When it comes to creating thrills, chills and frictionless attendee experiences, Disney typically sets the bar. But this year’s Event Technology Award winners prove that the experiential industry can make a little magic, too.
Like the first-of-its-kind Oculus Rift experience by Merrell, that had Sundance festivalgoers braving precarious suspension bridges, weathering blasts of faux arctic air and holding on for dear life as they scaled a rumbling, hydraulically fueled obstacle course. Or the UFC program that transformed the entire city of Las Vegas into a beacon-fueled social media playground where tapping stations unlocked instant access, VIP invites and more Sin City fun. Or Microsoft’s b-to-b RFID strategy that not only replaced Disney’s in-house systems on the final evening of the conference, it gave attendees the ability to control the grand finale fireworks show at Epcot.
No offense, Walt, but we think this industry’s giving you a run for your money.
The Event Technology Awards is the first program established to recognize the power of integrating technology across events and trade shows. Hundreds of entries were received this year across 12 categories, making this our largest and most competitive Event Technology Awards to date. And after a two-week judging by a dozen brand-side marketers, top honors were awarded at a gala event at the fifth annual EventTech conference at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, Nov. 2, 2015. In this, our fifth annual special report, we highlight this year’s award-winning programs. Check them out in the December 2015 issue of EM.
Congratulations to all of the Event Technology Award winners—imagineers, one and all.
Sponsored by:
FULL LIST OF WINNERS
Best Use of a Single Technology (B-to-C)
Gold Winner
Campaign: Trailscape
Client: Merrell
Partners: Hill Holliday, Framestore, MKG
Silver Winner
Campaign: Survive the Strain, VR Experience
Client: FX Networks
Bronze Winner
Campaign: Pancake Selfie
Client: Holiday Inn Express
Partner: Geometry Global, Ogilvy & Mather, SuperGroup
Best Use of a Single Technology (B-to-B)
Gold Winner
Campaign: Worldwide Partner Conference 2015
Client: Microsoft
Partners: Mosaic, Thuzi
Silver Winner
Campaign: 2015 Mobile First Conference
Client: MobileIron
Partner: InVision Communications
Bronze Winner
Campaign: 2015 Newfront
Client: AOL
Best Combination of Event Technologies (B-to-C)
Gold Winner
Campaign: 2015 International Fight Week
Client: UFC
Partner: Thuzi
Silver Winner
Campaign: Launch Of OnePlus 2
Client: OnePlus
Partner: TBA Global
Bronze Winner
Campaign: Made for U
Client: Target
Partner: Periscope
Best Combination of Event Technologies (B-to-B)
Gold Winner
Campaign: EMC World 2015
Client: EMC
Partner: Opus Agency
Silver Winner
Campaign: AT&T Connected at CTIA
Client: AT&T
Partner: CSE
Bronze Winner
Campaign: Worldwide Partner Conference 2015
Client: Microsoft
Partners: Mosaic, Thuzi
Best Digital+Live Campaign
Gold Winner
Campaign: #WhosGonnaWin
Client: Verizon
Partner: Wasserman
Silver Winner
Campaign: #DellLounge Powered by Windows 10
Clients: Dell, Microsoft
Partner: Lacy Maxwell Productions
Bronze Winner
Campaign: Untameable Tour
Client: Bacardi
Partner: GMR Marketing
Best Use of Social Media
Gold Winner
Campaign: HP Discover 2015
Client: HP
Silver Winner
Campaign: Cisco Live 2015
Client: Cisco
Bronze Winner
Campaign: Imagine Dragons Destination Dragons Tour
Client: Southwest Airlines
Partner: MAC Presents
Best Touch/Gesture Interactive
Gold Winner
Campaign: Carmelo Anthony Freethrow Challenge
Client: Kumho Tire
Partners: Pearl Media, Pal 8 Media, Trailer Park, Russ Media
Silver Winner
Campaign: Reebok Athlete Challenge
Client: Reebok
Partner: Genuine
Bronze Winner
Campaign: Earn Your Armour
Client: Under Armour
Partner: agencyEA
Best Use of A/V
Gold Winner
Campaign: Manufacturing Innovation Immersion
Client: Ford Motor Co.
Partner: BRC Imagination Arts, TechMDinc
Silver Winner
Campaign: Canon Expo 2015
Client: Canon
Partners: Imagination the Americas, Dentsu America
Bronze Winner
Campaign: Digital NewFront 2015
Client: AOL
Partner: Barkley Kalpak Agency
Best Audience Interaction
Gold Winner
Campaign: Coke Zero Drinkable Billboard
Client: Coca-Cola Co.
Partners: IMG LIVE, Ogilvy & Mather, Specialized Mobile Exhibits
Silver Winner
Campaign: Ignite Launch
Client: Puma
Partners: iDEKO Productions, Ogilvy PR
Bronze Winner
Campaign: Experience Data Visualizer
Client: Yahoo
Partners: We Are The Nation, Mad Systems
Best Use of Handheld Technology
Gold Winner
Campaign: Priceless Surprises
Client: MasterCard
Partner: Octagon
Silver Winner
Campaign: Make Safe Happen Safety Experience
Client: Nationwide
Partners: Current Studios, Event Marketing Strategies, JKS Motorsports, Ogilvy
Bronze Winner
Campaign: Acura AR Experience
Client: American Honda Motor Co.
