Pop Out

Pop-Up Windows: Are They An Effective Or Annoying Internet Marketing Tactic?

In the not too distant past, pop-up windows were all the rage for marketing on the internet. Every time we opened a web page, we were bombarded with various offers of goods or services. It had gotten to the point where surfing the internet was like playing a video game-Kill the Pop-ups or Die Trying. When the ads popped-up, we had to try and close them out before another one popped up. It seemed we spent more time shutting down pop-ups then we did actually surfing.

That is precisely why we have seen a decline in the use of pop-up windows on the internet today. Surfers simply disregard the pop-ups and usually just close the window without even bothering to read the ad. Too many pop-up ads can also cause the user to leave your site. You have valuable information to offer, but nobody will see it. Their time is valuable and they are not about to waste it closing out numerous pop-up ads.

Despite these setbacks, studies have shown that pop-up windows remain an effective method of internet marketing.

Is there a way that pop-up windows can be less annoying, yet still be an effective marketing tool?

Yes! Consider placing the pop-up where it can be seen upon exiting your site instead of entering. This allows the surfer to obtain the information they came for without being hassled by frequent advertisements and offers. The surfer leaves your site with a positive attitude and is more likely to respond to the pop advertisement.

This type of ad is known as the pop-under window. Here is how the pop-under works. When the surfer comes to your site, the ad is opened up discretely behind your web page. The person visiting your site obtains the information they came for. Upon exiting, they will see the ad. Now, they are more likely to respond because you have taken care of their needs first. Since the surfer is satisfied that he has achieved his objective, he is now open to other ideas; namely responding to your pop-under advertisement.

Let's talk about some ways that you can make your pop-windows, whether pop-ups or pop-unders, more effective. Here are 6 ways to effective pop-windows:

First and most important, the pop-window should be easy to "escape" from. If the surfer has a hard time closing it out, she will likely become frustrated and leave your site altogether. Either use a button that allows the surfer to close the window or be sure that the "x" is easily visible. Another method of effectiveness is to use a script that utilizes cookies. Cookies will prevent pop windows from overloading the surfer, since they allow you to make a decision regarding the frequency of the pop-windows you use. Thirdly, never use more than one pop-window per page. Four, when choosing the design of the pop-window, you can increase the effectiveness by creating a large headline that addresses benefits to the customer. Also consider using incentives and lastly, do not expect the customer to read a lengthy advertisement.

Keep your message simple yet powerful and your pop-windows are sure to generate profits for your site and happy repeat customers.

About the Author

Do You Want A Complete Money Making Site Setup FREE? I'll Personally Build A Money Making Website For You That's 100% Ready To Take Orders. Visit now: PlugInProfitSite.

Diverse Pop Duo's sound making waves; Group wrapped up concert in Maple Shade (VIDEO, SLIDESHOW)
Diverse, a pop group with ties to the area, have been making strides in their music career.

Pop Out

Lady popping her eye out

TERROR POP: FREAK OUT $13.76 TERROR POP: FREAK OUT

Garfield - Pop Out of Bed $19.99 Garfield - Pop Out of Bed - T-Shirt

Pop-Out-and-Paint Horse Breeds $9.67 Pop-Out-and-Paint Horse Breeds

Youth: Garfield - Pop Out of Bed $17.99 Youth: Garfield - Pop Out of Bed - T-Shirt

Giant Pop-Out Ocean $8.2 Packed full of impressive pop-out features, these interactive books are sure to engage and entertain curious preschoolers. Simple clues nestled within words and pictures allow children to guess what hides behind each flap. And thensurprise! Giant Pop-Out

Giant Pop Out Shapes $8.17 This sturdy interactive book, with impressive pop-out features, is sure to engage and entertain curious preschoolers. Simple clues in words and pictures allow children to guess what hides behind each flap. Then they open the flap to reveal a large pop-out

