Author: Angelica Olivas

Pop-up experiences are truly popping up everywhere in the hospitality industry, and they need an integrated strategy behind them to ensure success on all fronts. Many hotels and restaurants curate pop-up bars or activations around holidays and seasonal events, and from the PR side, it’s crucial to build awareness locally, regionally and nationally through tactics like media relations and influencer marketing. 

Below we dive into our top tips for executing a successful, memorable pop-up that no one will be able to stop talking about.  

Planning, Planning, Planning 
Any well-executed event is only going to be as good as the planning that went into it. After the team has landed on a theme for the pop-up, it’s time to work backwards. Finalize a launch date, confirm when the menu needs to be complete, secure a photographer and gather all the necessary props and materials. From a PR perspective, set goals: How many pieces of media coverage will you strive for? How many influencers do you want to partner with?  

Host a Media and Influencer Preview Event 
Leverage your media relationships and invite key local journalists and influencers to a preview event before the pop-up opens to the public. This will provide them with the opportunity to experience the ambiance, cocktails and menu items firsthand, allowing them to add direct details to their media and social coverage. Be sure to include personalized touches like a branded item for them to take home or a unique sweet treat! 

The Crowe PR team recently coordinated successful preview events for holiday pop-ups at The Eliza Jane Hotel in New Orleans and The Harpeth Hotel in Franklin, Tennessee. Our team secured over 50 media and influencer attendees for the event at The Eliza Jane, resulting in more than six million media and social impressions. At The Harpeth, more than 30 attendees enjoyed the holiday pop-up, and our efforts garnered three million impressions across earned media and social.  

Following Up and Getting the Word Out 
After the media and influencer event, follow up with everyone who attended and make yourself available as a resource. Be proactive and share any menus and images they might need before they even have the chance to ask. Don’t forget to also send details to the media and influencers who were invited to the preview event but couldn’t attend – and maybe even invite them to come in at a later date! Finally, add the pop-up details to all local event calendars to further increase reach.  

Capitalizing on Success 
Picture this: It's the opening week of the pop-up, and your PR team has secured amazing media and influencer coverage. There are several roundups in the local press touting it as one of the best experiences in town and even a few regional and national pieces featuring its unique cocktails and dishes. Additionally, key influencers are posting captivating content about their experiences. 

From here, your target audience will start to get excited and make sure they check it out before the end of the season.  

That said, don’t forget to repurpose your work to further capitalize on your efforts. Post article links to social media and repost and engage with influencer content.  

Wrap Up, Review and Learn 
Once the pop-up is over, our job doesn’t end quite yet. Once everything has wrapped up, take some time to look back at the process from start to finish – review the goals you set and compare and analyze them against the results to find areas that can be streamlined in the future.  

Taking the time to absorb these learnings following an event will make future campaigns even stronger. There’s always going to be room for improvement, however, do not let this take away from basking in the success of pulling off a fantastic event!