Partner: George P. Johnson Company
Best Event App
Gold Winner
Campaign: South By Southwest Go
Client: South By Southwest
Partner: Eventbase
Silver Winner
Campaign: Chaco Footwear Fit For Adventure
Client: Wolverine Worldwide
Partners: Highline, Auxiliary Advertising & Design
Bronze Winner
Campaign: Congress Support App
Client: Astellas
Partner: Ashfield Meetings & Events
Best Use of RFID/NFC/BLE
Gold Winner
Campaign: MyOpen
Client: American Express
Partner: Momentum Worldwide
Silver Winner
Campaign: Performance Lab
Client: Air Force
Partner: GSD&M
Bronze Winner
Campaign: Sandbox
Client: Sandvik
Partners: Czarnowski, FlexVisual
BEST USE OF A SINGLE TECHNOLOGY (B-TO-C)
GOLD WINNER
Campaign: Trailscape
Client: Merrell
Partner: Hill Holiday, Framestore, MKG
Outdoor shoe brand Merrell has enjoyed a long history of loyalty among serious hikers and outdoor enthusiasts. But it was in need of a little extra adrenaline to shed its “brown shoe” reputation and get younger audiences excited about its brand. Enter the Sundance Film Festival, one of the world’s only events where lovers of the great outdoors rub elbows with lovers of art, film and pop culture for a week every January.
Merrell jumped into the 2015 festival scene with “Trailscape,” a hair-raising Oculus Rift experience that transported consumers to the rocky Dolomites in the Italian Alps for a mountain hike that showcased the brand’s newest and most advanced hiking shoe, the Capra, named after the Capra mountain goat.
Attendees needed all their wits and balance to brave treacherous virtual rock ledges and swinging bridges. Oscar-winning effects house, Framestore, added 4D elements such as rumbling floors to simulate a rock slide and gusts of wind at the peak to help immerse guests in the experience. But the real showstopper was the introduction of an obstacle course—an element made possible by a first-of-its-kind spatial-mapping software technology that, unlike most stationary Oculus Rift experiences, allowed participants to move freely through a virtual environment by actually also walking through a physical space.
Here’s how it worked: Guests stepped into a padded obstacle course and put on the Oculus Rift headset. They were then transported to a mountain pathway mirroring the layout of the physical environment. As they moved about, participants pressed themselves against walls and inched along a narrow mountain ledge, and screamed as they jumped back when ledges in front of them crumbled, sending rocky debris down a sheer mountain face. Real-world rope railings were firmly grasped as users navigated a precarious suspension bridge in the VR world. And those who finally made it to “safety” often sighed with relief (check out the video online—it’s awesome).
In addition to the Oculus Rift experience, Merrell’s lounge at Sundance included seating areas with charging stations, complimentary coffee and an open bar. In the product display area, brand ambassadors encouraged guests to take photos in front of a large sculptural goat head made of Capra shoes and share them with the hashtag #Trailscape.
The entire experience was designed to generate buzz and highlight “the exciting places the Capra could take you” while giving the brand a boost of freshness and relevance that appealed to adventure seekers as much as it did trendsetters. The program gave Merrell the extra altitude it desired, generating 146 million media impressions and multiple industry accolades, including three CLIOS, three One Show awards, a Webby and… an Event Technology Award. Yodelayheehoo!
SILVER WINNER
Campaign: Survive the Strain VR Experience
Client: FX Networks
To give its horror-drama series “The Strain” a boost in viewership as it headed into its second season, FX Networks headed to Comic-Con San Diego with a virtual reality experience that invited attendees to “Survive the Strain.” But this was no mere show floor activation.
FX built a warehouse similar to one featured in its virtual reality experience in a park outside the San Diego Convention Center and, over the course of four days, led groups of six attendees inside to view a two-and-a-half minute live-action virtual reality piece featuring an actor from the show. The mission: immerse current and prospective fans of the show deep into “The Strain” world.
3D sound enhanced the experience and guided participants where to focus their attention. Each of the six viewing chairs were outfitted with 4D elements, from rumble packs that could simulate movement and mimic a heart beating faster, to ventilation hoses hanging from the ceiling that blew warm and cool air directly upon the participant. All of the chairs were synced with a custom app so that everyone saw and felt the same thing at the same time.
The four-day event generated long lines, 137 million social media impressions and an additional 32 million p.r. impressions that included articles in Rolling Stone, Fortune and USA Today.
BRONZE WINNER
Campaign: Pancake Selfie
Client: Holiday Inn Express
Partners: Geometry Global, Ogilvy & Mathers, SuperGroup
The only thing better than getting your hands on a stack of hot pancakes drizzled in maple syrup is getting your hands on those pancakes fast. Holiday Inn Express got the word out about its one-touch, one-minute pancake machines with a mobile campaign that turned its signature pancakes into signature portraits.
The five-week Pancake Selfie Express Tour traveled in a food truck outfitted with five pancake machines and three pancake laser etching stations. Consumers were invited to snap a selfie through an iPad and then visit The Stack Machine (the crowdsourced name given to the pancake machines in an earlier part of the campaign) to press the button and wait for their one-minute pancake samples. When they were done, their pancake selfie was ready to eat (yep, they were edible, too) and share on social media with the hashtag #PancakeSelfie.
How did it work? On the backend, the selfie images were transferred via Bluetooth to a laptop where a proprietary software placed the image into the correct setting that enabled a laser etching machine to print each consumer’s selfie image right onto the fluffy pancake.
