The fourth and final installment of the Hotel Transylvania movie franchise—titled Hotel Transylvania: Transformania—debuted on Feb. 25 on Prime Video. To generate hype around the latest film, Amazon Studios looked to AKJOHNSTON Group to put on a nationwide mobile tour. A whimsically wrapped bus—with Dracula, Mavis, and Johnny as a monster in attendance—hit the road on Dec. 31, 2021, making its first stops at California’s LA Arboretum. It later traveled to Mall of America in Minneapolis, an Amazon outpost in New York, Brickell City Centre in Miami, as well as high foot traffic areas in Texas, Arizona, Massachusetts, and Georgia before its last stop in Cleveland on Jan. 22.Photo: Courtesy of AKJOHNSTON Group
The collection of eye-catching mobile activations goes to show just how versatile vehicles can be as an event venue—and without skipping all the tech, touch points, and Instagram-worthy moments eventgoers know and love.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at four recent mobile activations, and see for yourself why this format for throwing events is becoming increasingly conventional…
Colleen Hoover’s ‘It Starts With Us’ Book Launch
On Oct. 18, New York-based experiential marketing company Food Truck Promotions partnered with publishing companies Simon & Schuster and Atria Books to launch the most pre-ordered book in the companies’ history: It Starts With Us by Colleen Hoover. The result? A Citroën truck that was transformed into Lily Bloom’s Floral Shop, a nod to the fictional flower shop in both It Ends With Us and its highly anticipated sequel, It Starts With Us.
Photo: Courtesy of Food Truck Promotions
The flower truck was parked at Rockefeller Center, and Britney Lefkovits, the head of marketing and operations at Food Truck Promotions, said that the event didn’t start until 11:30 a.m., but “starting at 8 a.m., thousands of fans lined up to visit the interactive pop-up truck.”
“The activation was just one day,” Lefkovits added, “so we knew we had to get it right.” Thus, the flower shop (which was designed by B. Events) was coupled with a café, where the 3,000 in attendance throughout the day could grab a coffee or home-made hot chocolate—complete with a branded sleeve—and a chocolate chip cookie from Chip City Cookies.
“The activation was just one day,” Lefkovits added, “so we knew we had to get it right.” Thus, the flower shop (which was designed by B. Events) was coupled with a café, where the 3,000 in attendance throughout the day could grab a coffee or home-made hot chocolate—complete with a branded sleeve—and a chocolate chip cookie from Chip City Cookies.
Photo: Courtesy of Food Truck Promotions
Guests could scan a QR code on the truck to win a collection of Colleen Hoover books. And fans who purchased It Starts With Us on-site were gifted signed bookplates from Hoover, who soared to popularity in late 2021 after gaining traction in the #BookTok community on TikTok. By January of this year, It Ends With Us was a No. 1 New York Times bestseller with more than one billion tags on TikTok. And incredibly, the recognition happened six years after the novel was originally published.
Lefkovits said that the turnout “meant that our activation lived up to the hype around the book release.”
Lefkovits said that the turnout “meant that our activation lived up to the hype around the book release.”
Photo: Courtesy of Food Truck Promotions
![“Our overall intention with this activation was to bring notable aspects of the story to life, which meant it was up to us to honor Colleen Hoover’s writing and fans’ imaginations,” Lefkovits explained. She also noted that a mobile activation was chosen rather than a stand-still pop-up shop “first and foremost, [because] branded vehicles are inherently attention-grabbing, so they get brands noticed quickly. At the same time, different from a traditional storefront, the mobility of a truck allows you to occupy unconventional and exciting locations.”](https://img.bizbash.com/files/base/bizbash/bzb/image/2022/11/_DSC3558.636bcbba1664f.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&q=70&w=400)
“Our overall intention with this activation was to bring notable aspects of the story to life, which meant it was up to us to honor Colleen Hoover’s writing and fans’ imaginations,” Lefkovits explained. She also noted that a mobile activation was chosen rather than a stand-still pop-up shop “first and foremost, [because] branded vehicles are inherently attention-grabbing, so they get brands noticed quickly. At the same time, different from a traditional storefront, the mobility of a truck allows you to occupy unconventional and exciting locations.”
Photo: Courtesy of Food Truck Promotions
DSW’s Crown Vintage Relaunch
DSW—formally known as Designer Shoe Warehouse–welcomed its own brand, Crown Vintage, back to its shelves, and looked to Coffee ‘n Clothes (CNC) to celebrate the occasion with an airstream—a nod to the “vintage” in Crown Vintage—that made stops in Los Angeles and Nashville over the course of four days. In LA, DSW set up shop outside of popular restaurant Melroseplace and The Original Farmers Market. In Nashville, it was parked on the corner of Laurel Street and 11th Avenue South.
Photo: Courtesy of Coffee ‘n Clothes
At each pitstop, guests were greeted by brand ambassadors decked out in Crown Vintage. Once inside the airstream, passersby could browse through the shoes, hats, bags, and other accessories included in the fall collection. For those who preferred delivery, on-site QR codes brought scanners to Crown Vintage’s landing page on DSW. com and gifted them with an exclusive 20% off discount code. Guests who spent more than $100 pre-discount received a free Crown Vintage hat, which was custom embroidered on-site.
