At Meta’s annual internal Connect event, the tech giant introduced an experiential retail space dubbed Meta Lab that was dedicated to its partnership with Ray-Ban. Following its debut at Connect 2024, Meta Lab also popped up for staffers on its campus in Menlo Park, Calif., and for the public at a temporary brick-and-mortar store in LA.Photo: Courtesy of Meta
Though experiential has long been an industry buzzword, experiential retail is finally having its moment. Why? “Because brick-and-mortar retail is having a moment,” according to Tyler Prow, the director of public relations for luxury fragrance brand Aroma360, which recently launched an NBA collection and celebrated it with a nationwide tour. “We have seen for the past decade or so the move to a digital shopping experience. And while there are a lot of conveniences there, there are also drawbacks,” Prow continued. “You can’t really interact with a product from your phone screen. You can’t smell the fragrance, feel the texture, or just try it out.”
Millennials and Gen Z are leading the charge back to in-person shopping, said TH Experiential’s partner and chief creative officer, Nicole Falco, noting that the shift back to IRL has made “commerce and conversion the most coveted KPIs [for brands].”
And although experiential retail is a hotbed for attracting commerce and conversion, it’s also "one of the most effective marketing tools to directly connect with press, influencers, and consumers,” Falco added.
These 10 shopping-focused activations and immersive pop-up shops did just that...
Aroma360’s NBA Collection Tour
Aroma360 celebrated the launch of its NBA Collection with a nationwide tour that’s already made eight stops across California, Texas, and more—with four more upcoming stops on the East Coast this spring. “At each tour stop, fans could snap photos with the iconic Larry O’Brien Trophy, designed by Tiffany & Co. for the NBA Championship, alongside two members of the local NBA team’s dance squad,” explained Tyler Prow of Aroma360.
Photo: Courtesy of Aroma360
Scents coordinating to different NBA teams were put on a sleek display that Prow said instantly sparked curiosity about the Aroma360 brand. “As a PR executive, so much of the work happens behind the scenes—crafting campaigns and promoting launches—without directly witnessing the results. Seeing these real-time interactions and how they translated into sales was especially rewarding,” he told BizBash.
Photo: Courtesy of Aroma360
The tour kicked off at Aroma360’s Miami showroom where even Burnie—the Miami Heat’s mascot—was in attendance. (More than 20 additional Aroma360 stores are set to open in the U.S. throughout 2025.)
Photo: Courtesy of Aroma360
Michaels Friendship Bracelet Buses
Craft store Michaels leveraged the fandom of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour—the concert tour and the documentary film—with an activation dubbed the “Michaels Friendship Bracelet Buses.” At high-traffic movie theaters throughout Los Angeles, Michaels parked vehicles wrapped in its iconic red branding adorned with colorful threads, beads, and other crafting tools needed to make a friendship bracelet.
Photo: Courtesy of TH Experiential
Here, fans could make friendship bracelets like the ones handed out at the Eras Tour. The Michaels Friendship Bracelet Bus stops were “wildly successful as the brand authentically tapped into what people were obsessed about and tied into what they offer,” according to Falco. It also served as the perfect example of what experiential retail is all about. It “is the most direct form of marketing to connect with consumers. It’s not passive, it requires interaction and participation, and when deployed strategically, drives conversion,” Falco said.
Photo: Courtesy of TH Experiential
The Spark Race Zone
Immersive marketing firm FTWDigital was behind The Spark Race Zone, which was all about showcasing the experience and technology of racing in the America’s Cup. The experiential retail space featured seven immersive zones, including a wind tunnel (pictured) that projection-mapped wind and shared real-time data about wind speeds around the world. In other areas, QR codes and body scanners allowed people to buy exclusive merchandise.
Photo: Courtesy of FTWDigital
The Race Zone was produced in conjunction with the 36th America’s Cup by Prada. Adam Jenkins, FTWDigital’s executive producer, told BizBash “the experience generated around $65 per person in a retail basket.” Jenkins continued: “The psychology seemed to be that the investment in wonder and engagement was rewarded with a high conversion rate. ... People want the sensory experience and are prepared to award you for it.”
