Gift items inspired by original series

‘Tis the season when television networks like to send gifts to their advertising clients and the media buyers who advise them.

Rather than mail treats in impersonal boxes, this year AMC Networks decided to set up holiday pop-up stores in lobbies and conference rooms at media agencies in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles as a more up close and personal way to distribute gifts.

“This really is about giving back to clients,” said Kim Granito, senior VP for integrated marketing at AMC Networks.

Agency staffers visiting “Shop the Show” store can find items associated with the most-popular original series from each of AMC Newtorks’ cable channels: AMC, IFC, SundanceTV, WeTV and BBC America.

“Who doesn’t want a shopping break in the middle of the day,” said Granito, who estimated about 250 people came by. “We had lines out the door and a lot of smiles. It’s a really nice experience. It really does feel like a little boutique.”

The holiday effort follows the company’s trade campaign “What You Need.”

Among the items are lipstick for Killing Eve, a leather-covered flask and podcasting microphone for Brockmire, North Face gloves for the Sundance Film Festival, a leopard-pattern scarf for nature block Wonderstruck. The scarves and gloves were especially popular as the weather turned cold on Madison Avenue.

The pop up stores also provide snacks and refreshments.

This week, the Pop Up stores were at agencies OMD and Dentsu. Next week, they will pop up at Publicis in Chicago and Initiative and Rufus in Los Angeles.