Snap’s Partner Summit event in June, in which the company shows off its latest product updates and media partnerships, produced such a flurry of new innovations.

Some of Snapchat’s newer features, like the machine-learning based SnapML, are already being used by brands like Gucci for augmented reality try-on features for clothing products. Not a bad innovation for brands whose brick-and-mortar operations have been shuttered by a global pandemic.

Others, such as the Story and Lens formats (see Adidas and Tommy Hilfiger), are now so recognisable that you may have seen similar versions launched on other social media products.

In any case, Snapchat remains an important source of creativity in digital media.

1 Paramount Pictures ‘Sonic The Hedgehog’ by Wavemaker

To promote the release of the Sonic the Hedgehog movie in January, the eponymous blue hedgehog came to life in digital form on a number of landmarks across the UK, including Tower Bridge and the Natural History Museum, using augmented reality.

The creative even portrays Sonic as collecting rings, a major objective of the video game on which the character is based. Snapchat said the campaign had more than 27 million impressions with a unique reach of 10.5 million.

2 Lego ‘And I think to myself’ by Engine Mischief, The Producers and Initiative Junior

Lego is running a Christmas pop-up in London’s Covent Garden this month that features a variety of brick-built installations to bring to life its “And I think to myself” campaign, inspired by the lyrics in its Christmas creative.

Snapchat users can access a karaoke AR lens that will not only help them learn the lyrics to the song but be able to see the lyrics like “I see sausage trees”, “My horse is blue” and “Don’t seem to give a duck”.

3 Adidas ‘#HomeTeam’ by Adidas

To help people stay active while staying at home, the sportswear giant launched a series of filters and an AR Lens to encourage Snapchatters to stay home and to offer them creative, fit and fun ways to celebrate how they were staying active, with the people closest to them. Snapchat said it was viewed more than 14 million times.

4 Public Health England ‘Better Health – Every Mind Matters’ by OmniGov and Wavemaker

This campaign, which ran from September to November, focused on encouraging children and young people to take positive actions towards better mental health. The campaign targeted 13- to 18-year-olds on Snapchat, and included both AR Lenses and a bespoke three-part content series called “In My Head”, produced in partnership with Barcroft Studios.

5 Gucci ‘Try-on sneaker’ by Gucci

To create excitement around the launch of its new sneaker collection in June, Gucci partnered with Snapchat to launch an AR shoe try-on. Leveraging the recently launched SnapML feature in Lens Studio, Gucci offered Snapchatters a try-on experience for four different pairs of sneakers and a route to purchase via a dedicated “Shop Now” button located inside the Lens.

6 Tommy Hilfiger ‘Looney Tunes’ by Tommy Hilfiger

Marking the launch of its Looney Tunes collection in April, Tommy Jeans launched its first-ever AR portal Lens on Snapchat. The Lens opened with the iconic Bugs Bunny look in selfie mode and when flipping the camera, Snapchatters were invited to step into the fashion world of Tommy Jeans x Looney Tunes.

Inside the Portal Lens people could explore the collection, interact with the space and also use the“Shop Now” button, giving Snapchatters the opportunity to buy the limited edition collection instantly wherever they were.

7 Tate Britain, The National Gallery and the Bank of England ‘£20 note campaign’

Anyone in possession of the new £20 note (or a picture of it) was able to see their cash in a new dimension, interact and learn about JMW Turner’s artwork which adorns the new note. This campaign launched in February.

8 DJ Mag ‘David Guetta – world’s best DJ’ by GoSpooky

DJ Mag turned to Snapchat to put on an AR concert to celebrate David Guetta being announced as number one in its World’s Top 100 DJs list in November. Snapchatters around the world could use the lens, point their phones at the sky and unlock an exclusive David Guetta set – the biggest of his life.

9 Sky Q ‘Everything you love in one place, easy’ by Sky Creative

This campaign sought to bring the SkyQ Portal to life, having launched in October. Working closely with Sky Creative Agency, Snap’s in-house design team crafted Story ads to play into the Sky Q “Portal” seen across the integrated campaign.

The Story Ad was meant to surprise Snapchatters as the creative seemingly consumed the User Interface within the Stories tab. Snapchat said this was viewed by more than 6.8 million UK Snapchatters.

