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.

How to Transform a Blank Canvas

Even if a business has money, they’ve still got it rough when it comes to event planning. Sometimes, the space isn’t there. At other times, unconventional avenues make it hard to let loose, get the point across and attract new customers. When thinking outside the ballroom, it’s important to consider your audience. Transforming a blank canvas into a full-fledged event isn’t easy, but it’s possible. Here’s how:

Turn Small Shops into Networking Gatherings

If you’re stuck with a coffee shop, fear not. You can still use the free Wi-Fi, attract customers and dish out branded swag. Coffee shops are today’s pop-up shops, and they’re surprisingly good venues for small businesses lacking funds. You can still cross-promote your other options, staying true to a frugal budget while meeting the locals.

Use Park Space for Active Market Promotion

These days, most brands utilize the sporty, get-up-and-go lifestyle to promote. We live in a world where even videogames are getting more active. If you’re stuck with a field, make use of it. Parks might seem unconventional at first, but they’re incredibly capable event properties. Set up a gazebo, have a cookout and promote your product to passerby.

Turn a Tram Ride into a Town Tour

Sometimes, all the venues are booked. Have you considered your mobile options? Today’s town visitors—and even the residents—are using cross-city tram services, brewery carts and even carriages to see new sights. Give your customers a look through your business’s eyes, and give them something to remember. Travel is memorable, and you needn’t spend tons of money on a good trip.

Book it In an Airport

If you’ve got extra money, try out a pop-up experience in an airport. A surprising number of brands, like NGO Miseror, have created entire digital campaigns centered in airports. Aside from the obvious high-traffic benefit, airports are unique places which guarantee visibility. If you’re expressing yourself in an airport, you’ll definitely be seen.

Check Out the Local Lodge

Similar to the cross-town experience, a one-night stay in a lodge isn’t a bad idea. A lot of marketers, in fact, are bringing their customers closer by instilling a sense of sincerity. If you can get your customers talking to one another, you have an experience.

Not every event relies on flashy event spaces, huge banners and unique technology. Sometimes, simpler is better. It’s called experiential marketing for a reason. Even if the event is small, you can instill a sense of wonder by planning your event correctly. Check out your local area’s offerings, and get to work on your brand’s experiential canvas.

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.

How to Wow Your Event Guests Even During Breaks

Long meetings, conventions, and expos all have one thing in common: They include breaks. All too often, the potential of these breaks is wasted as participants are left to find their own entertainment. A better option is to spice up your event's break time by providing your own diversions from the main topics. Here are some of the ways other companies have been successful at keeping people's attention during these times:

Use an Area-Themed Snack Display

Every area has foods and other items that are unique to it. For example, Florida is known for its citrus fruits and beaches. A citrus-based display with beach imagery will be a sure hit for an area-specific snack bar. There's no need to exclude all other food options, either. Just be sure to have some orange things prominently present to get the effect.

Touch on an Area's Cultural Cuisine

While Florida may be known for oranges, the city of Miami is known for its people. As a Florida city, it is a mix of both domestic and overseas immigrants. Southerners, Northerners, Cubans, Mexicans, and Puerto Ricans all share the space and eat each other's foods on a regular basis. Simply serve some of each of these cultural foods for a great all-around "taste of Miami" effect. You can also aim for whichever foods your audience will find exotic in order to present a daring atmosphere of trying new things.

Hire a Professional Chef

If your event caters to an upscale crowd, you'll definitely make the right impression by having a professional chef make up the offerings. Even so, resist the urge to go for full-course meals or large desserts. Remember that this will be for a relatively short break instead of the dinner hour, and specify foods that can be picked up and carried by people who'll want to walk around and network as they enjoy the food.

Don't Forget Desserts and Drinks

Desserts are always a hit, and what better way to say "Florida" than at least one Key lime pie stand? Drinks also tend to be regional. Here, you'd be remiss to forget sweet tea – the quintessential Southern staple. Of course, Florida orange juice is obligatory as well. Don't forget to offer coffee, too. It may not be regional, but it is still one of the most popular non-alcoholic drinks on Earth and is very compelling for its fans.

