Event Trend: Live Art Demonstrations

At most events, one of the primary goals is to have everything done and perfect before the audience arrives. Now, many event planners are turning this idea upside-down. The new trend is to have the audience watch as key parts of the set are completed on the spot. Of course, this doesn't refer to having your guests watch men in overalls and scaffolds hammer plywood panels together! Instead, it's done by having live art demonstrations as part of the exhibition. In these, actual professional artists draw murals and other artworks during the events. Many are fascinated to be able to see the process as it unfolds.

Several variations on this idea have taken place over the last few months. Here are a few that may bring you inspiration:

The Discovery Venice Consumer Pop-Up Preview Event

Here, a surfboard artist was brought in to paint boards as people waited. Fitness gurus Gabby Reece and Laird Hamilton hosted the preview event, which surely made the early guests want to come back to see the full exhibition.

Outward Bound National Benefit Dinner

Who needs candid photography when you can have an artist sketch out key scenes of your event as they happen? That's what was done at this non-profit event, where artist Michael Arthur sketched on a visible screen as presenters talked.

3 Days in Miami Festival

Put on by Red Bull Sound Select, this event featured an artist who drew both posters and portrait pins on the spot. These were handed out for patrons to take home as souvenirs. The unique nature of such mementos will surely keep Red Bull in guests' minds for years to come.

Keep a Child Alive's 13th Annual Black Ball

This charity ball celebrated the spirit of the AIDS activism of the 80s with events including a live art installation by British artist Shantell Martin.

Choosing an Artist for Your Event

In order to be successful at a live installation, an artist must be able to work fast and tune out distractions. To ensure that everything goes without a hitch, be sure to ask your preferred artist if he or she can work under these specific conditions. Of course, you should also make sure all of the details are known and settled, such as: What will be drawn, what style of art you'll get, and similar aspects. This way, you can be sure that the results will match the brand image you want to portray.

For a great venue for your next event in Miami, try Soho Studios. We have 70,000 square feet of space that can be configured for almost any event. You won't have any trouble fitting a large enough canvas inside for your live art displays!

How Demos Can Boost Your Brand Awareness

In the world of marketing, brand awareness is paramount. More often than not, product and service demos are solid foundations. If you want to boost sales, increase awareness and maximize your outreach, you’ll need to prioritize presentation, usability and—most of all—excitement. Check out the top reasons brands are demonstrating with demos, and redefine your marketing strategy from the ground up.

Reason One: Higher Sales

Using demos is smart, sales-wise. In fact, a lot of brands are optimizing their expenses to streamline in-store samples and demos. Studies prove that in-store demos boost same-day sales, brand franchise sales and long-term consumer habits. Even if you’re not a food provider, samples exist in other forms. That said, food-based samples alone can greatly impact sales. As an example, Costco samples reportedly boost sales by approximately 2,000 percent.

Reason Two: Lead Generation

Today, everything is digital. Because your consumers are using smartphones, Facebook and instant-access eCommerce portals, you’ll need to prioritize your brand’s lead generation power. How? By inviting consumers to receive special deals via SMS, email and social media posts. Consumers love free demos—especially if there’s little work involved. By offering demos, samples and discounts via a digital marketing strategy, you can boost your brand’s lead generation before buyers show up.

Reason Three: More Testimonials

In our highly digital world, positive online reviews are must-haves. Brands capable of inspiring high emotional intensity, on average, achieve three times as many positive reviews as other brands. Highly differentiated brands, too, earn positive word-of-mouth. If you can woo your customers with solid demos, exhibits and free trials, you’ll be set. Prioritize your brand’s emotional appeal, first. Then, focus on general marketing tactics.

Reason Four: Ongoing Sales Security

A solid demo campaign can boost sales over time. This is why marketers often take the experiential route—as they can reduce expenses by combining PR campaigns with on-location demo events. Immediate sales are important, sure, but they’re incomparable to ongoing sales-centric campaigns. If you can offer a solid demo, you can ensure registry sign-ups. From there, you’re established to re-promote, gain more followers and ensure future success.

