Advertising is the engine of trade," - surprisingly, this quote from a famous XIX century entrepreneur is just as relevant in the XXI century. It is advertising that makes consumers prefer a specific product or service, ignoring alternatives. This is the most effective way of promotion, so manufacturers spend huge amounts on it. To attract more potential clients, marketers develop new advertising strategies. One of the most effective ones is interactive, or event advertising.
Advertising as an Event
The essence of event advertising or a PR campaign is holding events for the target audience that create a positive image of the brand and its product among the public. Usually, viewers and passersby are involved in the action, creating a sense of being part of the event. This increases brand loyalty, and its product becomes associated with positive emotions through personal experience. The success of an event largely depends on choosing the right crowded venue – it could be a city center, shopping mall, train station, or park.
A major advantage of such promotions is the unobtrusiveness of the advertising itself. It becomes something secondary because it does not cause irritation. The focus is on the event itself and audience engagement.
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Pop-up-Style Events |
One way to capture the public’s attention is the Pop-up technique. This concept (translated from English as “pop-up/pop-out window”) first appeared in online advertising and referred to pop-up ad units. Pop-up-style events are always held suddenly, with unpredictable developments and in an unusual location.
Such campaigns are often carried out to promote new films, books, or music albums, as well as to announce new products. On TV, reality shows are launched on this principle – short-term and unpredictable. Clothing brands create Pop-up stores – “temporary” boutiques. Below we will tell you about the most unexpected, striking, and successful PR campaigns with maximum audience engagement.
Candid Conversations
In early October this year, the popular American brand “Trojan,” which specializes in selling condoms, set off on an unusual minibus journey through Washington, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. It visited college campuses and busy urban areas. The tour was aimed at open conversations about sex and condom use. All participants and guests of the Road show were invited to sing sex-positive karaoke, try branded hot dogs, and visit a stylized selfie booth. In addition, anyone could take sex lessons taught by popular local personalities. The brand plans to hold a longer tour in 2020.
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| Road show by a condom manufacturer |
Sleep, My Joy, Sleep!
To promote a new product, brands often resort to theatrical techniques. For example, the American dental company SmileDirectClub, to promote new nighttime aligners (special transparent trays for straightening teeth), staged an impromptu theatrical show in the central terminal of a New York train station. This comedy performance lasted a full 10 hours (exactly how long aligners need to be worn).
Special sets were created for the show, and professional actors were invited. The main character of the performance was a girl named Melanie, who “slept” almost the entire time. Naturally, with new aligners on her teeth. Meanwhile, a popular DJ performed a remix of the “Lullaby” by German composer J. Brahms for her, and costumed sheep jumped over the bed, which the sleeping girl counted in her dream. In addition, a male choir performed at the venue, fake noise-control officers “shushed” the public so the heroine would not wake up, and Melanie’s dreams were broadcast on the ceiling. Some passersby were invited to tell the sleeping girl a fairy tale and wish her good night.
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| Sleeping Kingdom |
Happy Birthday, Freddie!
London airline British Airways decided to hold an unusual campaign ahead of the birthday of the legendary lead singer of the rock band Queen, who worked at Heathrow Airport before starting his star career. It involved baggage service employees dressed as Mercury’s famous image. To the song “I Want To Break Free” (I want to break free), the participants performed a fiery dance with yellow suitcases, much to the public’s delight. Electronic displays at the time showed the titles of Queen songs, and many spectators held fan posters. The PR campaign was carried out with the assistance of the film company 20th Century Fox, right before the release of the feature film “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
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PR campaign at the airport |
The Giant Cranberry Whale
Many brands try to go beyond sales-driven advertising and combine it with socially important projects. A vivid example of such a social advertising campaign was a promotion by the American agricultural cooperative “Ocean Spray” together with the fashion brand “Vineyard Vines”. They joined efforts to support the nonprofit “Bright Pink”, which focuses on the prevention and early detection of breast and ovarian cancer.
The organizers decided to draw media and public attention to the issue with the help of an unusual pink cranberry harvest. On the surface of one of the lakes they made a giant floating whale shape (the “Vineyard Vines” brand logo) from these berries. And everyone could try picking cranberries with the help of special catamarans. Thanks to this campaign, more people learned about the work of “Bright Pink”.
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| Cranberry harvest campaign to raise awareness of women's health issues |
A terrifying American Horror Story show
For a true immersion in the atmosphere of the new season of the cult series “American Horror Story”, the FX Networks television company organized for a group of fans and media a whole horror-style night show. Guests were taken to a specially equipped camp “Redwood” in the Santa Monica Mountains, where the atmosphere of the 80s was recreated. All participants received “survival kits” and their roles: counselors, nurses, the director, travelers, and, of course, the killer.
During the day, guests completed a quest with themed entertainment. In the evening they were awaited by dinner with bones on the table, waiters in leather masks and a sudden power outage. And at night, sitting by the campfire, participants were frightened by the sudden appearance of the killer with his victim. This amazing horror story ended with a series marathon, 80s games, and séances.
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| A horror-style night show |
Beer Boat and Football
The beer brand “Bud” successfully used the “hype” around the World Cup for its advertising campaign. For this, a branded ship “Bud Boat” was created, symbolizing the classic tandem of football and beer. Throughout the World Cup, the ship cruised from Moscow City to Bersenevskaya Embankment. More than 6000 people became passengers of the unique vessel, as reported by local media and popular social networks.
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| The branded ship “Bud Boat” |
An immersive performance in a truck trailer
The German-Swiss theatre agency “Rimini Protokoll” organized in Moscow an unusual interactive journey-performance called “Cargo Moscow Private Tour”. The setting was an ordinary truck trailer converted into an auditorium with panoramic windows. 50 spectators, while traveling, listened to real stories of long-haul drivers about trips across Russia. They talked about the features of the Moscow-Magadan route: its difficulties, endless expanses, and deserted highways. The stories were complemented by characteristic road landscapes that participants observed in real time.
The “Cargo Moscow” project allowed a new look at those who are always on the road and to feel their life for themselves. The campaign, which was repeated 100 times and lasted 90 minutes each, involved 5000 spectators. It received wide audience reach and numerous media mentions.
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| A journey-performance in a truck trailer |
Sweet Twitter
The popular social network “Twitter” held a large-scale campaign “Twitter Is” (Twitter is) in New York. So, to answer the main question “What is Twitter for you?” marketers set up an unusual pop-up confectionery in a styled van on one of the main squares of Manhattan. Promoters for 6 hours handed out colored candies and other sweets to passersby. The gifts were labeled with corresponding tweets that guests could choose themselves (for example: “Twitter is a lollipop that lasts forever”). Advertising for the event also included placing banners in the subway and chalk stencils on sidewalks.
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| Pop-up Twitter confectionery |
The Best Dog Day
The animal-focused website The Dodo, along with the American online news and media company BuzzFeed, in partnership with the American pet store Petco, held the second Dodo's Best Dog Day Ever (“Best Dog Day Ever”) in Brooklyn. So, over the course of three weeks, special pop-up stations for dogs and their owners were set up on the streets of Brooklyn in Halloween style. They included many entertainment options for dogs: toy pits, a corn maze for races, a “Trick or Treat” snack bar, a costume parade, and a graveyard of broken toys.
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| Entertainment for dogs and their owners |
If you have been inspired by striking examples of event PR campaigns and want to create your own — contact us, we will be happy to bring even the boldest advertising ideas to life! We will ensure maximum engagement of potential customers and increase your company's publicity capital.
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