Ep.17 Pop-Up Stores: A Permanent Paradigm With Melissa Gonzalez Founder - The Lionesque Group

About Melissa Gonzalez:LinkedIn:  linkedin.com/in/melissagonzalezlionesqueWebsites:lionesquegroup.com  (Company Website) melissagonzalez.com  (Personal Website)Email: [email protected]:MelsStylesLionesqueGroupBio: Melissa Gonzalez is a successful American entrepreneur, author and founder of The Lionesque Group, an award-winning creative strategy firm, and Clark, an interactive platform which empowers consumers to connect with digital and physical brand experiences. She draws on her success as a former Wall Street Executive, advising high-level entrepreneurs on how to grow their businesses by leading with innovation and creativity.Additionally, she shares her unique business insights in inspirational keynotes leaving audiences enlightened and energized.Building bespoke brand experiences, Melissa advises businesses on how to build custom brand experiences, converting customers to clients and creating a better brand experience for their target audience. Based on her career as a creative strategist, entrepreneur and CEO, Melissa knows the nuances of building a successful business and growing it.According to Melissa, a better brand begins with strategy. She helps businesses tell their most compelling stories through immersive experiences that both engage and elevate their brands and customers. Melissa is an award-winning innovator and a seasoned visionary. In 2016, she was awarded Design:Retail’s 40 under 40, an award for the retail design industry’s top young professionals and up-and-coming future leaders. In addition, she was awarded the Innovator of the Year for pop-up retail experiences by Retail Touchpoints in 2015. Finally, she was honored with the CLIO Image Award for experiential engagement in 2014, and she was a finalist for the New York Design Award for marketing and branded experiences.In 2019, The Lionesque Group was one of the finalists in One Show Awards for Experiential Design and Indoor Spaces. Additionally, it was shortlisted in The Glossy Awards for Best Pop-Up/New Concept Store in 2018. The Lionesque Group is a firm consisting of award-winning retail strategists and pop up architects™ who have produced and strategized over 150 brick-and-motar experiences in the United States’ larger cities since 2009. Clark is an interactive platform that empowers customers to connect their in-store and online shopping experiences using digital wireless personal shopping keys. Clark creates seamless shopping by making it possible for customers to review and purchase products they discovered in-store. Melissa Gonzalez has worked with major brands and clients counting Amazon, Estee Lauder, YUM brands, COTY, Intel and others such as property groups, including Steiner & Associates and GGP Properties (now Brookfield).Episode Intro:Back in the early 2000s the world of digital online shopping was beginning to emerge and the.com craze was all around us. Retailers were exploring new avenues into connecting with their customers including online shopping, outlet stores and looking to merge the world of digital and physical retailing. New formats like pop-up shops were emerging into the market and I remember fashion designers like Isaac Mizrahi, who had a connection with Target, created one of the first pop-up stores in the Hamptons that set this idea on a path that continues to grow today as a viable way to bring clients new experiences. Pop shops are great because they allow for experimentation, exploring new formats and creating great marketing buzz, they are emotionally connected to FOMO  - the Fear Of Missing Out, and shown to increase both in store and online sales, and more than ever they’re short lifespan seems to perfectly aligned with an emerging market of consumers for whom ephemeral experiences seem to be part of their every day expectations about connecting to Brands.While all this was going on in 2009 a Wall Street executive decides to take on some more creative endeavors and launch a company that focuses on the development of pop-up shops. Melissa Gonzalez describes his departure from her role as the Vice President of Equity Sales at Merriman Capital as “a good accident.” Didn’t that has allowed her to grow an extremely successful company working with multiple international high-powered brands creating experience moments to engage guests.Melissa Gonzalez, is now the founder and CEO of the Lion’esque Group an award-winning creative strategy firm, and Clark, an interactive platform which empowers consumers to connect with digital and physical brand experiences. She is also a successful author and public speaker.Melissa has won a number of awards including Design:Retail’s 40 under 40 in 2016. In addition, she was awarded the Innovator of the Year for pop-up retail experiences by Retail Touchpoints in 2015. Finally, she was honored with the CLIO Image Award for experiential engagement and she was a finalist for the New York Design Award for marketing and branded experiences.Speaking on topics such as the future of retail strategy and living in a phygital world, she presents the latest trends impacting the future and thought-provoking ideas on how to integrate the digital landscape with physical improvements. She is looking at today’s consumers and how they affect the market. About David Kepron:linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582bWebsites:retail-r-evolution.com  (Company Website)vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645  (Blog)Email:[email protected]:DavidKepron The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production is by Kano Sound. The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL “Dialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Arts” wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.