**Press Release**

Headine: New service provides turn-key "lemonade stands" for adults.

Subheader: POPLET brings the concept of lean startup to the street with pop-up rental service for creative entrepreneurs

Toronto, ON, Jan.1 2012

You've heard of the lean startup, heck, your mom is probably doing one. But what about creative entrepreneurs who don't deal in pixels?

Some of the most creative Torontonians do not have access to the funds or the space they need to contribute to the local economy.

With rising student debts and more expensive real estate (the average cost of commercial space in Toronto is $15/sq.ft.), many of Toronto's brightest young creatives are opting to build low-cost web start-ups or sell their wares on online.

What they're not doing is local shopfronts. And that's bad for business and community.

POPLET, which launches this January during Toronto's Design Week, aims to make starting an offline business more accessible. By facilitating relationships between creative entrepreneurs and underused commercial spaces, POPLET aims to promote local economies, and retain creative talent through temporary pop-up retail spaces.

POPLET partners with a variety of affordable spaces, and covers the basics such as insurance and contracts so creative entrepreneurs can quickly validate a new business idea, test a new market, or share their creative vision.

HOW POPLET WORKS

1. Creative Entrepreneurs create a profile on poplet.in with a 2min. video showcasing their talent and describing their ideal pop-up space.
2. POPLET matches the entrepreneurs with a suitable space for anywhere from a weekend to a month. A 10% fee is applied to the cost of the rent.
3. POPLET takes care of the insurance and contracts for the temporary space rental.

ABOUT POPLET

POPLET is a peer-to-peer pop-up rental network for creative entrepreneurs. Founded in 2012 by Vivien Leung (Pecha Kucha Toronto) and Ayla Newhouse (1THINGapp), POPLET was created to help creative people realize their dreams and pay the rent.

For more information, contact: Ayla Newhouse at 416.230.5341 or ayla@poplet.in

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**Communications Plan**

**Executive Summary**

Sign up spaces and creatives on POPLET.in during a week-long city-wide stickering tour, and a matchmaking dinner party.

**Situation Analysis**

Many shopfronts are underused or unused in Toronto. Creative people often work in isolation and do not have access to these spaces due to financial constraints, time, or lack of personal connections. Pop-up culture is gaining popularity, though many property owners are still skeptical of the benefits and prefer to rent to long-term lessees.

**Goal**

Convince property owners to share their space by showcasing the personal stories of creative entrepreneurs.

**Objectives**

Objective 1: Film 25 60sec pieces about creative entrepreneurs in Toronto that would like to use a POPLET space before Design week.

Objective 2: Invite 25 people with spaces to POPLET and the 25 creative entrepreneurs to a matchmaking dinner party.

Objective 3: Pepper the city and design shows with POPLET stickers and hang-tags that make visible available spaces for rent and talented designers looking for space.

**Target Audience**

1. Creative entrepreneurs (craftspeople, designers, small businesses)

2. Developers

3. Existing small businesses with extra shopfront space

**Key Messages**

Support local economies.

Build richer, more resilient communities.

Retain creative talent.

**Strategies**

Tell evocative stories about creative entrepreneurs to provoke emotional reactions from potential space-sharers.

Leverage our network and be strategic about telling developers and shopkeepers who else nearby has agreed to participate.

Borrow from the press, energy, events and creativity of Toronto's Design Week.

Promote our service both online and offline to start bridging the gap between the two.

**Tactics**

Poplet shopfront stickers
Deadline: Jan.2 Budget: $200

Party
Deadline: Jan.22 Budget: $500

Poplet Hang tags
Deadline: Jan.18 Budget: $200

Buttons for party
Deadline: Jan.22 Budget: $100

Films
Deadline: Jan.18 Budget: $0

Website to showcase videos
Deadline: Jan.18 Budget: $100
(we are designers who can use wordpress)

**Budget**

$1100

**Measurement**

Did we get 100 stickers on shopfronts, produce 10 short videos, and match at least 5 people with spaces?

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Here are two pitches to Katherine Scarrow at the Globe and Mail (Small Business section) in Toronto. I would send these right before design week, which is actually in January.

CASUAL

Hi Katherine,

Just watched your video on "Why you should think twice before buying a franchise" - I couldn't agree more.

I'm about to launch POPLET: a business that helps creative entrepreneurs test their ideas in physical space.

I'd love to fill you in. Do you have time for a coffee this week?

Ayla

FORMAL

Hi Katherine,

I'm launching my second start-up during Design Week (next week), and I thought you'd be the perfect person to share the news.

POPLET is a peer-to-peer pop-up rental network that helps creative entrepreneurs test their ideas in the real world, and helps developers and small business owners make the most of unused spaces. We're really excited about helping creative people stay independent, while promoting local culture and filling all the empty spaces on our streets.

Would you have time for a call tomorrow or Wednesday?

Ayla

Ayla Newhouse

Creator, Dating by Design | Co-founder, 1THINGapp

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