Giant Pop-out Food $8.2 Packed full of impressive pop-out features, these interactive books are sure to engage and entertain curious preschoolers. Simple clues nestled within words and pictures allow children to guess what hides behind each flap. And then surprise! Giant Pop-Out

Giant Pop-Out Safari $8.2 Packed full of impressive pop-out features, this interactive book is sure to engage and entertain curious preschoolers. Simple clues nestled within words and pictures allow children to guess what hides behind each flap. And then. . . surprise! Giant Pop-O

Giant Pop-out Farm $8.2 Packed full of impressive pop-out features, this interactive book is sure to engage and entertain curious preschoolers. Simple clues nestled within words and pictures allow children to guess what hides behind each flap. And then. . . surprise! Giant Pop-O

Derrick Rose Pop Out Framed 20x32 Collage $199.99 Derrick Rose Pop Out Framed 20x32 Collage Derrick Rose Pop Out Framed 20x32 Collage

Pop $18.32 New to town and dying of summer boredom, Marcus practices for football try-outs in the park and ends up befriending a former NFL star, Charlie Popovich. Humorous and edgy, Charlie is a player and fun to hang out with. But Marcus slowly discovers that Char

Giant Pop-Out Pets $8.17 Introduces pets, including cats, rabbits, and goldfish, in a book that offers clues to an animal's identity and invites young readers to open the flap to confirm their guess.

Giant Pop-Out Vehicles $8.17 Introduces vehicles, including ambulances, trains, and motorcycles, in a book that offers clues to a vehicle's identity and invites young readers to open the flap to confirm their guess.

Roll-Out Pop-Up Twin Size Trundle $338 Use roll-out pop-up trundle with a daybed to provide extra sleep space Features: • 76" x 40" x 9" tall

Carson-Dellosa Pop-Its Cut-out Shape $14.99 0% 1 1 / Pack 120053 6" Height x 6" Width Pop-Its Cut-out features an image of an animal that can become three-dimensional by expanding the fanned thin paper sheets on the body of the animal. Bulletin Board Carson-Dellosa Carson-Dellosa Publishing Co., Inc China Frogs Green No Pop-Its Pop-Its Cut-out Shape Shape www.carsondellosa.com

Naven Cut Out Dress in Pop Pink $264 Naven does it yet again with another fabulous mini! A short and fitted mini dress accented by sexy side cutouts, the Naven Cut Out Dress in Pop Pink is for the style saavy.

Bell Automotive Bell Automotive Lighter Pop-out Element V5142 $2.46 Lighter pop-out element Rochester type for Chevrolet Long knob for dash Brand #: Bell Automotive V5142 UPC: 077231051422 Keywords: lighter pop out element cigarette

Bell Automotive Bell Automotive Lighter Pop-out Element V5152 $2.46 Lighter pop-out element With short chrome knob for ashtray, armrest, and console Brand #: Bell Automotive V5152 UPC: 077231051521 Keywords: lighter pop out element cigarette

Pop - $14.99 Pop -

Pop! $11.16 Pop!

Pop It $14.65 Pop It

The Pop Shoppe Returns to the Market

By Blair Matthews

It's been 23 long years since one of the most famous national soda brands in beverage history has last been enjoyed. And chances are at least some packrats out there still have a few old plastic cases of empty stubbies collecting dust in their basement with faded red and white logos that have seen better days. Well, the familiar logo is back, the dust has been swept under the rug and The Pop Shoppe is back in business. And if new owner, Brian Alger has anything to say about it, the brand is back to stay.

When the chain last saw the light of day, Ronald Regan was president, plaid pants were still considered cool, and Pepsi was on the brink of winning the cola wars against Coke.

Venturetek International Ltd., the parent company of Pop Shoppe International Inc., had fallen on hard times. It had seen fame and fortune in the '70s the likes of which the original Pop Shoppe entrepreneurs from London, Ontario (Canada) had never dreamed possible. It was considered by many to be a popular staple for soda pop lovers. Most loved it because of the more than 30 flavors of pop that you could mix and match in cases of 24 returnable stubby bottles - complete with plastic red cases. It was cheap pop and had a simple concept that quickly caught on famously across North America.