Reason Five: Immediate Feedback

Because today’s feedback channels are often brand forums, review websites and social media, a little on-location feedback never hurts. Ask your demo crowd if the product works. More importantly: Ask them what they liked specifically. If they don’t purchase the product after, ask them why.

In any event, more information is better. Consumer participation is incredibly valuable, and it can power long-term brand campaigns. In the marketing world, getting experiential never hurts. In fact, it’s becoming a mainstream approach for many companies. When everyone can promote digitally, hands-on demonstrations are highly memorable.

How American Express Shared the Love with Small Gift Handouts

What do American Express and small businesses have in common? Great events. To jam-pack the holiday season with fun, American Express crafted an intuitive gifting campaign—surprising thousands of fans while leveraging its entire Shop Small platform. The event, itself, was all about putting small businesses first—sponsoring six different NBA teams while promoting holiday cheer.

The Shop Small for 2X Rewards Movement

American Express kicked off its event across six NBA games from November 10 to December 22. Their campaign, dubbed the Shop Small for 2X Rewards Movement, started at the HEAT’s Chicago Bulls game. The American Airlines Arena in Miami was a prime location for American Express’s reveal. Attendees were barraged with hundreds of customized T-shirts, which were ported directly from Peace Love World—a Miami retailer.

The Shop Small for 2X Rewards Movement didn’t stop there. American Express continued blasting fans until the Warriors game against the Celtics. At the event, American Express had a final huzzah by handing out 1,200 gift cards sourced from local businesses. On November 25, American hopped over to the Los Angeles Lakers game—offering another 1,500 sneaker wipes, gift cards and Lakers socks. This time, Blends—a local sneaker shop—was the benefactor.

Fast-Paced Giveaways

Among American Express’s big-time marketing initiatives, it’s fast-paced giveaways were certainly notable. It’s rare to see a competitive approach to swag handouts. That said, American Express’s presence at NBA games, in general, is telling. American Express distributed a recorded 22,000 candles at the Chicago Bulls game, representing 450 brand ambassadors in two minutes flat.

The historical experiential marketing moment might’ve been spearheaded by American Express, but the surrounding brands certainly had a say—and a massive presence. Local shop, Abbey Brown, was responsible for delivering the gifts. Once the campaign wrapped up, 250 Shop Small parachutes handed out another 2,000 wool gloves crafted by local Brooklyn merchants.

The Social Media Angle

No marketing outreach effort stands tall without a little social media support. In celebration of the event, American Express utilized its NBA partnership with Shaquile O’Neal to promote on Facebook and Twitter. Understandably, this approach was a good idea. The campaign, itself, was a prime example of American Express’s dedication to fan experiences.

Constantly encouraging credit holders to “shop small,” it isn’t strange to see American Express catapult an array of small-time gifts. Here, their targeting strategy is highlighted. American Express’s approach wasn’t about what was given—but how it was given. Card members are frequent amenity-lovers, and even a small marketing notion goes a long way. Marketing during a venue, certainly, is a unique angle. It’s entirely human, bringing products and services directly to the client’s level.

Event Trends: The 90s Make a Comeback

Marketers know that one of the easiest ways to catch people's attention and produce good feelings is to go for nostalgia. Because of this, it's a certainty that every generation will be treated to a round of advertising and marketing meant to call up feelings of the good old days. This is why we've all been seeing a resurgence of 90s-themed products and events. Millennials, companies hope, are already looking at this time period with the airbrushed memories of those wishing for simpler and happier times. These 90s-based marketing efforts have taken several forms. Here are some examples you can use for inspiration for your own company's nostalgia marketing:

Nickelodeon's 90sFest

Nickelodeon didn't just put on a few marathons of 90s shows for its celebration of the Millennials' decade. Instead, it hosted several retro music festivals, complete with 90s acts like Sister Hazel and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. Attendees dressed up in 90s clothing or as Nickelodeon characters from that period in order to fully immerse themselves in the experience.

