The Pop Up Paradigm: How Brands Build Human Connections in a Digital Age

Melissa Gonzalez (’99 Finance) is the founder of The Lionesque Group, an award winning firm of retail strategists and pop-up architects, and author of The Pop-Up Paradigm: Building Human Connections in a Digital Age. Some of her clients to date include Arianna Huffington/Thrive Global, Carbon38, Marc Jacobs, M.Gemi, Penguin Random House and The RealReal. In addition, Melissa is the Chief Pop-Up Retail Architect for 22 City Link: Loudoun, Virginia's first-ever smart city, as well as a regular contributor to ABC LA Radio with her segment #RetailwithMelissa. In 2009, she co-founded RSPOP with the Roger Smith hotel and has since grown the venture into 4 street level revolving storefronts, called The MARKET, with clients including CAT Footwear, Johnnie-O and Ellen DeGeneres' Halo Pets Foundation. In 2015, Melissa was awarded Retail Touch Point’s 2015 Retail Innovator of the Year, and in 2014 her clients projects won a Clio Image for Experiential Engagement and the New York Design Award for Branded Experiences.

In a world where the relationship between brands and consumers is becoming more and more transactional, how can businesses build real, human connections with their customers? Melissa Gonzalez, the retail strategist responsible for dozens of successful pop-ups from companies like Marc Jacobs, Ariana Huffington and J. Hilburn, has the answer. Join Melissa as she discusses her groundbreaking book. She will explain how companies can use temporary retail to generate customer loyalty, understand new markets, test innovative concepts, and much more. Whether you’re a business with an online presence considering a move into physical retail, or an established retail brand looking to create some buzz, Melissa will talk about the 7 most important ways that your brand can benefit from a pop-up and the most important things to consider when launching. And NO….Retail is not dead, we are all still consumers!