Not a fan being stuck in a wild crowd at the front of the stage? Festivals this year provided the opportunity to watch artists onstage in a less chaotic setting. At Samsung's Galaxy Experience and its Owner's Lounge, guests interacted with the Samsung Gear VR, a virtual-reality device that gave them an up-close view of the performances on the Samsung Galaxy stage.
Health-focused on-the-go snack brand GoGo Squeez partnered with MKG for the activation tour of its customized vending machine, dubbed "The Goodness Machine." The structure, built by Square Design, was a giant version of the brand's signature applesauce packet. The tour, which kicked off in New York's Madison Square Park July 23, invited kids to #CatchTheGoGo by pushing a button, which activated a launching mechanism that shot out an applesauce packet attached to a parachute with the brand's label. The activation also incorporated a social media and video element, with a custom video recorder that recorded kids interacting with the machine. The videos were uploaded to the “Goodness Machine” website as 15-second GIFs.
Netflix and experiential agency Magnetic launched a cross-country bus tour to promote the star-filled miniseries Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, which the streaming service released July 31. Decked out in the series logo with the hashtag #WHASBusTour, the bus came with costumed camp counselors who encouraged passersby to participate in camp games like tug-of-war. The activation also offered show-theme swag like trucker hats, canned veggies, and camp T-shirts, and provided photo ops with cut-outs of the show's characters. The tour launched in New York's Madison Square Park in July and made a stop at the show's world premiere at SVA Theatre. The bus also stopped at locations in Austin and Los Angeles.
Starbucks Canada partnered with YouTube star Lauren Riihimaki (also known as LaurDIY) to promote its new Teavan Sparkling Tea Juices by turning a local Toronto café into a "Sparkle Shop" on August 8. People who stopped by the pop-up shop were able to sample the beverages, meet Riihimaki, and get "sparkled" by brand ambassadors who were on site to glitter hair, beards, nails, sunglasses, and more.
The Spamerican Tour promoted the canned meat with a 13-market food truck tour, which took place over a four-month period. Along with free samples of dishes made with Spam, the Match Marketing Group-produced tour gave customers free T-shirts, sunglasses, temporary tattoos, and a chance to win a trip to Hawaii. Spam spokescharacter "Sir Can-A-Lot" was also on site to interact with consumers.
Restaurant Bull & Bear in Chicago promoted National Hot Dog Day on July 23 with its Homewrecker hotdog, a 22-inch Chicago-style hot dog that was topped with onions, tomatoes, peppers, relish, and mustard. The restaurant challenged customers to finish the dog in one sitting. Winners received a "Homewrecker Champ" T-shirt, bragging rights, and, of course, a free meal.
To promote the second season of nude reality series Dating Naked: Playing for Keeps, VH1 played along with the show's premise by unveiling an interactive street-level billboard on the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue in Los Angeles on July 17. Pedestrians were invited to remove squares from 15- by 8-foot structure, designed by Awestruck Marketing and printed by Arete Digital Imaging, to reveal a man and a woman in their birthday suits. The back of each square revealed naked-theme prizes that included beauty products, health services, photo shoots, and a resort getaway.
Hendrick's Gin promoted its product with the Hendrick's Air campaign, which involved 130-foot flying cucumber that traveled across 13 cities at 35 miles per hour. The tour ended on July 29 with a viewing party held at Galleria Marchetti in Chicago.
French mustard brand Maille used Toronto Bastille Day on July 12 to promote its condiment with a Paris-inspired pop-up bistro. Planned by the PR Department, the pop-up served sandwiches, macarons, and cocktails made with different flavors of Maille mustard. The "1747" cocktails, served in jars with the brand's logo, included Cognac Remy Martin and Maille Provençal.
As an off-site promotion at this year's Comic-Con International in San Diego, which took place July 9 to 11, the History channel promoted its period drama Vikings by offering rides in a custom-branded longship. While on board, fans received drinking horns that gave them access to drink specials at select bars throughout the Gaslamp Quarter. The vehicle was also capable of driving on land, where it distributed the horns as well. Civic Entertainment Group produced the promotion.
Kentucky Fried Chicken's three activations centered on the brand's founder and mascot, Colonel Sanders. Through a partnership with Adult Swim, the fast-food chain positioned seven life-size Wi-Fi-enabled Colonel Sanders statues at various intersections of the Gaslamp Quarter, each decked out in cosplay attire. When conferencegoers located the statues and connected to the network, they reached a co-branded Kentucky Fried Chicken and Robot Chicken digital hub for custom content. Costumed staffers were also on hand to promote the brand and its comic campaign.