10 Samsung ‘A-Series’ by Rapp and Atomic Digital

This campaign was adapted from the TV ad in July to create a bespoke AR Lens that lets the Snapchatter control different elements of the creative.

The post Snapchat’s favourite UK campaigns of 2020 appeared first on This Is Retail.

In these times of intense hardship and global pandemic, some retailers are responding by rolling up their sleeves, changing their working models and helping the cause. Others have been fast to pivot, finding new ways to connect with their customers and it’s here I believe we will see the rise of the Virtual Experience.

What I find exciting is that through all of this, creativity will be the ingredient that keeps retailers and brands afloat.

Zara offers to make scrubs for Spain’s coronavirus-stretched hospitals

Zara owner Inditex, whose polka dot dress was a high-street sensation in 2019, may soon be stitching hospital scrubs, helping its home country Spain fight the coronavirus epidemic.

Inditex last week said the epidemic had shut nearly half its stores around the world.

The company said it was studying converting part of its textile manufacturing capacity in Spain to produce hospital gowns.

It also said it would make available to Spain its vast logistics and supplier network, especially in China, to “meet Spain’s emergency needs of both medical and textile materials” such as protective masks, gloves, goggles and caps.

It said it had already donated 10,000 masks and another 300,000 were due to be sent by the end of the week.

Spain has been affected more by the coronavirus than any other European country except Italy, and accounts for the fashion retailer’s largest network of stores by far.

The Company Behind Louis Vuitton Is Now Making Hand Sanitizer for French Hospitals

LVMH will produce 12 tons of hand sanitizer during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

Louis Vuitton owner and French luxury goods company LVMH announced on Sunday that it will start making hand sanitizer and distributing it free of charge to hospitals in France to help the country fight the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.

This move comes as France is in the middle of a nationwide shortage of antiviral supplies amid the coronavirus pandemic.

LVMH is set to produce around 12 tons of hand sanitizer this week, which will be delivered to 39 public hospitals in Paris.

“I wish to thank LVMH for acting so quickly,” the Chief of Paris Hospitals Martine Hirsch told AFP. LVMH made and confirmed their offer to make hand sanitizer for hospitals over the span of the weekend.

While hospitals in Paris have not completely run out of hand sanitizer just yet, their supplies are running increasingly low, according to a spokesperson for the Paris hospital system.

Due to the hand sanitizer shortage, some pharmacies have started limiting customers to one bottle per person.

Meanwhile, the French government has ordered retailers to limit the price of a single 100ml bottle of hand sanitizer to no more than $3.30 after some businesses attempted to profit off of the shortage.

In its continued efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus, France has also shut down restaurants and non-essential stores, which went into effect on Sunday.

 Gucci, and now Prada make medical face masks

Prada is the latest big-name fashion brand to turn its production lines, usually focused on elegant blazers and blouses, to meet needs arising from the coronavirus crisis. Yesterday it said it would produce 110,000 masks by 6 April, while Gucci has said it will make more than 1m and Yves Saint Laurent and Balenciaga – both of which, like Gucci, are owned by Kering – will also begin manufacturing them.

High-street brands are similarly shifting their focus. Last week, Spanish-owned Zara pledged to produce surgical masks, saying it had already donated 10,000 masks and a further 300,000 were due to be sent by the end of this week. Over the weekend, H&M Group said it would be rearranging its supply chain to produce protective equipment for hospitals and healthcare workers.

The luxury conglomerate LVMH, which owns Dior, Fendi, Louis Vuitton and Givenchy, announced last weekend that it would be supplying the French authorities with more than 40m face masks in the coming weeks, having agreed an order from a Chinese manufacturer. Kering has also said it will be purchasing 3m surgical masks from China to donate to the French health service, while Mango has announced it will distribute 2m donated face masks to Spanish hospitals.

In France, at least, the numbers of masks supplied are more than a drop in the ocean, with the 43m promised by LVMH and Kering sitting favourably alongside the 250m-strong order announced by the French government on Saturday.

It is hoped that brands might soon follow suit in the UK, with the British Fashion Council the not-for-profit organisation that promotes British design globally, last week asking those with “production capacity” to help with shortages. NHS workers in the UK have been speaking out against shortages of protective gear, with London paramedics being rationed to one face mask between two, despite the under-fire UK health secretary Matt Hancock saying yesterday that he had ordered “millions of masks”.