These are just some of the ways you can set up food stands to make your event memorable even during the breaks. The other thing you need is a good venue. Check out Soho Studios in Miami for the perfect place to present your next Florida-based meeting, event, or expo.

How to Maximize Your Donations With an Amazing Fundraiser

Whether you’re a nonprofit or a small business, one universal truth shouldn’t be forgotten: Donations are tough to land. That said, 2017 has presented a slew of donation-centric solutions. If you’re creating a fundraising platform, you needn’t stick to age-old approaches. There’s a lot of fundraising ‘white noise’ out there, but you can still get donations by following the advice below:

Hold Raffles and Auctions

Auctions, raffles and games are excellent moneymakers. The best auctions and raffles, however, offer feature items, services and experiences which reflect your community’s interests. Tap into your local networks, and align your marketing goals with in-house fundraising resources. This year, Mercedes-Benz showcased a car via the 2-17 Heart Raffle. The result was an extra $46,332.36.

Get Wild with Lighting

You can boost brand recognition, as well as overall donations, by designing an event around your brand’s logo. Get wild with the lighting, and don’t be afraid to use black lights, either. Event producers like Julie Hanson crafted awesome interior designs to assist the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s campaign, helping them garner a massive $1 million overall.

Hire a Comedian

We’re all tired of the age-old keynote speaker approach. Get wild, and hire a comedian instead. If you can boost your event’s entertainment factor, you’ll give your eventgoers something to talk about—primarily, your headliner. Even if it’s a last-minute plan, it’s an effective one.

Create a Lounge Area

While your eventgoers might not empty their pockets over a couch, a lounge area can give them a much-needed breather. Get crafty with the pillows, the flowers, the signage and the accents. If you can give your guests a respite from the events, you’ll give them more time to consider your donation needs.

Take Advantage of a Check-In Area

Check-in areas are effective for maintaining eventgoers. They’re also great resources for gathering guest information. A large number of donations are procured from memberships and return visitors. By installing a donation station, a kiosk or a membership VIP lounge, you can make the donation process as easy as possible.

Showcase Your Brand’s Work

If donors know how their gifts will be used, they’ll donate more. Don’t be afraid to showcase your brand’s efforts. Events offer a highly unique opportunity to present your motives to your community. Skip statistics-based speeches. Instead, illuminate your foundation’s positive impacts. Share stories, give live demonstrations and give hands-on education opportunities.

At the end of the day, donations are procured from a positive outlook on a foundation’s motives. Use technology, if it’s available, and connect your guests to social media. You should, however, never forget why you’re seeking donations. Make sure your guests don’t’ forget, either.

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.

How To Go From Messy to Clever with Six Great Event Food Creations

Messy foods are for outback grill events, booze cruises and music festivals, right? Wrong. Event guests appreciate easy-to-eat options, and catering groups are repurposing age-old recipes to make event options more appetizing.

Crowd-favorite foods aren’t necessarily the cleanest, but they can certainly be cleaned up to make the eater’s life easier. While some guests love their hearty, sweet and classic foods, they needn’t be restricted to “finger-licking good” winds, sandwiches and BBQ options. The following event providers have remixed typical event food ideas. Check them out:

Preston Bailey Supplies Tiramisu Grab-and-Go Offers

Preston Bailey turned an entire Four Seasons New York Downtown into a catering establishment, supplying tiramisu as a grab-and-go options. Striking out the eating difficulty, it successfully celebrated its partnership with Four Seasons, all while keeping event-goers happy.

S'mores Gets Portable with Lollipops

Yes, it’s possible to eat a S’mores product without the mess. In fact, S’mores created campfire lollipops to familiarize their guests with handheld fun at the Engage!14 Wedding Summit. By reinventing an age-old theme in a new way, S’mores effectively redesigned the way guests look at desert.

