling places in America with their week-long event that brought the brand’s signature scents to each city. These pop-ups were all about scents, sensory adventures, and surprises, and guests had the opportunity to sniff and smell their way through the custom truck we designed with scents in mind. 

10. Peach & Lily Pop-Up Bus

Celebrating a brand that gives people glass skin with a glass truck just makes sense — and it’s exactly what we did for Peach & Lily’s five-year anniversary pop-up. The event took place first in LA and then in NYC, and featured free skin consultations, fun merch, and peachy treats.

A Year to Remember

Looking back at these events makes one thing clear — we’ve created some incredible pop-ups over the last 12 months. Nothing makes us happier than knowing we’ve spent the year generating buzz for the brands we love, giving guests one-of-a-kind experiences, and creating activations that have never been seen before. 

As fun as it is to reminisce about the year behind us, we’re even more excited to gear up for the year ahead. 2024 is looking good, and we can’t wait to see what the new year has in store.

Contact us to learn more about our services and how we can help you create the brand experience of a lifetime.

How to Create a Successful Pop-Up Shop In 2022

Experiential Marketing

Creating a pop-up shop is a great way to boost exposure for your business in a new or existing market without breaking the bank.

Pop-up shops give the public a taste of your products or services in a fun, engaging way. But how do you set up a successful pop-up shop? Especially in a world where people love to shop to shop online, how do you pull people out of their pandemic nests and into the real world?

Well, even though it’s true that the last few years have created a world that is less interactive and more digital, look on the bright side: now more than ever, people appreciate a face-to-face, interpersonal interaction with your brand. So, that’s why you should learn how to create a pop-up shop in 2022.   

Importance of Real-Life Experiences

Because people as a whole better understand the value of interpersonal connection now, the whole scenario gave rise to the concept of pop-up shops where short-term, real-life experiencing low-budget shops are set up. These shops encourage people to take part in the latest trends of incoming brands. This helps them feel the real-life experience of these shops set up once every season.

How to Kickstart Your Pop-up Shop?

It’s worth knowing that pop-up shops are also known as flash retail stores. So, to step into creating a pop-up shop, you need to begin with deciding which space to opt for.

Use Temporary Spaces for Long Term Impacts

The answer to how to create a pop-up shop is quite simple and convenient. Rather than approaching a real estate agent right away, look for vacant storefronts that would rent out the space for you at a much lower rate.

Remember that pop-up shops also allow emerging brands to showcase their work and what they’re bringing to the market. So sticking to the idea of setting up a low-budget shop should be kept in mind at all times.

It’s just fine if your pop-up shop looks exactly like a regular store. As long as the goal of the pop-up is fulfilled- showing off your brand- the actual method of finding space is less important.

You can also use plazas or quads for your shop. Bringing a trailer to a field is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to set up a pop-up.

Before you finish your space, make sure to familiarize yourself with all licenses, permits, and insurances you might need in your city. Ensuring proper paperwork will save you from a lot of hassle in the future.

Branding and Awareness

The main idea of setting up a pop-up shop is to connect your customers to the brand. This is only possible if you market your pop-up shop and create hype. People spend crazy amounts of money on selling their brands. Any top-notch brand will go head over heels to increase its brand awareness.

As the saying goes, what is seen is sold – and what is loved, is sold a lot. When customers develop an emotional attachment to the brand, nothing can stop them from coming to you. 

Creating a strong sense of brand character in a temporary pop-up shop can be pretty challenging. Today, digital marketing platforms are as powerful as anything else to help your pop-up shop come to life. The pop-up shop is the body. You need to put the soul into it with your effective marketing strategies. 

The most successful retail shops use digital media to boost awareness. In an increasingly online world, those who adapt are most successful.

Opting for the Influencer Marketing Strategy

One of the most common ways of using digital media to boost a physical pop-up store is opting for the influencer marketing strategy. If you are setting up a mobile pop-up shop, you can look for potential influencer partners. Influencers with an engaging audience can help create awareness for your brand.

