Following Up with the Meow Mix Café: The Six Keys to Pop-up Store Success

Pop-up stores— temporary boutiques set up by a brand to build buzz for new products or services – have become a preferred method for marketers looking to build brand awareness. New York City alone has played host to pop-ups for companies such as Delta’s low-price airline, Song; Internet auction site eBay; and retailer Target. But the pop-up that arguably created the most buzz was the Meow Mix Café, handled in August 2004 by Grand Central Marketing.

Meow Mix Café started as a vision of 100 cats and their owners lined up on a sidewalk, waiting to be the first ones to try the new Meow Mix wet-pouch flavors, recalls Matthew Glass, president/CEO of Grand Central Marketing. It turned into a pop-up store at the corner of 5th Avenue and 42nd Street, where cats and their owners could not only sample the new Wet Food Pouches but also make purchases and play games.

The pop-up store was originally slated to be open only for three days. But media coverage topped 150 million media impressions on six continents, creating a buzz that led Meow Mix to keep the store open for an additional seven days. It even drew a request from a South African businessman who wanted to open a franchise there.

The project, according to Meow Mix CEO Richard Thompson, cost the brand $150,000. The payback: an unexpected $50 million increase in sales for 2005.

“My feeling is that a storefront venue offers high visibility and provides a blank slate to play with,” Glass says. “Rather than fighting for shelf space [in a supermarket or other store], with a pop-up your brand owns the store.”

Here, Glass shares the six keys to building a successful pop-up store:

• Create a splash. Grand Central marketed the opening as it would a movie premiere or a hot book release. “Using an entertainment approach and being faithful to the brand’s whimsical and cat-centric positioning, we looked for a creative way to show that cats were already excited and waiting to try the new Meow Mix wet food flavors.”
• Be public relations savvy. The right mix of consumer and trade relations can help the buzz spread from coast to coast – or in this case, from continent to continent. “The media is always looking for something fun and unusual to talk about. A store opening with crowds, celebrities, entertainment, and television coverage is a good start.”
• Location, location, location. To say the corner of 5th Avenue and 42nd Street is highly visible is an understatement. Timing also came into play, since the storefront became available as they were planning the campaign.
• Be creative—very creative. “There are new stores opening up every day that go unnoticed. To be successful, you need to do something that hasn’t been done before – something that surprises and creates that `did you see?’ chatter.”
• Be clear on your objectives. “Is this about on-site product sales, branding, introducing a new service or product?”
• Maintain the concept and the brand throughout. “Create an entertaining retail environment and in-store experience that is true to the brand. Follow through on your vision from the windows to the staff to the bags to the music.”

The buzz about the Meow Mix pop-up store is still there, and Grand Central Marketing is still reaping the benefits. Media outlets continue to call the agency for stories about the store, and it will find out on Oct. 18 if it won any or all of the three PRO Awards it was nominated for, and has already received laurels from Marketing Agencies Association Worldwide, Event Marketer, PR News, BizBash, and International Special Events Society.