Just mid-way through the tour, the initiative reported more than 224 million p.r. impressions and 181,000 social media impressions. Number of pancakes served: 1,480 and counting.
BEST USE OF A SINGLE TECHNOLOGY (B-TO-B)
GOLD WINNER
Campaign: Worldwide Partner Conference 2015
Client: Microsoft
Partner: Mosaic, Thuzi
How do you impress the world’s most experienced technology companies with your event technology? For Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference, it was all in the wrist.
RFID wristbands served as the centerpiece of an event-wide strategy that was designed to facilitate networking, enhance the on-site experience and fuel collaboration among Microsoft’s U.S. partner eco-system. The bands also acted as a real-world and real-time showpiece for Microsoft’s technologies, giving attendees a contextual experience with how the company’s products work and integrate with one another. For example, every activation at every location (which included the Ritz Hotel, Orlando Conference Center and Disney Epcot) were linked together via the Microsoft Azure cloud. And Microsoft Surface tablets with QR code and RFID scanners were used to register attendees.
The attendee experience began upon arrival at the Microsoft U.S. Regional Lounge, where partners registered and connected their RFID band with their Facebook, Twitter and email credentials. Attendees were able to scan QR codes from their mobile phones to easily transfer their registration information to the LED-enabled wristbands.
Over the course of the week, the bands fueled multiple types of attendee engagements and streamlined information gathering into a paper-free experience. Strategically located tap stands and scan-to-share stands at all of the events enabled Microsoft to deliver key event information (calendar updates and event details), encouraged social sharing of the on-site activities including photos and connected guests to information delivered to their inboxes. A sharing feature provided Microsoft with a permission-based opt-in that could amplify branded content on guest’s personal social pages.
Attendees could also use their wristbands to gain entry to exclusive functions, including the Epcot after-hours event where the event technology actually replaced Disney’s in-house access and photo systems on the final evening of the conference and granted attendees the ability to participate in the grand finale fireworks show. The LED components could be controlled by a special infrared network set up throughout Epcot that lit up wristbands as attendees entered special zones where customized activations such as photo kiosks were stationed.
And although they were small, the bands were mighty, delivering a constant stream of data points that the company could track in real time, including registration participation by social network, traffic at each activation area across geography, number of photos, check-ins, information shares and more. In the end, the RFID bands were used by more than 6,000 attendees, generated more than 4,000 check-ins and photos and overall contributed to 8,000 engagements with WPC-related content for a total reach of 4.2 million. We’re with the band.
SILVER WINNER
Campaign: 2015 Mobile First Conference
Client: MobileIron
Partners: InVision Communications
It looked like a simple pair of headphones, but for MobileIron, it was a cutting-edge technology tool that impressed attendees, generated buzz and wooed Millennials.
The headphones were actually Simultaneous Interpretation Headsets (provider: ProLingo), but rather than interpreting the show’s presentations into another language, the technology helped MobileIron transform a hotel ballroom into a buzzing live event campus where activity was constant, but thanks to the headsets, attendees could move between sessions and tune in or tune out sound with a quick change of the channel.
MobileIron divided the room into four zones based on subject matter, ultimately offering eight breakout theaters, a networking lounge, an Answers Bar and demo area. But there were no walls or dividers between each space to mask the sound bleed. In each theater, the presenter’s mic fed into the headsets acquainted with that theater through a unique channel. The headsets utilized radio frequency (RF) and infrared transmission (IR) to deliver clear sound to the wearer in real-time.
The sound proof translation headsets were deemed a hit, allowing the company to direct the audio to the intended audience members while still retaining the communal environment and open sight lines the campus setting offered. Sounds good!
BRONZE WINNER
Campaign: 2015 NewFront
Client: AOL
The annual NewFronts are a mission critical business event on every digital media producer’s calendar. AOL upped its competitive game in 2015 with an experience for press and potential advertisers that transformed the idea of a NewFronts season into a NewFronts year.
To bring this “Content 365” strategy to life, AOL unleashed a literal translation—a 40-foot wall on the 54th floor of 4 World Trade Center covered in 365 iPads that made the company’s content the star of the show. Each iPad played a unique piece of AOL content from its library, all to convey the company’s shift from a seasonal programming strategy to a year-round one.
The impressive spectacle of the wall and the content it displayed all mapped back to the event’s theme, “Unleash,” reinforcing the idea that AOL is “unleashing” a new breed of storytelling and delivering device agnostic content to consumers all year round. The technology aligned with this key messaging in a way that created shareable moments that attendees could socialize across their own networks. This socialization increased reach and was vital to the success of the NewFront, contributing to a total of 47 top-tier trade articles, a 215-percent increase in AOL social engagements and 30 percent more impressions per attendee than previous years.
BEST COMBINATION OF EVENT TECHNOLOGIES (B-TO-C)
GOLD WINNER
Campaign: 2015 International Fight Week
Client: UFC
Partner: Thuzi
Long before mixed martial artist Ronda Rousey’s famous armbar hit the mainstream, the Ultimate Fighting Championship franchise had been experiencing massive growth in popularity. While the fights take place in an enclosed octagon ring, the experience for fans extends beyond that to TV, where fans watch young fighters break into UFC on “The Ultimate Fighter.” That accessibility to the brand is then amplified at UFC live events, where fans rub shoulders with UFC fighters, or “Octagon Girls,” TV personalities and Hall of Fame legends.
