Made Thought Created A Pop-Up Brand Experience From The Future
Made Thought imagined a store of the coming times, with a brand experience like no other.
The pop-up activation used digital experiences to give attendees a taste of the future.
Found in London’s Seven Dials Made Thought, together with Studioshaw, brought an eclectic mix of components you wouldn't usually experience in a shop, from editorial articles to immersive installations.
It gave the branding studio a chance to showcase their work, and had a dual aspect of provoking a wider dialogue around how creative thinking could be implemented to improve the world of retail. This discussion may be more necessary than ever post covid.
Founders of Made Thought, Paul Austin and Ben Parker met with Dezeen to share their thoughts. “People don't want just rails of stuff anymore," explained Paul Austin. “The question is, how do we engage that?"
He said:
"We thought, why don't we have a shop but not actually run it as a shop, but rather as an immersive space that retailers might take something from?"
One of the attendees mentioned the pop-up activation was like "a website that exists", fusing together a multimedia portfolio with selected content and products for sale.
The ever-changing space was split into three differing sections. The most dynamic of which was the basement, which changed its look and composition each week with different brand installations.
For the farm-to-table hotel, Heckfield and the cosmetics brand Wildsmith, the space was transformed into an idyllic scene of reeds, which was the backdrop for various speakers to eloquently discuss biodiverse farming techniques. We at Lyra Studios are pleased to see sustainability awareness and green events come to the fore, as diverse wildlife is a key factor in saving the environment.
For Ableton, the music production hardware and software company, a pinewood box was built and installed into the space, which held a miniature replica of the bedroom of producer Farao. The box could be opened up to play live music performances.
"Ableton were thrilled because they just don't get the opportunity to do this," said Austin. "Their universe doesn't allow it."
Austin thought the part of the installations that were most effective, as didn’t feel conspicuously branded. We are seeing a growing trend in attendees, where people don’t want to be overtly advertised to; they would rather have a brand experience that is more of a feeling or vibe than the branding being thrown in their face.
"It didn't want to feel like it was 'and sponsored by Ableton'," he explained. "I think that's been one of its biggest strengths. People see it much more on a kind of creative level than a commercial level."
On the ground floor Made Thought presented a range of their projects, including Tom Dixon accessories and GF Smith paper items organised on a bold plinth made from reused or recycled materials.
On the other side of the room was an exhibition space that included the shop window. They used it to exhibit To Think, their journal-come magazine which has articles by various creative thought leaders.
The area also featured an exploring the designers’ thoughts around sustainability, featuring numerous examples of experimental materials. Of course, this was something we at Lyra Studios took a keen look at and were interested to hear Made Thoughts’ strategy.
"As designers, we have a responsibility to approach what we do differently," said Austin. "I think that that's been the overarching message here."
Austin revealed the whole project was expensive to curate, but only slightly outweighed what they spent using a PR company the year before. He suggested creative studios should follow their example - we do too.
"If we're going to spend any money on reputation, this is how I see it being done," he said. "I'd much rather do something interesting and let people hear about it, and use our social media and our platform to actually have an opinion."
Lyra Studios loved the ingenuity in combining beautiful design, sustainable thinking and subtle brand experiences to form a successful pop-up activation.
All images courtesy of Dezeen.