A Marketers Dream: The Museum of Ice Cream in San Francisco
I was camping with my family when tickets to the Museum of Ice Cream went on sale. I had to run off to the campsite gift shop for Wi-Fi so I could get tickets before they sold out—good thing too, because tickets for this pop-up sold out in 90 minutes. I got two tickets, and toddlers were (thankfully) free.
Museum of Ice Cream: What is that?
Pop-up shops are nothing new; we see them at the mall every Christmas season, calendar and phone kiosks in the middle of every aisle. Even the Santa meet-and-greet is a pop-up shop where kids can wait in long lines to pay a guy in a suit to take a picture on his lap (nothing against it, but that is totally what it is). However, these Instagram-style Pop-Up Museums are a somewhat new idea.
Rent a space in a downtown location, deck it out with different ice cream themed rooms all dedicated to getting that PERFECT Instagram shot, and create some buzz (aka influencer marketing). Add some promotional marketing with It’s-It Ice Cream and My/Mo Mochi Ice Cream (at least at the SF location), and you have the Museum of Ice Cream.
I want to go!
The San Francisco shop is sold out. To get tickets, you had to sign up for their email list and wait for the link to buy tickets on the first day. You pick a certain time to attend, then you wait in line outside to get in. This way they can properly space out people, ensuring everyone has ample time to get their pictures taken. Sounds crazy… but really, it is genius.
We use social media to share pictures of what we want our lives to look like. We pick restaurants based on word-of-mouth (or, if you’re like me, the best food porn). See my post on Sonoma Magazine about the 20 Most Instagrammable Restaurants in Sonoma County. We have great cameras in our pockets, so why not have some fun in a rainbow room filled with sprinkles!?!
Damn Millennials
Some blame millennial narcissism for the idea of the SELFIE, but I remember being 21 years old taking “selfies” with friends with a throw-away film camera. The style didn’t have a name then, but your friend with the longest arm taking a group photo of you and your gal pals at the bar? Yup, that was a selfie.
We seek out beauty. And maybe it’s because I loved marketing and photography in high school, but I have always looked at places through a different lens. Now even more people share their love of taking a gorgeous picture with friends.
Marketing 101
Experience marketing is an expensive, yet a very effective way to connect with fans of your brand and new customers. Big cities have always enjoyed pop-up experiences, like “Kitten Therapy” from Soulpancake, to Netflix selling their own WEED strains in LA (I love living in California) to promote Orange is the New Black and their new show Disjointed.
I would LOVE more Experience Marketing pop-ups in smaller cities. Okay, I am biased… but a Sonoma Tourism or Sonoma Magazine pop-up MUSEUM OF WINE? Come on now! It is brilliant. People swimming in the Kendall Jackson grape pool with purple plastic balls? A glass of La Crema Pinot in a perfectly lit vineyard? Punchdowns in a cellar? I see it as a cross between the Wonka factory and the Museum of Ice Cream for grown-ups.
If anyone creates this, I NEED TO BE A PART OF IT! I’m talking to you, Jackson Family Wines Marketing team ;)
I am noticing some Sonoma County businesses creating a space for their clients to share photos also. A great example is the Lash Lady Salon in Sebastopol. They created a pink flower wall just for clients to take pictures after they get their lashes done. LOVE IT!
Trends Go Away
Just like Color Runs (people running a 5K just to get splashed with food dye) were a fad, these pop-up museums (the Color Factory or 29 Rooms from website Refinery29, to name a few) are a fad. But the idea of sharing your life via social media? Now that is a trend that isn’t going away anytime soon.