For the 2015 International Fight Week in July, UFC wanted to take the potential for amplification to the next level and deliver unprecedented access to fans. The resulting event technology strategy was just as unprecedented as the objective, with the brand live-wiring the entire host city of Las Vegas. Tens of thousands of fans could simply tap their UFC credentials (via RFID/NFC badge, wristband or QR code) throughout Sin City to earn UFC Rewards points, snap photos at photo ops, participate in leader boards and gain exclusive access to pool and viewing parties—and then instantly share their experiences on social networks. The campaign, dubbed Las Vegas TakeOver, also included the integration of sponsor activations by Reebok, Kraft, Bud Light, Monster Energy, Toyo Tires, Harley-Davidson, EA Sports, MusclePharm, UFC Gym and MetroPCS.
Tap stations dotted the city from pools to hotel lobby kiosks, to the route of a 5K run and along the Las Vegas Monorail, and it spanned not only from one end of The Strip to the other, but also reached out to Fremont Street, Red Rock Resort and Hendersonville. The UFC Mobile app tied it all together, keeping fans aware of all the activities around Vegas and delivering unique content. The campaign unleashed hundreds of devices: laptops, tablets, handhelds, rewards check-in kiosks, drones for video, RFID readers, QR scanners, touch screens, DSLR cameras, mobile devices, video cameras and the Microsoft Azure Cloud infrastructure that linked all the devices together in real-time.
UFC and participating sponsors were able to monitor activations from Thuzi’s technology platform anywhere in the world on their own mobile devices gleaning information such as attendee location information, time stats (such as how many fans touch an activation kiosk and when), how many pieces of content were posted by a specific fan and where, traffic flow and amplification.
Among the knockout results from UFC TakeOver was increased throughput. Wait times to meet fighters went from hours in 2014 to minutes in 2015 thanks to the RFID/NFIC integration. UFC fan amplification also resulted in millions of friends interacting with branded content that was curated at venues throughout Las Vegas during the week. More than 13,000 fans participated in at least one activation with many fans participating in as many as 85 activations. Now that’s worth fighting about.
SILVER WINNER
Campaign: Launch of OnePlus2
Client: OnePlus
Partner: TBA Global
Two-year-old China-based smartphone manufacturer OnePlus boasts a global cult following despite having no brick-and-mortar shops and an invitation-only sales model. For the launch of the new model, OnePlus 2, the brand leveraged the buzz-building intrigue of its business model with a pop-up experience in the middle of New York City’s Times Square. Inside the white honeycomb-shaped dome was a multi-dimensional technology experience that elevated the brand’s innovation messaging.
Leveraging the company’s interest in invite-only experiences, the most devoted OnePlus users were sent early notifications of the activation and given the chance to line up (some arrived as early as 4 a.m.) to experience the OnePlus 2 before the general public. If the lines of super fans weren’t enough, OnePlus displayed custom content on a one-hour loop on the iconic 44-foot NASDAQ tower screen over Broadway and 42nd Street. Live feeds from simultaneous London and Milan launch pop-ups, social media posts aggregated via #neversettle and GIFs from the on-site selfie booth were displayed on a social content screen just outside the dome.
From demos, feedback sessions and interactions with brand ambassadors inside the dome, to tech-fueled installations outside the dome, the OnePlus 2 launch led to more than 350,000 digital impressions on top of media coverage. A plus one for OnePlus.
BRONZE WINNER
Campaign: Made for U
Client: Target
Partners: Periscope
To take advantage of Back to College season (an opportunity to connect with Millennials during a key life-stage transition) and change the perception of it being a “Mom’s store,” Target launched two-day pop-up experiences at University of Arizona, University of Maryland and University of Iowa. The Target Union pop-up reinvented itself daily with changing partner brand activations and boasted technological integrations that spoke to this digitally savvy audience.
Customization was at the heart of it. The pop-up had four LED walls displaying 30 hours of original content, some of it university-branded per campus. RFID wristbands (with eight designs students could choose from) tracked where and when students checked in each day. Students could choose the music playing inside via a live demo of the smartphone-enabled Sonos technology. There was also a 270-degree photo activation inside a Target-styled dorm room—photos taken then rotated on one of the screens inside to further personalize the experience.
iPads secured to tables in a pergola area allowed students to swipe or auto-scroll through event messaging and Target offerings. A custom Target Snapchat filter created for each campus, fueled by #TargetUnion messaging, was promoted to encourage social sharing. All the customization and personalization paid off, as the program received a 92 percent positive impression rate of the Target brand from survey responses afterward. Bull’s eye.
BEST COMBINATION OF EVENT TECHNOLOGIES (B-TO-B)
GOLD WINNER
Campaign: EMC World 2015
Client: EMC
Partner: Opus Agency
The concept of Big Data is not an easy one to wrap one’s brain around. It’s broad. It’s complex. And it’s an evolving concept that changes from one day to the next. So to help attendees at its annual EMC World 2015 conference last May in Las Vegas understand the new demands on businesses in this age of data, EMC activated an integrated technology experience centered on “Information Generation” messaging. The idea: to bring Big Data to life in a dynamic, visual and experiential way.