In the US, some smaller brands are popping up to help: Christian Siriano and the kooky sustainable brand Collina Strada are making masks for doctors in New York. The outdoor retailer LL Bean has responded to calls for manufacturing help of masks in Maine, while President Trump has said he’s enlisted companies such as Hanes to start making them too. But, as the New York Times fashion critic Vanessa Friedman questioned on Twitter yesterday, unlike in France and Italy, for now: “Where are the really big brand names?”

The move to make masks follows on from LVMH’s announcement, earlier this month, that it would convert three of its factories, which usually manufacture perfumes under labels such as Givenchy and Guerlain, to the production of hand sanitiser.

Brewdog opens 102 virtual bars for people to enjoy a quarantine pint

Craft pub chain Brewdog has launched more than 100 virtual bars to host quizzes, live music and comedy shows throughout the coronavirus crisis.

The new 102 online bars will replicate each of the brewery’s pubs across the world to allow customers to connect with friends virtually after all UK pubs were forced to close at the end of last week to slow the spread of the outbreak.

Every Brewdog bar in the UK, Germany, Australia and the US will have its own online session. During the sessions there will be beer testing, home brewing masterclasses, Q&A opportunities and giveaways.

The pub chain will announce session details and events throughout the week on its social media channels.

BrewDog cofounder James Watt said: “Community has always been at the absolute core of what we do.

“And the role that community, and great beer play in our society is now more important than ever.

“Our online bars will be open for business on the 27 March at 6pm, and we are scheduling a series of amazing sessions with guest breweries, online tastings, games, entertainment. We’re looking forward to welcoming you all and sharing a beer.”

Last week east London-based Signature Brew launched a “Pub in a Box” for those self-isolating amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Founder Sam McGregor said the Pub in a Box will include a core range of beers, beer glasses, beer mats, a vinyl record, pub quiz, a playlist and snacks. The brewery is also launching a click and collect service across its venues in Hackney.

A number of distilleries around Australia are now making hand sanitiser, including Bundaberg Rum and Archie Rose

Alcohol distilleries around Australia have been shifting production to make hand sanitiser amid the coronavirus outbreak. These include Archie Rose, Bundaberg Rum and Manly Spirits Co.
Cricket legend Shane Warne’s distillery SevenZeroEight is also producing hand sanitiser.

Following the nationwide shutdown of pubs and clubs in Australia amid the coronavirus pandemic, we’ve rounded out a list of distilleries that have turned their production capabilities toward hand sanitiser.

Sydney-based spirits company Archie Rose rolled out its own brand of hand sanitiser in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The company shifted production from spirits to make 4,500 500ml bottles of hand sanitiser, which have since sold out.

The hand sanitiser formula is based on the World Health Organisation and Australian Department of Health guidelines and ingredients selected by the company.

Archie Rose founder Will Edwards said on the company’s website, like all businesses, Archie Rose is “facing some incredibly difficult times”.

“We’re in a unique position to manufacture this essential product – with the required federal licences, dangerous goods approvals, access to raw materials and expertise – and so we’re now making hand sanitiser our production focus,” he said.

Edwards added that the company will produce hand sanitiser for as long as it can.

“We will continue to produce sanitiser for as long as we can, or as long as is required and this will also support the redeployment of as many of our full time bar staff as possible to assist in filling, packaging and shipping the product,” he said.

With the demand for hand santitiser skyrocketing, Manly Spirits Co also started producing it and the company’s distillery in Brookvale, Sydney.

Manly Spirits is offering its hand sanitiser – with a gin aroma – to community group, charities and commercially. It’s also offering a free 50ml bottle with every 700ml spirits bottle purchased.

Bundaberg Rum and Beenleigh Rum

Over in Queensland, the Beenleigh and Bundaberg Rum Distilleries have also joined the hand sanitiser bandwagon, with the state government reaching out to them directly for it.

Beenleigh Rum, the oldest distillery in Australia, will begin producing hand sanitiser this week and will supply it to the Queensland government for distribution to schools and frontline workers.

Bundaberg Rum will donate 100,000 litres of ethanol to the state government, which is enough to make around 500,000 bottles of hand sanitiser.

Angelo Kotses, owner of the Beenleigh Distillery and Managing Director of the Bickfords Group of Companies said in a statement the idea to switch to hand sanitiser came from a mission to keep its workers safe.

