activation ideas

Lollapalooza returned to Chicago's Grant Park from August 3 to 6. Between stages, festival grounds offered plenty of props for guests to pose with—including a giant fake lollipop in the festival's signature blue-and-orange hues.

Guests also posed for snaps in front of the food chain's giant hashtag, which spelled out #LifeIsBurritoful. 

Summer-staple games—including ping-pong—were also readily available on festival grounds. 

More games, including an oversize Connect-Four board, could be found in a family-friendly area known as Kidzapalooza. 

In keeping with the festival's whimsical, throwback vibe, a first-of-its-kind roller rink invited guests to take a spin for free. The set-up also had an arcade featuring nostalgic (and also free) games like Donkey Kong. 

Some brands incorporated old-school games into their activations. Godiva, for instance, had a giant Plinko-style drop board. Depending on where their game chips landed, guests could win prizes such as tote bags, keychains, or free ice-cream treats. 

Toyota had two tents on festival grounds. In one area, known as "Cosmic Paradise Presented by Toyota," guests could pick up a Lite-Brite peg and embed it on a board on the side of a Toyota vehicle. Guests won different prizes depending on which color their pegs lit up in. 

In Toyota's other tent, known as "Toyota Music Den," a doughnut etching experience took place in the trunk of a model car. Guests could take home the treats, which were emblazoned with messages—such as "Donut Give Up—Corolla"— written in powdered sugar.

The brand had a cheerful activation that let guests pose inside a prop wine bottle that was surrounded with bubbles. 

In State Farm's #HeretoHelp lounge, guests could charge their phones and study up on local charities. The lounge also hosted charitable activities. On Sunday, for example, guests could make dog toys for a local shelter. 

This year, a first-time scavenger hunt called Jane Says—named after the song by Jane's Addiction lead singer and Lollapalooza founder Perry Farrell—challenged guests to certain tasks taking place throughout the park. Billed by festival organizers as "part scavenger hunt, part quiz show, and part mission for global good," the activity let guests win prizes for themselves or cash prizes that could be donated to charity. Lollapalooza earmarked $100,000 for local and global initiatives via Jane Says.

One aspect of Jane Says included a daily vote, which let guests weigh in on questions by placing a colored ball in a bin that corresponded to their answer. On Saturday, for instance, festivalgoers could respond to the question of "Who Did You Vote For in Last Year's Presidential Election" by placing a ball in bins labeled with "Hillary Clinton," "Didn't Vote," et cetera. 

In another Jane Says challenge, guests used their body heat to try to win free T-shirt prizes from a frozen block of ice. 

In Red Bull's V.I.P. area, guests could play ping-pong while watching Red Bull TV's live footage from nearby stages. 

Known as "Kosmosworld," the area had leafy, shaded seating areas.  

In addition to a central bar, guests could grab drinks from mini refrigerators set up in each seating area. 

Pepsi brought its "Zero Chill House" to festival grounds. The fun-house-style activation invited guests to jump into a pit of foam blocks in the soft drink's signature hues; guests could also grab prizes. 

Twix set up a backstage activation open to musicians and other V.I.P. guests. Built out to look like a record store, the activation offered sweet snacks, drinks, and a virtual-reality experience. 

Yoga brand Lululemon was a first-time sponsor. The company set up a backstage activation that invited V.I.P. guests and musicians to relax with gong baths and five-minute meditation sessions. 

Tito's Vodka also hosted a V.I.P. retreat. Guests could have cocktails from an open bar and get premium views of the Tito's stage from the lounge area, which also supplied tacos, private restrooms, and plush seating. Throughout the weekend, bands to take the Tito's stage included Live and Joseph.

On Saturday night, Lucky Brand hosted an off-site event at the Freehand Hotel. BMF Media Group produced and designed the event, which had a '90s house party theme and featured a performance from Brandy. The event took over several rooms, turning them into '90s-style bedrooms filled with posters for Nirvana and other bands of the era. In the room, music from bands like Smashing Pumpkins played, and guests could pick up beers in red Solo cups.

The walls at the event were decked with Lucky Brand's current and vintage campaign images. Guests could take home custom-embroidered bandanas from the brand. 