Social media platforms can help kickstart significant contributions to your brand awareness. Working with influencers could be a big plus in that aspect. They use platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook to build a network of loyal and engaged shoppers.

PR Packages

Besides working with influencers, you as an organizer can also send something called a PR package. PR packages could be shipped to companies or organizations that may be interested in sharing your story. PR packages tell your story and pitch the pop-up to potential partners. You can also create that necessary buzz and awareness your brand and product needs by pitching to the upcoming flash retail outlet to local news companies.

The Importance of Social Media in Today’s World

To bring in more customers on social media and make the process engaging, you can also give discount offers and giveaway free products on event day.

All these marketing strategies will also enable you to create user-generated content. This means people on social media will do your marketing for you. You never know, you might also grab the attention of a celebrity in town.

Drive New Sales Before the Pop-Up

A common misconception is that pop-up shops are only supposed to boost sales during the event, and that the ultimate goal is brand exposure. While that second part is true, there are actually many ways to create a pop-up shop to boost sales before and after the actual event.

By creating hype for the event itself, you’re already getting noticed by new customers. You can use this to cross-sell things like event-specific items. You can even push your e-commerce numbers while more people are searching your brand name.

Answering Your ‘How to Create a Successful Pop Up Shop in 2022' Question

While a pop-up shop can be a way to reinvigorate your physical retail strategy, the key in how to create a pop-up shop is to make it viral on digital media. Here is a recap of how to create a pop-up shop in 2022:

Use influencers to push your brand and create awareness

Partner with companies or news programs to get the word out

Use the surge in brand interest to cross-sell and boost e-commerce

Nail the pop-up shop by creating a fun, engaging, and sharable experience for attendees

Use information collected at the pop-up to continue marketing to all your new fans

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Flexing Your Marketing Muscles with Wellness Pop-Ups

Experiential Marketing

Gone are the days of crash diets and “lose weight quick” schemes. Health and wellness in the 21st century is a lifestyle and brands are using experiential marketing activations and pop-ups to educate consumers through immersive experiences. 

More and more lifestyle brands are using experiential marketing to shape-up and power-up. But, it takes more than salads and “mocktails” to break away from the pack and go for the gold. From wellness breaks to screen-free zones, here’s how brands and agencies are flexing their experiential marketing muscles with wellness-themed pop-up events.

What it Means to be “Bulletproof”

In 2018, lifestyle brand Bulletproof (widely known for its popular “Bulletproof Coffee” and collagen protein line) opened its first-ever experiential marketing pop-up in SoHo designed to create a rejuvenating recovery space or “human upgrade facility” catered to health-conscious visitors. 

In honor of their specialty coffee made with grass-fed butter, Bulletproof’s pop-up event featured a “Vibe Plate Garden,” where visitors had the opportunity to experience the brand’s vibration recovery plates, activating the brian, muscles, lymphatic system, and bones, while reducing post-exercise recovery time and improving mental acuity and flexibility. 

Attendees were also treated to Bulletproof’s “Oxygen Bar,” providing the benefits of increasing circulation, detoxifying blood, strengthening the immune system, and improved relaxation and sleep, with a variety of “oxygen flavors” including: lavender, eucalyptus, lemon, and peppermint. 

With guided meditation and yoga classes also available, Bulletproof’s experiential marketing activation managed to elevate the brand’s identity, while also garnering celebrity-buzz from attendees like Reality TV maven Bethenny Frankel of “Real Housewives of New York” fame. 

Bringing Experiential Marketing to the Masses

Most experiential marketing campaigns, especially pop-up events, are predominately created by luxury brands and catered to consumers who live in major U.S. cities. That’s a relatively small piece of the marketing pie, when you think about it. So, what about everyone else who doesn’t live in New York or L.A.? Back in January, retailer Kohl’s teamed up with WW (formerly, Weight Watchers) to launch health and wellness pop-ups across the U.S. as part of the weight-loss company’s partnership with Oprah Winfrey and their “Oprah’s 2020 Vision: Your Life in Focus Tour.”

