What Organizations are Doing to Raise Voter Awareness for the 2016 Election

Conventional wisdom forbids talk of religion and politics at the dinner table. And as any company or organization well knows, politics can easily turn into a fraught subject; politics are often not great for business. Whatever positive political message an organization might want to promote, there's a great likelihood that a large segment of 

the population will view it as a negative. However, there is one political message that just about everyone can agree is a positive, and that is promoting the power of each individual to exercise their democratic right to vote. Raising voter awareness and encouraging people to get out and vote for whatever and whomever they believe in, will always be viewed as a worthy cause. Here are a few examples of companies and organizations creating their own campaigns to promote this positive message.

Univision & MTV

In this specific presidential election cycle, the subtext of Univision's voter registration drive is anything but non-partisan. But this year, the media company is poised to have a monumental effect on the election in that it has sought to register 3 million voters, and as of last May, the drive had attracted over 100,000 people to drives, workshops and other events. The campaign, which is somewhat unusual for a media company, includes extensive public service and advertising campaigns, as well as a text message tool to which 130,000 users have subscribed in addition to the live events taking place across the United States. While the media company's involvement in this election does reflect a very public dispute between the company and one of its highest profile figures, Jorge Ramos, and the GOP nominee for president, it also serves to increase the political clout of the company in Washington while also creating a memorable branding opportunity that provides a public service.

MTV has been encouraging its viewers to vote for years with campaigns like "Elect This" and partnerships with Rock the Vote. Young people are always some of the least likely to exercise their civic power to vote, and so it's perfect that MTV chooses to make this a cornerstone public service message, as this hits their target demographic. From Generation X to today's millennials, they are in the perfect position to encourage this group to vote. This year, they combined their campaign with a live event, by turning Total Request Live into Total Registration Live, and broadcasting from the regular Manhattan TRL studio, hosted a wide range of celebrities and musicians discussing what issues were most important to them.

National Voter Registration Day

That special TRL was held on National Registration Day, the fourth Tuesday in September, which is devoted to encouraging people to register to vote. Numerous companies, including Tumblr, Starbucks and Twitter partnered to help create this day after 6 million Americans were unable to vote in 2008 election because of missing the deadline to register. In 2012 the campaign got 303,000 people to register, with Tumblr being responsible for 100,000 on their own. By partnering with political campaigns, the organization is able to use the resources to create events across the country. This year, Hillary Clinton's campaign alone announced 1,400 nationwide events as part of the initiative. Currently, in any given presidential election, approximately 60% of eligible Americans participate by voting. Virginia Bergin, director of Global Responsibility for Starbucks, which partners with Democracy Works and "TurboVote" to increase voter registration, dreams of achieving 80% participation by 2020. For her, "This is not about this election, this is about every election."

Contact us today to use on of our space for your election awareness event for the 2016 Election.

Why MorningStar Farms Created the "Way to Veg" Sampling Tour

When you are a food company like MorningStar Farms, your main goal is to get people to try your vegetable based foods so they will know that healthy can taste good. Well, that’s exactly what they did this summer at the “Way to Veg” experiential marketing tour of the U.S.  Designed to engage current customers as well as to introduce their products to new ones, the “Way to Veg” marketing venture was a successful summer sampling tour loaded with good food, health information, and fun experiences. Experiential marketing, which can be described as a marketing message you can feel, touch, or view in a particular space, is seeing a rise in recent years. Companies and brand ambassadors are looking for fun and unique ways to engage consumers in hopes of making their brands stand out. MorningStar Farms hit a home run with their “Way to Veg” food truck tour and introduced people to a healthy and delicious option.

The marketing venture began in Telluride, Colorado in May at the Mountain Film Festival. The eye catching green, retrofitted MorningStar Farms branded Flying Cloud Airstream was on a mission. Fully equipped with a working kitchen, a freezer, and plenty of room to work, their goal was to set out on a summer sampling tour America would not soon forget!

“There’s a growing openness around eating veggie protein and the MorningStar Farms tour is designed to give people experiences grounded in the versatility and flavors of their food,” said director, brand and innovation marketing at Kellogg’s Frozen Veggie Foods Todd Smith. “The more the brand can provide opportunities for consumers to try recipes with MorningStar Farms veggie protein, the more approachable and accessible it feels to everyone.”