Rapid franchise expansion across Canada, a promising venture into the U.S., and a record setting year made 1977 an unforgettable time for Pop Shoppe drinkers. Nearly every town in Ontario had a Pop Shoppe depot as the chain stretched from one end of Canada to the other. But less than five years later, its storied journey was coming to an end.

Sales plummeted, trading of Pop Shoppes shares was halted on the Toronto Stock Exchange, and the red ink was quickly becoming embarassing.

To this day, marketing people still try to pinpoint the reason for the chain's demise. It wasn't a simple explanation.

The consumer's love affair with convenience was dawning and with Coke and Pepsi selling their products at reduced prices in supermarkets where consumers could do their grocery shopping and pickup soda pop in cans for less money, popularity of the Pop Shoppe had seemingly run its course. Company mismanagement and misdirection has also been cited as a reason for Pop Shoppe's downfall.

The company slowly slipped away and embossed itself into beverage history much like its discounted pop had done in a sometimes unpredictable marketplace.

Fast-forward to 2005, and enter Food and Beverage Entrepreneur, Brian Alger.
Alger knew the history of the Pop Shoppe chain well and for years had thought, in the back in his mind, about bringing back a little part of his '70s childhood. Though his expertise wasn't specifically rooted in marketing fizzy drinks, it was something he knew he wanted to do if the circumstances were right.

Alger started the trademark process of bringing back the Pop Shoppe brand in the spring of 2002, a process that took about 18 months. Up to that point the Pop Shoppe trademarks had been abandoned since the brand had folded up shop in the early 1980s and the registration expired in 1994, Alger says.

The logos and trademark names laid dormant for more than 10 years and when Alger discovered they were available, the wheels started turning.

So why try to bring back a popular 1970s soda from the proverbial recycling bin more than 20 years after its heyday? Alger says it's all about nostalgia. "Like a lot of people my age, we kind of grew up on the Pop Shoppe and have a lot of fond memories of it. I was surprised that no one held the trademarks and I felt there was a tremendous amount of brand equity still with the brand," he says. "I thought there might be an opportunity there to resurrect what I think is one of the best known Canadian trademarks."

As a teenager growing up in Burlington, Ontario, Pop Shoppe soda was the pop of choice in the Alger household. "That's what we had at our school dances," Alger remembers. "When I was in school I was a person who was a bit disruptive in class so there was a period in time that they would give me my lessons in the morning and then they would send me up to what I call a storage room to do my work so I didn't bother anybody else. The room was a storage room for the whole school and there was no light inside... so they had to have my desk face the back of the room and leave the door open so there could be some light," he says. If the desk had faced towards the hallway, Alger would stop people and talk to them. At the back of the room the student council had stored all of their cases of Pop Shoppe pop. "I would just sit there for hours on end and of course I wouldn't do my school work - I would just stare at Pop Shoppe all day long. Who knows how that affected me later on down the road," Alger says.

"Unfortunately they were pop-off tops back then rather than twist-tops so even if I wanted a pop I didn't have an opener with me so it was a bit like torture."

Of the nearly 30 different varieties of Pop Shoppe soda available in the golden age of the company, Alger was partial to cream soda, and root beer. It's just a coincidence, he says, that those were two of the first four flavors he brought back to the market in late 2004. "When we looked at the pop market, we looked at what was really selling. Orange and root beer are top flavor sellers and I wanted to look at flavors that were distintive to the Pop Shoppe and that's where we came up with Black Cherry and Lime Rickey."

