How to Use Haptic Technology to Engage your Event Goers

How to Use Haptic Technology to Engage your Event Goers

First of all, if you're not into gaming, you might not be too familiar with haptic technology. This technology uses touch as a means of interacting with computer or video game applications. With this technology, a person can feel and change items within a virtual world. It's like something from the future, and we have access to it today. How does this technology relate to you? You can use it to create an amazing experience for your event goers. 

Trending Ideas for Using Haptic Technology

Here are some ideas of how you could use haptic technology for an event:

Create Excitement Before an Event: Even before event goers reach your event, you can use haptic technology to create excitement about the event. Take some inspiration from how brands are using this technology for ads. For instance, Arby's created an ad that allowed the audience to feel a golfer's footsteps through an Android phone, and Showtime gave watchers the experience of sensing a bomb explosion during the Homeland Season 4 teaser. You could do something similar by creating an ad with haptic technology that simulates some experience of your event, such as the beat of music or the feel of catching a baseball. 

Help an Audience Feel the Music: If you're having an event with music, your audience could feel the rhythm of the music as they listen to it with the help of haptic technology. A wearable device gives the user's body the sensation of the music's timing and beat. 

Bring Interaction to Tradeshows and Event Stations: If your company is going to a tradeshow or creating an interactive station at an event, you could use this technology to interest your audience. It allows you to give your audience a sensory experience through touch screens. You could use it as a way to draw attention to your brand or to share an experience that provides a feel for your brand, such as the feel of your tires moving over gravel. 

Create a Calming Experience: If your event is focused on health or relaxation, such as a yoga event, or if you simply want to get everyone to take a deep breath before starting a talk, you could use haptic technology. The Apple Watch has an app called "Breathe" that helps the user take a break and focus on breathing as a form of meditation or mindfulness. The watch taps the wrist to guide the breathing. 

Provide a Virtual Experience: At your event, you can give your audience an amazing virtual 3D experience that involves the sense of touch in addition to auditory and visual stimulation. Haptic technology makes this possible so people can explore a virtual environment, play a game, make something or learn with a three-dimensional sense of touch as part of the equation. 

This list gives you some ideas of how you could use haptic technology to create an experience for your audience. Yet the sky's becoming the limit with this technology, so don't put your company in a box -- think of innovative ways you could adapt haptic technology to your brand. 

Miami Fashion Week 2017: What to Expect and New Trends

Miami Fashion Week 2017: What to Expect and New Trends

Every year, Miami Fashion Week is a true spectacle of Florida culture, beach life and today’s fashion stage. Florida is the swim fashion capital of the world, packing panoramic views, midday art walks and beachside displays. Soho Studios is proud to be in the mix, and we’re dishing out this year’s biggest arrivals. Miami Fashion Week hits on May 31, so get ready, gear up and get wild with these new trends, designers and events.

Art Basal

While Art Basal isn’t a fashion event, it still holds a heavy influence over fashion. Expect to see Dior, Chanel and Valentino. They roll into Miami each December, and they’re back to pack Art Basal with loads of fun. Bruce Weber and Terry Richardson will be there, too, photographing the event while signing books. Art Basal is expected to headline Miami Fashion Week, garnering attention up and down the street.

Funkshion Fashion Week

For your edgy pattern fix, we suggest Funkshion Fashion Week Miami Beach. It lasts four days, wrapping up Miami Fashion Week in the allure of music, a sizzling sartorial showcase, emerging designers and rad presentations. It’s established by providers like Chloé, but it’s contingent upon purchasing power. Show entires are free, and display items are available in nearby stores.

The First Faces Competition

On the event side of things, the First Faces Competition will highlight 2017’s hottest runway models, fashion statements and emergent styles. If you don’t see First Faces, you’re missing out. It pulls some of Fashion Week’s highlights to the forefront, giving you a dose of culture. Really, it summarizes this year’s greatest, most creative fashion choices. Don’t miss out.

The SwimShow & LingerieShow

Hosted in the Miami Beach Convention Center, the SwimShow & LingerieShow is a 400,000 square-foot exhibition. Stop by, and check out over 2,500 swim, resort, lifestyle and intimate apparel retailers. You’re bound to find interesting yearly additions here, and you can expect to see a variety of accessory designers tossed in, too. If you favor the beach-goer look, sandals and summery shades, you’ll be in the right place. Check out this year’s leading selections by Oscar de la Renta and Nanette Lepore, or get sporty with Oakley and Body Glove.