The company got down to business with its obstacle course, which was present at each event. This course was set up to promote The Splat – the network's block of 90s game show and cartoon reruns. Other Nickelodeon offerings were also promoted in fun and immersive ways.

Crystal Pepsi Summer of '92

PepsiCo was another company that made great use of old music, this time to re-introduce Crystal Pepsi to the market. Salt-N-Pepa, En Vogue, and others started off the entertainment at concerts that featured 90s sets along with the music. A retro mall was also set up, and patrons could get 90s hairstyles, play in an arcade featuring the games of the decade, and buy assorted swag just like they did as teens.

TRL

MTV revamped its old Total Request Live, or TRL, studio into Total Registration Live to promote National Voter Registration Day. Along with being able to register to vote, attendees were also able to check out various celebrities, who spoke about the election issues they were passionate about. Celebs who came included Joss Whedon and Ty Dolla $ign. Of course, the musical artists also performed to ensure that people would stay interested.

These are just some of the events that took place during the last year to target Millennials with nostalgia marketing. Such marketing isn't limited to this age group, though. You can easily use it to reach any demographic that isn't still young.

If you're looking for a venue for your next immersive marketing event, look no further than Soho Studios in Miami. Our event space can be adapted for any size function, with up to 70,000 feet available. We can also set up custom features to make sure your event is an unforgettable hit.

Why Having a Mobile App for Your Event Is a Must

It’s become more important than ever to have a dedicated mobile app for your event. Not only is a larger portion of consumers online time spent through mobile, but consumers expect the ease of navigation of real time events and life that comes from having all the capabilities of a smartphone at their fingertips at all times. While it’s still possible to use a dedicated website for an event, a mobile app will not only give your event a greater sense of importance, but in taking the time to build the app, you’ll be able to ensure that users on all platforms are having the experience you want them to be having. Here are some of the latest trends in event mobile apps as well as musts that every app needs to be sure to have.

The Latest Trends

Live Video Streaming Capability: People are using live streaming more than ever before and by offering the ability for people to do so within your app, you’ll be creating a powerful way for people to interact in and around your event.

Social Media Integration: An event can only reach those who have attended, right? With social media it’s possible for events to cast a wider net than those who are physically present, and there’s no better way to encourage tweets, hashtags and Instagramming than by making it as easy as possible, direct from the app. Combined with the live streaming, you’ll be creating an army of marketers from your attendees to promote your brand and event.

Fitness: While this one certainly sounds a little off the wall, wellness is huge right now, as is the use of technology to monitor fitness stats and stay in shape. Take advantage of this by integrating to an existing app to help people plan out healthy walks to take between sessions or including a meditation feature to relax before the event starts.

Must Haves

Scheduling and Details: If your event app isn’t helping users navigate the actual event, then it’s failing at its most basic job. From easy to use maps to allowing customized scheduling, make sure that your app is making it easy for attendees to keep track of all the details.

Keep It Simple: An event app is only as good as its UX (user experience). And the best way to ensure that your app has a great user experience is to not let things get too complex. Sometimes less is more, especially when designing an app.

Networking Opportunities: If you include in-app messaging you’ll be raising user engagement and providing a valuable service. People often attend events for networking opportunities, and being able to do so from within the app can prove invaluable.

What to Expect: Event Marketing Trends for the 2017 Super Bowl

Every year, the Super Bowl yields a wealth of advertisement opportunities. As one of America’s most televised events, it’s a great venue for TV campaigns, significant brand moves and digital ad support. Today, the event’s latest news hits, advertisements and brand moves govern new event trends. The Super Bowl might be a televised event, but its ramifications are huge. Below, we’re covering the five biggest, baddest event marketing trends likely to spawn from the 2017 Super Bowl. Consume with caution, as they’re certainly unstoppable.

One: Blackjack

The Elevate Management Group, Dr. Quang & Staci, Wade Smith and Henderson are teaming up, and they’re getting ready to power the massive elite event during 2017’s biggest game. Featuring a Casino-Royale-esque style of play, the Bulls & Blackjack event will be a celeb-fueled tournament guaranteed to drive poker players wild. Get ready for a mad dash to poker-centric marketing events. More interestingly: Get ready for charity-funded gaming.