If you’re familiar with EMC’s award-winning LED bridge experience last year, you know that this brand likes to make an entrance. The focal point of this experience was a 30-foot high Big Face “mask” installation that displayed 3D projections of attendees’ faces. The photo op had a 45-minute wait time and attracted 2,155 participants—it was also the most tweeted attraction at the show. For another large-scale social integration, handling agency Opus used Postano’s social media aggregation and visualization platform to project a massive photo mosaic display, with social content across three networks pulling from the #RedefineYourself event hashtag.
After these engagements, attendees entered a Vortex Immersion 360-degree projection dome where they were immersed in the story of the Information Generation messaging of the conference. The experience explored how data is changing nearly every aspect of our lives as attendees were catapulted into the future for a newscast from the year 2023, and imagined life through a child’s eyes.
Outside the immersion dome, attendees engaged in a hands-on learning experience on home automation, the latest data-based medical advances, data-enabled fitness clothing and mind-control headsets (cue the sci-fi music). The exhibit area was built on a Sedna multi-touch system that allowed attendees to swipe graphics from a control pad up to a large screen to build their ideal Home of the Information Generation and score points for cloud connectivity.
In other areas of the exhibit, attendees experienced real-time fitness metrics with Athos smart clothing, learned about digestible sensors attached to pills and a mobile app revolutionizing data-based medicine with Proteus Digital. And then, they tested their EEG brainwaves and went head-to-head with each other donning Emotiv EPOC headsets to control a drag-racing game.
The point of the entire exhibit—to demonstrate the personal impact of data and the new ways it can be gathered, processed and displayed. That theme guided EMC’s technology integrations, which included 3D photography, 3D projection, multi-touch and multi-screen interactivity, electromyography, electroencephalography and biometric telemetry.
Thanks to all the tech, and that Big Face, EMC exceeded its goals for the event, recording more than 5,000 participants in the engagements and 3,487 total posts aggregated to the real-time social visualization display. Big data. Bigger results. Mind blown.
SILVER WINNER
Campaign: AT&T Connected at CTIA
Client: AT&T
Partners: CSE
CTIA Super Mobility is the largest and most influential forum on mobile innovation in the Americas. Exhibitor AT&T decided that the best way to demonstrate its Connected Life products and services was to immerse attendees in individual product stories brought to life by a host of tech integrations inside its 60-foot by 80-foot booth.
There was the Augmented Reality Wall, a 20-foot structure that represented the cross section of a home outfitted with a live AT&T Digital Life home security and automation system. As attendees pointed tablets at the wall, an overlay of hotspots would appear onscreen. They could then tap to learn more about each product. LED display cases with transparent touch screens contained the brand’s new wearables and allowed attendees to tap on a product and pull up information, photos and videos.
Eventually, all the tech stories were pulled together in The Connected Life Interactive Hologram Home. Attendees were invited to select use-case scenarios on a tablet, which would then play 3D animations in the hologram (software ran from a Linux server and four independent video cards) to highlight AT&T products, services and benefits.
During the three-day run, AT&T’s space generated 7,227 interactions by 5,400 visitors.
BRONZE WINNER
Campaign: Worldwide Partner Conference 2015
Client: Microsoft
Partners: Mosaic, Thuzi
Microsoft mixed fun and functional at the Worldwide Partner Conference in July in Orlando, treating high-tech business executive attendees to a high-tech conference in one of the high-techiest landscapes—Walt Disney World and Epcot Center. With partner Thuzi, Microsoft tied the entire experience together, from social sharing to the delivery of key event information, with RFID wristbands.
The wristbands contained LED components controlled by a special infrared network set up throughout Epcot. Throughout the week, they fueled fun and provided a paper-free experience. Wristbands lit up as attendees entered special zones where customized activations such as photo kiosks were stationed.
Strategically located tap stands and scan-to-share stands at all of the events for the conference amplified social sharing at every turn. Activations included photo stations, information kiosks that delivered real-time product and event information, social check-ins and charity share stations to generate awareness for Microsoft’s nonprofit partners.
The wristband also replaced the Disney wristband for photo taking and access control inside the park and ultimately enabled Microsoft attendees to personally participate in the grand finale Epcot fireworks show. As a result, WPC-related content had an estimated reach of 4.2 million, with more than 8,000 engagements. Magical.
BEST DIGITAL + LIVE CAMPAIGN
GOLD WINNER
Campaign: #WhosGonnaWin
Client: Verizon
Partner: Wasserman
The Super Bowl is a perennially cluttered environment with major brands vying for share of mind among fans on-site and at home. For Super Bowl XLIX in Phoenix, Verizon re-activated and reinvented a successful strategy deployed for the previous year’s Super Bowl with a social media campaign that measured fan votes through a custom algorithm and converted them into a spectacular lightshow in downtown Phoenix. And it was all fueled by the same hashtag and call to action: #WhosGonnaWin.
All tweets, Instagram posts and comments on Facebook with the hashtag and reference to one of the Super Bowl teams were captured as a vote. The votes were counted and compared daily to reveal the team that had the most support revealing “WhoGonnaWin” through a dramatic lightshow. The collation of the votes could be refreshed daily to show how the game was heating up and how support was shifting between teams. Additionally, the votes could be broken down by time and location, leading to a series of engaging visual representations of data (a new part of the experience this year).
For four consecutive nights, two sides of the 200-foot-tall Bank of America building came to life in the lead-up to the Super Bowl with a projection mapping show. Fans gathered at the base of the building and soon these “watch parties” became a hot spot of increased dwell time and stronger brand attribution for Verizon. The show was also live-streamed on WhosGonnaWin.com and NFL Mobile, exclusively from Verizon.