“Ethanol is the key ingredient of hand sanitiser, and we already produce ethanol for our alcohol products,” he said.

“We originally planned a small run of only 1500 cartons, but when the Queensland Government approached us we were more than happy to help by providing hand sanitiser for essential needs throughout the state.”

David Smith, managing director of Bundaberg Rum parent company Diageo Australia, said in a statement the company had a duty to support the community during this time.

“Bundaberg Rum is a Queensland icon, we’ve felt the love of Australians since our distillery was first established more than 130 years ago in 1888,” Smith said.

“At a time like this we will always step up and contribute when Australians need it most.”

The state government is also looking for more manufacturers around the state that can make hand sanitiser.

Prohibition Liquor Co.

South Australian Distillery, Prohibition Liquor Co decided to make a batch of hand sanitiser as well, producing 200, 100ml bottles.

In an Instagram post, the company said it is not only using the sanitiser and its site, but giving one away with every 500ml or 700ml bottle of gin sold.

SevenZeroEight

Australian cricketer Shane Warne’s Western Australian distillery SevenZeroEight started making medical grade 70% alcohol hand sanitiser on March 17. The company will produce hand sanitiser until further notice.

“This is a challenging time for Australians and we all need to do what we can to help our healthcare system combat this disease and save lives,” Shane Warne said in a statement. “I am happy SevenZeroEight has the ability to make this shift and encourage others to do the same.”

Wise Wine

Wise Wine in Western Australia has also began producing its own organic hand sanitiser.

Ethanol for the company’s spirits is distilled on site.

Hand sanitiser from Wise Wine costs $55 for a 700 mL bottle and you can get a maximum of two.

Sourced via RTE news, Global Citizen, The Guardian, City.A.M and Business Insider

The post How Retailers & Brands Are Responding to Covid-19 Crisis appeared first on This Is Retail.

Pop-ups are now big business for the world’s biggest retailers. All over the world, pop-ups with a wide variety of purposes are opening in an ever wider variety of spaces. Sometimes it’s to launch a new product range, and sometimes it’s to communicate the values and ethics of a brand. Sometimes they’re simply a way for online businesses or non-retail companies to test out the world of physical retail for the first time.

Whatever the reason, there were hundreds that popped up last year. Here are my top 38 pop-up stores of 2019 (in alphabetical order):

1. Amazon smart home

Amazon partnered with several tech brands to launch a smart home experience pop-up in Westfield, London. Powered and controlled by Alexa, visitors could explore a wide range of smart home devices that were all ingeniously linked together. Among other things, visitors could control and alter kitchen appliances, lights, mirrors, plants, blood pressure monitors and more, simply through voice activation. It’s notable that Amazon, a business famous for ‘hurting the high street’, is now constantly opening and trialling physical retail spaces.

2. Banksy ‘GrossDomesticProduct’

Banksy’s ‘GrossDomesticProduct’ pop-up in South London grabbed headlines earlier this year. As you would expect, it was cloaked in mystery. Banksy said the store was opened because of a legal battle with a greetings card company over rights to his own trademarks. The store was designed to replicate the look of an antiques shop, and was filled with various Banksy pieces. According to the infamous street artist, all proceeds went towards buying a new migrant rescue boat.

3. Carlsberg

Carlsberg launched a sustainability-driven packaging and brand identity pop-up in Singapore this year. The experiential marketing activation drew attention to various eco innovations, including ink that’s made using renewable energy, a wax emulsion applied to bottles to double their lifetime, and also a ‘fresh cap’ that reduces oxidation. Consumer trends suggest customers are becoming increasingly keen to buy from brands who strive to be sustainable in a meaningful way – and this pop-up was a clear reaction to that trend.

https://www.facebook.com/TheSmartLocal/videos/1250878338420105/

4. Collector Square Paris

The vintage clothing platform Collector Square’s Paris pop-up was a big success. It offered a wide-range of second-hand luxury items, including bags, watches and jewelry. It follows in the footsteps of a number of online retailers’ opening physical spaces – with pop-ups being the ideal testing space for bigger physical ambitions and plans.

5. Depop Live

E-commerce fashion app Depop invited 50 of its best sellers to set up shop in its temporary space on Broadway in New York. The two-day event was a physical version of the online marketplace. The event was targeted at its Gen Z community of fashion entrepreneurs, with two days of immersive experiences including music, art installations, panels and workshops. There was even a talk on transparency, sustainability and activism with a panel that included designers and sustainability experts.

