The New York Times today reports that The Meow Mix Company is opening up a temporary store called the Meow Mix Cafe on Fifth Avenue. It will offer " ... cats -- and the humans who think they own them -- food, toys, games and Meow Mix merchandise for sale in the gift shop." Its purpose is to help the company launch into the wet food category, as until now it only sold dry food. It will be open for a mere 5 days and is costing the company $200,000. Now I suppose you could argue it's already a success because the idea generated a nice piece of PR in the Times for Meow Mix. But I just don't see how spending 200 grand on a temporary store on an avenue populated by tourists (most, if not all, of whom left their cats back at home) is going to make a big difference whether people buy the company's new wet food.
The article goes on to point out that "Pop-up retail ... can sound like gimmicks or stunts, but that can be ameliorated 'if done in a tongue-in-cheek, appealing way that's not taken too seriously,' said Matthew Glass, president of the event marketing and promotional agency for The Meow Mix Company ..." Actually, it still sounds like a gimmick to me. True experiential marketing, in my opinion anyway, isn't gimmicky. I'm not sure how you develop a relationship by saying "Hey folks we made something for you. Oops, too late, you missed it, it's gone now. Hope we got your attention. Buy our stuff. See ya!"
I'm not against branded retail stores so don't get me wrong. There are some that are on strategy, well-designed and do a great job of creating experiences for the customers. But I'm not as big a fan of a pop-up retail store that seems to be based on a fairly thin strategy.
I hope you don't think I'm being catty. : )
you go girl..put the claws back in
Posted by: erik hauser | August 06, 2004 at 07:32 AM
I've seen people take dogs to cafes, but I've never seen people "out-and-about" with their cats. (Is it just me?) It'll be interesting to see the results! Thanks for the info. :)TPS
Posted by: Tina | August 06, 2004 at 10:00 AM
I've seen people take dogs to cafes, but I've never seen people "out-and-about" with their cats. (Is it just me?) It'll be interesting to see the results! Thanks for the info. :)TPS
Posted by: Tina | August 06, 2004 at 10:01 AM
I've seen people take dogs to cafes, but I've never seen people "out-and-about" with their cats. (Is it just me?) It'll be interesting to see the results! Thanks for the info. :)TPS
Posted by: Tina | August 06, 2004 at 10:02 AM