At each pop-up, Kohl’s shoppers were able to relax in a branded lounge space and were treated to special “welcome bags” complete with “Kohl’s Cash,” the ability to shop WW products, speak with a WW wellness coach, and learn more about WW and sign up for a membership. 

And, for select WW members at each stop, styled in a new outfit from Kohl’s and recognized on-stage by Oprah herself, celebrating their transformations. 

Related: Fashion and Experiential Marketing | Experiential Marketing Trends | The Evolution of Experiential Marketing

Fast Food Aid

Ever wish that greasy burger or slice of pizza was actually good for you? Well, Tokyo-based design firm Kaibutsu noticed that young people in the city of Harajuku were indulging a little too much on junk food and teamed up with the Japanese organic food chain Dohtonbori to launch Fast Food Aid.

The pop-up was imagined as a pharmacy/vitamin store offering a variety of supplements, costing visitors only a receipt from a fast food restaurant in exchange for a customized bottle designed to replenish nutrients lost. 

From guilty pleasures like hamburgers, pizza, and ramen, each bottle focused on a particular junk food and came with professional advice about the health issues and risks associated with each food. 

The Future of Wellness Experiential Marketing

Health and wellness has come a long way from the days of “fad diets” and “8-Minute Abs.” Brands now treat the concept as a lifestyle rooted in science, nature, and education and wellness pop-up events have risen in popularity. Last year’s “SXSW Wellness Expo” featured over 170 brands showcasing activations and demonstrations across a 125,000 sq. ft. space. 

Wellness experiential marketing done right has the opportunity to help attendees fully immerse themselves in the world of healthy-living, while leaving a lasting impression on their mind, body, and soul. 

 

 

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Putting Pedal to the Metal with Mobile Showrooms

Experiential Marketing

You have a great brand with great products and services you want to showcase, but you don’t want to feel boxed in. Why limit your pop-up store or branded promotion to one location, when you can expand your reach by hitting the road with mobile showrooms?

Looking for your next pop-up store to be versatile, unique, and able to reach places where consumers shop, work, and play? Mobile showrooms are the perfect experiential marketing activations that drive engagement by taking branded promotions directly to the streets.

Nespresso Mobile Showroom Soho NYC

Taking it to the Streets

Mobile showrooms are changing the experiential marketing landscape and with $600 million spent on brand activations in 2018, pop-up stores have become a major part of brands marketing strategies.

Mobile showrooms offer immersive environments that create multi-sensory experiences for consumers that help incentivise purchases. Last summer, Food Truck Promotions teamed up with Stuart Weitzman to launch the luxury shoe brand’s latest sneaker The Daryl. With a branded mobile showroom parked outside their SoHo location, serving Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream inspired by The Daryl’s color palette, shoppers were incentivized to purchase a pair of the limited-edition kicks with on-the-spot customizing featuring their choice of hand-drawn graphics and AGLIT ITALY shoelaces.

With Stuart Weitzman’s unforgettable activation, they were able to share their brand story, while also treating consumers to a one-of-a-kind and exclusive experience designed to generate numerous brand impressions with media and social media influencers alike. 

Hitting the Road

Mobile showrooms also have the unique ability to take your experiential marketing campaign from coast-to-coast. No longer are brands limited to one space and one location. With a mobile showroom, brands can even time their activation to festivals and events, maximizing their visibility and reach. 

Last year, Food Truck Promotions partnered with Nespresso for a six-week cross-country activation, promoting the brand’s Nordic Limited Edition Coffee. Serving hot and iced coffees from a branded truck, Nespresso traveled to New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Miami, which also coincided with that year’s Art Basel.

Expand Your Reach with Mobile Showrooms

From promoting goods and services to making a splash at an event or just putting a spotlight on your brand, taking your experiential marketing on the road with a mobile showroom is the perfect way to showcase your next pop-up store. 

With effective experiences brought directly to your brand’s target audience, allowing consumers to engage and interact in exclusive ways, but in inclusive environments, Food Truck Promotions takes the concept of the mobile showroom to the next level and beyond with innovative ideas and concepts designed with your brand’s story and essence in mind.

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