1,200 Jewelry Booths

Jewelry will be at this year’s forefront, too. The Jewelers International Showcase is one of the largest jewelry-based trade shows in America. Across its three trade shows, about 4,000 jewelry buyers will hit the Miami Beach Convention Center. Every year, the world’s largest venders—and some new ones—populate over 1,200 booths. They present new goods, introduce industry newcomers and offer low, mid and high-range purchasing options.

Miami Fashion Week, in many ways, promotes the area’s surrounding culture by giving consumers what they want: new, legendary collections. Even styles not native to Miami have a place. Because the event puts the purchasing power into the public’s hands, a slew of new fashion designers, businesses and creators have a place for expression. Check out this year’s alluring options, and navigate the high-end selections reserved for today’s hottest brands.

How to Draw a Crowd to Your Live Stream

Live streams are invaluable marketing tools, but they’re constantly evolving. If you’re struggling to gain viewers, broadcast effectively and garner audiences, check out our tips below. Today, an impactful livestream utilizes relevancy, excitement and adaptability to succeed. If you want to boost your viewership, take charge with your creativity.

Tip One: Make a Scene, and Stick to It

While adaptability is important, you should still stick to a general voice. Consistency is key in growing a fan base, and it’s vital to your stream’s success. Be on time, and make sure you have at least 15 minutes set aside for early and late viewers. Your live steam’s predictability, overall, will determine its success.

Tip Two: Get High-Quality Equipment

Poor quality video deters viewers. You won’t sustain a long-term fan base unless you’ve directed your dollars into high-quality equipment. High-quality equipment circumnavigates server congestion, prevents viewing issues and assures good content delivery.

Tip Three: Make the Steam Easy to Find

Don’t try to control your audience’s viewing habits. Make your platform accessible—and make it adaptable. Hook it into Facebook and Twitch, and make sure viewers at all locations can sit down at a moment’s notice. As for location: Make sure it’s flexible. Few things kill a live stream like a rigid, inoperable filming location.

Tip Four: Shareability is King

Invest in engagement tools. If you’re like Toy Group—who’s shareable on Facebook, Twitter and everywhere else—you’ll make a difference. Instead of having thousands of shareable photos, you should align them with your video strategy. Shareable content is well-curated, beautiful and easily digested. Even if your content is text-based, it should be enticing for readers. In the social networking world, power is derived from enticement.

Tip Five: Prioritize Mobile Accessibility

In 2017, mobile access governs digital marketing strategies—and for good reason. If a media campaign is mobile-accessible, it’ll succeed. Don’t segment your audience by restricting mobile access. Instead, make sure mobile access is more than an option. Make it a primary avenue. Today, a large percentage of Internet surfers conduct research, use Facebook and share media via their smartphones. If you can secure a quality viewing space in the mobile world, you’ll succeed.

To draw live stream viewers, make sure your content is worthwhile. Nearly everyone is on a livestream, and modern livestream quality isn’t very high. There’s a lot of white noise out there, and you’ll need to surpass it to survive, thrive and become a sensation. Take your time, plan out your content and prioritize social media and mobile access.

How Virgin Atlantic Took to the Streets

January might be gone, but Virgin Atlantic’s flight attendant surprise event is pleasantly engrained in our memories. In promotion of its all-new Seattle-Tacoma International Airport departures to London Heathrow Airport, Virgin Atlantic hosted a recognition party in Emerald City. Emphasizing the airway between Seattle and London, the airline successfully highlighted its newest business routes.

The Reignmakers

The Virgin Atlantic campaign introduced “Reignmakers” which was a community reflecting London and Seattle’s “reign” and “rain.” We know, it seems a little forward. The display was, however, surprisingly poignant. All about cultural recognition, the Reignmakers hosted a massive, two-day party. Flight attendants zipped around Seattle in Virgin Atlantic labeled Mini Coopers, flying the airline’s flag.

Meanwhile, the event’s later hours hosted parties for the airline’s dedicated fans and passerby alike. Handing out swag to social leaders, radio stations, influential shop owners and small business owners, Virgin Atlantic connected consumers to industry trendsetters. High-traffic locations, naturally, were prioritized. In Seattle, refreshments were dished out on plane drink carts. Branded umbrellas and luggage tags were among the Virgin Atlantic swag collection.

