Tweet, Pay, Love: The Modern-Day Social Media Pop-up

This is a guest post by Rupa Ganata, co-founder of men’s grooming online retailer Yes Sir,  and of Brand us Social (BUS).

Social Media Pop Up Shops

From fashion to food, an increasing number of businesses are exchanging goods and services for tweets and Instagram posts in the form of modern day Social Media pop-up shops.

Pop-up shops have become a regular and vital part of high streets around the world—but the latest trend is the exchange of free goods and services in return for tweets, Facebook posts and Instagram posts: the “Social Media” pop-up. At Yes-Sir.com, a men’s grooming company, we will be collaborating with Man Made London to launch London’s first Social Media Barber shop: from September 18 to 20, the Yes-Sir.com & Man Made London Social Media barber shop in Marylebone, London will allow you to pay for a free wet shave or beard trim via a Tweet, Facebook post or Instagram post using our dedicated hash tag #ShaveMeSir.

Other brands have already explored the concept of the Social Media Pop-up. A recent success story was Marc Jacobs, who launched a pop-up store in London’s Covent Garden. The idea was to enhance and magnify customer engagement by exchanging fragrances and manicures for tweets and videos. Shoppers received the chance to pick up their favourite pieces and pay with social media. The pop-up shop was laid out with creative photography and video in mind, with different areas where visitors could go to create that unique image to earn them some freebies. The more creative the posts with the #MJDaisyChain hash tag, the more amazing the prizes. For example, a Tweet and a Vine video won you a Marc Jacobs key ring and a free manicure at the in-store Nail Bar.

Some brands have also incorporated a ‘pay with picture’ strategy that encompasses the rising trend of visual social media in 2014. For example, frozen food brand Bird’s Eye turned interactive image posts into free meals in a London pop-up. And Nokia celebrated the Lumia 630 by launching the #100aires Pop-up in East London in June, where one-off art pieces were up for sale using social currency.

Let us know if your brand has plans to experiment with a social media pop-up concept!

About the Author

Rupa GanatraRupa is co-founder of Yes Sir, one of Europe’s leading men’s grooming online retailers and co-founder of Brand us Social (BUS), a forward-looking Social Media and Digital intelligence and events company providing news, data and conferences. She was recently featured as the Top 35 under 35 Women in the UK in Management Today and the Sunday Times.