Beauty brand Bed Head TIGI took over several areas of the Hard Rock Hotel for a pop-up salon activation on August 4 and 5. Pink-and-orange signage featured hairstyles guests could have done on-site—including twisted top knots and braids—and a grassy, flower-covered wall provided a backdrop for photos. 

The event's #YourHairYourWay hash tag appeared on mirrors and on bars. In addition to hairstyling, guests could book makeup touchups and manicure appointments, and celebrity DJs including Brandi Cyrus and Rumer Willis spun tunes.

Mike’s Hard Lemonade hosted a multi-sensory pop-up at a vacant space in downtown Brooklyn May 10 to 12. The pop-up, which offered Instagram-friendly interactive stations that each linked back to studies on happiness, had a conveyor belt bar that served cocktails made with the brand’s signature flavor. The event was designed by Havas Formula and produced by Geo Events.

Bacardi celebrated the launch of its new portfolio with an event May 10 at 95 Delancey Street in New York. The event, which was produced by Mosaic, featured a branded wall photo op that invited guests to pose in front of wings created with gold seashells. 

As part of Espolon’s Deadpool 2 campaign, the tequila brand hosted a screening of the film May 16 at Alamo Drafthouse Downtown Brooklyn. Inspired by the Marvel superhero’s irreverent, childish personality, the event featured a low-rent catering station that offered movie theater snacks in brown paper bags and popcorn buckets, with labels such as “carbs with butter” and “candy no butter.” The station also had a water cooler that dispensed Espolon tequila. A Creative Force produced the event.

Belvedere Vodka launched its new Ginger Zest product with a V.I.P. event at NoMad SoHo. Chef and wellness expert Candice Kumai hosted, and a step-and-repeat consisted of lemons, ginger, limes, and grapefruit—all ingredients that Ginger Zest is made with. Jack Morton Worldwide produced the event.

Kellogg’s has partnered with former royal chef Darren McGrady to host a breakfast and viewing party at the brand’s New York cafe on May 19. The menu will incorporate a variety of Kellogg’s cereals, with items including Stanley Scones (Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes scones with macerated strawberries, basil, and whipped Froot Loops cream); Krispy Gems (Rice Krispies-encrusted scotch eggs with sausage and bacon); and the Lemon Luster Wedding Cake, which is made with Kellogg’s Raisin Bran Cake topped with lemon-elderflower cream cheese frosting, edible gold, and fresh flowers. Fashion designer Kelly Dempsey will also show guests how to create a cereal box fascinator hat. For those not attending, recipes for the custom creations and how-to videos for the cereal box fascinators are available on the Kellogg’s website.

This year’s James Beard Foundation Awards took place May 7 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. The theme of the event, “Rise,” celebrated the culinary community and the power of food. Alexandra Clark, owner of Detroit’s Bon Bon Bon, created a chocolate treat with Valrhona’s Passion Fruit Inspiration (which replaces cocoa with powdered passion fruit juice and is naturally gluten and dairy free) and edible flowers. The dessert was presented by Valrhona.

American Cancer Society’s 12th annual Discovery Ball took place April 21 at the Swissotel Chicago. To reflect the event’s “Impact From Every Angle” theme, HMR Designs created an angular design with ribbons that extended from 125 points on the ceiling. Each table served as a base for the ribbons, which were chosen in cool color tones to complement Frost's intimate lighting design. 

For its annual conference, which took place March 27 to 29, MillerCoors partnered with AgencyEA to create an exhibit for 22 beer brands at the Austin Convention Center. The Blue Moon bar went literal with the brand name, displaying an illustrated backdrop in blue and orange colors that depicted downtown Austin at night. The bar showcased oranges in vases and the brand’s signature glasses. An illuminated blue moon was suspended over the bar.

The Crispin Rosé hard cider bar displayed bottles of the new cider against a backdrop of greenery with oversize hot pink letters that read "Rosé all day." A pink bar was situated under a giant teepee with pink florals. 

Brooks Brothers held its bicentennial gala April 25 at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York. The event, which was produced by the Firm, used state-of-the-art technology to pay homage to Brooks Brothers' rich history. Adjacent to the main party space, the Ertegun Hall of Fame featured massive video animations that provided a visual journey via contrasting images from the early 1800s to today. Vertical rows of Golden Fleece sheep were suspended in the air for a dramatic visual effect.