In order to track the voting, the team developed a unique social media algorithm that tracked fan voting across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The algorithm tracked use of the campaign hashtag, combined with the fan sentiment, to determine which users were voting for what teams. In addition, the conversation was tracked geographically so that fans could see where votes for their favorite team were coming from in real time.
Verizon leveraged sports talent to generate buzz for the campaign, drive media attention and draw fans to the watch parties. A number of current and former players were enlisted from either existing endorsement deals or one-off deals for the Super Bowl in order to amplify the social media campaign even further and share the brand story.
It’s not every day that fans get to see their social engagement impact a larger-than-life experience, and ultimately, the campaign helped position Verizon as a technology leader. All told, there were 576,000 total votes on social, 50 percent mentioning Verizon. And there were over one million hits on whosgonnawin.com, 169.2 million earned impressions and 15,000 total viewers on the ground. #Wow.
SILVER WINNER
Campaign: #DellLounge Powered by Windows 10
Client: Dell, Microsoft
Partner: Lacy Maxwell Productions
How do you entice the post-Millennial marketplace—that new generation of savvy, highly technical pre-teens and teens you can’t woo to demo a product with a glass of wine or influencer night in the club? To raise awareness about a partnership and to launch a free upgrade of Microsoft’s new operating software Windows 10, Dell and Microsoft transformed a 10-story building in Chicago into the #DellLounge. The four-day summer pop-up offered product interactions, themed areas and learning labs staffed by partners and instructors.
Among standout experiences: a gaming lab featuring a VR activation with Oculus and 3D Live, and a station where attendees could create Hologram Selfies and share 3D holographic video. There were appearances by e-sports shout casters, YouTube celebrities, bloggers and djs. Multiple CSR engagements encouraged participants to #UpgradeYourWorld—from code writing with Girl Scouts, e-waste recycling projects and a pledge asking participants to create their own #LegacyOfGood. Most experiences were tied to Dell and Microsoft devices and services. Every night the building came alive with a custom Dell/Windows 10-controlled light show across all floors of the building.
The #DellLounge garnered 2.3 billion social media impressions, and on day two of the activation, the Microsoft Windows Upgrade site had reached capacity and was backlogged with requests. That’s what you call a good problem.
BRONZE WINNER
Campaign: Untameable Tour
Client: Bacardi
Partners: GMR Marketing
To recruit more male rum drinkers ages 21-24, and connect its brand to the music and entertainment scene, Bacardi this fall launched the Untameable Tour, a program that started in bars and ended at epic music destinations like Lollapalooza and TomorrowWorld—with a heavy pour of digital extensions in between.
During three-hour bar takeovers across the country, brand ambassadors helped consumers “Join the Journey” through high-tech activations, sampling, social sharing and more. A few of the cool moments: a virtual reality tour using Oculus Rift of Bacardi’s Triangle Festival in Puerto Rico, and an All Access credential that doubled as an Augmented Reality trigger—when a brand ambassador scanned a badge on an iPad, a life-sized Bacardi party girl appeared to “dance” with the consumers on camera. Consumers could switch out girls to their liking, and snap a photo with her… the virtual her, that is.
By becoming a “recruit,” consumers were entered into a sweepstakes to be selected for trips to epic music destinations where they were treated to VIP access, Bacardi cocktails and after parties. Eight weeks into the 26-week campaign, Bacardi fielded more than 21,000 tour registrations. More than 50 percent of recruits opted in to supplemental digital engagement to gain additional entries. Cheers to that.
BEST USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA
GOLD WINNER
Campaign: HP Discover 2015
Client: HP
They say good things come in threes, and the three-pronged social media plan behind HP Discover 2015, Hewlett-Packard’s three-day bi-annual conference and trade show, is no exception. HP’s new Social Everywhere strategy, Social Media Hub and Word Cloud Portraits were a win-win-win that generated the best social media metrics ever for HP Discover.
HP enjoys a sizeable audience through its blogs, LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook channels. However, to tap into the potential reach among followers of in-person attendees as well as employees who are active in social media, HP created a comprehensive social media strategy for everyone involved with the show.
Social Everywhere increased awareness of HP Discover social activity and inspired attendees and employees to participate in the HP Discover social community. The strategy provided at-event social media training and tools to HP employees and stakeholders, such as live tweeting, demo promotion and influencer development. Attendee Twitter handles, collected during registration, were included on event badges, along with HP Discover social accounts. The #HPDiscover hashtag was promoted on signage throughout the show.
The Social Media Hub, positioned in the lobby just outside of the show floor entrance, literally bridged the digital-physical divide. The Hub displayed HP’s Twitter stream, leader boards and views of real-time social activity, such as trending terms and hashtags, during the show. It also displayed live streams of key sessions. Content was displayed on 12 monitors affixed to a curved display wall and was positioned to ensure visibility from afar. The Social Media Hub also hosted a Word Cloud Portrait station where attendees could create and share customized images of their faces rendered as word clouds composed of tech-related keywords. The station utilized HP Pro Slate tablets wirelessly linked via a shared application that enabled the portrait creation and sharing in near-real time.
The Word Cloud Portrait application and HP ExploreCloud, which provided the metrics displayed on the large screens, took the social media experience to a whole new level. HP Explore Cloud combined robust data collection, parsing and analysis capabilities with data visualization to represent, at a glance, the real-time social media activity within specific parameters. It enabled HP to display the social media activity generated by HP accounts and at-show attendees, as well as showcase the general buzz across the web resulting from the event.
