ESPN the Magazine took over the top floors of an old empty warehouse in Detroit for the days leading up to the Super Bowl, transforming the building into the "Next Experience" to mark the mag's annual "Next" issue, which highlights who and what to watch in 2006. The magazine's senior marketing director, Kim Willis, and marketing manager Brynn Gottsman worked with Eastside P.R., Miami Marketing Group (MMG), and Los Angeles-based production team Event Eleven to create a showcase for sponsors and a not-to-be-missed party spot for the mag's advertisers, celebrities, athletes, and other V.I.P. guests. For the four-day run of the showcase leading up to the Super Bowl, guests found activities, entertainment, and booze offered by sponsors.
Guests entered the Experience through Centaur, the Detroit bar and lounge that occupies the first two floors of the warehouse, before ascending to one of five unique floors, each with a customized environment reflecting a particular sponsor's brand. "We didn't want anything to look alike," said MMG's Kimberly Rodriguez, whose firm coordinated the sponsorships.
"When we first saw the building a few months ago it was all beat up," said MMG's Ian Gutman. "But [Event Eleven] came in and did an amazing job."
Relaxation and pampering were the focus on the Gillette floor, which promoted the new Fusion razor. Decked out with low-slung couches, ottomans, and modern glass and chrome coffee tables all in white, the room had a clean, spalike atmosphere. Two manicure stations, three massage areas, and four barbers pampered guests. Female staffers in tight-fitting silver unitards with Fusion razors tucked in orange belts dispensed product samples.
The ESPN Mobile floor offered an unusual bit of permanent artistry for attendees: they could choose to have a pair of Timberlands custom airbrushed by a Detroit artist, or take advantage of three local tattoo artists—as in real tattoos, not the wash-off kind—on hand for a longer-lasting memento
of the weekend. (More than 50 guests opted to become human canvases, signing waivers before the work could begin.) Those less inclined to partake in the body art could try out their DJ skills, taking lessons from instructors from the New York-based Scratch DJ Academy.
If anyone needed a drink—before or after submitting to the tattoo artist's needle—the Cadillac floor offered a variety of cocktails. Virtual golf and racing games played on the big plasma screens. Lucite coffee tables and end tables encased shiny 20-inch Cadillac rims, and bars mounted with real grills modeled after the new Escalade and other Cadillac models branded the space.
It was all games, all the time on the Miller Lite floor. Diversions included plenty of old-fashioned arcade games like Miss Pac-Man, and a hockey area allowed guests to use regulation Detroit Red Wings sticks and pucks. Brown suede couches filled the floor for lounging.
While the Experience building hosted several events, the magazine's biggest bash was held off-site at the Colony Club. Originally designed by Henry Ford's wife as a clubhouse for women, the Colony Club was turned into a raucous nightclub to launch ESPN Mobile cell phones. Dylan McDermott, Jessica Alba, Eli Manning, Josh Lucas, Snoop Dogg, Tom Brady, and Usher joined more than 700 guests for the party. Athletes, celebs, and other guests returned to Centaur's eighth-floor Absolut Level lounge for the late-night after-party. Carpeted in red and filled with large plasma screens, the lounge offered guests a private place to imbibe Absolut Level vodka cocktails as they relaxed on mod black couches that dotted the room.
Plenty of local Detroit vendors helped put both events together, and Gottsman emphasized the ease with which they worked with the local talent. "Everything we could hire local, we did," she said. "We really wanted to focus on using emerging businesses to give exposure to and build revenue for their businesses so we're not just coming in and leaving them empty-handed."
—Francine Cohen
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Guests entered the Experience through Centaur, the Detroit bar and lounge that occupies the first two floors of the warehouse, before ascending to one of five unique floors, each with a customized environment reflecting a particular sponsor's brand. "We didn't want anything to look alike," said MMG's Kimberly Rodriguez, whose firm coordinated the sponsorships.
"When we first saw the building a few months ago it was all beat up," said MMG's Ian Gutman. "But [Event Eleven] came in and did an amazing job."
Relaxation and pampering were the focus on the Gillette floor, which promoted the new Fusion razor. Decked out with low-slung couches, ottomans, and modern glass and chrome coffee tables all in white, the room had a clean, spalike atmosphere. Two manicure stations, three massage areas, and four barbers pampered guests. Female staffers in tight-fitting silver unitards with Fusion razors tucked in orange belts dispensed product samples.
The ESPN Mobile floor offered an unusual bit of permanent artistry for attendees: they could choose to have a pair of Timberlands custom airbrushed by a Detroit artist, or take advantage of three local tattoo artists—as in real tattoos, not the wash-off kind—on hand for a longer-lasting memento
of the weekend. (More than 50 guests opted to become human canvases, signing waivers before the work could begin.) Those less inclined to partake in the body art could try out their DJ skills, taking lessons from instructors from the New York-based Scratch DJ Academy.
If anyone needed a drink—before or after submitting to the tattoo artist's needle—the Cadillac floor offered a variety of cocktails. Virtual golf and racing games played on the big plasma screens. Lucite coffee tables and end tables encased shiny 20-inch Cadillac rims, and bars mounted with real grills modeled after the new Escalade and other Cadillac models branded the space.
It was all games, all the time on the Miller Lite floor. Diversions included plenty of old-fashioned arcade games like Miss Pac-Man, and a hockey area allowed guests to use regulation Detroit Red Wings sticks and pucks. Brown suede couches filled the floor for lounging.
While the Experience building hosted several events, the magazine's biggest bash was held off-site at the Colony Club. Originally designed by Henry Ford's wife as a clubhouse for women, the Colony Club was turned into a raucous nightclub to launch ESPN Mobile cell phones. Dylan McDermott, Jessica Alba, Eli Manning, Josh Lucas, Snoop Dogg, Tom Brady, and Usher joined more than 700 guests for the party. Athletes, celebs, and other guests returned to Centaur's eighth-floor Absolut Level lounge for the late-night after-party. Carpeted in red and filled with large plasma screens, the lounge offered guests a private place to imbibe Absolut Level vodka cocktails as they relaxed on mod black couches that dotted the room.
Plenty of local Detroit vendors helped put both events together, and Gottsman emphasized the ease with which they worked with the local talent. "Everything we could hire local, we did," she said. "We really wanted to focus on using emerging businesses to give exposure to and build revenue for their businesses so we're not just coming in and leaving them empty-handed."
—Francine Cohen
Related Stories
Playboy Perks Up Detroit Airport
Maxim Goes Glam Rock for Bowl Party
SI Trots Out Bikini Beauties for Bowl Bash
At the ESPN Experience sponsor showcase during the Super Bowl, Gillette promoted its new Fusion razor with a spalike room decked out with low-slung couches, ottomans, and modern glass and chrome coffee tables all in white.
Sexy female staffers in tight-fitting silver unitards with Gillette Fusion razors tucked in orange belts dispensed product samples.
Faux SUV grills modeled after the new Cadillac Escalade mounted the bars on the Cadillac-sponsored floor.
Models in black skirts and tanks tops, roller skates, red garters, and white angel wings promoted ESPN Mobile cell phones.
