Experiential pop-ups at Christmas.
Christmas experiential pop-ups and snowy seasonal campaigns are back. After Covid pretty much killed them off we’ve seen a late surge in festive Xmas pop ups. But what does it take to create an effective seasonal installation and how much lead time should you allow to do things right? We’ll have a look here.
Christmas pop-up experiences seem like a pretty obvious thing for a brand to do. But every year there’s a winter wonderland disaster where some disreputable company will happily relive consumers of fifty quid for a slapdash Santa’s Grotto and some fake snow. Setting the tone and quality for a Xmas experiential activation is essential. Too much and it’s overload. Too little and it’s not immersive. So taking the time to ensure that the consumer has an experience that not only relates to the brand but ticks the festive box is critical. And that’s how we created this beautiful wintery set for Heathrow Express.
Most Christmas activations tend to happen in the two to three week lead up to Christmas day. With shoppers buying presents later every year and leaving it to the last minute, activating the campaign too early isn’t the most effective use of time. Consumers need to be in the festive spirit and in a shopper mindset. We find that when these two elements combine it creates a more effective pop-up experience. Greater dwell times, longer conversations, more opportunity to engage with the consumers. Starting the activation too early in December will find it lost before people are really ready to commit to Christmas. Leave it too late and consumers will have already made decisions or won’t have time. So timing is critical. The magic window is really first weekend of December until the one before Christmas day.
The fine details of a festive pop up really do make the difference. There are plenty of Amazon products which will give your set a quick Christmas fix but we make as much as we can from scratch. From a ground-up tree design and build constructed from box-frame steel to hanging structures and hand carved snow. These are the things that will make your Christmas brand activation really special for the consumer. Every shopping centre will have a grotto, every city centre will have a Christmas market. It’ll be Christmas everywhere. The only way to make your special is to make it different. And that’s where we can help.
Got an idea for a Christmas pop up or installation? Get in touch.
