How Impactful Pop-Ups and Events Are For Toronto-Based Brands
A look at three different Toronto brands and how they utilize events for their growth.
One of the best ways to build your brand is through events or pop-ups. They’re a way to expand your reach as a brand, meet new potential clients, and draw in opportunities for people to want to work with you. They’re also just fun—the process of setting up, displaying your work, and meeting new people ultimately brings you and your brand more success. Choosing where to host an event or pop-up is equally as important because if you’re not set up in an area that’s easily accessible to the crowd you want to bring in, you lose out on those potential clients.
There’s plenty of more work that goes into it than the enthusiastic vision I’ve given, but as long as you’re able to display your talent authentically, people will see it and they’ll get the message. So it’s alright if you start small.
The smaller local brands that use these events, like Cecilia In The Summer (@ceciliainthesummer), can appeal to their audience of predominantly students by curating what goods or products they want to bring to the event. Many of these brands choose to advertise their jewellery making, like in the case of Cecilia founder, Mary, or clothing brand businesses (crocheting has recently been making an appearance too). This is the perfect market to appeal to students, because of the typically lower price point and ease of purchasing the product.
The benefits of pop-ups like this lie in their simple but effective way to appeal to a broader audience. They typically run all day for a handful of days, where exposure alone leads to thousands of people walking by or taking notice of your booth. Combining that with affordable prices, and typically smaller products that can easily be purchased for yourself or loved ones, creates the perfect environment to promote your brand.
For brands that have already established a larger audience, continued pop-ups are still effective in gaining new customers—for example, KALA BEAUTY. An organic skincare brand founded on values of self-care, confidence, and a celebration of Black girlhood and womanhood, the company creates products that are ultimately safe for your skin because of their natural ingredients. Founder Karima Dabre (@iamkalabeauty) started small like all other businesses, informed by her background in traditional beauty stores.
The benefits of pop-ups like this lie in their simple but effective way to appeal to a broader audience. They typically run all day for a handful of days, where exposure alone leads to thousands of people walking by or taking notice of your booth. Combining that with affordable prices, and typically smaller products that can easily be purchased for yourself or loved ones, creates the perfect environment to promote your brand.
For brands that have already established a larger audience, continued pop-ups are still effective in gaining new customers—for example, KALA BEAUTY. An organic skincare brand founded on values of self-care, confidence, and a celebration of Black girlhood and womanhood, the company creates products that are ultimately safe for your skin because of their natural ingredients. Founder Karima Dabre (@iamkalabeauty) started small like all other businesses, informed by her background in traditional beauty stores.
While a brand cannot be sustained on attending these kinds of markets alone if you want growth, it’s an excellent starting point until you draw in enough people to expand even more. Sometimes that takes years of dedication and social promotion, like it did for Alex Maxamenko and Christian Ferguson of 20 Maud.
A fashion archival brand run by the two friends, 20 Maud is the name of their new retail space which acts almost as a mini-vintage store, but by appointment only. They boast incredibly unique pieces, including one-of-a-kind ones that live in the space to be rented out by clients. But they wouldn’t have gotten to where they are without the smaller events and social interactions that helped to expand their consumer base.
The market strategy they have going now seems to work for their more upper-scale clientele base because they’re operating on the basis that the people who trust them will come to them, if, for example, a stylist wants a particular piece for a model. This is entirely reliant upon their relationship with their audience. And that’s not a bad thing—if people don’t trust the quality of the work or the product you advertise, it will be very difficult to do any growing at all, but it does make them feel more exclusive. An interesting position to be in, if they plan to open more stores or expand outside of Toronto.
Regardless, they’ve got themselves into a position where they can afford to be picky about what they do next or who they decide to cater to, and, again, that comes down to the relationship that they’ve managed to build with their audience, particularly the ones on their social media platforms, which they have been growing for years. This is a prime example of how it truly is the most beneficial to interact with others and make yourself appealing to your supporters, because they, in the end, will be the ones who help get you to where you want to be. With this kind of continued support, the brand has the potential to grow even larger.
Cecilia In The Summer, KALA BEAUTY and 20 Maud are only a few examples of brands that are making a name for themselves through the use of events or pop-ups, but they are all ones who utilize these tactics to ensure that their brand continues to grow. It’s difficult to have that growth without this.
It’s also important to support them and other local brands like them because of the connections that they’re able to build with their audience. They genuinely care about you and want your feedback. Many of them are also concerned with sustainable business practices and providing a kind of market that wasn’t there before. In doing so, they’re creating a market space worthy of our support.
Cecilia In The Summer, KALA BEAUTY and 20 Maud are only a few examples of brands that are making a name for themselves through the use of events or pop-ups, but they are all ones who utilize these tactics to ensure that their brand continues to grow. It’s difficult to have that growth without this.
It’s also important to support them and other local brands like them because of the connections that they’re able to build with their audience. They genuinely care about you and want your feedback. Many of them are also concerned with sustainable business practices and providing a kind of market that wasn’t there before. In doing so, they’re creating a market space worthy of our support.
