Kraft seeks Ultimate boost | Chicago Tribune

The Chicago Tribune has a good article about the new Kraft pizzeria opening later this month in Chicago for DiGiorno Ultimate. In discussing the new product line, here's what Kraft had to say:

"This is all about playing to the consumers' desire for more premium products," said John Boswell, senior vice president and general manager of Kraft's pizza category. "We believe that people will be willing to trade up."

We couldn't agree more. People love to trade up and will do so, especially if it's also more convenient. And using a pop-up environment is a great way to get people to experience the product and understand what makes it more valuable to them. Mike Gatti summed it up pretty well:

"The consumer is looking for what's cool and what's new," said Mike Gatti, executive director of the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association, a Washington, D.C.-based trade group. "It's a way for established brands to get to a new audience and position themselves on the leading edge."

Those of you who read us regularly know that we believe that retail will grow in importance to the marketing mix:

"Creating these kinds of retail experiences are going to be a critical part of the communications function in the future," said David Polinchock, chief experience officer at Brand Experience. "You're going to get more feedback. People are going to talk to you."

It's a tremendous way to create a real feedback loop with the consumer. You'll see firsthand how they engage your brand and/or products. You'll see where you're hitting on all cylinders and where you might be missing. And because they’ll be spending time with you, you’ll see the full cycle of their brand engagement. When you’re doing more traditional sampling, you don’t really know what happens when they leave. How many times have you seen someone passing something out and the next garbage can you pass is just overflowing with what’s been handed out?

A few years back, we came up with the idea for the World Premiere Cafe and here's how we described it:

The World Premiere Cafe™ is a unique, immersive experience that will foster brand understanding with the consumer. It will be a permanent facility in major markets both in the United States and selected cities overseas. The World Premiere Cafe™ is a road house for our clients, allowing them to have a complete 'eatertainment' complex without the costs and expense of owning a permanent facility.

Well done pop-up experience gives you the chance to engage, observe and interview, all at the same time. And given all of the media fragmentation and ROI battles happening, it will continue to be one of the most cost-effective ways to truly engage your audience.

Link: Kraft seeks Ultimate boost | Chicago Tribune.

Comments

[Marc Rovner]

The pop-up stores are great, as you note, for building excitement and gaining publicity. However, this nano-store approach is still a basic promotional tool which is good for a spike in sales and notices. The challenge here is how these activities align with brand building, where imagery and value are more important "over" time than "in" time.

[David Polinchock]

Marc, couldn't agree with you more! We counsel our clients all the time that they need to make sure that whatever experience they might create at a pop-up retail or something like that, it has to be authentic to what the actual brand experience is as well. It’s very easy to get the temporary space right and neglect your actual brand experience. David