The three-tiered strategy worked together to increase reach and engagement of attendees. More voices joined the conversation, more social accounts were activated and more content was produced. For the first time ever, the primary event hashtag #HPDiscover trended on two days of the show. And the show saw double-digit growth in overall social media activity during the week of the event, including both HP and non-HP accounts. Triple play.
SILVER WINNER
Campaign: Cisco Live 2015
Client: Cisco
Cisco Live spans five days and involves hundreds of thousands of partners, influencers and customers, both in-person and virtually. Social media utilized before, during and after the event helps the company leverage their interest and enthusiasm into a thriving year-round community that amplifies key messages beyond the event’s ecosystem and enhances the experience for all 26,000 attendees.
User-generated content and sharing across social media built awareness and generated buzz pre-event. On-site, an eye-catching Social Media Command Center within a Social Media Hub across from registration monitored real-time engagement, tracked lead generation and promoted the Cisco Live (#CLUS) brand. Social media also drew virtual participants into high-profile keynotes and other sessions. Each day, attendees received personalized high-res digital photographs, inscribed with an autograph and the participant’s name, from that day’s featured conference celebrity. Nothing like a message from Aerosmith to generate a little excitement!
Through Sprinklr technology team members monitored the social stream, responding to activity and requests within minutes. Custom-designed social media visualizations utilized DG Logic’s technology. Digigraph provided custom content sought after by attendees. The team incorporated Cisco’s Spark technology to create virtual “rooms” for collecting social content. It all added up to record levels of activity for Cisco’s social communities.
BRONZE WINNER
Campaign: Imagine Dragons Destination Dragons Tour
Client: Southwest Airlines
Partners: MAC Presents
In a competitive field of discount carriers, Southwest Airlines wanted to build brand affinity and awareness among adults ages 18 to 54. Turns out, the way to do that was through music, specifically Imagine Dragons, one of the hottest bands on the planet. The big idea was a fully integrated, never-been-done-before program in partnership with the band, which wanted to celebrate with Super Fans in cities that launched its career—Los Angeles, Salt Lake City and Las Vegas—along with Atlanta, a new priority market for Southwest.
The highlight was a “Live at 35” concert in the air along with a tour that gave Southwest multiple opportunities to create original branded content for the airline and the band. The fully integrated program included a geo-targeted Twitter Scavenger Hunt, a microsite, a National Flyaway sweepstakes, heavy social activity, local radio promos, major media partnerships and a massive p.r. push. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and the Southwest and Imagine Dragons’ websites were leveraged to seed original content and fans’ social efforts. Social media proved the critical ingredient for creating this pop culture phenomenon. As fans shared the music performances online, awareness for Southwest increased and Imagine Dragons album sales really took off.
BEST TOUCH- OR GESTURE-BASED INTERACTIVE
GOLD WINNER
Campaign: Carmelo Anthony Freethrow Challenge
Client: Kuhmo Tire
Partner: Pearl Media, Pal 8 Media, Trailer Park, Russ Media
Kumho means “Bright Lake” in the Korean language, but we think its activation plan as the first official tire partner of the NBA and NBA Development League (NBA D-League) in the U.S. and South Korea was pretty bright, too.
A comprehensive plan leading up to the NBA All-Star 2015 in New York City featured New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony as a brand ambassador, which got the seven-time All-Star in on some virtual hoops action. The result was a campaign that stopped busy New York commuters long enough to experience a touch screen video game of pop-a-shot with a virtual “Melo” (as he likes to be called) in a New York City subway. Then it topped that off with a sweepstakes payoff of a real game of H-O-R-S-E with him.
Leading up to the NBA All-Star game in New York City, Kumho blanketed the subway’s S trains and Times Square station with branding from the campaign. The activation tipped off in Times Square with the unveiling of the first-ever NBA All-Star 2015-themed subway cars, which featured Anthony, then challenged commuters in an interactive fan experience based on the classic arcade-style basketball free-throw game. But instead of basketballs, this challenge involved tires, which participants aimed with the swipe of a finger at a perpetually moving hoop housed on a large format touch screen. They had 30 seconds to dunk as many as possible. Depending on the score, Anthony delivered a critique ranging from, “You’re the real MVP” to “Did you even try?” At the game’s end, the touch screen snapped a photo of the player and dropped the image beside Melo, allowing people to be photographed “with” the athlete. Participants submitted their email addresses to be entered into the sweepstakes and receive their photo tagged with #KumhoSweeps, which they could share on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
A Samsung 65-inch LCD panel provided a large visual canvas to host the interactive experience. A visualplanet 65-inch touch foil enabled consumers to engage with the large LCD panel to control game play and submit personal data for continued communications. Solid-surface vibration speakers delivered a high-quality speaker solution, emitting powerful sound and vibrations through the glass that cut through the ambient noise and chaos of the Times Square station, which is traveled by upwards of 180,000 commuters daily. A glass-shattering animation with corresponding sound effects diverted the attention of passersby immediately to the experience and enhanced participation and immersion.
The technology created a slam-dunk for Kumho and the participants. The campaign generated 3,438 unique consumer interactions over 28 days of activation. Additionally, 629 emails were submitted for an impressive data capture rate of 18.3 percent.