Planes, Plans and People

Virgin Atlantic successfully aligned its newest business route with customers, prioritizing people above all. The approach might ambitious at first, but Virgin Atlantic has historically provided fantastic service. This time, indeed, was no different. The airline’s relationship with its customers has always focused on the incomparable Virgin Atlantic experience, and the Reignmakers honored such a tradition.  

Virgin Atlantic paired its consumer base with media influencers, hosting private breakfasts with big-time travel and lifestyle impactors. Hosted at Seattle’s The London Plane, the dinner dished out more branded gifts, exclusive messages from the airline’s founder Sir Richard Branson and even free onboard flight opportunities. Here, the airline’s goal was twofold: Eventgoers could experience the Virgin Atlantic hospitality while prepping for a high-end blogging experience.

Taking to Social Media

Reflecting the Virgin Atlantic attention to blogging detail, it pushed for additional promotion via social media. Seattle played host to the airline’s Reignmakers contest, and visitors could nominate their favorite brand supporters. There was heavy consideration of Virgin Atlantic visionaries, and rewards were given to those who subverted typical Virgin Atlantic ideologies, presentations and displays.

The contest took place until February 28, giving the Reignmakers ample time to get prepared, get social, get visible and—of course—party. A Seattle-based Twitter campaign gave eventgoers a place to post photos, link to Instagram and type their favorite tags. All around, the Virgin Atlantic experiential marketing approach was highly visible. It’s rare to witness such a social-heavy airlines marketing campaign. It’s also comforting. Virgin Atlantic displayed an uncanny knack for social relevancy, and it highlighted its most profitable marketing segment while remaining relevant to others—which is always a difficult hurdle.

Event Trend: Photo Booth Ideas for 2017

Few things bring guests together like a photo booth. Whether you’re presenting a new product line, getting creative with an expo or simply want to land a new brand perspective, installing a photo booth is a good idea. We’ve already seen a few photo booth trends in 2017 worth mentioning, and we’re sending them your way. Check out these awesome, tech-centric photo booths, and take charge with this year’s latest gadgets.

One: The LEGO Photo Booth

LEGO’s UK flagship store installed the world’s first “Mosaic Maker,” which is a photo booth capable of transforming self-portraits into LEGOs. A lot of brand providers have taken advantage of the trend, coming up with inspiring, unique ways to change the visitor’s face. LEGO’s mosaic kit, available after the photo is snapped, lets customers shape their own pictures.

Two: Movie Photo Booths

Apple, among other big tech providers, has expounded upon the recent Face Place photo booth series. It’s honored as the nation’s “Manufacturer of the Year,” and it isn’t toning down its creative approach to everything customer-centric. The Movie Photo Booth utilizes marquee-style lighting, Apple’s own green screen technology and digital photo sets which harness fantasy film backgrounds. Spice up the typical photo booth experience, and give your guests something to remember, scene-wise.

Three: The TapSnap Photo Booth

Whether you’re putting together a small event, a corporate soiree or a lavish expo, a TapSnap photo booth can enhance your visitor experience. It focuses on the customer’s perspective, using today’s leading technology to offer customized digital photo options. It’s rentable, too. Powered by a well-trained staff, TapSnap is quickly becoming a leading photo booth rental option.

Four: Social Media Booths

Social media has become a popular photo booth tool, and brand are using Facebook and Twitter log-in prompts to capture online moments and build brand awareness. These photo booths still have in-depth photo options, and they still showcase a variety of digital snap options, but having social media accessibility has changed the game.

Five: Gif Booths

Gifs have been around for a while, but they’ve only just taken off in the photo booth world. Alongside slow-mo booths and g-force “wind booths,” gif booths are becoming a staple of mall-based marketing events. Once again, social media plays a part. Facebook’s introduction to short-looping video has only fueled the trend.

As technology becomes increasingly integrated into photo booth technology, customers will start expecting lavish displays. Online metrics, social media and even virtual reality have come a long way. Today, even small marketing campaigns benefit from unique photo booth ideas. Where do you stand?

Why Hitting the Pavement Still Works

Cross-country road trips are still excellent marketing approaches, even when they’re taken on by leading online retailers. The “Friends with Benefits” tour, powered by live music, pet adoptions and food, reached half a dozen United States cities. It took off in Texas, starting the new year with a slew of footwear and apparel presentations.

