4 Reasons to Create Immersive Pop-Up Displays

Pop-up displays have elevated in the years since it was enough to just set up a few tables with branded merchandise and matching uniforms and hand out gift bags with your brand’s business cards and contact details.

Today’s consumer is driven and shaped by growing technology such as augmented reality and by the group mindset of “fear of missing out” (FOMO). Our attachment to social media also depends on engaging in AR and feeling FOMO.

Consumers are prioritising experiences

Pop-up displays are a perfect way for brands to engage with consumers by making use of growing technology and tapping into the shifting mindset of enjoying an exclusive and immersive experience.

Experiences are becoming more than just a trend, but fuel for brand growth, especially if the experience or event has people pulling out their phones to share on social media. If you didn’t take a picture or video and post it, it never happened, right?

Research shows modern consumers, particularly millennials, are actually prioritising experiences over possessions – with 78% of millennials choosing to spend money on an experience or event over buying something desirable.

So what are Immersive Pop-up Displays?

An immersive pop-up display is a temporary event or retail space that ignites engagement with your brand beyond the digital world. It’s a unique opportunity for your customers to see, feel and ultimately experience your brand in an immersive environment. After all, the things we take with us is the memories we create along the way.

Here are 5 reasons to use immersive pop-up displays.

1. Take a creative risk!

Immersive pop-up displays are a great way to take creative risks with relatively low-costs, as compared to more permanent physical retail spaces. Immersive pop-up displays, when the experience is provided correctly, can generate buzz that fuels digital awareness and engagement through sharing on social media. Existing customers create desire for others to engage with your brand.

A great example of an immersive pop-up display that Next Printing had the pleasure of executing was the Magnum Immersive Experience. Customers were able to customise their own Magnum ice creams with decadent and luxurious toppings, such as rose petals, fresh crushed hazelnuts and gold feuilletine, and then share their creations to social media to grow buzz.

Immersive pop-up displays are perfect when you know who your audiences are, and you want to create the “limited time only” feel such as timing it with product activations, retail and tradeshows and special events or occasions.

2. A clear purpose = pop-up goals!

When designing an immersive pop-up display, it is important to define a clear purpose. Do you want to generate buzz for your new product? Are you testing your target market for a more permanent space or location? Do you want to grow your social media presence?

Knowing your pop-up goals means you can tailor the experience and track the right data so you know how to measure if your immersive pop-up display or event was a success.

The goal for this Lunar New Year display at Top Ryde City Shopping Centre was to add life to an empty space on the mezzanine level and tie in with other planned activations taking place during LNY celebrations. It was eye popping and encouraged consumers to take pictures with the display as well as provide awareness for the planned events to coincide during this period.

3. Drive the right foot traffic - Location, Location, Location

Choosing a location to match the goal of your immersive pop-up display or pop-up booth is important. If you’re popping up at a retail or tradeshow, then you will need to pick a spot that drives the most foot traffic to your pop-up exhibition display – think corner booths or central spots where access to your display is available from at least 2-3 sides.

Location costs will also be a determining factor for you to balance out the overall cost of a temporary pop-up display.

Your choice of location will also give you an idea of what you’ve got to play with in terms of space. Knowing exactly how large or small the space is will help you design your pop-up display and provide the right level of immersive experience for your customer.

We’re love this Chloe pop-up shop display in Hong Kong, located in an open space within Harbour City shopping centre that allows a view and access from all sides of the pop-up. This sensual immersive experience allowed customers to explore the different scents, personalise their perfume, pair it with a bouquet of flowers that represent perfume notes and complimentary gift-wrapping.

Source: Harbour City

4. Pop-ups are great for limited time

The period of time required for your immersive experience will also be a determining factor on the type of experience you want to provide and the material you opt for ultimately to build your pop-up display. For limited time events and displays that will be repeated at different locations or different times throughout the year, Reboard display is a great material for its ease of portability and sustainability.

This Hello Spring pop-up experience was designed for school holiday fun, with a limited time of a 2 week period, creating a fun and inspiring station for adults and kids alike to enjoy during the school holidays. Located within a busy shopping centre, this immersive experience drove the right type of traffic for the limited time it was up.

With a little research on pop-up display ideas and the type of consumer you want to attract, immersive pop-up store displays can provide a delightful way to engage your customer and generate buzz for your brand.