The Pop Shoppe's porfolio of four flavors will grow by three more this spring when Alger adds Grape, Orange and Pineapple. One flavor absent from the line-up is Cola, a flavor that Alger and his flavor consultants are still working on to recapture the exact recipe that the chain originally used in the 70's. Since there was no recipe book handed down to him when he bought the rights to the brand, it was up to him to find original bottles of Pop Shoppe (which he primarily found on eBay), then dissect and analyse the contents of each flavor. It's taken countless hours of research to come up with the tastes that do the original flavors justice.

And the lack of a cola flavor is by no means because of Coca-Cola and Pepsi's dominance in that market. "When the Pop Shoppe was around the first time, it was born out of necessity... Coke and Pepsi really dominated the market and consumers were paying a high price for soft drinks at the time. When Pop Shoppe came around," Alger says, "it really filled that void." These days, every grocery store chain has their own brand but in the 1970s that wasn't the case. "Pop Shoppe filled two areas - they gave you a great tasting soda and they gave you value for your money."

At first, Alger toyed with the idea of going back to the Pop Shoppe's original concept of store front locations where consumers could drop in and mix and match their cases of 24 bottles for one price in returnable glass bottles. But after doing a lot of research and talking to people in the beverage industry he decided the stand-alone beverage store - using refillable containers - was an inconvenience for people; it was concept that had run its course years ago and just wasn't economically feasible.

Alger is quick to point out though, that Pop Shoppe's store-front concept wasn't the reason that the chain self-destructed back in the early 1980s. It was mainly due to mismanagement within the company, he claims.

When the store-front idea fizzled out, he decided that he could market the soda through a distributor much the same way that other gourmet and specialty sodas are done. So with a working model started and the trademarks secured, plans began to take shape. While flavors and recipes were being researched, Alger considered the packaging that they should use. "I looked at doing 2 L bottles and 600mL plastic but that really doesn't do justice to the Pop Shoppe heritage. I'm a big believer that soft drinks should be drank from a glass container - you're getting the pure taste of the pop. If you drink pop that's been sitting in a plastic 2 liter for six months, it's not very good at all," Alger says.

The problem he immediately found with going to a glass container was the cost involved. But, he figured with the power of the trademark behind it and the wave of nostalgia that people are currently feeling for the old brand, it was a worthy investment.

"The response has been tremendous," Alger proudly declares. And to build on the nostalgic flavor he's also currently working on bringing back the familiar design of the stubby glass bottle with the diamond embossing. "What my goal has been all along is to really make it as close to what it was as possible. We've certainly got that on the formula side of things and if we can work on getting the package back to that now, it would be great."

Old Pop Shoppe In Your Neighborhood Might Not Be the 'Real' Stuff:
And for those soda connoisseurs out there who've been able to find old style Pop Shoppe soda for sale at their neighborhood corner store (in the old worn stubby bottles), Alger says you're likely not getting original Pop Shoppe pop. When the Pop Shoppe declared bankruptcy back in the 1980s they liquidated all the assets of the company - including all the familiar old red cases and stubby glass bottles. Anyone who wanted to purchase the equipment or property was free to do so.

Some locations (at least one in British Columbia and a few scattered around the United States) bought the assets of the local bottler in their area and continued bottling soda pop using those same old Pop Shoppe glass stubbies. "They're not able to market it under that name or say that it's Pop Shoppe brand soda, but you still get it in those original bottles," Alger explains.

And based on the analysis of the pop that was still being filled in those original bottles (Alger paid a company to analyse what was being put in them for him), it was most certainly not any soda pop that Alger would bottle. "It was absolutely horrible. The flavor profile was terrible - it was like someone made it in their bathtub and bottled it from there. I could not believe how bad it was."

'Bootleg' pop in old Pop Shoppe bottles is an issue that Alger figures he'll deal with somewhere down the road since he now owns the U.S. trademarks for Pop Shoppe as well. Though it's within his rights as trademark holder to restrain bottlers from packaging their sodas in those old reuseable Pop Shoppe glass stubbies, it's also a costly issue to try to curb. "My focus is getting the brand back out in the market and out into as many stores as possible and then we'll look at doing something about that later on. For me, it's an issue, but not a priority right now."

