If you were in the Times Square area yesterday morning, there’s a good chance you encountered a group of seven handsome men, dressed to the nines, handing out long stem roses ( a la ABC’s “The Bachelor”) to NYC residents, commuters and tourists. You may have also picked up a Sling TV swag bag from a genial Brand Ambassador. If so, you walked right into theatreMAMA’s latest experiential marketing campaign.
Seven men sporting Tuxedos from SuitShop and offering free roses to passersby in Times Square is a sure way to create buzz in the area! That was the intention behind our brand new living media campaign to promote Sling TV, an American streaming television service that helps customers cut the cord from expensive cable subscriptions and replace them with low-cost, streaming TV services. We wanted to create buzz – a memorable moment of surprise and joy – on an otherwise typical Monday morning. Shared experiences and memorable interactions are the (not so) secret sauce of experiential marketing success, and this activation did just that!
To promote ABC being available on Sling TV in New York markets, our seven models, clad in dapper tuxedos from SuitShop, evoked ABC’s “The Bachelor” by passing out 500 long-stemmed red roses with Sling TV discount cards elegantly tied around them to the public with a reminder to watch “The Bachelor” finale (which aired the evening of Monday, March 27) live on ABC via Sling TV. We also had ten Brand Ambassadors who flooded the streets with cheer and enthusiasm, handing out almost 1000 discount offers along with 900 swag bags that included Sling TV pens, stress balls and phone wallets.
Upon receiving a rose from one of our models, a local woman said that he had made her dreams come true, exclaiming, “I’ve always dreamed of getting a rose!”
There was excitement in the air from start to finish, said Alejandro Lopez, theatreMAMA Manager. Lopez added that people were thrilled to receive a swag bag and were asking all the right questions like, “What time is the Bachelor finale?” and “How can I sign up for Sling TV?”
We had a blast working with Sling TV to create this experiential marketing campaign and are thrilled with the positive impact of this activation!
But … what does it take to produce an event like this?
Living media campaigns are often encapsulated in aesthetically pleasing pictures or captivating content that can be consumed and shared. While continued sharing of content to further promote a brand is absolutely one of our goals (and another reason why experiential marketing is so effective), behind those beautiful, exciting pieces of digital media, there is an entire production team working around the clock to create those captivating moments.
Patrons receive a perfectly packaged swag bag or a sweetly-tied rose from a flawlessly polished Brand Ambassador or model, but they don’t see (nor should they) the people who filled those swag bags, tied each rose, tailored each suit and trained each ambassador, said Chelsea Logan, theatreMAMA Manager and head of social media/digital content.
The aforementioned tasks don’t even begin to cover the ideation, planning, logistics, meetings, pre-production tasks, production tasks and post-production tasks necessary to launch a successful brand activation. Covering every aspect of production would be enough content to fill a short novel, so, for brevity’s sake, we will hone in on a few roles that were integral to the success of the Sling TV campaign.
Casting and Wardrobe
One of the first tasks we had to complete was to cast the models who would be representing the brand. After collaborating with a wonderful model agency, our team of seven was assembled so the fittings could begin. The models were to look sleek and tailored to evoke ABC’s “The Bachelor” and that meant organizing sizes, ordering custom suits, scheduling fittings and tailoring each suit before the event yesterday. Emily Beets, theatreMAMA Manager and head of wardrobe/costume, was tailoring suits up until a day before the event to ensure a perfect fit.
Pre-Production: Packaging Collateral
For this activation, Sling TV provided our team with 1000 discount fliers, 900 bags, 500 stress balls, 500 phone wallets, 500 pens, 500 Roses and 500 discount cards to tie on the roses – that’s over 4000 pieces of collateral to organize in way that made them accessible for the team to pass out to the public while simultaneously optimizing brand promotion. Our managers coordinated the delivery of these items and worked in shifts to pack swag bags. A discount card was tied to each rose by hand over the course of two days, our team carefully positioning the ties so that the roses could be put back into their vases to maintain peak freshness for the event.
Day-Of Production Team
This team included two managers who led the teams, made sure directives were communicated clearly, supported the teams, communicated between the client and the teams and maintained flexibility to ensure a seamless activation from start to finish. We also had two collateral runners who were in charge of delivering additional roses and swag bags to our teams as they ran out of what they could carry. The collateral runners used carts to transport swag bags and roses from our 43rd Street office to multiple locations in the Times Square/midtown area.
If you can believe it, this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to event production. Careful planning, creative collaboration, thoughtful production and a stellar team are how we create the memorable, fun, talked-about, beautiful moments that you witness at one of our experiential marketing events, be it live or online. And do we ever enjoy making these events come to life!
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