Earlier this month Volcom launched a women’s swim tour that is traveling across the country to swim and surf shops throughout the spring.
The “Welcome to the Water” Swim Pop-Up Shops were developed to support their core retail accounts by bringing hype to the new Volcom swim collection.
The Volcom Swim Pop-Up Shop debuted in early April at IWS in Deerfield Beach, Florida, and will conclude at the end of June in Kauai. The tour will make 20 stops in all, with marketing for the tour hinging on social media and social influencers, regional press and Instagram.
Shop-Eat-Surf talked with Gina Turpel, Volcom Women’s Marketing Director, and Erin Hawley, Volcom’s VP of Sales for Women’s and Swim, to learn more about the concept and significance of the tour to the brand.
Can you tell us more about the Welcome to Water campaign and the significance of it?
Volcom: Welcome To Water Swim Pop-Up Shops are here to support our core retail accounts, to influence sales and bring hype to their business and the Volcom swim collection. We understand the importance of running exclusive women’s specific retail events for our core retailers. It’s an opportunity to share our brand and product story with the account and the consumer.
The campaign is also shared between Men’s and Women’s, which is fantastic to have a story that can relate between both genders. The pop-up shops are allowing us to speak to and bring to life the Women’s portion of it, which really helps to build the story and add touch points with our consumers.
There are 20 stops and they accommodate each individual retail account. The events are all pretty consistent. Some are bigger floor space, some are smaller. Some setups differ as to whether the event can be set up inside or outside. But the idea, vibe, and look are all the same.
This is the first year of the tour, but we are anticipating expanding on this idea and continuing to bring the vibe and energy of Volcom Women’s to our retailers and consumers.
What’s involved in the tour?
Volcom: Our Swim Pop-Up shops highlight the Volcom swim collection including beach cover-ups and sandals. We are giving away “Welcome To Water” mason jars at the infused water station and Volcom festival sun umbrellas are gifted with every swim purchase.
Depending on the location, the customer will have the chance to shop and hang out with one of our Volcom Surf Babes like Quincy Davis, Maud Le Car or Coco Ho, and local influencers.
We have also created a Volcom aesthetic to the event: a unique vibe and space that help tell our story and brings the consumer and retailer into our curated environment. It’s a lounge type environment — very welcoming and comfortable, which is always a great set up to shop in.
Is there something new or expanded or any other changes to the swim line for this season?
Volcom: Swim continues to be a large focus to our collection. As always, playing with prints and silhouettes as swim continues to evolve, which is always exciting.
We have branched off from feeling that our swim line has to mirror our sportswear line as closely as years past, really ensuring that the prints and colors are right for the swim collection.
Is this the first time Volcom Women’s has done a marketing event on this scale with core accounts, and how did you decide which core accounts to visit?
Volcom: From a true Women’s perspective, yes, and we couldn’t be happier. We have a lot of momentum in our Women’s business and a ton of focus on it, and this only helps to tell our story.
As much as we wanted to do this everywhere, budgets tend to dictate what we can do so we tried to focus on a variety of territories so that although we couldn’t hit every account, the tour and event would span a wider distance.
As we continue and grow this idea, the thought process would be to change up accounts and territories to continue to reach as many people as possible.
