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How To Gain Earned Media Through Pop-Ups

How do you go about gaining earned media in media channels saturated to the brim with information? How do you capture customers' attention in an attention economy?

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We are in the midst of a media revolution - where the prominent role of traditional media channels is shifting with the emergence of new platforms. Information is now more accessible, and saturated, than ever before. On average people are exposed to between 6,000 to 10,000 advertisements a day. Marketers are thus facing the challenge of how to reach customers in the information overload that characterizes our current media landscape. 

In considering how to make your brand stand out in an attention economy, a strategy that many companies have put into practice is to focus on earned media in addition to paid media. Let us break these marketing concepts down for you. 

According to a report by McKinseypaid media refers to traditional advertising, where a company pays for media space or for a third party to promote its products. Commonly through tv-commercials, magazine and newspaper ads, billboards, and SEO marketing. Earned media, on the other hand, refers to how consumers create and share information regarding your company’s product offering through their own channels. An information-sharing process that incentivises new customer segments to invest in your product. 

So, how is earned media actually earned? 

Well, word-of-mouth (WOM) would be an easy way to sum up the process. A customer who is enamored with your product will generate earned media by promoting your product to their followers - at no cost to your company. By forwarding your ads, sharing product recommendations through their own channels, and creating ratings and reviews in community groups, they build buzz for your brand’s part.

By establishing spokespeople within your customer group, you can go beyond paid media to build buzz among new segments. But how do you go about convincing people to promote your product or services? 

One way of action is to set up a pop-up activation for your brand. Pop-up activations are the perfect tool to craft engaging brand experiences for your target audience - to encourage people to get talking about your brand and product offering. Let us give you some examples.

Hedvig's Goods Pop-Up At Grev Turegatan  © xNomad

xNomad teamed up with the Swedish insurance company Hedvig, to set up a unique pop-up concept in a space located at Grev Turegatan to build brand awareness and reach out to new customer segments. The Goods’ activation allowed visitors to pick one out of a hundred designer objects in exchange for signing up for a one-year insurance policy with Hedvig. 

Hedvig’s activation was a staggering success and new customers crammed the store to partake in the unique pop-up concept. With the innovative nature of the activation, Hedvig was not only able to build hype regarding the activation and their offering on their own social media handles - but additionally got people to talk within their own channels. 

xNomad x Nelly ‘TikTok house’  © xNomad

xNomad also collaborated with the Swedish fashion brand Nelly to set up a ‘TikTok house’ in central Stockholm. The logic behind the activation was to create a space in which Nelly could shift the direction of its current influencer marketing strategy - by steering away from long-term partnerships with macro-influencers and instead focusing on TikTok as a platform. 

Throughout the duration of the event, Nelly invited a number of TikTok influencers to get a touch-and-feel of their latest collection and the eye-catching pop-up for creating content. 

TikTok influencers like Maral Takian, Annie Samuelsson, and Alma Persson attended Nelly’s activation  © xNomad

The Nelly TikTok House activation was a complete success in terms of generating earned media. The influencers who attended the pop-up created content within their own channels and promoted the TikTok house experience and a selection of Nelly’s product range to their following. Which in turn helped Nelly in boosting its brand awareness, showcasing its products, and to build hype around its offering toward a new target audience. 

All in all, pop-up activations are a reliable way of getting your audience to talk about your brand in order to promote earned media. By offering rewards, engaging brand experiences, and aesthetically pleasing store spaces you can create the perfect setup to engage your audience. 

Let xNomad do the heavy lifting in elevating your brand - we help you set up your first pop-up activation with our end-to-end solution. 

Get your pop-up process started and check out our website!