6. Facebook Cafe

Earlier this year Facebook opened a pop-up cafe in London. The purpose was to encourage privacy check-ups from Facebook users. The cafe offered free drinks to anyone willing to engage in a privacy check-up – a clear response to criticism over the way Facebook has handled personal data in the past. Many Facebook users suggest they don’t know how to customise their data settings, and this cafe was a smart way of addressing that.

7. Glossier

Cosmetics retailer Glossier opened a pop-up on Floral Street in Covent Garden that was a must-see for fans of the brand. Inspired by British architecture and interiors, the store was decorated in colourful floral wallpaper and carpets which were hand drawn by the in-house creative team. Each room followed a different colour scheme and in true Glossier style they included positive affirmations like ‘you look good’ on the mirrors. There were also lots of fun playful elements such as secret doors taking you from one room to another, adding some theatre to the experience.

8. Gucci apartment

Italian fashion house Gucci created the perfect pop-up to showcase its interiors range. The two-storey ‘apartment’ created for Milan Fashion Week had all the latest additions to its collection. The space was decorated head to toe in the brand’s signature patterns and prints and it was as eccentric and colourful as you would expect. There was also an augmented-reality app to coincide with the opening, through which you could explore historic places across Milan whilst viewing different Décor pieces on-screen as virtual oversized sculptures. It was a fascinating mix of high tech, and high fashion.

9. Harrods Re-Told

Harrods Re-Told was a charity pop-up shop with a difference. Luxuriously designed by Harrods, scented by Jo Malone, and stocked with pre-loved designer clothes donated by brands like Stella McCartney and Ralph Lauren, it was a brilliantly ethical and sustainable concept. Best of all, all proceeds went to Harrods’ charity partner NSPCC.

10. Hello Kitty Cafe

Hello Kitty’s cafe pop-up in London runs until February 2020. It coincides with the 45th anniversary of the much-loved brand, and features a menu built around all the colourful characters. It’s located inside the Tombo cafe in Fitzrovia, and already drawing big crowds for the holiday season.

11. HOT:SECOND

This fascinating and short-lived pop-up in London offered digital garment experiences via world’s first ‘digital clothes’ store, and customers were encouraged to bring in an unwanted item of clothing. In return, they were allowed to try on a garment digitally from a number of leaders in the digital clothes field – but couldn’t actually purchase it.

The digital testing happened in pods hooked up with cameras and magic mirrors. Customers could take a photo of them wearing the digital design which they could then share online. Customisation stations were also in place to upcycle the used items customers brought in. The pop-up acted as a testing space for digital clothing, as retailers and technologists try to work out how it can be effectively monetised.

12. IKEA Fitting Rooms

The home and furniture giant joined forces this year with Virgil Abloh to launch a pop-up in London for its collaboration on the Markerad collection – which consists of furniture and accessories designed for IKEA. The space featured ‘Fitting Rooms’ which included various items from the collection so that Instagrammable moments could be captured.

13. Jacamo pop-up pub

Jacamo’s pop-up pub in London was an interesting social experiment by the men’s clothing brand. It offered a ‘safe space’ for men to discuss their issues, and to get a sense of what the 2020 man would be. Men could claim a drink on the house, listen to live music, get a free trim from the in-house barber, or speak to one of the stylists in residence. It even featured celebrity visitors, including Freddie Flintoff.

14. Jo Malone fragrance exhibition

Jo Malone’s interactive fragrance exhibition in London made big headlines this year. The idea was to create an immersive experience that told the stories of the brand, and the perfumes. It included scent booths, photo booths and a video projection room, as well as workshops that allowed customers to try out marbling and glass tinting. General access was free, but demand was so high that access was limited. There could well be a future in perfume exhibitions.

15. KitKat Sake

Nestle Japan unveiled a pop-up ‘bar’ at Craft Sake Week in Roppongi Hills, Japan, earlier this year. KitKats and sake may not be a common culinary pairing but that didn’t stop it happening. By answering five different questions, Nestle’s platform used AI to decide which of the 15 KitKats on offer was for you. Customers also received a complimentary sake to go with it. For the 11 days the pop-up was open there were 10 new sake selections offered each day. It’s a great example of a brand having fun with tech, and using it to drive footfall.