Owned by Kelloggs, the vegetable based brand MorningStar Farms created this interactive and informative experiential marketing tour to introduce folks to the brand itself and its delicious vegetable based food offerings like their Thai Curry Bowls, Veggie Burgers, and other healthy meals. The food truck experience allowed attendees to try delicious foods with a chef demonstration, participate in educational games, and even watch a trailer for their documentary series, “The Veg Effect,” that shows how consumers can easily incorporate more healthy vegetables into their daily diets.

The MorningStar Farms “Way to Veg” food truck offered a variety of experiences designed to introduce consumers to their products and engage them. Armed with a freezer filled with prizes and products, attendees learned that eating more vegetables was an easy and healthy alternative by dining on chef-prepared menu items, listening to MorningStar Farms brand ambassadors teach about “veggie cuisine”, and walking through a “Vegecation” game about vegetables and their value in our diets. Happy participants were awarded prizes to encourage healthy eating such as water bottles, vegetable peelers, and more.

The fun and informative summer tour that began in May in Colorado included stops at popular festivals throughout the United States and ended in September in Los Angeles.

The goal of the summer road tour by MorningStar Farms was to create a closer bond between the consumer and their healthy veggie brand by immersing the consumer in a fun and memorable experience. When this happens and folks have a positive experience, they are likely to associate those emotions with the MorningStar Farms brand, which is crucial to the success of the company.

Pro Walk at the US Open Sponsored by American Express a Big Hit

American Express is a rock-star at experiential marketing and if you want to see a great example, just check out their successful Fan Experience at the US Open in New York. Creative and unique interactive, and exciting experiences for their cardmembers and well-planned brand/product placement, offered their customers a fun filled day and reminded them that they were well taken care of by the company. The US Open American Express Fan Experience marketing event was a huge success in New York this year. Fans that attended got a once in a lifetime chance to be the tennis star they have always dreamed of being…and more! Fans were definitely reminded that “Membership Has Its Privileges” when they attended this experimental marketing venture.

The company’s fan experience was creative, engaging, and worked well with the “Open Like a Pro” theme of the brand’s goal for this year. The American Express Pro Walk actually gave lucky attendees the chance to enter and walk onto center court at Arthur Ashe Stadium, just like a true tennis star.  This unique experience was a huge hit with fans and let them experience being in the limelight that is usually reserved for professional athletes.

The highlight of the 20,000-square-foot US Open American Express Fan Experience, Pro Walk, used a combination of huge tennis ball, holograms, a virtual reality feature, and other digital effects that put the fan eight smack dab into the life of a professional tennis player that started with a “Player Check-In” and took them through an emotional tour of behind the scenes fan experiences which let them walk in the footsteps of legends.

Fans were ushered through the “Locker Room” where they registered, swung a digital tennis racquet, and announced their name. From there, they entered a LED-lined tunnel loaded with graphics, surround-sound audio, and even listened while the paparazzi called their names. When it was their turn to shine, they stepped inside the dome where they saw a replica of center court, were greeted by the roar of the stadium crowd, and looked to the Jumbotrons to see themselves walking onto the court at the US Open! If that wasn’t enough, they were then handed a tennis racquet and the crowd went wild as their opponent failed to return the serve! And to top it off, fans received a video of their American Express Pro Walk experience to commemorate their day.

According to American Express VP of global sponsorships and experiential marketing, they got their inspiration for this year’s activities from their cardmembers. They look at their cardmembers as professional fans. They attend the US Open each year and know all about how to navigate the sporting event and exactly where they want to go. American Express wanted to help the fans experience the US Open like never before.

In addition to the wildly successful Pro Walk, there was also the American Express Card Member Club, which offered a variety of complimentary services, including athlete meet-and-greets, American Express radios with commentary of the games, match updates and American Express brand ambassadors to help members and answer questions.