Photo: Courtesy of FTWDigital
Kohl’s “Home for Everyone” Relaunch
Kohl’s relaunched its “Home for Everyone” collection with an immersive pop-up event in New York City that put the retailer’s line of bedding, artwork, vases, and other home accents on display as it would appear in an apartment. Hands-on product demos infused influencer insights gathered ahead of the event—Falco's personal favorite part of the event. “I love the online-to-offline integrated touchpoints,” she said, noting that they made for “a true 360 activation with experiential pulled through all channels, not just the campaign.”
Photo: Courtesy of TH Experiential
It’s artificial intelligence that will keep experiential retail trending in 2025, according to Falco. AI-powered metrics are a powerful tool not only to prove the efficacy of experiential as a marketing tactic, but also to infuse new innovations into experiences, Falco said.
Photo: Courtesy of TH Experiential
Meta Lab x Ray-Ban
At Meta’s annual internal Connect event, the tech giant introduced an experiential retail space dubbed Meta Lab that was dedicated to its partnership with Ray-Ban. Following its debut at Connect 2024, Meta Lab also popped up for staffers on its campus in Menlo Park, Calif., and for the public at a temporary brick-and-mortar store in LA.
Photo: Courtesy of Meta
Tonja Hughes, a UX researcher who collaborated with Meta on this experience to develop strategies to optimize customer journeys, told BizBash the experience was about “educating people while they’re in shopping mode.” It was important to do so at a pop-up like this one because, “unfortunately, people don’t necessarily seek out education when they are looking on social media platforms,” Hughes said. Rather, “they’re just looking for, ‘What can I purchase?’”
Photo: Courtesy of Meta
![Thus, at the Meta Lab, guests were encouraged to explore what these Ray-Ban glasses can actually do, Hughes said. They could wear a pair of Meta’s glasses around the store and use them to take photos and videos, which were then downloaded and printed right before their eyes as a memento of their experience. A bonus of being a hands-on experience—people could “see that these glasses are aesthetically pleasing,” according to Hughes, adding that a lot of guests expressed surprise at just how hands-free they could be when wearing the tech. “It was very interesting to note that parents thought of themselves as being better parents [with the high-tech glasses] because they don’t have their phones in front of their child’s face,” Hughes said, noting that it was a discovery she believes could have only been made at a pop-up retail experience like the Meta Lab.](https://img.bizbash.com/files/base/bizbash/bzb/image/2025/01/465713941_555270660580127_799218835850010197_n.678ff2ae2f92c.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&q=70&w=400)
Thus, at the Meta Lab, guests were encouraged to explore what these Ray-Ban glasses can actually do, Hughes said. They could wear a pair of Meta’s glasses around the store and use them to take photos and videos, which were then downloaded and printed right before their eyes as a memento of their experience. A bonus of being a hands-on experience—people could “see that these glasses are aesthetically pleasing,” according to Hughes, adding that a lot of guests expressed surprise at just how hands-free they could be when wearing the tech. “It was very interesting to note that parents thought of themselves as being better parents [with the high-tech glasses] because they don’t have their phones in front of their child’s face,” Hughes said, noting that it was a discovery she believes could have only been made at a pop-up retail experience like the Meta Lab.
Photo: Courtesy of Meta
Sephora’s In-Store Experience with Briogeo
Briogeo Hair Care brought its recently released Style + Treat collection to life at select Sephora locations that transformed their makeup counters into engaging hairstyling bars. Here, it was all about Briogeo’s “Style. Treat. Play.” ethos thanks to on-hand experts who encouraged passersby to sport a fun hairdo courtesy of Briogeo’s new products. The spontaneity of the experience was key to its success, as it was a “disruption to the retail experience for consumers,” said Falco of TH Experiential, which spearheaded the immersive moment.
