Marmite pop up shop

The world of marmite has broadened its horizons yet again.  A limited edition pop-up shop has debuted on Regent Street amongst the big brands jostling for share of Christmas spend.  As we seem to have a penchant for pop-ups and indeed marmite – going to sample the delights was a must.

Maybe I’m biased, but marmite here, really is fun.  It has a genuine sense of humour, and the joys it brings to many fans has been explored through a myriad of products including cookbooks, tea sets, art prints, kitchenware, sweatshirts, t shirts, and much more… Who knew the potential.  It sounds gimmicky and it is – but it works, and what’s more…people were buying the branded novelty items and enjoying it.  As I wondered around the store, I got sucked in to everything that was going on from the comedy breakfast table in the shop window to the Warholesque prints and would have readily accepted the marmite logo on pretty much anything.

Such was my enthusiasm that all I began to hanker after was to actually eat some marmite (preferably on toast, with a generous portion of butter), so to turn the corner and see the hand drawn sign “tea, toast and mmmm marmite this way’ … was the motivation I needed to go upstairs. Up on the second floor, a café space offering a ‘draw on and leave your message’ table … and the all-important opportunity to eat the stuff.  I couldn’t quite believe it when the sign went up before my eyes, saying ‘tea and toast bar closed for the day’ – the invitation that started so well did not ultimately fulfil my inner marmite needs.

But back to the shop – what’s clever about it is that the iconic black and yellow signature colours have been used to full effect – allowing the product to do much of the hard work cost effectively through scale, theatre and VM.  If pop-ups have the ability to offer something innovative and fresh, in the eyes of the customer – then regular retail should learn a thing or two from them (but don’t shut the café early).

For the full brand experienceOnline:

http://www.marmitepopup.co.uk/

Store: 82 Regent Street, W1, London