Idea Library

In July, the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau unveiled a new marketing campaign with an "It's So Miami" tagline. To kick off the campaign, reps staged a pop-up pool party in New York's Union Square. Models sported bikinis, lounged, and swam while three DJs spun. Passerby could participate in contests for prizes including (naturally) trips to Miami; there was also a fashion show, a salsa-dancing demo, massages, and a Cuban coffee tutorial.

To promote Rickland Orchards Greek yogurt bars, and as part of its Fancy Food Show activation, the brand took to the streets of Washington with two branded pedi-cabs. Each vehicle contained staffers dressed as Greek gods and goddesses who gave out samples to passersby.

Inspired by the television show's character Mike Ross, USA Network's publicity campaign for the second season premiere of Suits included a squad of male models in suits cycling around New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Francisco. The well-dressed men handed out special editions of the Mr. Porter Post, the 20-page publication created by online retailer Mr. Porter.

Apparently, June 20 is National P.D.A. Day, and Nivea seized the occasion to market its "kissable skin"products in multiple cities. In New York, the event had a giant replica of Nivea Creme's circular tin, through which some 700 guests entered a pop-up village full of activations. Inside, a photo booth let couples pose and have their photos printed out on-site and uploaded to Facebook, a "spin the bottle" area offered prizes, and a lounge filled with white leather sofas and pillows shaped like—what else?—Nivea tins provided a place to sit.

Postagram’s mobile photo team snapped nearly 2,000 photos in three days at the festival.

Bing partnered with Spin to host a variety of live-entertainment acts at the Bing Bar, including Drake, Jason Mraz, and Fitz and the Tantrums.

Bing rewarded some festival attendees who mentioned the brand on social media with entrance to the “Bing Bar.”

Bing created a studio inside the Bing Bar to conduct celebrity interviews, which were shared on Facebook and Bing.

Total Recall premiered August 1 at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles with a splashy, props-heavy arrivals setup overseen by Sony Pictures Worldwide Marketing & Distribution senior vice president of special events Alison Bossert and produced by 15/40 Productions. The arrivals-carpet design incorporated a hovercraft from the film as well as four models dressed in costume as 'New Asian Federal Police Officers' positioned on raised platforms along the step-and-repeat wall as if to stand guard over the pomp. The backdrop walls incorporated a pattern seen in the design of a setting in the film known as 'the Fall,' a transport system that runs through the middle of the planet connecting the two habitable areas left on Earth and where the final battle scene of the movie plays out. The black carpet also bore an inlaid logo of the movie's title.

Guests could refresh themselves with lemonade and ice tea on tap from Mary Giuliani Catering & Events at a David Lynch Foundation event August 4 in East Hampton. The event, which Twenty Three Layers planned and produced, drew 200 people and focused on bringing awareness to transcendental meditation.

Music fans at Lollapalooza often send beach balls bouncing through the crowds during concerts. Uber took advantage of the festival hobby by doling out balls splashed with the company logo and a special event hashtag.

C3 Presents' music festival, now in its 21st year, drew about 90,000 guests a day to Chicago's Grant Park from August 3 to 5. On festival grounds, the Adidas Originals Black Top let guests watch professional skateboarders in action (and, of course, wearing Adidas gear). The activation also let guests snap photos and enter to win giveaways.

The Toyota Prius Family Playground was filled with games, including a human-powered prize wheel that had guests run to win gifts from the automaker. The most talked-about aspect of the activation was the "Whac-a-Hipster" game, which let guests use a soft mallet to smack little pop-up heads decorated with stylized mustaches and glasses.

To mark the 25th anniversary of Shark Week, Discovery hosted an event August 2 that put sharks in the pool of the Beverly Hilton. The scary fish weren't real, of course, but rather convincing projections devised by the planning and production team. The evening affair was overseen by Discovery Communications vice president for global events and brand activation Jeff Kaplan, who worked Event Eleven on the production.

This summer Fox has been promoting its comedy New Girl with a 19-city bus tour across the United States. The New Girl True American Summer Bus Tour, produced by Hadley Media, stopped in Las Vegas August 4-5 and offered fans the chance to watch videos, play games, win prizes and receive T-shirts made onsite with the show's catch phrases and logos. A social media component involved fans reenacting the show’s opening theme song segment and sharing it on the tour Facebook fan page. The tour wraps up next month in Seattle.

As a tie-in to its mom-centric Olympic campaign, Procter & Gamble’s activation for the London Olympics is a 65,000-square-foot “home away from home” for the mothers of competing athletes. Among the amenities is a Pampers playground and childcare center.

Visitors to Acer's Olympic Park pavilion receive smartcards to create a personal avatar and collect points from the various stations inside. One area, the "Fast, Faster, Fastest" challenge, has participants using Acer's Iconia A510 tablet to control their player on a project race track.

The English chocolate maker (and official treat provider of the London Olympic games) set up three inflatable domes in Hyde Park as part of British Telecom’s “London Live” activation. Inside the temporary exhibit, visitors could sample products, play games, have their photos taken, and pen a message to Olympic athletes.

Spotify is hitting the road this summer and fall for a music-minded marketing tour in its "Big Green Bus."

Grouplove, Yacht, the Henry Clay People, and Jjamz performed at the L.A. kickoff event for Spotify's "Big Green Bus" tour.

The bus has iPads all queued up with Spotify playlists ready for download.