AFWF

Goya, the title sponsor of the Grand Tasting Village, set up oversize letters spelling out its name in the sand as a photo backdrop.

Offering visitors a taste of the future, Royal Caribbean’s Bionic Bar premiered at Italian Bites on the Beach on Friday night. The robotic bartending system, created by Makr Shakr, plucked bottles from overhead to mix drinks.

Servers dressed as bionic creatures handed out the drinks. Makr Shakr will install Bionic Bars on two Royal Caribbean ships, and the activation previewed that technology.

Visitors to Groupon’s photo booth at Italian Bites on the Beach on Friday could choose from two vignettes. Both played on the “Discover your city top to bottom” tagline by hanging decor from the ceiling—a diner in one and a stage with a drum set and guitars in another.

Returning sponsor Coca-Cola’s activation in the Grand Tasting tents took on the guise of an 1950s-era diner. The brand’s red and white colors were used in furnishings and decor.

Vintage license plates and staff in retro diner uniforms completed the look.

Going against the traditional rule of no glasses by the pool, Tervis launched its new line of insulated plastic wine glasses at the Spike the Pool party Friday. Chef Spike Mendelsohn hosted the event at the Hall hotel, where he recently opened Sunny’s restaurant. Tervis also showed off the new line at an air-conditioned lounge at the Grand Tasting Village.

Teams of local and Miami chefs competed in aquatic games such as raft relay races and a pool treasure hunt. Guests in the pool—including chef Marc Murphy—could rest their wine glasses in individual floaties.

Thrillist sponsored Meatopia on Saturday night, placing branding on items such as coolers of beer.

The low-fi voting system asked guests to cast their votes for their favorite dish by placing tokens in ballot boxes with hand-drawn graphics.

Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood expanded its sponsorship this year. As part of the festival’s expansion into northern neighbor Broward County, it hosted the New Style Remix Dinner at its Kuro restaurant and had a lounge at the Grand Tasting.

Evian set up an alpine-theme activation inside the Grand Tasting tents. The build out included snowy mountains and directional signage in pink and white. Guests who posed with Evian hashtags received handheld water misters.

At Smartwater’s pavilion in the Grand Tasting, sunglasses, scarfs, striped straws, and shelves were among the elements in the brand’s turquoise brand color. Full-size bottles were also incorporated into the front of the bar.

The theme of the Mashable House was #BreakTheInternet. The venue featured a photo op where guests could climb into a giant replica of singer Katy Perry’s “liger” from this year’s Super Bowl halftime show.

New to the IFC Fairgrounds this year was the giant human sticky wall. Participants donned velcro suits and tossed themselves against the tall sticky wall. The channel's activation was produced by LeadDog Marketing and ran during SXSW's music portion.

Hype Hotel switched venues to a bigger space at the Fair Market for its music showcase, which allowed sponsor Taco Bell to create a storage container restaurant in the outdoor space, complete with a taco storefront and patio.

At National Geographic’s interactive scavenger hunt game, participating teams entered a shed-like space and had to solve puzzles in order to escape the cold during SXSW Interactive.

Taking over the Gatsby, Pandora created a meeting-friendly connected home during SXSW Interactive. Produced by Stoelt Productions, the activation included five rooms featuring different devices, including iPad Air, Google Chromecast, and TiVo.

To teach attendees about the storied history of the vodka distillery, Ketel One designed a long history wall at its two-day event at the Fair Market during SXSW Interactive. Elements included fruits depicting the origin countries of the liquor’s three flavor profiles, interactive four points of quality testing, and a cocktail personality quiz. There was also a living green wall comprised of herbs typically used as cocktail garnishes.

Tumblr teamed up with artists to create projected installations for the musical showcases at the Tumblr IRL residency during the music portion of SXSW at Ironwood Hall. Different bands were paired with different artists, such as Twin Shadow with photographer Milan Zrnic.

To celebrate the launch of TV network Palladia's Instagram account at its music party at the Cedar Door, guests were able to use the event’s official hashtag to share photos through Crowd Reactive as well as print mailable postcards with the images. The event was produced by BMF Media.

Fader Fort hosted local Austin artists to create unique custom designs for guests wearing Converse shows during the music portion of the festival. The Fort also handed out 100 pairs of sneakers to random attendees.

During SXSW music, Neiman Marcus transformed a bungalow into an inspiration house where each room had an inspired-by theme. The music room featured hanging headphones playing music from presenting artists. Guests were invited to help fill out a pointillism mural in the art room.