16. Lego art gallery

Lego launched an art gallery pop-up this year in London. It was a celebration of Lego’s heritage, which featured an exclusive collectible wooden model (Lego began by making wooden toys in Denmark in the 1930s). The pop-up was hugely popular and operated with 30-minute reservable slots. Many retail experts think bookable, exclusive experiences will play a big part in the future of retail.

17. Lidl Chateaux Noir

Lidl is well known for its cheap but quality alcohol – and a new pop-up experience in London called Lidl Chateaux Noir brought its customers closer to the wines they love. The experience started in the Discombobulation chamber – a candy cane striped space that throws off the senses. Visitors were then moved to the Cellar Noir where they sampled the wines in the dark served by waiters wearing night vision goggles.

Lidl wanted to inspire customers to learn about wine quality through taste – and not through bottle design or branding. It’s a great concept, and brilliantly all proceeds went to the NSPCC.

18. London Selfie Factory

The London Selfie Factory pop-up in Westfield was a dream experience for Instagram lovers. It encompassed 20 different dramatic backdrops or booths for quirky social media images. Among the most popular was a bath of pink balls and a 1950s diner. A circuit around the space cost £10 a ticket, and with similar spaces popping up all around the world it seems experience as entertainment is still a big winner.

19. Magnum Pleasure Store

Magnum’s ‘design your own’ Pleasure Store pop-up returned this year in London. The space allows customers to design Magnum ice creams to their own specifications – and many of the creations became Instagram hits! The space is as much about engaging visitors to the store as it is creating some social buzz. The store also played host to a number of cultural events.

20. Matchesfashion.com yacht

The luxury fashion retailer took its brand out to sea for 2019. It teamed up with Pellicano Hotels to set sail along the coast of Italy on a 1930s yacht. The event kicked off at the brand’s London townhouse, 5 Carlos Place, where the boutique was kitted out like the II Pellicano yacht.

The yacht itself was transformed into a resort-wear shop and over the course of eight days it made stops at three of Pellicano’s hotels, allowing customers to explore some of these leading tourist spots. Luxury retail experiences don’t come much more luxurious than this.

21. Miniwiz

A fascinating pop-up opened in Sardinia this year. It didn’t accept money; customers purchased items with plastic they brought in to be repurposed. The store only sold items made in store from donated materials such as coffee cups, water bottles and shopping bags. There was also an associated app where customers built up credit to put towards items in the store. This concept also appeared at London Design Festival and Milan Design Week.

22. Moncler House of Genius

Moncler opened a new ‘House of Genius’ pop-up in Tokyo this year, with other temporary spaces launched in Milan and Paris too. The focus of the space was on live events and in-store creative sessions. It was designed to look like a gallery rather than a retail space, and had a flexible design that allowed events to easily take over. Increasingly, pop-ups are seen as a marketing and brand awareness opportunity rather than a means of driving sales, and this was a classic example.

23. MUJI

Muji launched a long-running design and retail pop-up store in New York earlier this year. Open until January 2020, the SoHo space aims to show off the brand’s design history by highlighting classic archive MUJI products. It also taps into MUJI’s graphic design chops with an exhibition of its posters, including work by Ikko Tanaka. The space shows just how much MUJI has evolved over the years with video screens showing off some of its latest global initiatives, such as the MUJI hotel and MUJI diner.

24. The Museum of Ice Cream

Inspired by the founder Maryellis Bunn’s dream of jumping into a pool of sprinkles, at the MOI you can actually jump into a giant pool of sprinkles! The life-size pool is bubblegum pink and has slides to launch yourself into the pool for that ultimate action shot. The creators believe ice cream to be a symbol of joy and have created a space that ignites all five senses. Everywhere you turn in this wonderland you will find a photo opportunity, from the swing against a backdrop of floor to ceiling whipped cream cans, to the sit-on unicorns or jewelled elephants. It’s heaven for kids and Instagrammers alike.

25. New Balance Pub

Sportswear brand New Balance launched a pub to accompany its sponsorship of the London Marathon. Called The Runaway, it only traded in the currency of miles ran, rather than money, to incentivise people to go for a run. Using the Strava app runners logged their miles which were then exchanged at the pub for drinks and food. The central London location was fitted out like a traditional English pub with dartboards and jukeboxes. It created a lot of buzz, and was a real smart way of bringing runners together around the brand.

