Success Stories

The brief
Volvo’s XC40 offers a blend of elegant style and exceptional craftsmanship. To attract China’s young drivers to its virtues, Volvo created a trio of pop-up stores in Chengdu, Shanghai and Shenzhen. Appearing from December 2020 to January 2021, each was designed around lifestyle topics under the premise of ‘2021: Start Your Chic Life’, offering a variety of engagements to ‘recharge’ visitors for the new year. Pico was commissioned to provide event planning, design and build, operation services for the stores.

Insight
Volvo XC40 was designed for young, trendy urbanites who seek exciting experiences. In this project, Volvo caught their attention by providing a range of ‘chic and chill’ activities that reflected how the brand could help them shape their desired lifestyles. The experiential demonstration would grab the target market by the heart and enhance the profile of Volvo itself.

Solution
Each pop-up store was emplaced at one of its city’s shopping destinations for a three-day period. During that time, passersby could drop in to learn more about the XC40 and Volvo while being ‘recharged’ with their choice of interactive experiences.

One of highlights was a ‘travelling experience’ zone where an XC40 was surrounded by five huge LED walls. The immersive experience began when visitors simply climbed into the vehicle. They could then view a stunning moving vista of Nordic forests, snow-covered roads, highways and finally city streets on the LED walls from the car’s windows. En route, visitors enjoyed the XC40’s stylish and comfortable interior and the performance of its CleanZone air quality system.

In the spirit of the new year, visitors seeking a new image could step into the stores’ own fashion salon. There, celebrity make-up artists offered trendy makeovers, Parisian aromatherapy brand Darphin showcased their skincare experience and offered free gifts, and fitness experts stood by to offer custom workout plans.

The stores’ design made its own contribution to the mood, with a sophisticated-but-simple Scandinavian look whose soft pink interior created a healing atmosphere. Last but not least, expert baristas were on hand to craft mellow coffee, easing visitors into the new year with a relaxing Fika moment.

Results
Over 3,000 participants recorded and over 2,500 visitors left their contact information at the stores.

“Volvo values in-person interaction and communication with consumers. The pop-up stores allowed for brand information to be conveyed to consumers in a more human-centric way, successfully attracting young consumers to check in and engage in the experiences. The results were impressive,” commented the client’s representative.