Friskies took over Cafe Medici on Congress Avenue to create the Haus of Bacon for two days during SXSWi. The cat food brand teamed up with artist Jason Mecier to create portraits of famous Internet cats using bacon, cat kibbles, and Friskies’ packaging.

For more low-key fun, Brooklyn Brewery hosted Tiny Tails to You, a local traveling petting zoo, for a day at the Grackle. This included a petting zoo and tortoise races.

BuzzFeed's BFF Cluhouse featured an emoji fortune-teller for the day. By looking at guests’ most recently-used emoji on their smartphones, the fortune-teller picked the person’s fortune, including an emoticon to use more.

During SXSWi, 3M LifeLab was created using the company’s products, including Dichroic glass films, aluminum tubing, 3-D printed joints, and Scotchlite reflective fabric panels.

First-time sponsor McDonald’s created a comforting lounge with free food, Wi-Fi, and plenty of seating for attendees. The space was open throughout the musical portion of SXSW.

Fox created a food truck version of the convenience store from the cartoon The Simpsons, coordinated by Jordanah Events, and handed out free slushie drinks, or “Squishees,” to guests for two days during SXSWi.

The Pursuit of Equinox classes at the Fast Company Grill at the Cedar Door highlighted the newest cycling class centered on data tracking during SXSWi. In the class, bikes pedaled by participants sent out data that was visualized on a screen in front of the room. BMF Media produced the Fast Company Grill.

During mornings, the music-focused Spotify House held cycling classes by SoulCycle with a live DJ and simultaneous dance classes.

As part of the exploration on what makes barbecue delicious during SXSWi, Serious Eats hosted barbecue sauce workshops where participants were able to create their own flavors using a base sauce and additional condiments, which could be taken home in vials.

The Ipsos Girls’ Lounge made the trek out to SXSW, offering a female-friendly space for networking, panel discussions, exercise sessions, and more, during SXSWi.

Ponchos were dispensed to passersby and attendees of Comedy Central’s one-day Kegs and Eggs at Pelons & Bar during the music segment of SXSW, just in time for the rain.

As part of Dr. Martens’s Stand for Something campaign during SXSW music, the shoe brand let attendees complete the phrase “I Stand For” on free T-shirts.

Flood magazine, formerly known as Filter magazine, scaled back its music showcases at SXSW this year. The simple event featured big bands and artists like Spoon and Run the Jewels performing at the open-air space at Cedar Street Courtyard.

Animal Planet’s Next Cat Star Party featured hanging balls of yarn and giant cut-out cat cardboard figures for decor and photo booth props. The network also passed out promotional cat ear headbands to guests.

Patrón’s branded train parked at the Austin Amtrak station hosted several dinners and happy hours helmed by local chefs and bartenders throughout the festival. On March 18, Rolling Stone partnered with the tequila brand to screen a documentary about Austin-based musician Gary Clark Jr. Vases and planters from halved bottles of the tequila were scattered on tables. There was also the taste wall, where guests could try different types of tequila.

For the span of SXSWi, CoverGirl ran the makeup bar at Cosmopolitan’s lounge at the JW Marriott, giving free makeovers to guests.

Three of the festival's largest events were held on the top level of an open-air parking structure at Pier 92, adjacent to the West Side Highway, including the signature Burger Bash on Friday night. As part of its Community Created Art program, Burger Bash title sponsor Blue Moon had a professional artist on hand to help guests paint a pre-outlined mural of a giant beer bottle nestled among the New York City skyline.

Some sponsorships were baked right into the food: Inside the Betty Crocker tent at the Burger Bash, staffers served Blue Moon-flavored cupcakes.

Delta flight attendants pushed carts around the party, offering guests mini pretzels and other snacks. The staffers, real attendants for the airline, also passed out tickets that automatically entered guests to win two round-trip tickets to anywhere in the continental United States.

Throughout the weekend, Groupon hosted a tote-making station atop the Pier 92 parking structure. Guests were given an object to find on a giant photo mural, such as a cocktail or a car. Once they located the item, staffers handed them a token that could be redeemed for a screen-printed tote bag.

Hosted by Restaurant: Impossible star Robert Irvine, Thrillist's Barbecue & the Blues event took place on Friday at Good Units inside the Hudson Hotel. Guests could pick up containers with logos holding toothpicks and breath mints—must-haves for any food tasting event.