26. Paco Rabanne Express Delivery

Paco Rabanne’s Christmas pop-up in London has caught everyone’s attention. That’s mainly because it’s housed in an unusual location: Wapping’s hydraulic power station. The express delivery pop-up includes a series of bespoke installations, a wind tunnel, and visitors are offered their own safety deposit box style mailbox containing exclusive fragrances. Opening pop-ups in unusual locations is an increasingly popular way of creating brand buzz and driving footfall

27. Pantone/LG

The Pantone Colour Institute and electronics company LG teamed up for a pop-up café in SoHo, New York. Café OLED is named after LG’s Organic Light-Emitting Diode TVs which hang on the walls displaying work by multi-disciplinary artist David McLeod, and inspired by Pantone’s summer 2019 colour palette. Local baristas served flavoured latte’s inspired by the four colours of the summer. The space was purely a showroom with no TVs for sale.

28. Patagonia activist cafe

Patagonia launched a pop-up cafe in London this year that played host to climate activist training courses. Training sessions on activism, workshops on carbon literacy and seminars on habitat conservation were all hosted in the trendy Broadway Market location. It also acted as a lending library for important books written about climate change. It was a really smart way of advocating Patagonia’s values, and a good example of how brands can do much more to showcase their commitment to sustainability.

29. Paypal

Electronic payment company Paypal launched a pop-up on one of New York’s busiest shopping streets, Fifth Avenue for the holiday season. It unveiled a series of window displays to support small businesses. The browsing was limited to window shopping but there were QR codes to scan which directed customers to the small businesses’ websites. For the lucky SMEs involved, this was a rare chance to get some coverage on one of the world’s most sought-after retail locations.

30. Polaroid Lab

Polaroid opened a pop-up space in NYC for the first time ever to promote Polaroid Lab – a product that allows users to create Polaroids directly from their smartphone cameras. In the age of digital, this pop-up was all about promoting the wonders of analogue. Visitors enjoyed an immersive installation that featured AR content embedded into each image. The pop-up also hosted photography workshops to build appreciation for pre-digital photography and all the craft involved.

31. PUMA

PUMA launched an innovative pop-up store at Protein Studio in Shoreditch, London. To promote the PUMA LQD CELL trainer, it used interactive experiences to boost mental and physical health. The space was split into a calm zone (breathing exercises and meditation), focused zone (fast paced rhythmic exercises) and energy zone (HIIT exercises). It was a smart concept, connecting its new product with a relevant and uplifting experience in one space.

32. Ruinart Champagne hotel

Fashion designer Jonathan Anderson and e-commerce platform Clos 19 teamed up with Ruinart Champagne to create a pop-up hotel in Notting Hill, London. Open for only 10 nights, the one-room Hotel 1729 offered dinner, bed and breakfast and Ruinart champagne on tap. Anderson, Creative Director of luxury fashion brand Loewe, took inspiration from the House of Ruinart in Reims where he explored the vineyards and cellars. The goal was to take customers on that journey, telling the history of the brand throughout their time at the hotel. The experience was priced at £1200 for two guests but the lucky two were able to invite up to six guests for dinner to share the experience with them.

33. Sainsbury’s ‘meat-free’ butchers

Sainsbury’s ‘meat free’ butchers shop pop-up in London was another space that really caught our eye. It coincided with World Meat Free Week, and featured a variety of Sainsbury’s meat-free products. There were lots of free samples on offer, and experts were on hand to offer tips and recipes. Pop-ups like this are an excellent way of showing that a brand stands for something beyond commercial ambition.

34. Sonos

In celebration of its collaboration with Google Assistant, Sonos launched an ambitious pop-up this year in Soho, London called ‘The Brilliant Sound Experience’. It was an immersive, multi-sensory experience that allowed visitors to not only hear music, but feel and see it. It featured two rooms: one which covered the structure of a song, and another that examined the emotion of music. Elements of songs by The National and Slowthai were broken down and turned into physical shapes. And visitors were encouraged to wear an EEG headset that recorded and displayed brainwaves in reaction to the songs. It was a bold, strange and genuinely ambitious project that showed retail spaces really can be anything.

35. The Skimm

Millennial focused media company The Skimm opened a pop-up in New York that helped to solve holiday shopping needs with an omnichannel approach. It has helped customers to find the perfect gift, with over 150 different items across fitness, fashion and home decor – and is open right up until Christmas eve.

