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  1. Production & Strategy
  2. Experiential Marketing, Activations & Sponsorships

Z100 Weaves Bevy of Sponsors Into Lounge Activations for Jingle Ball Concert

Anna Sekula
December 13, 2011

"Z100 does so many events throughout the year, and some of them are on a much smaller scale, but the Z100 Jingle Ball and the All Access Lounge, this is our Super Bowl," said Darren Pfeffer, vice president of music and entertainment marketing at Clear Channel Communications. Indeed, the annual holiday concert hosted by the New York radio station is Z100's biggest event, and the show and its daytime pre-show festival on Friday, December 9, packed Madison Square Garden and the Hammerstein Balllroom with thousands of shrieking teenage girls and a plethora of sponsors. The concert sold out in an hour this year.

"We're in our 17th year of the show, and what started out in 1995 in New Jersey has really morphed into this annual event in New York City," said Pfeffer, who serves as the executive producer of the Z100 Jingle Ball. "The listeners know what to expect when they show up, and we want to create not just an event, but an experience. Whether they come to the Hammerstein Ballroom with no tickets to the Garden or if they just go to the Garden and not the All Access Lounge, each event is really customized and both unique and different in its own way."

Key for Pfeffer and other members of the Clear Channel team was the integration of brand partners that provide key interactive elements. Coca-Cola was the presenting sponsor of the All Access Lounge, Reebok Classics the partner for the Artists Gift Lounge at the Garden, and Aéropostale the headlining brand for the concert itself.

Open from noon until 6 p.m., the Z100 & Coca-Cola All Access lounge was a broadcasting platform for the radio station as well as a place where brands like AT&T, Xbox, Stride gum, and State Farm could engage consumers with experiential elements. "It's really the party before the party," Pfeffer said. "Thousands of people show up—I don't know how they have off from school, but they manage to wait in line as early as 5 a.m., camping out for a good space to get in front of the stage and see their favorite acts." 

By and large, many brands offered opportunities to win tickets to the concert as well as passes to a lounge at the ballroom where they could meet some of the artists. However, there were also plenty who offered games, contests, and the chance to try out new products. Coca-Cola used location-based mobile app Scvngr to encourage attendees to work for their prizes, snapping photos, hunting for hidden objects, and voting. Gum brand Stride played up its new Whitemint flavor endorsed by snowboarder Shaun White and its new "Ridiculously long-lasting gum" tagline by awarding tickets to the Jingle Ball to the visitor who could last the longest on its snowboarding video game. Reebok Classics had a Polite in Public photo booth with sneaker props, while eco-friendly headphone-maker House of Marley used a spinning-wheel game to dole out prizes.

Several brands were also part of the backstage artists gift lounge later in the evening, handing out some of their key products to performers like Hot Chelle Rae, Gym Class Heroes, and Foster the People. For the first time, Reebok Classics was the presenting partner of this area and not only had presence in the section where Z100 personality JJ Kincaid broadcast from but had a designated area for visitors to try on its footwear.

There was also plenty of interaction during the concert, which had 17,500 fans and performances by Lady Gaga and Demi Lovato. "During the Jingle Ball, we use Tweet-to-Screen, so consumers can send their tweets throughout the night. We have, of course, someone moderating the tweets all night, and some of the tweets will scroll across the screen during the performances," Pfeffer said. "It's a great way for our listeners to connect with their friends and family that aren't at the arena and also a great way for our listeners to connect with artists that are performing that night. There's definitely a high level of social activation on site, both pre- and post-event."