On the upstairs mezzanine at Thrillist's Barbecue & the Blues event, sponsor Samuel Adams had a portable cooler set up to serve draft beer.

Held on the terrace at the Hudson Hotel and hosted by Food Network's Sandwich King star Jeff Mauro, Saturday's Soup'er Sandwich tasting saw 15 local chefs offering their best sandwich-and-soup combos. Title sponsor Hidden Valley presented its own farm-theme display of sandwiches, each featuring one of four new Hidden Valley Sandwich Spreads.

Soup'er Sandwich sponsor Martin's Famous Potato Rolls handed out squeezable stress balls shaped like packages of the brand's bread rolls.

One of the new events the festival debuted this year was Jets & Chefs: the Ultimate Tailgate, which took place on Saturday afternoon at Pier 92. In addition to more than 20 game-day cuisine samplings, guests could partake in activities like ladder toss, a game set up in presenting sponsor Pepsi's activation area. The space was marked off by low walls made from empty Diet Pepsi cans.

As part of Glad's Save It Sunday campaign promotion—which encourages people to avoid food waste by properly storing produce—guests helped color in a giant mural of an apple.

Coors Light created a football-theme photo op display at the family-friendly tailgate-theme event.

Hosted by Bobby Flay and sponsored by Olmeca Altos Tequila, Saturday night's Tacos & Tequila event filled an indoor space on the second floor at Pier 92. As guests entered the room, they saw a giant tiered display of televisions playing news clips from supporting sponsor NY1.

The DJ booth at Tacos & Tequila was set in front of a giant screen that projected guests' Instagram photos and sponsor logos arranged inside a Mondrian-inspired configuration of squares.

Guests lined up at the event's MasterCard-sponsored bars to receive margaritas served in glowing glasses.

On Saturday night, chef Todd English hosted a late-night walk-around tasting at the Plaza Food Hall. Food Network Star winner Justin Warner was on hand to promote General Mills's "Hello, Cereal Lovers" campaign. In addition to pop-art installations made with Trix and waitresses wearing mod dresses covered in images of Cheerios, Warner served cereal-inspired cocktails to guests.

The inaugural La Sagra Sunday Slices event closed out the festival. The pizza-centric affair showcasing 15 of New York’s best-known pizzaioli (pizza chefs) was held on the roof of Pier 92. Presenting sponsor Ronzoni placed vases filled with pasta and hydrangeas on rustic wood tables throughout the event space.

On Sunday, the Travel Channel's Andrew Zimmern and Pat LaFrieda Meats hosted an Oktoberfest-theme affair at Long Island City beer hall, the Garden at Studio Square. Sponsor Samuel Adams handed out on-brand beer steins and felt hats to attendees.

Pier 94 was packed with brand activations, food sampling stands, and drink stations on Saturday and Sunday for the festival's Grand Tasting. Coffee brand Illy brought its Push Button House, an enormous shipping crate that opens up into a mobile café space at the push of a button. The "house" hosted book signings and chef tastings, and guests could tag selfies taken inside with #IllyCoffee and #NYCWFF for the chance to win prizes, like a coffee maker.

Tables in the Illy Push Button House displayed centerpieces of fresh red roses arranged among coffee beans.

To promote its new Guy Fieri-hosted show Guy's Grocery Games, the Food Network booked the Shopper Chopper, a nine-foot-tall drivable shopping cart. In addition to touring around Manhattan, the on-brand cart made a pit stop inside the Grand Tasting.

At the Celebrity Cruises booth, produced by Grand Central Marketing, attendees could pose for photos while sitting in an oversize deck chair.

MasterCard set up a candy-shop-theme counter, where attendees who signed up to receive more information on the brand's Priceless New York experiences could help themselves to a sweet.

The Do AC campaign brought its two-story pop-up experience, designed by BMF Media, to the Grand Tasting floor. Each cubicle emphasized a different interactive experience themed around Atlantic City's offerings, including a gambling table and free mini massages.

The Do AC activation also included a Twitter-activated vending machine. Eventgoers tweeted using a specific hashtag to receive a free T-shirt and a chance to win a free trip to Atlantic City.

At the Cooking Channel's booth, staffers served freshly made savory pizza-, miso-caramel-, and black-and-white-cookie-flavored popcorn. Guests could also pose in a nearby photo booth, using props displayed in vases filled with popcorn kernels.