Two: Recycling

The Recycling Rally kicks off on January 21. While other exciting events, big milestones and multifaceted marketing initiatives are festival-centric, the Recycling Rally serves as a multi-day party to benefit those in need while promoting big-name brands. Another community-centric event, the Recycling Rally is expected to spawn a wealth of communal events in 2017.

Three: Leather

Leather & Laces, to be exact. 2017’s longest-running Super Bowl party is back, and it’s likely to be the hottest place around. Focusing on chic attire, open bars and premium drinks, Leather & Laces constantly promotes glamorous marketing events focused on, well, the love of being alive. Hand-rolled Sushi, hors d'oeuvres and other great selections constantly spawn food-centric marketing initiatives, so be on the lookout.

Four: Fine Cuisine

Where food, itself, is considered, The Taste of the NFL is expected—yet again—to promote fine cuisine marketing initiatives. Take part in a silent auction, experience sports memorabilia and get ready for a general sweep of sports-dining-related marketing initiatives. We’re thinking dine-in-with-player events, coach cookouts and team-centric restaurant partnerships, on this one.

Five: Football Teams

To push the buck further, actual football teams are expected to stand out, this year. The NFL Experience Driven by Genesis is the Super Bowl’s addition to big-scale parties. Presented through Visa, the event’s sessions will bring player-and-attendee interactions to life. Every year, autograph sessions propel football team walks, bee-powered meet-ups and in-depth player sessions.

So, where’ll you be? As a marketer, a promoter, a PR guru or as a future entrepreneur, it’s your job to attend these events. Give them a whirl, and find out what consumers will navigate to, next. There’s plenty of merchandise, social media access and youth football clinics to go around.

The Roadhouse: How State Farm Tailgates with Style

State Farm initiated its RoadHouse mobile tour, and it was awesome. The brand’s jam-packed initiatives, in the past, have been met with praise. Now, it’s multi-tiered engagement strategy is targeting audiences in the best way possible: Via an all-access, digitized mobile tour.  

This Tiny House Made a Big Impact

State Farm’s physical manifestation of marketing prowess combined both auto insurance and home coverage. The “tiny house,” as it was called, offered real-time activation processes utilizing the #Trouse and #Housegating Twitter prompts. While “small,” the house still made an awesome impact.

Situated on the back of a 15-foot Ford F350 Dually, the tiny house benefited from the grit, glamor and splendor only a pickup truck can provide. Tailgaters, of course, were the target audience. NFL games, every football season, flock to the most energized ride around. This year, it belonged to State Farm.

A Digital Game Day Experience

State Farm’s plan included a portable, digital game day presentation. Any fans who loved their games, had big-screen televisions and prioritized “housegating,” as State Farm called it, could enjoy the splendor from their living rooms. The program, which kicked off on September 11, took place at the Lucas Oil Stadium.

The Remote-Powered House

The tiny house, itself, welcomed consumers via a real front door. Its chimney—yes, digitally triggered—belched smoke from an attached smokestack. The house’s interior features, meanwhile, included a smart TV, a stone-accented wall, a multitude of broadcasts and a variety of sports artifacts.

The house had a backyard, too, which welcomed attendees with a low-pressure, all-fun environment. Corn hole was there, as were fan engagement activities. State Farm promoted its Housegating Playbook, which offered instructions for in-depth game-day experience creation.

This highly unique angle gave event-goers the ability to impact the world. Sure, the 360-degree RoadHouse video feature was cool, but State Farm’s best performance surrounded its hosted media outlets, Facebook Live options and fantasy football fan support.

Engagement on the Digital Forefront

As if that wasn’t enough, State Farm additionally offered live Q&A segments—filmed on-site—to promote lineup changes. Already, the State Farm RoadHouse display has been a big hit on Facebook. It’s garnered over 15,500 consumers, 33.6 thousand Facebook video views and massive applause across Instagram and Twitter.