The company’s fan experience was creative, engaging, and worked well with the “Open Like a Pro” theme of the brand’s goal for this year. The American Express Pro Walk actually gave lucky attendees the chance to enter and walk onto center court at Arthur Ashe Stadium, just like a true tennis star.  This unique experience was a huge hit with fans and let them experience being in the limelight that is usually reserved for professional athletes.

The highlight of the 20,000-square-foot US Open American Express Fan Experience, Pro Walk, used a combination of huge tennis ball, holograms, a virtual reality feature, and other digital effects that put the fan eight smack dab into the life of a professional tennis player that started with a “Player Check-In” and took them through an emotional tour of behind the scenes fan experiences which let them walk in the footsteps of legends.

Fans were ushered through the “Locker Room” where they registered, swung a digital tennis racquet, and announced their name. From there, they entered a LED-lined tunnel loaded with graphics, surround-sound audio, and even listened while the paparazzi called their names. When it was their turn to shine, they stepped inside the dome where they saw a replica of center court, were greeted by the roar of the stadium crowd, and looked to the Jumbotrons to see themselves walking onto the court at the US Open! If that wasn’t enough, they were then handed a tennis racquet and the crowd went wild as their opponent failed to return the serve! And to top it off, fans received a video of their American Express Pro Walk experience to commemorate their day.

According to American Express VP of global sponsorships and experiential marketing, they got their inspiration for this year’s activities from their cardmembers. They look at their cardmembers as professional fans. They attend the US Open each year and know all about how to navigate the sporting event and exactly where they want to go. American Express wanted to help the fans experience the US Open like never before.

In addition to the wildly successful Pro Walk, there was also the American Express Card Member Club, which offered a variety of complimentary services, including athlete meet-and-greets, American Express radios with commentary of the games, match updates and American Express brand ambassadors to help members and answer questions.

Edible Graffiti in Wynwood

It isn’t often art and food are mixed so intimately. Sara Myers’ cooking series, titled “Sprouted Chef,” returned on Monday, September 21, with an unbelievable approach to Wynwood’s already delectable art scene.

A Nontraditional Art Display

Experiential marketing efforts are constantly changing, but they’re still available to time-tested-and-true eye openers. Monday’s artistic iteration was a selection of edible masterpieces created from savory vegetable purées. Each event-goer was handed “canvas” plates—to be used for color mixing, pattern creation, texture guessing and, yes, tasting.

Each recipe, Sarah Myers revealed, was a concoction of fennel, beets, sweet potatoes, roasted red peppers, curried cauliflower, garlic spinach, carrot harissa and cashew cauliflower. Purple potatoes made an appearance, too, to spice up the color pallet. Attendees were given the option to add their own, hand-selected entree spices and sides, too, ranging across nuts, vegetables, flowers and shaved ribbons.

The Flavor Profile Creation

Primarily, Myers aimed to create a fully interactive class for participants to expand their creative horizons. By tying food and graffiti together, she was capable of ensuring the artist’s overall perspective was preserved while keeping things spicy all day. While attendees needn’t be color masters, art connoisseurs or even massively creative, the food aspect tied most together to bring visual pieces of art to life.

Collaboration wasn’t out of the cards, either. Artist Pedro Amos arrived to assist the classes. Pedro, himself, was Wynyard’s very own graffiti artist—one who’d previously painted its Orlando mural. The two hit it off, furthering the artistic allure of Wynyard. Because collaboration was more than expected, the dynamic duo succeeded in creating a truly organic event.

Combining Marketing Experiences

Sure, old dogs can’t learn new tricks. The combination of two marketing powerhouses—food and art—is, however, an entirely different beast. The Wynwood way has continuously facilitated the relationship between art and South Florida food, and Myers’ hotplate approach and homage to the historically Art-Deco-dominated area is refreshing. Where self-promotion is considered, Myers couldn’t have hit the nail squarer on the head. Her iteration of public taste tests, representation of versatility and sheer love of art carried her series, Sprouted Chef. While Sprouted Chef airs episodes on a weekly basis, events like Monday's are incredibly valuable to maintaining viewership.

It’s slightly rare to see a cooking series successfully navigate the cross-market waters between painting and food dish creation. Myers’ approach, for this reason, is both bold and innovative. Myers has wanted to propose new seasonal concepts for some time—to both elevate her show and highlight Wynwood’s community. The event crossed a communication barrier many marketing approaches fail to surpass, and Myers ability to strike up conversations about her show, on their turf, is nothing short of extraordinarily creative.