Pier 94 also hosted a series of KitchenAid-sponsored culinary demonstrations by Food Network personalities throughout the weekend. The audience was able to easily see what the chefs were doing thanks to a reflective mirror placed above the cooking area.

The Cupcake Vineyards truck, which is currently making its way to more than 25 states across the country, made a stop at the Grand Tasting. Guests could climb into a cozy lounge in the back of the truck and sample different varietals.

At The New York Times booth, attendees used iPads to make Word Cloud portraits—staffers captured images of guests, which were then recreated by a computer program that searched for food-related words within the Times’s article database.

Inside the Grand Tasting, guests could relax at Delta's Sky Club lounge, choosing to sample sommelier-selected wines served in-flight or chow down on pulled pork sandwiches from barbecue restaurant Blue Smoke. Outside, Delta offered guests free pedicab rides to and from the far-flung piers and Columbus Circle.

Featuring a rustic farm aesthetic dotted with freshly picked floral arrangements, Buick's setup was dubbed the Honey Garden. Attendees could sign up via iPad to win a car, plus sample cocktails made with honey-flavored syrup.

Roar Events produced a summertime event at Estancia La Jolla Hotel and Spa in Southern California. The dinner had a modern Mexican theme and featured an interactive margarita station. Guests chose the type and flavor of their tequila, as well as one of many specialty salts.

For a recent event at the Perot Museum of Science and Nature in Dallas, Wolfgang Puck Catering employed a "chef shadowbox." Meant to provide a strong visual behind a more standard food station, a chef in a shadowbox prepared appetizers as guests looked on.

In Chicago, catering firm Limelight has an innovative format for serving fruit skewers. The fruits are inserted into a custom wall with thematic wallpaper design (which varies for different events). Guests approach the wall and pull of a skewer and can dip the fruit in sauces that are arrayed on a nearby table.

Content creation, in the form of photos, videos, or other material culled from live events and meant for sharing on YouTube, social media, or elsewhere, has been increasingly important to sponsors. All parties involved are now asking far more evolved questions about not just how to create it, but how to create truly great material that people will actually want to watch.

“There’s so much out there, so the [goal] becomes how to curate what is good versus bad. What are sponsors going to be able to actually use and gain traction on?” says Alan Miller, co-publisher of Filter and co-owner of Filter Creative Group. “A car company or a fashion advertiser might want to sponsor [our event], so they’ll expect a sizzle reel will go up on our site and millions of people will want to watch, but that doesn’t automatically happen. It needs to be compelling.”

Talk about a compelling idea that got wide traction: Procter & Gamble took to the London Olympics for a mom-focused campaign with an activation in the form of a 65,000-square-foot “home away from home” for the mothers of competing athletes (pictured). Its related global “Thank You, Mom” campaign celebrated mothers of athletes through ads run online, in print, on TV, and through social media. And a short film called Best Job was released on YouTube 100 days before the official start of the games, as was a “Thank You, Mom” app, which let consumers thank their moms by uploading videos, photos, or text-based messages to a dedicated Facebook page.

Sponsors know that content is more valuable the more people it reaches in the digital space. So the goal is to work with the best strategic partners to distribute it as broadly as possible—far beyond one brand’s own established audience. Sponsors want to reach the audiences of multiple, carefully considered partners as well.

For example, Filter produced a national bus tour for client Spotify (pictured), with content created at every stop. Near San Diego, the indie band Tegan and Sara played an intimate set for about 30 fans on the bus. The value of that set was amplified exponentially: In addition to using Spotify’s channel, partner Yahoo exclusively debuted the content. “We need partners to elevate our content,” Miller says. “If you pick a smart partner, you’re able to leverage distribution channels and get the content seen. Do your due diligence, taking those negotiations to the next step.”

It might sound basic, but wireless Internet access is still not universally available, and sponsors want it badly. On-site social media needs to be able to flow and allow for instant response—“especially when it comes to surveys, contest fulfillment, and live-streaming from events,” says Angel City Designs’ Mark Yumkas, based on his team’s experience with recent events like the Battle 4 Atlantis college basketball tournament over Thanksgiving in the Bahamas. “Accessible, free, secure, high-bandwidth Wi-Fi is the backbone for all other applications,” Yumkas says. “You can design and activate all the compelling online social media activations you could possibly imagine, but if your guests or patrons cannot access the information in a timely fashion—or the sponsor cannot deliver all of the information that is created—then the content can be devalued from a performance and impression standpoint.”

