PopSockets is the leader of what its CEO, Jiayu Lin, likes to call the phone grip category. The company is known for small, retractable circles that come in a wide variety of prints and colors and attach to the back of someone’s phone, making it easier to grip.
But, the company really wants to be known as a lifestyle brand. It’s an inflection point that many accessories brands reach at one point or another, as they want consumers to know them for more than just a single widget. And, Lin is thinking day in and day out about how to position PopSockets as a lifestyle brand through events, collaborations, new product launches and more.
“I want to take [PopSockets] to the next level by transitioning the company from a tech accessory to a mobile lifestyle brand,” she said.
Lin joined The Modern Retail Podcast to talk about her vision for PopSockets. She’s been with the company since 2022, starting out as its gm of APAC and becoming the company’s CEO in September.
PopSockets has been focused on product expansion for the past few years, and it now sells phone cases, wallets and more, in addition to its ubiquitous grips.
One concept Lin is particularly interested in is the idea of the mobile lifestyle — that is, as people carry their phones everywhere, phones are increasingly becoming an extension of people’s identity. So, PopSockets is focused on launching a greater variety of products that speak to people’s interests and hobbies — for example, a music festival survival kit.
“This idea of a mobile lifestyle – we want to be part of you, and an extension of you, to help you express yourself — whether it’s at work, at home or at play,” Lin said.
Creating exclusives for different retailers like Walmart, Best Buy, Apple and more is also a big part of this. In addition, PopSockets is looking at more pop-up opportunities and events this year, Lin said.
“It’s very important for us that we find the right channels for the different products we carry,” she said.
Here are some highlights from the conversation, lightly edited for clarity and length.
How PopSockets thinks about product expansion as a lifestyle brand
“I’m going to use the example of our soon-to-launch collection. This is your music festival survival kit. Think about going to a music festival, right? You need your phone for the whole day, you want to record content, your phone can [run low] on battery — and here we are to the rescue with our Maxi power pack. … And then, of course, you want a wallet for IDs and the grip for holding [your phone] as you record content. We also have these straps, right? We know you want to dance at a concert. You want to go hands-free. … You think about the outfit you want to wear to these events, and you want to want to coordinate with your friends, and why don’t you have your phone accessories be part of it? So [that] is the idea of a mobile lifestyle: We want to be part of you, as an extension of you, to help you express yourself — whether it’s at work, at home or at [events].”
Pulling off a successful collaboration
“We know that first designing into the ethos of the community is very important. So our design team, and then, overall, the licensing, partnerships, marketing and sales [teams] — everybody — really lean into the conversations that happen in that community. I have a variety of products in my hand that I’m very excited to bring to you soon — I’m showing you here a product that spins and it actually looks like some tool that you would use for cleaning your vinyl records. [The] things that matter [are] design — we have very talented designers, due to our dedication to the category for 10-plus years, right? We have the best-in-class technology and the treatments in color and material finish that can best represent what consumers in certain interest groups [and] communities hold dear to their heart. So we really make sure that we take the time to create designs that are meaningful to them.”
Staying ahead of copycats and competitors
“I think we [stay ahead of the competition] through brand building, through building the PopSockets brand — we recognize that today. You know, consumers probably know our products better than the brand, but this is something we’re going to change. We plan to reclaim our origin story, and we proudly own the fact that we invented the category, and we tell the world that we bring you best-in-class mobile outfits. That’s how we are going to take the category to the future. … I come from the APAC market where we saw a lot more competition there than even in the U.S. … but we are here really dedicated to the category. Ten years in and counting, we continue to invest in the products, and quality and innovation are key here. And we’ll keep raising the bar for our products.”