The Backyard Party Activation

Technically, the party setup took place in midtown parking lots. The location wasn’t difficult to capitalize on, however, as brands were given numerous opportunities to meet, interact and connect with their customers. Zappos brought its brand to life, rewarding its most loyal customers. Focusing on the Zappos pillars of excellence—charity, retail, community and culture—the brand gave attendees something to remember.

Guests were given iPads to engage digital spaces in physical pop-up storefronts. Zappos.com, of course, was the landing page transmitted via Bluetooth beacons to every device. Guests could read reviews, make purchases, take home items or engage eCommerce deals right on the spot.

Charity and Soles4Souls

The tour wasn’t all about product promotion. Guests were invited to donate their shoes, clothing and accessories to Zappos—which shipped them to Soles4Souls. Soles4Souls, a nonprofit, helps individuals in need around the world. The Zappos approach extended beyond customer service, promoting an atmosphere of interconnectivity on the global stage.

This approach was smart, as the road trip’s existence served to connect nationwide fans and bring Internet-based business into the streets. Zappos celebrated culture in its host cities, hanging out with brand partners, local vendors and fans alike. Free food, beverages, local musicians and entertainment were plentiful. At every stop, Zappos took charge with picnic tables, games, inflatables and artificial turf.

eCommerce Marketing in the Physical World

Zappos is expected to continue its tour, visiting three more cities in upcoming months. It’ll eventually visit Las Vegas, paying homage to its hometown. Zappos’s approach to real-world marketing might be clear-cut, but it’s certainly unique. By using shipping crates as pop-up shopping venues, the brand was able to present a research-heavy environment which was conducive to purchasing.

It also hosted a pet adoption event. Over 150 pets were adopted in Austin, TX, alone, and Zappos intends to keep the strategy alive as it travels to Nashville. Its backyard party activations are constantly adapted to meet new adventures head-on. Where intuitive branding, promotion and experiences are considered, Zappos may very well be an industry leader.

What's the Method Behind Google's Madness?

While coast-to-coast marketing efforts frequently work, using a coast-and-coast mentality is unheard of. Google has rewritten this unspoken truth, and it has hosted block parties in both New York and Los Angeles to make a point to consumers.

Google Home and Google Play Music

Google’s latest product, Google Home, is the brand’s voice-activated smart speaker system. It’s voice-controlled, answers questions, plays music on command and can manage a variety of tasks. Google has received in-depth support from fans before. Now, it’s highlighting Google Home’s latest features by giving back. In promotion of Google Play Music, the tech company created a double feature, two-block-party extravaganza. It meshed Google Play Music and Google Home, creating an awesome experience for Los Angeles and New York partiers alike.

Grow Marketing and the Magic Touch

Grow Marketing is an experiential marketing company, and it’s responsible for the activation of both events. Present in New York’s Chelsea Market between February 24 to 26, Grow Marketing created a block-to-block experience to help consumers connect their Google Play services. As if this wasn’t enough, it also presented its options in Abbot Kinney, Los Angeles, earlier that month between February 11 and 12.

Google’s high-powered tech options aren’t new, but their awesome capabilities were deserving of a “magic touch,” states Google Home’s product marketer, Dee Dee Paeseler. To demonstrate Google Home’s power, Google represented its awesome tech portfolio by creating a cross-coast experience. Both hardware and services were interconnected, and both Google Play Music and Google Home were presented within the lens of music.  

Three Homes to Show the Magic

To demonstrate how both products were capable of interacting with one another, Grow Marketing created three separate homes inspired by three distinct YouTube personalities. Filmmakers Ted Fu, Philip Wang and Wesley Chan, first, stood in for Wong Fu Productions. MyCupcakeAddiction’s Elise Strachan, too, was present. Us and the Duo’s channel representatives, Carissa and Michael Alvardo, heightened the event’s musical touch.

By grounding these musical experiences between coasts, Google successfully represented its dedication to real-life people while successfully launching its product’s incredibly potential. Google targeted a large audience—an audience which was guaranteed full attention at every turn. Within each of the three homes, Google’s placed product specialists helped users understand how each product incorporated its technology with the other. Google has always been a brand of personal touch, and its inclusion of YouTube personalities certainly let it connect its products together.

It’s rare to see block party events succeed with such a great distance between them. That said, Google’s interested consumers are a lively bunch. Google might appear mad to some, but it’s certainly sane in connecting the dots between its users.