The program’s outreach is incredible. From an experiential marketing standpoint, few locations are better than a good, old-fashioned outback grill segment. State Farm’s message extends well beyond the game-day experience, too. Now, managers and sponsorships have a tighter grasp upon the State Farm priority. At the end of the day, the fans come first. Check out State Farm’s YouTube video on the RoadHouse’s creation, and stay tuned for more great events.

Extreme Shopping: How The North Face Does It

It isn’t every day a massive gift handout promotes higher sales. The North Face is back, and they’re hitting up Korea with innovation. Shoppers, in the past, have loved The North Face for its unpredictability. Now, the fan dedication has paid off. Back in 2014, the company offered pop-up discounts and free gifts. Well, The North Face isn’t letting up. Its current pop-up, now, features something far more energetic.

A Zip Line Adventure

The North Face installed a 200-meter zip line activity, running event-goers through paper signs to claim free swag. This isn’t the first time The North Face has prompted high-adrenaline action, either. In the above-mentioned 2014 event, guests engaged in wall climbs. In another, they were introduced to the brand’s VR experience.

The North Face hasn’t let up, and its newest addition is certainly turning heads. You can check it out here. Powered by five years of innovation, the brand’s attention to extreme shopping has certainly paved the road for others to follow.

All About the Reward

The brand’s incentives weren’t base-level swag options, either. No, The North Face prompted activity for quality jackets. Aligned with their value of exploration, The North Face’s choice is an interesting one. Participants, of course, needed to engage a swift, exciting dash down the zip line.

The event’s high visibility, too, prompted great responses. The North Face promoted on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. In all likelihood, its redefinition of “surprise marketing” will take on. The exploration formula isn’t new, and it’s definitely worth a few adaptations.

The Brand’s Fundamental Mission

First, do yourself a favor and check out The North Face’s dished-out rewards, here and here. Then, take a seat and think about the brand’s awesome line-up, marketing-wise. The North Face’s mission of exploration hasn’t changed since 1966. It’s consistently provided the best modern-day apparel for the preservation and support of outdoor enthusiasts.

By targeting its global audience with—you guessed it—adventure, The North Face was able to initiate a grand-sweep marketing tactic. It’s about exploration, after all, and The North Face won’t be stopped when the city is a playground—as opposed to a rock wall, a forest or a canyon. By targeting audiences this way, The North Face capably matched innovation and average city-goers.

Technology has always been a part of The North Face strategy, which has done wonders for its marketing campaign. If you want to check out The North Face’s company news, careers and other marketing initiatives, check out their home page. Keep your eyes out, too, because their experiential marketing approaches aren’t to be trifled with. They are, however, the perfect blend of product placement, customer initiation and—of course—fun.

Pop Up Event Trend: How Popular Mechanics made DIYers out of Attendees

Popular Mechanics has been in the game for a while, helping DIY pros reinvigorate their lifestyles with new, exciting opportunities. While not typically found chilling with Esquire and GQ, its newest approach to industry appearance has revitalized some of its deeper aspects. Popular Mechanics invented The Lodge: The Ultimate Winter Clubhouse. Event-goers were invited to partake in the stylishness underlining Popular Mechanics. Of course, feasts, crafts and cocktails were part of the package.

Brand Modernization

Today, brands face industry growth with intensity. Unsurprisingly, constant modernization is responsible for success. Popular Mechanics, displayed through the Hearst publication, powered The Lodge by inviting over 500 attendees. The Lodge was a modern digital extravaganza, offering hands-on demos, industry news and tastings. The Hearst, having celebrated its 115^th anniversary, assisted Popular Mechanics with an intelligent team of publication partners and editors.

New advertisers, too, were present. Popular Mechanics has worked on reinvigorating its public appearance for years. While media appearances worked well in the past, a closer approach was needed to redistribute creativity and harness success. The Lodge, in essence, served to embody the modern industry’s latest, greatest technological features.

