15 Clever Uses of Street Teams We've Loved Lately

One effective example of a strategic street-team strategy comes from beauty brand OGX, which took to the streets of Santa Monica, Calif., in February 2022. To accompany its science-inspired "Love Labs" activation taking place nearby, the brand worked with creative agency MKG to offer complimentary rentals of OGX-branded bikes. The catch? The bike rentals were free for any passerby who showed proof of an OGX purchase.

To help, brand ambassadors—dressed in eye-catching lab coats to tie into the bigger activation's "lab" theme—plus carried iPads that allowed consumers to take a custom OGX “Love Labs” hair care quiz and purchase the products directly. See more: How OGX's Eye-Catching Pop-Up Showcased Its Products in Unconventional Ways

Street teams and brand ambassadors can also be a great way to welcome event guests and quickly set the tone—while making sales, of course. In February 2023, for example, Little Cinema partnered with Disney Branded Television to create a vibrant celebration for the premiere of Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur animated series. The event recreated Manhattan's Lower East Side at Walt Disney Studios Stage 3; and various vignettes evoked New York elements like a deli, a barber shop, street signs, and a cityscape made from lights.

Outside, roller skaters holding classic comic book-inspired signs welcomed guests to the event. Meanwhile, inside, they performed choreographed routines and kept the party lively, referencing the roller skating featured prominently in the series.

Sometimes, all you need is a good stunt to generate positive feelings about a brand—and we love this memorable example from British Airways. Did you know that before becoming the lead singer for Queen, Freddie Mercury worked as a baggage handler at London’s Heathrow Airport? In 2018, the airline paid tribute to this fun fact—and celebrated the late rock legend’s birthday—by staging a flash mob.

The airline partnered with choreographer and creative director Lyndon Lloyd (known for his work on Strictly Come Dancing and The X Factor) to tap actual Heathrow baggage handlers to learn a routine to the Queen song “I Want to Break Free.” Wearing fake mustaches along with yellow military-style jackets that paid tribute to one of Mercury’s iconic looks, employees performed the routine for travelers in the airport’s Terminal 5 baggage claim. Some travelers in the terminal were also given hand-drawn fan posters to hold up during the routine. See more: Watch: How British Airways Staged a Freddie Mercury Flash Mob

Another fun stunt came from Peacock at this year's edition of SXSW, to launch the campaign for its new original series Mrs. Davis. “To build buzz for our premiere event on March 14, we unveiled posters around the city, asking festivalgoers if they’d seen Simone, the nun played by Betty Gilpin in the series,” explained Jo Fox, the senior vice president of consumer and content marketing at Peacock. To prompt social media impressions, SXSW attendees who saw a nun were encouraged to post with the tags @Peacock and #MrsDavisGiveaway for a chance “to get their wings” and win prizes.

“We then unleashed nuns in blue habits throughout Austin,” Fox added. Throughout the festival, spectators could find the nuns “riding a mechanical bull, singing at a piano bar, and biking down the street, encouraging passersby to participate in getting their wings." (The task was a nod to Mrs. Davis’s plot.) See more: SXSW 2023: How Immersive Experiences Ruled at the Austin Fest

Oddly enough, that wasn't the first time SXSW attendees found nuns roaming the streets of Austin. During the 2019 festival, the Chattering Order of St. Beryl—an a capella choir that sings about the apocalypse while decked out in nun costumes—took to the Texan city's streets to promote Prime Video's Good Omens. They hosted a karaoke party on their tour bus, crashed author Neil Gaiman's discussion about the book, and performed at one of the space’s parties. Creative production agency Tool coordinated the stunts. See more: SXSW 2019: Creative Brand Engagement Ideas from Amazon Prime, Uber Eats, Lululemon, and More

Whar's more effective than a billboard? A human billboard, of course. To celebrate the relaunch of its popular series TRL, MTV took over New York’s Times Square in October 2017. The takeover included free rides on branded pedicabs, popsicles from the “Lick Lick Boom Ice Cream Truck,” street performers, brand ambassadors acting as human billboards (pictured), and more. Roving photographers also snapped photos of fans, which were streamed on LED screens in Times Square.

Inspired by the frenetic energy of the tourist hot spot, the design of the activation—which was produced by the Viacom special events team along with the Michael Alan Group—was dominated by the bold yellow and black colors of the show's logo and branding. See more: See How MTV Took Over Times Square

It's not all about brand promotion, of course—sometimes the right street team can be used to engage passersby in deeper ways. When Black Lives Matter-related protests broke out throughout the country in June 2020, for example, the team at RMNG launched The Conversation Truck, a mobile truck with a DJ booth inside. Quickly becoming a fixture at protests and related events throughout the Los Angeles area, the truck was designed to be a safe space for activists to share their stories, feelings, and ideas for change.

