Teen Vogue Opens Marketing Pop-Up Store

By Tom Ryan

Teen Vogue is opening a Teen Vogue Haute Spot store at the Mall at Short Hills in New Jersey from Nov. 28 through Dec. 26. The pop-up store will not sell merchandise but serve as a hip place for its advertisers to market their products.

The stores, according to The New York Times, will offer free snacks, informal modeling, a perfume bar, a makeup station, charging stations for cell phones and iPods, a gift-wrapping counter and racks of clothes. Stylists and attendants will advise visitors on lipstick, shoes and outfits. Specifically for nearby retailers, associates will physically guide visitors to stores in the mall where they can buy the products.

“We’re not actually selling products, because our goal is to encourage people to shop in the mall,” Laura McEwen, the publisher of Teen Vogue, said. “We feel we’ve created a retail environment that doubled as a place where they could come together, be girls, and shop together.”

Teen Vogue did not charge most advertisers to participate in the store. It was offered as a perk to some top advertisers, while some were asked to buy an extra page or two in the December/January issue of Teen Vogue. The magazine brought in six new advertisers as a result of the store. In all, more than 20 Teen Vogue advertisers are participating, including Clinique, Armani Exchange and Aldo.

“The thing that was attractive to us is it’s not a high-pressure environment,” said Denny Downs, Clinique’s executive director for marketing in North America. “We wanted them to have the ability to play, and learn about our product. We’re looking at it more as a marketing opportunity than a sales opportunity, but because of the location, it could easily make the leap.”
Store clerks and employees, he told the Times, “can walk them down the mall to Bloomingdale’s or Nordstrom, and take it from there.”

Teen Vogue, part of Condé Nast Publications, will also open two stores in March and April to promote prom wear at a location to be determined. In August, two back-to-school themed locations are expected to open.

The magazine is also promoting itself with the store. Editors are expected to visit and offer fashion and makeup advice.

“They’re at that age where they’re very impressionable and aspirational,” Ms. McEwen said of the magazine’s readers. “They want contact.”

The article noted that several media properties, including Sports Illustrated, CNN, USA Today and CNBC, are opening stores in airports, but are selling merchandise rather than promoting other retailers.

Discussion Questions: What do you think of the Teen Vogue Haute Spot store and the potential for marketing pop-up stores at the mall? What does this say about how the relationship between magazines and their advertisers are changing?

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Susan Rider
Susan Rider
15 years ago

This will work! Stores are already doing a little of that when they set up sample counters within stores to promote new products, promotions, etc. This should go over well and bleed over into other commercial markets. People always like to feel, touch and see before they buy. Great concept.

Tim Henderson
Tim Henderson
15 years ago

Smart concept. Today’s shoppers often look to merchants, marketers and manufacturers to serve as lifestyle partners and advisers, especially to help navigate a growing number of brand choices and to help find the ones that work for the individual’s lifestyle. And while we usually see more pop-up around the holidays, this is a bit different. It’s reminiscent of Sam Goody’s Graze Lounge, Pepsi’s Pepsi Zone and Coca-Cola’s Red Lounge.

Will we see more? I hope so, and it would seem to make sense for a variety of lifestyle pubs targeting various demos. For instance, an AARP Magazine concept for senior shoppers, a Field & Stream pop-up for the outdoors adventurer or a Parenting mag concept for new moms. Still, pubs and marketers will need to be mindful that they walk a fine line between marketing products and creating a relaxing environment that makes the target consumer feel like this is their store. For Teen Vogue, it’s a demo that’s used to being the focus of marketing. But they will walk on by if the store becomes a “high-pressure environment.”

Carol Spieckerman
Carol Spieckerman
15 years ago

I think it says more about how the relationship/synergy between magazines and retail is changing. Uber high-end etailer, Net-a-Porter.com calls itself an “online magazine” and prides itself on selling the most coveted pieces from the world’s top designers…and at full price. Founder and Chairman, Natalie Massenet got her start as a fashion editor and guess what? She still says she’s an editor, not an etailer. Hearing her speak at last week’s Women’s Wear Daily apparel CEO summit, it rang true when she said “Magazines are going to be stores and stores are going to be magazines.” However, this dynamic isn’t exclusive to luxury brands; why do you think Walmart picked Better Homes and Gardens as its power brand in home rather than going the celebrity route? Why are retailers re-investing in content-rich catalogs that tell their brand stories “just like a magazine”?

Gene Detroyer
Gene Detroyer
15 years ago

This is a fantastic idea under any circumstances, but under the current trend away from print by advertisers, it offers a magazine’s advertisers something truly unique and my guess is, it will prove valuable.

It is a great way for the magazine to leverage its brand and provide a three-way connection with the readers, the advertisers and the magazine itself. It projects the magazine advertiser from a page in a magazine out to a profile that really connects with the target audience.

I am quite sure we will see much more of this. However, it should not be used haphazardly. I have seen similar efforts at various fairs. They have been done very poorly. But if the environment is right, the target is audience is slim and the staff at the pop-up is well matched to the target demographic, I see nothing but upside.

Ryan Mathews
Ryan Mathews
15 years ago

Brilliant idea–great timing–not a model for everyone. What else is there to say?

Mel Kleiman
Mel Kleiman
15 years ago

This one gets my vote and I think you are going to see other magazines and possibly even some manufacturers jump all over this.

Make contact in a non-sales environment and give people something of value; what more can the consumer ask for? Walk them down the mall, make them feel important.

The only key question is, will they hire the right people to make it work?

Marc Gordon
Marc Gordon
15 years ago

What a great idea. Sounds like Vogue really did some serious planning on this one. I would be interested in seeing if there is a measurable spike in sales for the retailers in that mall that are participating in the campaign.

Who knows? This could become a new trend. What if a major sports team put on a “clinic” showcasing clothing, sporting goods, and nutritional products in the same no-sell environment as Vogue?

Camille P. Schuster, Ph.D.
Camille P. Schuster, Ph.D.
15 years ago

Having a gathering place for teens that provides information and advice on matters that are important to them–fashion, makeup, etc–is a great idea. That will be a draw for teenage girls, definitely. The upper age will be defined by the people who are seen in great numbers in the store and in the flexibility of styles of advice for different age groups.

However, the shopping part may not work as well. The economy may be affecting the amount of money available to teens and their willingness to spend it on themselves at holiday time.

Kevin Graff
Kevin Graff
15 years ago

Love it! What’s not to like here? This pop up store will be overrun by teens this season. It appeals to the ‘cool’ nature of shopping and will be an unbelievable experience.

Retailers and marketers, take note of what’s happening here. This isn’t something that is solely for the teen market. Kids, moms, seniors, boomers…we all want a place that we define in our own mind as ‘cool’, and is for us.

Well done.

Janet Dorenkott
Janet Dorenkott
15 years ago

Magazines need a fresh idea that will convince more advertisers that it is worth the high costs of print advertisements. This is a creative concept. Making the “shop” available for a limited time only will definitely get the teenage girls attention. It’s a great new step in building the relationship between advertisers and magazines. Since the magazine is paying the bill for the space and management of the shop, I’ll be curious to see if this pays off in additional advertisements for them.