Great Performances Dishes Out Fried Chicken Cones

By dishing out fried chicken stored in waffle cones, Great Performances allowed its guests to roam about the premises with self-serve options designed to circumnavigate the need for plates. Fried chicken might not be the hardest-to-handle food item, but it’s certainly deserving of a little ease-of-eating. The cones were offered at the Watermill Center in 2015, redefining the way chicken, itself, is dished out to hungry patrons.

Elegant Affairs Creates Portable Spaghetti and Meatballs

By compacting spaghetti and placing singular meatballs on top, New York’s Elegant Affairs created a clean, to-the-point version of traditional spaghetti dinners. The mess-free food item gave patrons a micro approach to an age-old macro problem associated with messy spaghetti event dinners.

Occasions Caterers Make Salad Bites

That’s right: salad bites. Alongside spaghetti, salad is a notoriously difficult event dish to serve cleanly. By creating salad bites hors d’oeuvre, Occasions Caterers gave patrons fork-served eating options capable of tidying up the dish’s regular problems.

The Washington Human Society Offers Portable Hummus and Pita

Hummus is messy. Really messy. The Washington Humane society, however, offered a selection of hors d’oeuvres hummus and pita bites, celebrating their 2014 Fashion for Paws runway event.

Sometimes, alternative food options work well. They certainly revamp many age-old ideologies surrounding proper event food options. Check out more annual food options, and stay sharp with this year’s best event creations.

The Event Trends That Aren't Trending Anymore

Not all event trends are made equal. Sometimes, things don’t work out. In 2017, several event décor elements have been shelved. Today’s planners are yesterday’s industry enactors, and they’re retracing their steps to fortify 2017’s best options. Below, we’re sharing the played-out décor options a lot of marketers have left behind.  

Ice Bars

Ice bars were big in 2016. In fact, a small tidal wave of experiential ice-based events popped up. They’re cool, but they were overdone. Ice bars and sculptures can be truly artistic, but a fully ice-themed display network is need. Event managers are shelving the ice trend, as it’s simply too hard to secure. Often, thousands of dollars, alone, are needed to secure a viable location.

Paper Flowers

Event leaders like Brian Worley of YourBash! are doing away with paper flowers. Tossing away paper flower displays may be petty, but there’s a method to the materialistic madness. Paper flowers are eye-catching, when installed correctly. That said, they’re difficult to navigate. Event marketers, now, are realizing the legwork needed to create a substantial, laser-cut paper flower display. Modern art only goes so far, apparently.

Gif Booths

What gives? In 2016, digital gif display booths were all the rage. In 2017, however, they’re being left by the wayside. As it turns out, shared photos are losing out to all-new VR experiences. 360-cam features, live-action displays and three-dimensional sets are taking over. Already, well-curated Instagram feeds are focusing on the modern guest’s attention to immersion. Gifs, simply put, are becoming outdated. They won’t necessarily disappear in 2017, but they’ve certainly fallen from good graces.

Anything Shiny

Strictly décor-speaking, we feel shiny surfaces deserve a mention. We enjoy sparkling tables, backdrops and sequin table linens, but we’ve noticed a reduction in overall shine-play. Leaders like André Wells of Events by André Wells have spoken out, and their message is clear: Stone, marble and other organic materials are on the rise. Unfortunately, there just isn’t enough room for anything shiny.

Don’t fret, however, because you’re still “in the game” if you’re using the above-mentioned décor and technology options. For every experiential cultural shift, there’s a counterculture. You won’t need to stick with the flow if you’re banking on classic attributions. Tread lightly, however, because several décor options are certainly being stripped away. Whether you’re an event planner, a business marketer or simply researching new ideas, it’s a good idea to stay updated. Listen to today’s creative directors, because they’ve seen it all. Sometimes, critical eyes are needed to keep the events pruned and looking good.