Some content was curated in advance, such as conversations with celebrities and activists. But street teams also invited members of the public to share their stories in a serendipitous moment. Local community leaders served as emcees, and some of the conversations were recorded and posted on Instagram. "We’ve had people sing, cry, laugh, and share stories of pain and hope. Dance parties have spontaneously broken out. We’ve had people from all over the map, community leaders, celebrities, activists, etcetera," said RMNG's Alyssa Mason in a 2020 interview with BizBash. "The goal is always to create a safe space for uncomfortable conversations." See more: How This Experiential Agency Is Using Its Mobile DJ Booth to Spark Change

To promote its movie Killing Kennedy, National Geographic Channel brought the headlines of Nov. 23, 1963, to Manhattan by way of a themed newsstand, which popped up in the city in 2013. Posters for the film were displayed on the sides and back of the structure, while a hashtag encouraged spectators to post photos and comments on social media. The newsstand also had two flat-screen TVs playing the film's trailer and interviews with the cast.

Near the stand, brand ambassadors dressed in '60s-era garb buzzed excitedly about the big news; they also passed out copies of the front page of The Washington Post and The New York Times from Nov. 23—which included black-and-white Killing Kennedy promotional ads—as well as JFK half-dollar coins in cases inscribed with information about the premiere. See more: National Geographic Brings News of Kennedy's Death to the Streets

Sometimes, all it takes is an eye-catching moment to get people to stop and stare—giving brand ambassadors a chance to swoop in and share their message. One fun example? In May 2021, sunscreen brand Sun Bum outfitted statues around the U.S. in banana costumes to raise awareness for skin cancer protection. “Because a banana is protected head to toe, just like we should be,” explained Russell Radebaugh, vice president of marketing at Sun Bum. The goal of the sunscreen brand’s “We Are Not Bananas” initiative was to “remind people that, unlike statutes, we can protect ourselves from the harmful effects of the sun,” he added.

At each statue, a brand ambassador was on hand to share information about the campaign and, of course, had Sun Bum goodies in tow. Sun Bum partnered with Oakland, Calif.-based creative agency Funworks and costume designer Erik Dixon on the nationwide campaign. See more: Why Was Dolly Parton Dressed as a Banana?

To promote its new original series Wheel of Time, Amazon Prime Video teamed up with London-based creative studio Amplify to create what organizers billed as the first-ever human anamorphic billboard. Located in high-traffic locations in New York, London, Paris, and Madrid, the billboard depicted a digitized version of actress Rosamund Pike seemingly popping off the screen to face her character's enemies.

To take it a step further when debuting the billboards in November 2019, Prime Video tapped street teams to bring battle scenes from the show to life, with actors on the ground interacting with the billboard; the action was also livestreamed to viewers at home.

At Comic-Con 2022 in San Diego, men's personal care brand Dr. Squatch worked with GDX Studios on a memorable use of brand ambassadors. Outside of the convention center, a team of Dr. Squatch representatives roamed the area with free, full-size products held inside attention-grabbing, "Squatch-sized" backpacks. See more: Comic-Con 2022: 29 Out-of-the-Box Engagement Ideas From the Massive Pop Culture Convention

In 2014, the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau and Current Lifestyle Marketing placed a vending machine in the middle of New York’s Times Square. Intended to promote the city's new "Miami Summer Deals" initiative, the machine provided personalized prizes for passersby. Guests who approached the machine had their photos snapped, and staffers hiding behind it determined which gifts would suit the guest. A child, for example, might have received a small T-shirt. Other prizes in rotation included sunglasses, flip-flops, and bottles of Pitbull Woman and Pitbull Man perfume (rapper Pitbull is a Miami native). Some guests even scored tickets to Miami. Bait Shoppe assisted with the event's production and built the vending machine.

Overheard, an Instagram franchise that shares snippets of conversations submitted by its followers, launched its first pop-up newsstand in New York in October 2019. The concept offered passersby physical newspapers with social media satire, such as a millennial weather report and “Subway Chronicles.” The franchise partnered with creative agency Guest Star to produce the activation, which also featured a stunt where brand ambassadors read the papers while riding the subway.

To celebrate its new “Winter Summerland” holiday campaign, rum brand BACARDÍ took over New York’s Times Square in December 2021 with a variety of fun activities intended to get cold New Yorkers into a sun-soaked, summery state of mind. One highlight? A fleet of performers and brand ambassadors formed an attention-grabbing flash mob, complete with Caribbean music. The campaign also featured a billboard takeover spanning 27 panels on Broadway along with decked-out pedicabs and a festive stop-and-shop merchandise truck for last-minute holiday gifts. See more: 33 Steal-Worthy Holiday Decor and Activation Ideas From Top Brands and Venues

To promote the Focus Features spy movie Atomic Blonde during Comic-Con 2017 in San Diego, a street team dressed as Charlize Theron’s character, Agent Lorraine Broughton, hit the streets in black leather boots, blonde wigs, sunglasses, and trench coats. The team handed out cassette tapes and invites to a screening of the film. GDX Studios planned the promotion. See more: Comic-Con 2017: See How Brands Stood Out With Stunts, Activations, and Parties