A Pop Shoppe Collector is Born:
Before he began his venture into the beverage world, Alger admits he wasn't much of a soda pop collector. Once he knew what his plans were for the old brand, his attitude about collecting changed drastically and a Pop Shoppe memorabilia collector was born. "I just wanted to secure as much memorabilia dedicated to the Pop Shoppe as I could."

Alger has bought nostalgic items like bottles, openers, signs, and even a replica Eddie Shack Pop Shoppe jersey as seen in many of the old ads for the soda pop.

Which begs the question: will there be a new spokesperson named for Pop Shoppe and would Alger ever consider trying to bring Shack, the original spokesman for the brand, back into the fold?

"We've had some conversations with the design team and there's no doubt about it - he was a huge part of that at the time. It may be something we do down the road but nothing immediate," Alger confesses. "But it is a consideration."

For the most part, Alger says he has more of an in-store marketing philosophy for the brand with most advertising and promotion done with point-of-sale materials and in-store specials. "Let's face it, people are coming in ready to buy something - a lot of people don't have their mind made up specific to a brand or a flavor so if we work hard on the inside of the store P.O.S. material than I think we can really grab the attention of people and let them know that the brand is available there."

For Alger, the big kick-off for 2005 will be at this year's Canadian International Food & Beverage Show in Toronto where Pop Shoppe will be well-represented.

Taking the brand into the electronic age:
The website for Pop Shoppe has created new buzz among soda drinkers and collectors alike who remember the brand with fond memories. "Lately I've been getting e-mails and calls from people who have memorabilia and photos of Pop Shoppe - it's absolutely fantastic to see these things. Some of the e-mails I get from people that are so excited to see the brand back in the market are great. They see that trademark and they get a flood of memories and emotions. They'll see that logo and it'll take them right back to a summer at the cottage or whatever. I think that's unbelieveable that a trademark and a brand can hold that kind of equity for somebody."

Chatting With the Original Founder of Pop Shoppe:
Someone who can certainly relate to Alger's situation of starting up a beverage company from scratch would be Gary Shaw, one of the original founders of Pop Shoppe when it was still a young fledging start-up company in London.

Alger was thrilled to have the chance to chat with Shaw recently about Pop Shoppe's early days.

"This was a man that started something and didn't realize how big an impact it would have. He and his partners began with $40,000 and it sky-rocketed from there. For them to have the vision to take it to where it was and to be able to identify the definite need in the marketplace for it was brilliant," Alger says.

When Alger broke the news to him that he was about to bring the brand back from the dead, Shaw was excited.

"He's a guy that says once he closes the chapter on something he moves on and from there he started up 'Grandma Lee's' (another well-known Canadian company). He certainly speaks proudly of the accomplishments they made with the Pop Shoppe."

If anything, Alger adds, Shaw was a little surprised that no one had attempted to take another run at the nostalgic favorite before now.

More Pop Shoppe Memorabilia Coming:
Alger urges Pop Shoppe fans to be on the lookout for some retro memorabilia that will soon be launched to coincide with the return of the brand. "We're going to start working on some stuff - we're going to look at some of the things that Pop Shoppe did in the past and look at doing some of those things. We'd kind of like to go retro like frisbees or yo-yos or things that fit in with that '70s time," he says.

Personal acquaintances of Alger and his fiancee got a special treat at their wedding back in November when they received a commemorative Pop Shoppe bottle produced especially for the wedding guests. It featured a wedding graphic on the corner of the label and came packaged in a giftbox.

Should the brand ever reach the levels of sales that it once did, Alger is mindful that some of the wedding guests may want to cash in on its success by putting their special wedding bottle up for bids on eBay. So he numbered each bottle and recorded who was given which bottle, just so he knows who to rib should he ever discover that someone is selling their special gift.