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Photo: Jeeyun Lee for BizBash
Z100 & Coca-Cola's All Access Lounge
Z100 & Coca-Cola's All Access Lounge
Before 17,500 enthusiastic fans made their way to Madison Square Garden for Z100's annual Jingle Ball concert, thousands swarmed the Hammerstein Ballroom for the All Access Lounge. Originally located inside the Hotel Pennsylvania, the pre-event festival has evolved into a six-hour fan fest with a bevy of participating brands and live performances.
Photo: Jeeyun Lee for BizBash
Z100 & Coca-Cola's All Access Lounge
Z100 & Coca-Cola's All Access Lounge
Coca-Cola, which is an existing partner with Z100, was the presenting sponsor of the All Access lounge and had a large, eye-catching booth on the main floor. In addition to white- and red-branded backdrop, the beverage brand also decorated its space with a Christmas tree, a white sleigh filled with free goodies, and coolers of bottled soda.
Photo: Jeeyun Lee for BizBash
Z100 & Coca-Cola's All Access Lounge
Z100 & Coca-Cola's All Access Lounge
Rather than just give away branded teddy bears, bags, and T-shirts, Coca-Cola used location-based app Scvngr to create a game for attendees. Visitors could check in, tweet, post photos to Facebook, and vote in a survey to collect points to trade for prizes.
Photo: Jeeyun Lee for BizBash
Z100 & Coca-Cola's All Access Lounge
Z100 & Coca-Cola's All Access Lounge
To highlight a special-edition Coke can for the holidays, Coca-Cola also took its polar bear mascot to its booth for guests to pose with.
Photo: Jeeyun Lee for BizBash
Z100 & Coca-Cola's All Access Lounge
Z100 & Coca-Cola's All Access Lounge
As a subtle way to add more branding to the Hammerstein Ballroom, presenting sponsor Coca-Cola fashioned a chandelier from its aluminum bottles.
Photo: Jeeyun Lee for BizBash
Z100 & Coca-Cola's All Access Lounge
Z100 & Coca-Cola's All Access Lounge
Another big sponsor at the All Access Lounge was Xbox, which had its Kinect video game system and new title Dance Central 2 in a branded lounge area for guests. The Microsoft brand also had a lounge backstage at Madison Square Garden for the performers to play the game.
Photo: Jeeyun Lee for BizBash
Z100 & Coca-Cola's All Access Lounge
Z100 & Coca-Cola's All Access Lounge
AT&T transported its wares to the lounge and created a photo op area with props and a free station for visitors to charge their electronics.
Photo: Jeeyun Lee for BizBash
Z100 & Coca-Cola's All Access Lounge
Z100 & Coca-Cola's All Access Lounge
Inside its booth, AT&T also showcased the new Samsung Galaxy Tab, allowing attendees to try out the tablet computer by playing games.
Photo: Jeeyun Lee for BizBash
Z100 & Coca-Cola's All Access Lounge
Z100 & Coca-Cola's All Access Lounge
Reebok, which was the headlining partner for the artist gift lounge at Madison Square Garden, was also present at the daytime event and had over-size versions of its Classics line of footwear as props for a photo booth from Polite in Public.
Photo: Jeeyun Lee for BizBash
Z100 & Coca-Cola's All Access Lounge
Z100 & Coca-Cola's All Access Lounge
Stride, which refers to itself as the "ridiculously long-lasting gum," challenged visitors with a snowboarding video game, offering tickets to the concert for the person who could stay on the board the longest.
Photo: Jeeyun Lee for BizBash
Z100 & Coca-Cola's All Access Lounge
Z100 & Coca-Cola's All Access Lounge
Vitamin Water, a brand owned by a subsidiary of the Coca-Cola Company, handed out free bottles of its flavored water throughout the six-hour event.
Photo: Jeeyun Lee for BizBash
Z100 & Coca-Cola's All Access Lounge
Z100 & Coca-Cola's All Access Lounge
State Farm, which offered prizes through a spinning wheel at its All Access Lounge booth, also sponsored Z100's "Hometown Hero" initiative, a national search for the next big musical act.
Photo: Jeeyun Lee for BizBash
Z100 & Coca-Cola's All Access Lounge
Z100 & Coca-Cola's All Access Lounge
H&R Block engaged consumers with a music trivia game.
Photo: Jeeyun Lee for BizBash
Z100 & Coca-Cola's All Access Lounge
Z100 & Coca-Cola's All Access Lounge
Sweethearts jewelry, trinkets based on the popular heart-shaped candies, promoted its wares with a karaoke station and hourly giveaways at its booth.
Photo: Jeeyun Lee for BizBash
Z100 & Coca-Cola's All Access Lounge
Z100 & Coca-Cola's All Access Lounge
As part of the pre-show, acts like Mindless Behavior performed on the stage set up at the Hammerstein Ballroom, playing to a throng of screaming fans.
Photo: Jeeyun Lee for BizBash
Z100 & Reebok Classics Artists Gift Lounge
Z100 & Reebok Classics Artists Gift Lounge
As the presenting sponsor of the backstage lounge for the artists, Reebok got prime placement with a branded lounge area that Z100 used to broadcast from during the Jingle Ball.
Photo: Jeeyun Lee for BizBash
Z100 & Reebok Classics Artists Gift Lounge
Z100 & Reebok Classics Artists Gift Lounge
Reebok also showcased its Classics line of sneakers, allowing visitors to the gift area to try on and take a pair home.
Photo: Jeeyun Lee for BizBash
Z100 & Reebok Classics Artists Gift Lounge
Z100 & Reebok Classics Artists Gift Lounge
According to Shari Sterenbuch, Z100's director of promotions, the format of the Artists Gift Lounge was tweaked this year, giving brands a branded light box rather than a simple cocktail table.
Photo: Jeeyun Lee for BizBash
Z100 & Reebok Classics Artists Gift Lounge
Z100 & Reebok Classics Artists Gift Lounge
Perhaps the largest gift given at the backstage lounge was a custom snowboard from Stride. The gum brand also gave out bags of its Whitemint flavor.
Photo: Jeeyun Lee for BizBash
Z100 & Reebok Classics Artists Gift Lounge
Z100 & Reebok Classics Artists Gift Lounge
Adorama, which offered a photo booth at the All Access lounge earlier in the day, gave performers like Demi Lovato, Gym Class Heroes, L.M.F.A.O., and Hot Chelle Rae Canon powershot cameras.
Photo: Jeeyun Lee for BizBash
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