A Massive Event Space

The Ultimate Winter Weekend Clubhouse was established in Kinfolk94—which is a well-known retail and event space powered in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg section. The event prioritized earthy tones, pinpointing the Popular Mechanics DIY vibe with backdrops, beer and digital outdoor landscape displays. Facebook Live, meanwhile, helped event-goers share demos, activate premium digital options and view trending GIFs.

Timothy Dahl, West Coast editor for Popular Mechanics, demoed the brand’s DIY firewood coasters. A Dremel hand tool seminar and workshop was had, as was a meeting with Slightly Alabama’s Dana Glaser. Attendees were invited to craft Brooklyn leather accessories, custom leather wallets and other designs. Knickerbocker MFG’s Brian Brinkley, meanwhile, helped attendees customize bandanas, craft new retro looks and discuss modern style.

Meeting in the Middle

Because Popular Mechanics upholds the virtues of “rustic living,” craftiness and resourcefulness, its public extravaganza in The Lodge offered a highly unique opportunity. Industry appearances can be grown. They can also be adapted. By pairing technology with its age-old love of all things DIY, Popular Mechanics proved itself to be a long-term provider wile molding to new marketing demands.

Among its wonderful presenters, Popular Mechanics enlisted Jeff Conley—a neo-folk musician—to perform with a DIY ukulele crafted from a YETI water bottle. If the display didn’t depict the new Popular Mechanics approach enough, Blue Moon’s beer tastings certainly warmed patrons up. The Popular Mechanics experience was a practical one, where hands-on experiences surpassed industry expectations. The marketer’s struggle, today, exists in adapting old ideas to an ever-growing, increasingly demanding, industry. Fortunately, old dogs can learn new tricks—and Popular Mechanics is one of the oldest dogs around.

Live Streams Can Make or Break Your Event. Here's How

Instant access is always a good plan, right? Well, not always. As event marketers expand their insight, built their toolkits and innovate on the ground floor, live streaming options are coming under scrutiny. Emergent technology should be considered, sure, but it shouldn’t be the crux of your every move. To execute effective marketing campaigns, you’ll need to stream seamlessly, promote your brand and target social media comprehensively. Before hopping into the live stream world, check out the best practices below. More importantly, check out the times it’s not a good idea to prioritize instant access.

To Make the Event

First, it’s a good idea to know when live streaming is a good idea. Above all, live streaming is a solid avenue for businesses seeking mass connectivity and visibility. If your business wants to get a “sneak peak,” or an otherwise hard-to-get shot, live streaming is often a good answer. Why? Because it’s instant. You’re guaranteed to be the first with the story.

It’s also a solid foundation for Q&A sessions, behind-the-scenes journeys and big events. If your marketing event is going to be a bash, and if you’re expecting celebrity appearances, make sure you’re using a live stream feed. In 2017, live streaming is intended to be an integral part of emergent experiential marketing programs. As marketers become well-acquainted with technology, live streaming will become a powerful low-cost alternative to lengthy film processes.

To Break an Event

Live streaming has its downfalls, too. Above all, live streaming can be burdensome to an untrained crew. While crews are certainly becoming experienced with live stream filming, the act of filming footage seamlessly is simply difficult to micromanage. You should remember that anything can happen during a live stream. It might sound obvious, but you’ll need to take extra precautions when filming live appearances.

You can’t edit live footage. So, if you’re planning a breakout event, promoting a new product or are otherwise revealing your business’s “finer” side, consider traditional media first. Sometimes, it isn’t worth the quality loss to secure a hot spot on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram media. Today, constant challenges await live streamers. Digital marketers are working hard to reduce the physical footprint, prioritize low-cost live streaming services and dish out crystal-clear video quality.

For now, however, live streaming shouldn’t be considered a “must-have” in your event marketing arsenal. If you’re planning a big party, want to capture guest experiences and draw in more visitors, a live stream can certainly help. If, however, you feel your event can’t suffer a little choppiness, quality loss and on-site improvisation, you’d best stick to traditional media.