It’s not new that sponsors want to align with nonprofits, but the importance of pairing up with great causes is more important than ever for brands, especially in light of recent, widely witnessed tragedies like the damage wrought by Hurricane Sandy. Brands are seeking out nonprofits that fit with their visions for corporate responsibility and developing partnerships that go well beyond the hours of the live event.

Jennifer Howell, founder of arts nonprofit Art of Elysium, says sponsors have been reaching out to her group “all the time” versus the more traditional other-way-around route of event hosts courting sponsors. She indicates that she’s seeing charities trying to accomplish their marketing and philanthropic goals in one fell swoop by blurring the line between those previously separate budgets.

She described a recent partnership in which beauty product delivery company Birchbox sponsored a couple of the charity’s events, setting up a bar (pictured) where people could come and fill their own boxes with products of their choice. Some of the charity’s supporters built their boxes, took photos, and gave quotes that were used for an online promotion that focused on the charity’s work as well as the holiday product collection.

Birchbox then put the organization’s logo and mission on its boxes, which were distributed to all of its shoppers in November, as part of a holiday giving campaign. “This helps us greatly to reach a new audience with our mission,” Howell says, while also acknowledging the benefit to Birchbox’s bottom line at a time when its consumers are eager for feel-good stories.

When sponsors shell out dollars, they want to know they’re buying unique access to distribute event content. Guerrilla or other piggyback event marketing—not to mention anyone on site with a smartphone—can diminish that value. Sponsors these days want to limit that.

“We are seeing, especially at larger, higher-profile events such as the Super Bowl, Oscars, etc., there is an ever-increasing number of ambush marketers that surround these events. They are not paying any sponsorship fees yet are producing both online and live activations,” Yumkas says. “We have seen everything from our own vendors and their on-site staff texting, tweeting, and posting live from events. I have witnessed using our intellectual property and our client’s intellectual property for their own gain, without permission or approval. Now, we make all vendors and their staff sign an extensive [nondisclosure agreement] that prevents them from doing this. We monitor it constantly and the default, especially with our vendors, as part of the NDA, is forfeiture of fees or partial fees of goods and services provided if we find a violation.”

Yes, many sponsors want to align with a select, invite-only crowd of  “influencers.” But in the current climate, sponsors—including some elite brands—are also looking for mass-market exposure.

For instance, luxury automaker Audi is the title sponsor of the American Film Institute’s A.F.I. Fest (pictured), which now gives free tickets to consumers. “Access to our audience gives Audi the ability to reach a wide variety of potential customers in a relatively short amount of time,” says festival producer Derek Call. “The festival attracts an audience comprised of both industry professionals and movie lovers from all over the globe, and we generate billions of impressions for them other than just the eyeballs of those guests in attendance. Our guests see what Audi has done for them by giving them a free ticket and by supporting the art of filmmaking. It shows how Audi as a brand is accessible to all different types of potential car buyers, and at the end of the day, Audi needs to sell as many cars as possible."

It’s still key for vendors to get attendees interacting with products, not just looking at logos. Sponsors want guests to experience their brand as they would as consumers outside of events in immersive, authentic-feeling sponsorship integrations.

In September, Mercedes-Benz partnered with Carine Roitfeld on the launch of her new magazine, CR Fashion Book, sponsoring the black-tie gala at the Frick Collection in New York. The event offered guests a sneak peek of the magazine from inside the comforts of the brand new G63 AMG, parked outside the museum (pictured). The next day, media could preview advance copies of the magazine in the Mercedes-Benz Star Lounge at Lincoln Center. “Experiential marketing has been a consistent and significant part of our arsenal,” says Mercedes-Benz USA department manager of brand public relations Adam Paige. “It’s an element that is a cornerstone of our activations. Experiential on a physical car level, yes, but also a brand experience—it’s a Mercedes-Benz experience.”

Similarly, last summer Lucky Brand hosted an event at a Malibu beach house with an intimate concert by Regina Spektor, but nary a logo was in sight—part of an effort to avoid heavy-handed marketing to an upmarket audience. In the gift bags, guests received a certificate for a private fitting of a custom denim wardrobe at the brand’s new downtown Los Angeles headquarters. That personalized appointment exposed them to the product and the brand’s culture in a meaningful way.