Photo: Courtesy of TH Experiential
![An adjacent photo op with oversize Briogeo products and colorful florals to match was the perfect place for guests to snap a photo of their hairstyle. Select local influencers were also invited to the hairstyling bar, Falco said, noting that it was “engaging on a level beyond gifting mailers.” As a result, “[the Briogeo] experience empowered them to create content that more deeply connected with their audience and increased the impact they make.”](https://img.bizbash.com/files/base/bizbash/bzb/image/2025/01/Screenshot_2025_01_21_at_2.07.48___PM.678ff061031c1.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&q=70&w=400)
An adjacent photo op with oversize Briogeo products and colorful florals to match was the perfect place for guests to snap a photo of their hairstyle. Select local influencers were also invited to the hairstyling bar, Falco said, noting that it was “engaging on a level beyond gifting mailers.” As a result, “[the Briogeo] experience empowered them to create content that more deeply connected with their audience and increased the impact they make.”
Photo: Courtesy of TH Experiential
HOUSE OF PEACOCK
“For brands without traditional retail—like film, TV, or music—experiential retail brings the magic to life IRL,” said Jordan Kaye, the CEO of Analog Events, the experiential marketing firm responsible for HOUSE OF PEACOCK. The pop-up took place at LA’s The Grove during the 2022 award season, welcoming a staggering 13,000 attendees over the course of three weeks into a space that paid homage to all of the streaming service’s Emmy-eligible shows.
Photo: Courtesy of Analog Events
Once inside, there were “no actual retail or purchasable elements,” Kaye said, explaining that instead, his firm “crafted an entirely fictional fashion line that felt like a high-end retail store” and then “created intrigue and buzz, turning Peacock’s hottest titles into trendsetting, wearable art.” Clearly, it wasn’t about sales, but rather “cementing the brand’s cultural relevance during award season,” per Kaye.
Photo: Courtesy of Analog Events
HOUSE OF PEACOCK was dripping in “Easter egg fashion items” Analog created specifically for the pop-up, Kaye said, pointing to a bow tie sculpture made in honor of Amber’s iconic style on The Amber Ruffin Show, and a custom 3D-printed snake in an ode to Peacock’s hit sitcom Killing It.
Photo: Courtesy of Analog Events
![Under the moon—literally—a display for the show Wolf Like Me featured racks of custom-made, ripped-up T-shirts. This Easter egg “was so captivating that we had to glue [the shirts] to hangers because everyone who came in wanted to buy them!” Kaye dished.](https://img.bizbash.com/files/base/bizbash/bzb/image/2025/01/Screenshot_2025_01_21_at_2.20.28___PM.678ff351ab665.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&q=70&w=400)
Under the moon—literally—a display for the show Wolf Like Me featured racks of custom-made, ripped-up T-shirts. This Easter egg “was so captivating that we had to glue [the shirts] to hangers because everyone who came in wanted to buy them!” Kaye dished.
Photo: Courtesy of Analog Events
Walmart Style Tour
Walmart tapped experiential marketing agency Lime Media to help pull off a Style Tour that made 40-plus stops across the US—all with the goal of shortening the distance between inspiration and commerce.
Photo: Courtesy of Lime Media
Inside the Walmart-blue mobile store, consumers could engage with new clothing lines via shoppable QR codes and receive style advice along—including color consultations—on-site. Attendees walked away with a tote bag of goodies and a custom-engraved e.l.f. lipstick.
Photo: Courtesy of Lime Media
Stanley’s Studio H2O
Also during football season, Lime Media fabricated a 24-foot stage trailer and 16-foot Airstream in partnership with Newbridge Marketing Group for Stanley’s Studio H2O, which made stops at 13 college campuses with shoppable moments for students to explore Stanley’s latest collection.
Photo: Courtesy of Lime Media
At Studio H2O, a custom engraving station allowed guests to give their Stanley bottle a one-of-a-kind touch. "When someone sees a cool brand experience and gets to personally interact with it, you better believe when they see that brand in stores next it is now their favorite brand!” Hill said.
Photo: Courtesy of Lime Media