Toilet Paper Wall at New York Fashion Week

Even toilet-paper gets its kicks in fashion. This year, Cottonelle created a highly unique offshoot beauty lounge to spruce up New York Fashion Week and change up typically showcased brands. Both creative and memorable, the toilet-paper brand’s hosted lounge created a variety of excitement-packed options for event-goers.

Pampering in Style

The toilet-paper market is tough to market. It isn’t, however, exclusive to typical comfort commercials. Cottonelle’s approach, harnessing the triumvirate of promotional power—gifts, celebs and media—took Fashion Week by storm with a rather ornamental element.

Attendees were pampered, offered photo ops, gifted with Cottonelle gift bags and were given meetings with industry influencers. Taking place at SoHo’s Openhouse, Cottonelle’s beauty lounge created, yes, an entire wall out of toilet paper rolls. The rolls, designed and placed along the wall, created a photo booth backdrop to encourage hygiene-related poses.

The Method and the Meaning

Cottonelle’s toilet paper wall was created to boost its CleanRipple Texture toilet-paper—which is one of the brand’s own innovations. Designed to clean better, CleanRipple Texture toilet-paper definitely benefits from an “all hygiene, no nonsense” marketing effort.

Cottonelle’s approach worked, too. Senior associate brand manager, Jeremy DeWitt, considered the event to be a major success, setting Cottonelle apart from typically flat patterns, uninspired visitation booths and, of course, the brand’s leading competitors. The toilet-paper industry, itself, is difficult to compete in due to the product’s marketing monopoly on television time. That said, experiential approaches certainly exist—and Cottonelle has hit it right on the head.

More than a Showcase

Cottonelle’s display, in essence, was a consumer visual test for CleanRipple’s design. The product’s showcase, being out front and center, was a compelling feature reveal. While a highly forward approach to display marketing, the massive toilet-paper wall wasn’t necessarily off-putting. Here, the brand’s dedication to its beauty lounge takes the main stage. Its attention to consumer interaction—and not only detail—won its visitor population’s heart.

The Sponsors and Affiliates

Few experiential marketing efforts, today, are solo efforts. Cottonelle utilized its big-industry brand partners to breathe life into the event, backing a truly unique idea with truly resourceful entities. Corso Coffee, Pulsaderm, YouCam Makeup and Nonni’s Foods, all sponsors and partners, directly assisted the beauty lounge’s creation.

Integrating sponsors into experiential approaches can be difficult, but Cottonelle’s resounding support reveals quite a lot about its strategy. Primarily, it works. Secondarily, it displays an overarching inclination to try new things. Few marketing creators have the intensity, the openness and the creativity to display toilet paper on a wall, but Cottonelle’s display proves such a venture is, indeed, a successful one. The event’s success is likely attributed to its initially bizarre ideation, right alongside its solid approach to practical marketing.

Frisk Clean Breath Launches Brutally Honest Breath Meter

Not every experiential marketing event involves getting thousands of people together in one spot. The latest campaign from Frisk Clean Breath, a maker of breath mints, chose to go where people already are. It set up a machine in shopping malls and similar venues that promised to be "brutally honest" about people's breath. The machine was appropriately called Frisk, the Brutally Honest Breath Meter. Passers-by soon noticed the machines and breathed into the tube sticking out of the front. When they did, the machine responded with something extremely unexpected for a marketing campaign: Insults! Every response colorfully insulted the user's breath. It would light up words like "your breath is so bad that your toothbrush mistakes itself for a toilet brush." Then, it would dispense anywhere from a few to a huge amount of Clean Breath Mints. As it did this, it promised that the mints would keep the person's breath fresh for at least two hours.

The reactions of the people who got these analyses typically involved some sort of surprised exclamation. This got even more passers-by to stop and see what was going on. Soon, they too would blow into the machine and get their own brutally honest assessments. As this happened, Frisk recorded the reactions.