Currently there are about 70 bottles present and accounted for.

So what's been the toughest part of bringing back a legendary soda pop? Alger says it's the fact that he's doing the entire project on his own - from distribution deals and financing to marketing and product development (which is rare in the cut-throat beverage industry these days). And dealing with a brand that most people remember means there are big shoes to fill with little room for error. "I take it quite seriously and I realize that there are a lot of people that have a fondness for that brand. I want to bring it back as original as it was and give people that 5 or 10 minutes in a day when they can think of a fond memory of Pop Shoppe and whatever else they were doing at the time," he says.

But at the same time, he recognizes that his core audience is still that 13 to 17-year-old group of consumers that will inevitably make or break the Pop Shoppe venture. So far, Alger says he's amazed that the kids are buying up Pop Shoppe - perhaps because everything retro from the past seems to be cool again, including clothes and hair styles. "I think the kids get de-sensitized by all of these other marketing companies that put these hardcore graphics on their packaging... when they see something like Pop Shoppe, it's simple, but it's got that nostalgic look to it. It's just simple soda. I don't want to market this like 'if you're able to drink this you're going to be able to snowboard better or you're gonna be able to jump off cliffs' or whatever. It represents a simpler time," Alger stresses.

And what about all of those packrats who still harbor cases of 20-year-old Pop Shoppe bottles in their garage or basement?

They've already started coming out of the woodwork.

"We had somebody that called us saying she had a couple cases of those empties and wanted to know how she could get refunded for the deposit. What can I say... if I had a need for them I'd certainly take them back. I told her that her best bet was to try putting them up on eBay," he says with a laugh.

For more information about The Pop Shoppe, visit their website at: www.thepopshoppe.com.

About the Author

Blair Matthews is the editor and publisher of the Soda Spectrum Series, a print magazine dedicated to soda pop collecting.

Presto 114316 04820 PopLite Hot Air Corn Popper $18.75 Plug in Prestos PopLite and the party begins. In less than 2.5 minutes you will have up to 18 cups which is equal to two large bowlfuls of fluffy popcorn with virtually no unpopped kernels. And because the machine uses hot air instead of oil the resulting snack is healthier and lower in calories. Thats not to say you can nott add butter in fact the half cup measuring cup on top of the popper doubl...

Tovolo King Cube Ice Trays Perfect for entertaining, these new King Cube Ice Cube Trays by Tovolo feature a food-grade silicone body that is flexible, allowing the cubes to pop out effortlessly after freezing. The generous 2-inch size of each cube encourages creativity in ice cube building. Great Idea: Fill with your favorite mixer or juice, and add a bit of fruit. Imagine a nice DOF glass with a beautiful jumbo cube filled...

Baker's Secret 116424001 Basics Nonstick 24-Cup Mini Muffin Pan $9.99 Baker's Secret Non Stick Basics 24-Cup Muffin Pan includes 1-Each 24-Cup mini muffin pan. Baker's Secret is the original non-stick metal bakeware that performs great from start to finish. Baker's Secret is the metal bakeware consumers rely on for all their baking needs because it provides even baking results, easy release of baked goods and effortless cleanup....

Michael Jackson's Ghosts $13.95 Asia exclusive VCD (viewable on all DVD players) features the 'King Of Pop's' 1997 short film (38 minutess), produced to promote his Blood On The Dance Floor album. The film was directed by special effects wizard Stan Winston and co-written by horror icon Stephen King. The film tells the story of a scary Maestro with supernatural powers, who is being forced out of a small town by its mayor. The mo...

Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas [VHS] $12.95 For those who never thought Disney would release a film in which Santa Claus is kidnapped and tortured, well, here it is! The full title is Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, which should give you an idea of the tone of this stop-action animated musical/fantasy/horror/comedy. It is based on characters created by Burton, the former Disney animator best known as the director of Pee-wee's...

Pop Out