A giant LED wall responded to guests’ movements and the music.
Amazon Video Direct, a self-service program for studios, distributors, and content creators, hosted an event at High West Distillery on January 19 to celebrate the Film Festival Stars program—a model for independent film distribution that offers rights holders direct access to Prime customers. The event featured a step-and-repeat wall that was enhanced by illuminated mason jars. The event was designed by Brilliant Consulting Group.
Warner Bros. and creative agency Giant Spoon drew inspiration from the 1980s and video games for the activation for the feature film Ready Player One. The entry tunnel featured a mirrored tunnel with neon lights, a wall of glowing cassette tapes, and 1980s props like a giant bust of the Iron Giant and the DeLorean, as well as a replica of the floating disco with mirrored floors.
The footwear company put together a tasteful poolside barbecue party at the South Congress Hotel. The color direction came from the 574 sneaker, which meant grays everywhere, from charcoal-based cocktails to tacos wrapped in newspaper print to gray linens on seats. The event was produced by Crush & Lovely, with the hotel providing the all-gray catering.
Contrasting linens and textures, along with black accents, kept the gray color scheme from being repetitive.
The concept for the candy bar’s music activations and showcases was musical duos, including the rap duo Outkast. Other interactive stations highlighted the duos Simon & Garfunkel, the White Stripes, Daft Punk, and DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. Each station was built using red and yellow milk crates.
Dubbed the "Dreamscape," the main stage area of Sony's Lost in the Music setup was flanked by hovering cloud formations for an ethereal feel. Ralph Creative Agency and the communications company Mission worked on the event.
Diet Coke’s activation was split into sections based on the soda company’s new flavors. An orange area included a photo booth with an orange pool float background and props, the ginger/lime area hosted the DJ and dance area, and the mango area featured a hot sauce tasting.
CNN's SXSW house had an apple theme. The front of the building was covered in vines and apples, the stage backdrop featured apples pained in an ombre design, and the fruit also served as centerpieces. Elsewhere, to emphasis the basic cable news channel's “Facts First” mission, decor included pillows with the blunt slogan: “This is a pillow.” CNN worked with Advoc8 and Pink Sparrow to produce the event.
The petcare branch of the candy company kept it simple with the photograph backdrop at the Leap Lounge party during SXSW, featuring arranged pet toys on AstroTurf from IRL Productions.
The dating and networking app’s sprawling SXSW space was split into three sections reflective of the different uses. Each had its own corresponding color theme, but were united by honeycomb details and sleek fonts, built out by design company Preacher. Production company Pen and Prue Productions produced the event.
For the music portion of SXSW, Mars created sections nodding to the different colors of the candy. The green lounge featured leafy walls and comfortable seating. Attendees were encouraged to pick up and play the hanging instruments in the yellow section. Tucked away in the back was the orange room where people were encouraged to hide out and mix their own sounds.
Bold graphics in a muted color palette helped attendees navigate the miniature convention within Palm Park. The activation even took advantage of the already-existing playground equipment, encouraging people to swing and slide.
A massive floral wall was displayed at Starz’s activation for the show Sweetbitter as part of the scent section of the venue. Production came from Activation Pro and Civic.
Soccer was the focus of Fox Sports’s SXSW activation, which promoted the documentary series Phenoms about young soccer stars trying to earn a spot on their countries’ World Cup team. The event at the Hangar Lounge included a World Cup-theme 360-degree photo booth and coasters featuring famous soccer players. The event was produced by Gilt Edge Soccer Marketing.
Floating above Under Armour’s domed space were moving red and white sphere lights.
For the Austin premiere of film Sorry to Bother You, Annapurna Pictures and SXSW gave volunteers working at the screening giant earrings with the logo of the film, much like one of the main characters in the movie.
American Express celebrated the launch of its new marketing campaign—which targets people whose work and personal lives are intertwined—with an event that took place April 9 at Industria in New York. The event, which was open to the public April 10 to 12, featured a number of themed rooms including the “Most Viewed Foods” room. The room featured a wall from which hidden servers offered guests Instagram-worthy dishes including rainbow bagels, cookie dough, and Thai purple noodles. Momentum Worldwide produced the event.
Guests were invited to play with dogs at a puppy playground. North Shore Animal League provided the dogs, which were available for adoption.
Werther’s Original celebrated National Caramel Day April 5 by partnering with Hasbro’s classic Candy Land game to create a life-size game board at Santa Monica Pier. Guests could fish for bags of caramels at the activation, which was produced by G&C Event Productions.
Maggie O’Neill, a Washington-based designer and official National Cherry Blossom Festival artist, debuted her cherry blossom-theme pop-up exhibit March 30. The exhibit, open every Saturday and Sunday at 1643 Connecticut Avenue NW through April 15, features the #FinesInFullBloom installation created from parking tickets. The installation pokes fun at the pink parking ticket that no driver likes to see with a floor-to-ceiling, origami-inspired blossoming structure. The exhibit also features 12 of O’Neill’s pop impressionistic-style paintings, 40 works on paper created specifically for the festival, and cherry blossom-theme merchandise.
Drink Company partnered with the National Cherry Blossom Festival for its second annual pop-up, which serves thematic cocktails in eye-popping rooms inspired by cherry blossoms, Tokyo streets, and Japanese pop culture. The design of each room was led by Drink Company’s special projects leaders Matt Fox and Adriana Aspiazu. A garden room decorated with boxwood, a variety of florals, and 1,300 monarch butterflies pays tribute to Washington in spring bloom. The pop-up debuted March 1 and is open through April 29 at 1841 Seventh Street NW.
The Museum of Selfies opened in Glendale, California, April 1 and will be open for two months. The pop-up museum features a series of interactive installations catered to taking selfies, including a Selfie Throne inspired by Game of Thrones.
California Science Center’s 20th annual Discovery Ball took place March 23. The event, which was inspired by the discovery of King Tut’s tomb in 1922, had a cocktail reception set in the year 1921, when archaeologist Howard Carter and his British sponsor, Lord Carnarvon, were searching for the tomb. Actors in vignettes represented Carter’s crew, searching for the grave in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings. Dusty scaffolding and canvas field tents added to the ambiance.
For the seated dinner, the museum’s Samuel Oschin Pavilion was transformed to resemble King Tut’s royal tomb. Video mapping from Bart Kresa Design masked the space shuttle Endeavour, turning it into the dining room’s focal point. The color palette changed throughout the night, from warmer gold tones at the beginning of the evening to shades of blues and purples during dessert service.
Shutterfly partnered with event planner Mindy Weiss to launch its new line of wedding products with a wedding-inspired event March 28 at the Carondelet House in Los Angeles. A wall with orange mailboxes offered guests invitations to the “bridal shower,” which was held in the next room.
Photo stations in the “bridal shower” area included a “Something… Blue” station decorated with light blue heels and a life-size wedding dress created with toilet paper.