Once the company had enough reactions collected, it picked out the best ones. Then it made a TV commercial that has been called one of the best of the year. This ad showed what the machine said, how the people reacted to it, and how many mints it dispensed. In one case, it dispensed so many that it looked like the person had won a decent-sized slot machine jackpot – that was paid in mints!

Like other great experiential marketing campaigns, this one by Frisk is innovative, unexpected, and contains more than one phase. The first phase lets regular people directly experience the product in an unforgettable way. Then, the second phase shows the results in a way that makes viewers feel like they were almost a part of the original event. The combination is far more exciting than traditional advertising, which has become a bore due to overexposure. People remember experiential advertising in part because it is so different than the usual.

While this campaign didn't use a specific private venue, many do. If you're looking for a place to hold a big marketing extravaganza, look no further than Soho Studios in Miami. Soho has up to 70,000 square feet of space – enough room to fit a huge crowd under its roof. Contact us today to set up a reservation or learn how we can cater to your specific event.

The Mountain Dew Dance Party in Chicago

Moderne and Latin Works partnered to deliver Mountain Dew’s own brand of party to Chicago’s Cuban Festival, Taste of Mexico and Puerto Rican Festival. A summertime bash, the Mountain Dew party celebrated with lights, a flash tattoo station and on-the-spot snapshots to show brand support.

A Taste of Something Different

Mountain Dew’s appearance wasn’t at all unfounded, but it spiced up Chicago’s Hispanic events with a huge, multi-night bash. The Mountain Dew Party, premiering its all-Dew dance floor, presented lights, a Mountain DJ and a reason to remember its presence.

Taste of Mexico, the Chicago Cuban Festival and Puerto Rican Festival were prime locations for Mountain Dew’s presence. South-of-the-Border food-lovers, culinary masters and Chicago’s Little Village residents were all exposed to the event’s musical happening, and flavorful food was certainly not forgotten. Above all, Mountain Dew’s presentation aligned its all-fun strategy with some of Chicago’s best food. A taste of something different, Mountain Dew promised a fantastic pallet cleanser alongside each event’s much-sough-after food. Nearly a dozen Chicago restaurants presented all-time-favorite dishes, ranging across enchiladas, tacos, flautas, gorditas and tortas.

The Culinary Stage

Chicago’s wild events didn’t stop there, nor did Mountain Dew miss an opportunity to pair off with Chicago’s nightlife. Each event’s non-stop musical lineup, food workshops and daily cooking demonstrations took place on a big-time culinary stage. Top chefs, arts and crafts and even carnival rides were present, and the brand’s flexible approach to excitement, sports and hospitality was a welcomed guest.

Marketing Via Snapchat

Probably Mountain Dew’s most memorable addition was its snapcode-driven marketing event. Within the Mountain Dew dance, event-goers were given the chance to scan Mountain Dew snapcodes—signing them up for the brand’s own Snapchat channel. You’d be correct in guessing Mountain Dew’s strategy, here. Nightlife, action, food and music are all wonderful Snapchat opportunities, and event-goers didn’t miss a beat in hopping to the brand’s Snapchat channel.

Sent Snapchats were given event-exclusive geofilters, making Mountain Dew’s presence clear. Printing Snapchats, too, was an option—an option presented to immediate guests to support the event’s all-access environment.

Drink Variety and New Flavors

While dancing, Mountain Dew party-goers were also urged to try Mountain Dew’s bartending station. Its hosted variety of Dew drinks included eight flavors—including the brand’s much-loved Kickstart Orange Mango and Voltage flavors. Kickstart Orange Mango, in particular, has been deserving of the brand’s marketing love for some time. Chicago, ever-sought for its attribution to fine dining and drinking culture, couldn’t have served as a better platform for it. Where get-out-and-go marketing efforts are considered, Mountain Dew dominates in selecting prime advertisement real estate. Many event-goers sampled, promoted and became lifetime lovers of the Dew—making this event a win-win at every angle.

