The pop-up opportunity that brands have been missing

This article was originally published in the Beauty Communities Trend Report. Receive your copy here.

An explosion of immersive pop-ups became one of the most remarkable trends in beauty retail in 2022.

Together with a blossoming array of experiential activations from brands, and in-store event programmes from retailers, the type of real-life interactions that consumers can now have within the beauty industry has evolved considerably.

But while brands have tended to focus on achieving a certain level of sales and ROI through these events, an emerging trend is seeing brands start to explore them as an opportunity to nurture and grow their brand communities.

“I think we’re going to see a lot of innovation in community engagement from an experiential point of view over the next 12 months,” says James Barnes, founder and Business Director of experiential marketing agency Backlash.

“Community is starting to work its way onto the objectives list for the first time, for brands looking to do pop-ups and other IRL events,” says Barnes.

“It’s normally footfall and sales, but now we’re seeing footfall, sales and community,” he explains.

“It boils down to the kind of objectives a brand has: is it to get numbers through the door? Or is it to really deeply engage with the community?

“I think if people believe in that engagement with the community, it will broaden what you can do when it comes to experiencing that brand.”

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