August 27 is officially National Banana Lovers Day, but Magnolia Bakery teamed up with UberEats to dub it National Banana Pudding Day. The first 300 customers who order a meal using Uber's city-specific food delivery option will receive a free small banana pudding from the bakery. Customers who buy banana pudding in stores will get a free banana-theme temporary tattoo and a chance to win free pudding for a year if they use the hashtag #GoBananas and tag the bakery in an Instagram post. In addition, Magnolia will offer a Banana Pudding Cupcake through the weekend.
Community-driven hospitality company Airbnb partnered with SF Pride for a second year and launched a #HostWithPride pop-up. The activation traveled to various neighborhoods over a two-week period, encouraging residents to participate in D.I.Y. activities and a community art installation.
To promote its climate change-focused Save Our Swirled campaign, Ben & Jerry's embarked on an 8,000-plus-mile road trip in an electric Tesla Model S. Those who tweeted at the brand got free scoops delivered to their office from the brand's eco-friendly version of an ice cream truck, which was fitted with three freezers that held more than 1,000 scoops. The company also released a new raspberry and marshmallow-flavored ice cream named after the campaign.
UrbanDaddy and Grey Goose partnered to present a French-theme Summer Soiree, which showcased the vodka brand's Simply Served cocktail program that mixes citrus-infused Grey Goose flavors with Perrier and fresh herbs. They ended a seven-city tour on the Roof at the Viceroy in New York on August 5. A monitor showing videos of the cocktails was positioned at the event's outside bar.
The premiere for the third season of HBO’s True Detective took place January 10 at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles. The event, which was designed by Billy Butchkavitz Design, featured a creepy, life-size corn husk doll that guests could pose with—a motif taken from the new season of the anthology crime drama, which stars Mahershala Ali. Guests could also make their own corn husk dolls. Agile Eye Solutions provided props and Town & Country Event Rentals provided rentals for the event.
The event featured a faux forest where guests could pose in crime scene photo ops.Â
A photo booth aged half of guests’ faces, nodding to the use of flashbacks in the series.Â
Facebook and Instagram set up their C.E.S. headquarters at the Wynn Hotel Las Vegas. To celebrate the engagement of one billion stories shared daily across Facebook’s apps, the brand partnered with creative agency 72andSunny and luxury candy designer Maayan Zilberman of Sweet Saba to create a social-media friendly tunnel. The tunnel’s mirrored walls featured custom sugar art lollipops of stickers available on Facebook and Instagram Stories. We’re Magnetic produced the activation.
Google highlighted its A.I.-powered virtual assistant with an outdoor space in front of the Las Vegas Convention Center. The main attraction was a theme park ride that seemed to take inspiration from It’s a Small World at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. The three-minute musical coaster, powered by Google Assistant, took attendees through a house with an animatronic family. The ride told a story about a husband asked to pick up a cake for a surprise party. At the end, riders were given a picture, a branded macaroon, and a free Google Home Hub redemption code. Google partnered with Sparks for the activation.
LG Electronics created a striking audiovisual installation with 260 LG OLED digital signage screens in curved and flat configurations. Developed in house, the exhibit was 20 feet tall and 65 feet wide, and it featured 76 concave, 72 convex, and 112 flat 55-inch screens. The video installation displayed changing images of waterfalls, the desert, ocean, and natural lights.
Beginning in December, AmericanAirlines Arena partnered with chefs from Hollywood’s Diplomat Beach Resort for a culinary collaboration known as the Chef Partner Program. The residency is offered at the Miami Heat’s Flagship Lounge and is accessible to premium members. The series kicked off with celeb chef Geoffrey Zakarian and featured items like stone crabs, crawfish mac and cheese, roasted pomegranate-glazed short rib, a red snapper taco station, and more. Following Zakarian’s December stint, chef Michael Schulson is the January host, and Diplomat Prime is slated for March.
LondonHouse Chicago’s new catering package lives up to its name. The package offers Nerd-covered cheesecake pops, made-to-order cotton candy, and everlasting Gobstoppers, among other sweets. The menu options inspired by the classic Roald Dahl children's novel include suspended “Violet” blueberry treats with vanilla cream ready to be plucked off the wall. The LondonHouse culinary team can even create custom-wrapped chocolate bars with a select few containing “golden tickets” for raffle prizes.
LA Photo Party now offers an immersive, virtual reality-fueled photo booth. Guests capture images of themselves in front of a green screen, then decorate it with digital paints and patterns; customized brand watermarks, overlays, and backgrounds are available. Still photos and behind-the-scenes videos provide a shareable keepsake.Â
Titan the Robot, a robotic entertainment act originally from the U.K., will make its U.S. debut in the Las Vegas market this month. TMEG Productions is the exclusive event partner for the robot, which will be available for corporate events, private events, and trade shows. The Transformer-like robot can be branded with company logos and can perform customized scripts and dialogue for speeches, trade booth activations, and product demos. Titan also performs comedic acts and dances.