The Real Deal South Florida's 3rd Annual Real Estate Showcase & Forum

Get Ready, South Florida, for The Real Deal's South Florida 3rd Annual Real Estate Showcase and Forum to be held at SOHO Studios on Thursday, October 20, 2016 from 10 AM until 6 PM.  This promises to be one of the biggest Real Estate events ever! The Real Deal, considered the bible of New York City's real estate, is hosting what they are already promoting as their record-breaking real estate showcase listing a full day of panels, networking and viewing new developments.  Last year's event hosted more than 4,500 real estate professionals and business leaders and this year's event already promises to exceed those numbers.

Save the Date.  If you are a real estate professional, or someone just interested in learning more about South Florida's real estate then you'll want to make sure you're at this event.  The event has grown exponentially so much so that they have tripled the venue space in order to accommodate the attendees.  Here are a few more reasons you should be at The Real Deal's South Florida 3rd Annual Real Estate Showcase and Forum:

•  

• The event is going to be huge, so The Real Deal plans to accommodate their guests at the beautiful SOHO Studios , our own venue which also happens to be Miami’s largest event space.  Situated in the Wynwood district, it is a one of a kind large event venue space designed to host functions from 150 to thousands.
• All attendees will be privy to a full day of events including 4 Panels and great food & drinks compliments of local Miami merchants.
• This year's event will host 4 Panels, 50 Developments, and 4,500 plus Prospects. You won't believe how much there is to see and do.
• This not to be missed opportunity to network and expose your brand is so extraordinary that it sells out sponsorships every year.  Confirmed sponsor for this year's event include:

Douglas Elliman Real Estate, U.S. Immigration Fund, One/Southeby's International Realty, ArX Solutions, Meridian Capital Group, The Palms Residences, The Highlands, Jenn-Air, ALNO, Citi, Paramount Miami Worldcenter, Oneworld Properties, and Allure.  

About The Real Deal

The Real Deal knows and understands their business... and yours.  Since 2003 they have delivered time sensitive industry news and in-depth reports with a monthly circulation of over 60,000 readers and over 1 million unique visitors monthly online.  They are on the cutting-edge when it comes to real estate across the nation, and when it comes to the issues and needs unique to real estate professionals they are at the top of the pile.  Just recently The Real Deal received a record-breaking 12 National Association of Real Estate Editors awards.  Among their top honors was the Gold for Best Residential Trade Magazine and a Silver for Best Commercial Trade Magazine.

Reese's Creates Spooning Event

Hershey’s has given their chocolate lovers a gift in the form of Reese Spreads. Creating a marketing campaign that will draw the masses, Reese’s launched the “Do you spoon?” initiative, with a talking vending machine that invited people to use an oversized spoon to try the new spreads. Given a royalty theme, the spoon was gold, with miniature spoons given out via assistants on roller blades. Included in that campaign is out-of-home advertising in three major markets, with a huge push during the back-to-school period, accompanied by television ads. This type event helps build the brand for Reese’s, in an effort to contend with the current leader in the market, the Nutella brand.

Complete with small stations full of dipping materials like fruit, pretzels and breads, customers will be able to taste and enjoy the different ways these spreads can be used. As part of the ever-expanding Reese’s portfolio, this is a welcome addition to the family.

This type of event helps experiential marketing specialists create events that are meaningful and impactful, focusing on solidifying brand identity and incorporating customer input to grow a loyal fan base. We host a number of events of this nature, creating fun and unique platforms for customers interested in an immersive experience.

Soho Studios has the ability to work with in-house teams to solicit sponsors for the events, performers and other incentives, including VIP areas and reality-based areas. In the case of Reese Spreads, their campaign is geared toward increasing basket size. These social activities add leverage and visibility, taking into account the opportunities to increase market share.The Miami area is known for hosting these types of venues year-round, with every event customized for the customer and occasion. Soho Studios has a number of spaces to accommodate both large and small crowds, with an adjacent outdoor area. Catering to customers who enjoy chocolate spreads, this is a great way to attract attention in a fun and engaging way.

Hershey has been around since 1894, engaging customers with their variety of chocolates and other snacks. With this live event and others designed to enhance engagement, marketing firms can use venues like Soho Studios to bring concepts to life in tight timelines for both large and small corporations. Using venues that have a number of floor plans and are designed to create experiential events in customized event spaces is smart and cost-effective. Reese’s embraced the moment and created a special demand.