Branding Ideas

The 2011 premiere party for WE TV's Braxton Family Values—a show about singer Toni Braxton—took place atop the London West Hollywood and featured a decidedly feminine look. To gussy up the central pool, florist C.J. Matsumoto covered foam spheres in bright pink flowers, then attached the arrangements to weights anchored to the bottom of the pool.

To kick off its summer-long partnership, eyewear brand Warby Parker hosted a summer pool party in June 2012 at the Standard in downtown Los Angeles. In addition to staffers pushing library-style book carts around the space as a way to get guests to try on the limited-edition shades, poolside tables also displayed the glasses alongside buckets of branded towels.

In March, Vogue Eyewear hosted an al fresco party at a private mansion in Los Angeles. In the backyard, beach balls and a gobo of the brand's logo decorated the pool, around which furniture groupings and lanterns hanging from trees created a summery feel.

To launch its latest special edition art series label—and raise funds for Haiti—Ferllen Winery teamed up with the Amigos Near Foundation for an arty event in Miami in February. On the deck upstairs, mounted pieces from photographer Tomas Loewy floated on the turquoise water, giving the appearance of unusually decorative rafts.

Ideal for poolside events where you want to send a message, Melbourne, Florida-based Aqua Art Enterprises makes custom mats in the shape of corporate logos (or other images) that sink to the bottom of a swimming pool for a painted-on look.

To mark the 25th anniversary of Shark Week, Discovery hosted an event in August 2012 that put sharks in the pool of the Beverly Hilton. The scary fish weren't real, of course, but rather slowly moving projections devised by the planning and production team from Event Eleven.

In addition to the roaming Playboy bunnies, playmates, and scantily clad dancers at Playboy's 2010 Super Bowl party in Miami, performers dressed as mermaids from Zhantra Entertainment swam in the pool and posed for pictures.

Internet Week title sponsor Yahoo gathered some 100 business executives for a private event at a five-story loft townhouse in New York in May of 2012 to mark the relaunch of advertising tool Genome. The Internet company partnered with Swank Productions to give the space a more modern aesthetic, which included decorating the indoor pool area with large clear and silver balloons, and hiring a trio of synchronized swimmers from Gotham Synchro dressed in head-to-toe body suits.

To build buzz around its summer tour series, Sunglass Hut hosted a block party in June 2012. Produced by Relevent's Tony Berger, the early evening shindig spanned an entire West Village block in New York and included a pool built on the sidewalk. As a way to spark interaction, guests received permanent markers to sign the wooden deck surrounding the pool.

During the first weekend of Coachella in 2012, Lacoste threw a pool party presented by HTC at a private estate in nearby Thermal, California. Surrounded by branded cabanas, the pool was filled with inflatable versions of the clothing company's signature green crocodile.

Guests at the Lacoste Live pool party during Coachella in 2012 could cool off with snow cones at a station provided by sponsor Fiji Water.

During Simon G. Jewelry's launch of its eco-friendly line in 2010, held at the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas, pool performances by women dressed in white costumes doing ballet moves inside huge plastic bubbles floating on the water added drama to the evening. The performers were booked through Best Agency.

In 2010, email newsletter Thrillist brought Hotel Thrillist, a party-packed traveling promotion, to Los Angeles. The weekend-long programming included a pool party at a private mansion on Saturday afternoon, where the Aqualillies performed a synchronized swim routine.

One of the biggest annual events on the South Beach spring-break circuit, the Victoria’s Secret Pink pool party took place at the Shelborne Beach Resort in Miami in March 2012. The upscale poolside lounge was turned into a Victoria's Secret Pink haven, decked out in branded furniture, pool toys, balloons, and beach gear.

Absolut Vodka launched its latest vodka in November 2012 at an ExtraExtra-produced event at the Standard Miami Beach. Self-sealing mylar balloons spelling out the brand name were clustered as a backdrop for a synchronized swimming performance by the Dolphinettes to music by DJ Mia Moretti.

Making the most of the rooftop pool at the Empire Hotel in New York, La Perla floated its name in the water for a poolside swimwear presentation during Fashion Week in 2008.

To launch its "It's So Miami" campaign in 2012, the Greater Miami Convention & Visitor's Bureau erected a pop-up pool party in New York's Union Square. The setup included a plunge pool and a wading pool, as well as 17-foot-tall palm trees, a cabana for the media, lounge chairs, and a DJ area. The pools looked out of place in the gritty big-city locale—which was exactly the point of the promotion.