SXSW 2017: Experiential Marketing of the Future

If there’s any marketing extravaganza industry leaders get hyped for, it’s South by Southwest. This year, SXSW rolled out a slew of hot experiential trends. The world’s leading conference in high-tech business, digital innovation and—of course—business promotion is back. Now, we’re here to bring you the highlights.

Neuroscience in Marketing

Yeah, it sounds ambitious. It’s surprisingly capable, however, and it was showcased as a live marketing art display. The brain-friendly experiential displays highlighted SXSW’s collection of high-tech displays, showcasing AI-powered neuroscience bots. Dubbed ‘pre-suasion,’ the event mashed up digital complexity and the average consumer’s daily wants and needs.

Sony’s Wow Factory

Above all brands, Sony’s tech display probably won. Its knock-out collection of ‘techsperiments’ revealed its global Wow brand campaign. Packed with sonic motion music entertainment, projection-mapped VR experiences and an encompassing ‘Wow Factory,’ Sony thrived in SXSW.

Amazon’s Delivery Drones

While Amazon’s high-tech delivery drone program might be old news, its live demos have been heavily anticipated. SXSW became Amazon’s platform for presentation, proving the delivery program’s existence. Until now, many have rightfully scoffed at the feasibility of such a program. Tested across the UK and Germany, Amazon’s drone fleet hasn’t seen many audiences—until now.

Xperia Touch

Consumers are knowledgeable about touchscreens, but Sony—again—surpassed all expectations. It presented the Android projector, the Xperia Touch, and let visitors test out its flat-surface projections. Useable on the wall, the floor or even on a table, the Xperia Touch promises to be one of today’s leading augmented display technologies.

Levi’s Commuter Trucker Jacket

The clothing brand, Levi’s, got its presentation as well. The brand has partnered with Google to make ‘smart clothes’ capable of integrating SMS, Google maps and more. Levi’s presented a live tech demo, letting users try out its Commuter Trucker Jacket. Capable of reading swipes, taps and a slew of other inputs, the Trucker Jacket was one of SXSW’s most hands-on displays.

The Fortis Exoskeleton

It’s about to get weird. While the rest of SXSW went crazy over self-driving cars, projectors and jackets, Lockheed Martin presented its Fortis exoskeleton. Strapped to the body, the exoskeleton adds skeletal support. It helps the frail walk, helps construction workers lift heavy objects and—well—exists as one of the event’s coolest pieces of technology.

Jack Daniels Breaks New Social Media Sharing Records

In the social media world, success only comes when your message is spread. Sharing of that message, rather than advertising it directly, is what drives most of the views to your ad or other content. This makes it so that the immediate goal of most social media campaigns is to get shares.

Social media sharing comes under many names, most of which depend on the platform in question. On Facebook, you want "likes." If it's Twitter, you're looking for "retweets." Other platforms use different names, but each has some method of sharing that is far better than the platform's other options.

Recently, Jack Daniels nailed this aspect of social media marketing so well that it broke its prior records for shares. Here's what they did:

Set Up an Entire Themed Venue

In the case of Jack Daniels, this was not a bar or distillery, but instead, a motel. "Motel No. 7," to be exact. Visitors "checked in" at the front desk and then were sent through a series of rooms and other areas each with their own themes. In these areas, 25 distinct "photo shareable" attractions were set up. These put the visitors into scenes that they would naturally want to post on their social media accounts. One example was a hair salon where visitors picked their styles by spinning a wheel-of-fortune type selector. It was almost instinctual for the people to post these eye-catching scenes.

Included Themed Peripherals

One such peripheral was the "Bung" donut shop. The donuts were infused with whiskey, but the old-timey set were what made it so photogenic.

A few aspects of the extravaganza were more directly related to the Jack Daniels brand and its actual product. There was a limited-seating discussion on whiskey-making by one of its master distillers, a history area focusing on music photographer Jim Marshall (who is connected to the brand), and Kevin the Barrel Maker who demonstrated his craft. This cemented the association between the Jack Daniels band and the event.

Pre-Event Advertising

Some advertising was still used. After all, a seed group of people have to see an event before they can start sharing its highlights. Jack Daniels generated hype by having two characters from the event promote it over social media channels. It also had a pre-event extravaganza including DJs, bands, and even a pillow fight. This drew people to come in and see the rest.

If you're looking for a venue that can be configured to meet the needs of your event in Miami, check out Soho Studios. We can offer up to 70,000 square feet of space to meet your needs.