Photo: Courtesy of Coffee ‘n Clothes
Prime Video Premieres ‘Hotel Transylvania: Transformania’
The fourth and final installment of the Hotel Transylvania movie franchise—titled Hotel Transylvania: Transformania—debuted on Feb. 25 on Prime Video. To generate hype around the latest film, Amazon Studios looked to AKJOHNSTON Group to put on a nationwide mobile tour. A whimsically wrapped bus—with Dracula, Mavis, and Johnny as a monster in attendance—hit the road on Dec. 31, 2021, making its first stops at California’s LA Arboretum. It later traveled to Mall of America in Minneapolis, an Amazon outpost in New York, Brickell City Centre in Miami, as well as high foot traffic areas in Texas, Arizona, Massachusetts, and Georgia before its last stop in Cleveland on Jan. 22.
Photo: Courtesy of AKJOHNSTON Group
AKJOHNSTON Group’s CEO and founder Austin Johnston told BizBash that the “Drac Park” bus garnered more than one million impressions, including 50,000-plus direct engagements with fans during pit stops. Johnston attributed the success to an event that was able to bring joy during a time where COVID was still at large. “The challenge was keeping guests safe while synergizing with Amazon Books and Fresh Stores,” the CEO said, noting that touch points included fun photo ops with characters and a 23-foot-high Johnny Monster inflatable in LA.
Photo: Courtesy of AKJOHNSTON Group
![Props were set up at each stop, “including replicas of the ‘suitcase’ coffin,” Johnston explained. And fans who braved the cold on the East Coast during a chilly January “received exclusive Hotel Transylvania merchandise [like] glow-in-the-dark socks and a s’mores kit to enjoy while watching the animated film.”](https://img.bizbash.com/files/base/bizbash/bzb/image/2022/11/JH304271.636bcc27de41d.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&q=70&w=400)
Props were set up at each stop, “including replicas of the ‘suitcase’ coffin,” Johnston explained. And fans who braved the cold on the East Coast during a chilly January “received exclusive Hotel Transylvania merchandise [like] glow-in-the-dark socks and a s’mores kit to enjoy while watching the animated film.”
Photo: Courtesy of AKJOHNSTON Group
Hermès’s Flagship Grand Opening
Luxury retailer Hermès opened a four-story flagship store that takes up nearly an entire block on New York City’s Madison Avenue on Sept. 30. While the in-house team celebrated with an invite-only soiree, experiential agency Coffee ‘n Clothes (CNC) was tapped to bring the celebration to the general public. It did so with, you guessed it, a mobile activation. The truck was eye-catching in its design, and could be identified as affiliated with Hermès from city blocks away thanks to its iconic Hermès orange color and branded Bolduc ribbon detailing.
Photo: Courtesy of Coffee ‘n Clothes
![The truck parked itself in front of the retailer’s newest flagship location at 706 Madison Ave. for six days in early October, serving passersby photo-worthy lattes. CNC’s founder Ryan Glick told BizBash that there were no touch points beyond serving bagels and coffee in branded cups—in what Glick referred to as “a true New York moment”—and the decision was intentional. “Hermès wanted to be simple, elegant, and straightforward,” Glick said, noting that the mobile activation itself was “a surprise-and-delight giveback” to Hermès fans. The way the activation “made its way across socials [like] TikTok and Instagram' proved that the truck didn’t need bells and whistles to catch attention. Glick attributed the activation’s success to “the overall customer sentiment.”](https://img.bizbash.com/files/base/bizbash/bzb/image/2022/11/1666112192232.636bcc55bb0cb.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&q=70&w=400)
The truck parked itself in front of the retailer’s newest flagship location at 706 Madison Ave. for six days in early October, serving passersby photo-worthy lattes. CNC’s founder Ryan Glick told BizBash that there were no touch points beyond serving bagels and coffee in branded cups—in what Glick referred to as “a true New York moment”—and the decision was intentional. “Hermès wanted to be simple, elegant, and straightforward,” Glick said, noting that the mobile activation itself was “a surprise-and-delight giveback” to Hermès fans.
The way the activation “made its way across socials [like] TikTok and Instagram" proved that the truck didn’t need bells and whistles to catch attention. Glick attributed the activation’s success to “the overall customer sentiment.”
The way the activation “made its way across socials [like] TikTok and Instagram" proved that the truck didn’t need bells and whistles to catch attention. Glick attributed the activation’s success to “the overall customer sentiment.”
Photo: Courtesy of Coffee ‘n Clothes
As an intentional way to provide a touch point while maintaining the simplicity and elegance Glick noted the client asked for, lattes served out of the truck were topped with designs in nod to Hermès’ iconic logo, which depicts a horse and carriage.
Photo: Courtesy of Coffee ‘n Clothes
