Picking our Top 10 Most Innovative Brands was no easy feat in a time when more and more companies are investing in experiential marketing and continuously raising the bar when it comes to live events and activations.
So this year, we wanted to shake it up a bit and recognize seven additional brands doing great work. While these companies didn't quite crack our top 10 this year, their efforts so far show a commitment to boundary-pushing experiential events. We're excited to see what they have coming down the pipeline.
Click through the slideshow to see our unranked list of brands to watch.
Back to the Top 10 Innovative Brands list
As CNN recently observed, “It's Amazon's world. We just live in it.” And while the retail giant has seemingly infiltrated most aspects of our everyday lives, one area that it has yet to conquer successfully and consistently is events. One memorable attempt over the last year centered around Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, when the online retailer made “the largest delivery in Amazon's history” (pictured) to the Grove in Los Angeles in anticipation of the movie’s premiere. Curious fans were told to ask Alexa for clues to its contents. Inside: a life-size (like actual dinosaur life-size) T-Rex. Right now we’re watching to see if Amazon will invest more of its massive wealth (currently at $177.9 billion) into big stunts like that one. Because Alexa isn't saying. —M.L.
The Paris-based beauty brand has been increasingly wading into the world of live events, with thoughtful sponsor integrations, colorful pop-up shops, and the upcoming Sephoria House of Beauty, a new beauty convention hitting Los Angeles later this month. At the third Girlboss Rally, held in Los Angeles in April, the brand promoted its Instagram-inspired lipstick collection by creating video booths (pictured) with question prompts where guests could tell personal stories, which were later shared on social media. Sephora’s mission statement, “Let’s beauty together,” is also reflected in its event strategy, where organizers aim to create a two-way conversation with consumers. “Beauty is diverse and has many voices and faces. We believe it’s for our clients to define and for us to celebrate,” said Deborah Yeh, Sephora’s senior vice president of marketing and brand in a recent interview with Forbes. —C.H.
While its core customer still remains business travelers, Courtyard by Marriott has started to spruce up its image, perhaps to attract those coveted millennial guests. Earlier this year, it launched an advertising campaign along with a re-branding of its 1,000-plus properties that included a new logo, exterior design, color palette, and the addition of its Bistro Bar concept, which offers a twist on classic American menu items. Plus, as the official hotel of the N.F.L., the brand continues to produce innovative partner activations for the league, including its Super Bowl Sleepover Contest (pictured) and the newly introduced Courtyard N.F.L. Global Correspondent, who will attend games in London, Mexico City, Minnesota, as well as the Super Bowl “with the purpose of discovering the passion that unites N.F.L. fans on behalf of Courtyard.” —M.L.
Through its new Fans First initiative, the music-streaming service has been identifying an artist’s biggest fans and inviting them to intimate listening parties that give unique access to their favorite musicians. For one such event, held in Los Angeles in April, 150 of Janelle Monáe’s biggest fans were immersed in the world of Dirty Computer and Monáe’s interpretation of Afrofuturism. Four Instagram-friendly rooms (pictured) recreated her recent music videos and featured interactive, colorful details including a cotton candy machine, arcade games, disco balls, and even a live peacock. Another listening party for singer Troye Sivan and his fans took place in an eye-catching bubble capsule overlooking the L.A. skyline. —C.H.
Known for its influencer-fueled activations, the fashion e-commerce site is an industry leader when it comes to turning events into social-media fodder. And they have the budget to back it up. The Los Angeles-based company recently filed documents for its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange, reporting that it spent about $36.5 million on marketing during the first two quarters of this year (about $10 million more than that same period last year). A chunk of that money went toward its two-week-long #RevolveSummer activation in July (pictured), when influencers, models, and bloggers hung out on yachts in Bermuda. Will the influencer bubble burst for Revolve, or is the party just getting started? —M.L.
At C.E.S. in January, Lyft partnered with self-driving hardware and software company Aptiv to debut their first self-driving experience, which gave around 400 rides at the Las Vegas tech conference. Since then, the self-driving cars have given customers more than 5,000 rides in Las Vegas—and Lyft’s new event push is surrounding its self-driving initiative. The brand held a panel event in New York in August to discuss the future of self-driving cars, which was complemented by a futuristic car installation designed by Snarkitecture (pictured). Lyft is slated to bring an immersive self-driving event to C.E.S. in 2019, and is continuing to host splashy activations like its pink-hued pop-up car washes. —I.Z.
The lifestyle media company leaned into the “Instagram museum” trend for its events this year, but with a female-driven focus. The brand teamed up with Freeform to create a multi-sensory “Mermaid Museum” for the new drama series Siren and, most notably, the brand held its first large-scale festival called PopSugar Play/Ground (pictured). The two-day festival in June was designed to bring the company’s editorial content to life through panels with high-profile celebrities like Mindy Kaling, Kate Hudson, and Tiffany Haddish, as well as music performances, fitness sessions, and a massive shopping bazaar, which featured 125 brands and vendors and 14 custom activations from sponsors. The festival drew 10,000 attendees and will return to New York in 2019, with plans to expand to other cities. —I.Z.
