Tuesday December 06, 2005

Pop-up Stores in NPR's "Morning Edition"

I wrote about Illy Coffee's pop-up store/noteworthy brand-building innovation a while back. For those of you who missed it, NPR ran a story on it today -- here's the article (includes audio).

Here's what I thought notable:

- - It's not about being a "coffee shop." Illy may be losing money as far as being an operational coffee shop goes, but that would be missing the point; as a brand-building experiment, this store has created a phoenomenal amount of free buzz. That's priceless.

- - Buzz is good, and experience is better. Those people who have actually visited the store have had a much more intimate conversation with the brand...one that most marketing managers would pay dearly for.

- - Ditch the focus groups. On top of all this, Illy uses the store as a research lab of sorts. They're watching people interact with the brand and developing deeper insights about what matters most to people when it comes to coffee. Why pay for a focus group, after all, when you already have "the field" right before your eyes?

Store closes December 15. After that, be prepared for Illy's next wave, which is likely to be a major retail push here in the states. Keep an eye out for whatever they're up to next.

( Dec 06 2005, 10:44:41 AM PST ) Permalink Comments [0]