Brand activation · Paris and the Alps
Luxury brand activations, pop-up stores and window displays in Paris
You are the project: your idea and the people you want to reach. We are the production, from the first technical drawing to the get-out.
A luxury brand activation invites people to meet a house in person, to step into its world and try its products, over a single visit or an evening. Prodbox, an event production company in Paris, produces these activations for luxury houses, companies and event agencies. An activation calls for the sets, lighting and show calling of a live performance. Boris Malesset, who founded Prodbox in 2018, has been producing shows and events since 1994.
From an event to a brand experience
An event gathers guests around a date and a programme. An activation starts from the house: you decide what visitors should feel as they leave, and we build the route that takes them there, from the light at the door to the object they end up holding. The experience rests on small gestures, such as a fragrance sprayed on the wrist or a watch tried on in front of a mirror.
A pop-up store in Paris, for a few days or a season
Luxury houses open a pop-up store in Paris for a few days or a few weeks, and we produce it with them, from the first visit to the premises to handing back the keys. If you are weighing up several addresses, we visit them with you and study each one: the façade and the daylight your clients will see, then the delivery access, power supply, ceiling height and the building's rules.
Window display design: a stage seen from the pavement
A luxury shop window works like a small theatre stage, with its own set and lighting. Passers-by look at it head-on, from a few steps away or from across the street, so we approach window display design from those viewpoints, with the product at eye level. By day the glass reflects the street and the light has to cut through it; after dark, the window reads like a lit stage seen from the auditorium. We install outside opening hours, in the evening or overnight, and your clients find the window finished in the morning. For Christmas windows, the drawings and 3D views come months before the installation.
The stages of an activation, from brief to last visitor
- The brief · you present the house, the product, the audience and the date.
- Feasibility · venue recce, technical constraints, permissions to apply for, first budget.
- Design · specification, plans, materials, lighting, supplier consultation.
- Build · sets, furniture and video content, ready before the get-in.
- Installation · floor plan, technical set-up, lighting focus, rehearsal.
- Opening · the show caller follows the running order while the hosts welcome visitors.
- Get-out · we take everything down and hand the venue back in good order.
Opening night, the weeks that follow and the get-out
A pop-up store often opens with an evening, so your guests discover the space before the public. During the weeks it stays open, we look after it with the staff agreed with you, from upkeep of the sets to lighting adjustments. After closing, the crew takes everything down and hands the premises back as the occupancy agreement requires.
An activation in the mountains, in Val d'Isère and Tignes
If your clients spend the winter in the mountains, an activation can meet them there, for an evening or a season. We produce it on site in Val d'Isère and Tignes, planning the build for the cold and for roads that snow can close.
Tell us about your project
Frequently asked questions
Do we need a brand activation agency for a luxury activation?
Not necessarily: a production company such as Prodbox can produce it, from the feasibility study to the get-out, starting from the idea you bring. We also produce activations for the event agencies that design them.
Experiential marketing agency or production company: who does what?
Event agencies shape the concept and the client relationship; a production company builds and runs the activation: venue, permissions, sets, technical production and show calling. Prodbox is an event production company, working for houses and for event agencies.
How much does a luxury brand activation cost?
It depends on the length, the venue, the sets to build and the technical kit to install. We build the budget line by line from your brief, then negotiate with each supplier to stay within the figure you set.
Which permissions does a pop-up store in Paris need?
You need the landlord's consent, permission from the city for signage, façade dressing or use of the pavement, and compliance with the fire-safety and accessibility rules for a venue open to the public. We prepare these steps with you from the feasibility study onwards.
Can the activation stay confidential until it opens?
Yes. Your confidentiality rules apply from the first plans to opening day.
Luxury brand events, kept confidential
We produce for houses in fragrance and beauty, high jewellery and fine watchmaking, champagne and spirits. Visuals of a product yet to be released, like your guest list, stay between you and the production team, because your confidentiality rules apply from the first plans. The sets go through the same stages as our event set design work, and a product's first public appearance often calls for a product launch event.
For these houses we have produced pop-up stores, pop-up bars, influencer trips and photo shoots.
Activations belong to our wider luxury event production in Paris. Write to prodbox.events@gmail.com or call +33 6 51 66 58 53 with your idea and the people you want to reach.