The space also features in-store programming and events, plus a ‘recharging’ lounge sponsored by STARZ for weary shoppers to relax in. Another partner, Batiste, is hosting a hair refresh station where stylists
revitalise customer hairstyles. It’s a smart move for the brand which already has millions of readers who look to it for recommendations.

36. Tiffany Ice Rink

Tiffany & Co. is celebrating the launch of its fragrance with a pop-up ice rink in London’s Covent Garden. The winter wonderland can be accessed via a Tiffany Bridge that’s inspired by Central Park. It features giant Tiffany blue boxes, sparkling snow, and the skating rink itself. Launched in November, it continues until Boxing Day and is ticketed, but some spots are available on the day.

37. Westfield Trending

Westfield London experimented this year with a fascinating three-day pop-up shopping initiative in partnership with AI trend experts Next Atlas. Using the power of machine learning, Next Atlas tracked over 400,000 global ‘influencers’ to find out what fashion items were trending each day. A list of trending items was then given to a Westfield stylist who hunted out those items from the entire shopping centre each morning. It was a really interesting attempt to bring online and offline together, and possibly holds a clue about the future of shopping centres.

38. Wrangler

The acclaimed jeans retailer Wrangler opened a shop and recording studio in Soho, London for five weeks. Its latest collection, ‘Icons’, brought together six of Wrangler’s most classic designs – and this pop-up was designed to promote the brand’s iconic status. Shoppers really did share the small space with bands as the recording studio wasn’t just a gimmick. Wrangler thinks style and music go hand in hand, so this pop-up was a reflection of the brand’s identity. In a world where physical retail is increasingly being used for marketing rather than selling, this hip pop-up made perfect sense.
Inspired by InsiderTrends

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Gucci’s latest retail endeavor is one for the history books — quite literally, as it’s situated within a 14th-century palazzo in Florence, Italy. Dubbed “Gucci Garden,” the multi-level galleria costs 8 euros to enter, with half of each ticket sale being donated to support restoration projects in Florence, where the brand was founded in 1921 and continues to operate from. But hold up — what kind of retail experience costs money before you’re even in the door?

To be fair, the ground floor is free to enter; it’s the first and second floors you’ll have to pay for. The main floor features a “bazaar-like” retail space spread over two rooms, selling products exclusive to the location, replete with special clothing tags and packaging you won’t find outside the Gucci Garden store (hello, collector’s items; hello, resale market). Items from the Gucci Décor collection will also be available, as well as a selection of magazines and books. Additionally, the ground floor houses a restaurant called Gucci Osteria, from the Michelin-starred chef Massimo Bottura.

So if you do pony up the 8 euros to go upstairs, what can you expect? Basically, a two-floor brand experience designed like a museum. There’s a room dedicated to “the allure of the double G,” showing off vintage and contemporary renderings of the logo; a room celebrating the brand’s recurring motifs (like the horsebit and the red/green/red stripe); a 30-seat cinema; a natural history-inspired space filled with clothes, accessories, and objects “exploring [creative director] Alessandro Michele’s penchant for the iconography of animals and gardens.” Presumably one could walk away with a Ph.D. in Gucci

The effort is a grand example of experiential retail, the new normal for coercing shoppers back into brick-and-mortar stores. It also serves as a powerful marketing tool, immersing shoppers and brand fans in the lore of Gucci. The more skeptical among us may roll our eyes at the idea of paying Gucci to be marketed to by Gucci, but, hey, at least some of that dough will be invested in preserving history.

Via Forbes

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Bloomingdale’s 59th Street store will host the “Artisan Corner” special retail event from June 6 to 9, offering an up-close and personal look at the level of craftsmanship that goes into all of Gucci’s leather goods.

Having started as a tour in Naples in 2009, the workshops have since stopped in selected stores all over the world.

There will be seven artisans setting up their workshops right in the store. Their particular focus will be on woman’s accessories, assembling handbags, monograming leather bags and personalizing silk scarves. The handbags will even include a special interior plaque inscribed with details of the event.

The Artisan Corner will also feature new versions of the antique designs of their most iconic ’60s-style handbags, including other popular items such as the Flora scarf worn by Princess Grace and the New Bamboo, Soft Stirrup, and Soho bags.

Via PFSK

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