SILVER WINNER
Campaign: Reebok Athlete Challenge
Client: Reebok
Partners: Genuine
Reebok was looking to create an in-person workout activation for all six locations of the Reebok CrossFit Regional Competitions in May and the Games in July, one that would motivate and engage the hyper-competitive audience while capturing their information for ongoing engagement beyond the events. The result was a life-sized interactive display where users could test their CrossFit skills against the world’s top CrossFit athletes.
Reebok filmed six athletes performing five movements in a 60-second AMRAP (as many reps as possible) contest, then showed the athletes on a 72-inch LCD screen with a GoPro camera attached to the side, which filmed the last 10 seconds of the users’ competition. Participants entered CRM data and chose the movement and athlete against whom they wanted to compete, then began the challenge. Afterward, they received an email with an attached stitched video and a link to a microsite where they should share on social media and shop Reebok’s CrossFit store.
Tried-and-true technology, including an app built on Mac Minis and the GoPro recordings, powered the activation. Apple Xcode made the magic happen behind the scenes. With 882 participants from 33 countries—about three percent of all attendees—the experience was a high-energy success.
BRONZE WINNER
Campaign: Earn Your Armour
Client: Under Armour
Partners: agencyEA
The goal for the launch and opening of Under Armour’s Chicago Brand House store—a 30,000-square-foot space on the Magnificent Mile, and the largest retail location the company has opened to date—was to interact with local Chicagoans, build Brand House awareness, drive loyalty and in-store traffic and capture consumer and social connectivity. To do that, the Earn Your Armour Chicago Challenge really brought the Brand House message home.
The challenge featured a custom-built digital obstacle course in which participants “sprinted” down Michigan Avenue, “kayaked” in the Chicago River and “climbed” up the stairs of the Willis Tower, an experience that ended with a photo-finish on the sky deck. The challenge took place during a Brand House store VIP and press opening event, and traveled to Chicago’s Pioneer Court on opening day and to the Health and Fitness Expo at McCormick Place. To increase store traffic, Under Armour distributed more than 14,000 drive-to-store mystery cards on-site.
The digital obstacle course integrated gesture technology in a way that was authentic and relevant to Under Armour’s brand story via Microsoft Kinect. Sales were double predictions on opening day. The event received local and national media coverage and more than 1.4 million social impressions.
BEST USE OF A/V
GOLD WINNER
Campaign: Manufacturing Innovation Immersion
Client: Ford Motor Co.
Partner: BRC Imagination Arts, TechMDinc
Ford’s F-150 may be a classic among American-made trucks, but it’s also got its eye on the future. The Manufacturing Innovation immersion experience at the Ford Rouge Factory Tour, a Ford factory complex located in Dearborn, MI, showcases the automaker’s recent breakthroughs and brings the story of the people behind its technologies to life in a visceral, emotional way.
The “stronger, smarter, lighter” 2015 F-150 truck, which also happens to be Ford’s best-selling truck model, is the star of the experience. Now built with an aluminum body that weighs 700 pounds lighter that its steel counterpart, the F-150 represents a bold move on the part of the company, one that positions the truck as the ultra-capable pickup of the future. Before people see the finished product at the plant, it connects them to the incredible level of research and technology that went into the truck’s new design. It also gives context for real-life applications of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics) education and innovation that can’t be seen anywhere else.
Manufacturing Innovation involved the rehab of an existing theater and repurposing of seven HD projection screens that span 360 degrees around the audience. The new show incorporates choreographed state-of-the-art immersive technology, including high-definition media, 3D projection mapping, two synchronized industrial robots, multiple lasers, custom LED lighting, a custom musical score, vibrating floor and a moving element with a three-quarters-scale F-150 rising from the floor. The eight-minute experience required close collaboration with the Ford design and innovation teams and a unique filmmaking process that utilized GoPro cameras recording never-before-filmed manufacturing sequences in freshly renovated industrial locations and required specialized rigs for exterior driving shots.
As the theater darkens, the show begins with the digitally typed question: “What is your F-150 of the future?” then the tempo quickens as the audience witnesses the design, engineering, innovation, trial and error and preparation that went into the new F-150. The theater comes to life with special lighting and laser effects as the model of the truck appears to be 3D-printed right before their eyes. After this close encounter with Ford technology, the audience can take a walking tour above the working F-150 assembly line for a better understanding of what goes into the truck.
Manufacturing Innovation is a permanent brand destination that was designed and built to stand up to heavy use, day-in and day-out, over years. Yet in a mere nine weeks, it went from napkin sketch to installation via 3D modeling, two-inch scale models for projection tests and the latest video mapping servers. Special effects include full 360-degree spherical video, 360-degree panoramic stop motion time lapse footage and full-range projection effects. A futuristic experience befitting the truck of the future.
SILVER WINNER
Campaign: Canon Expo 2015
Client: Canon
Partner: Imagination the Americas, Dentsu America
Every five years Canon showcases its forward thinking in a trade show that visits New York City, London, Paris, Australia and Tokyo. In New York City’s Jacob K. Javits Center, the Expo this year offered a 110,000-square-foot immersion into Canon’s See Impossible theme.
Eleven areas visually showcased key industries. For example, a “Yankee Stadium” area featured bleachers and on-field athletes along with information on cameras and lenses. A Chelsea art gallery was outfitted with cutting-edge printers. Additional zones focused on imaging, home, enterprise, film production, customer experience, university and more.
The Expo leveraged technology and creativity to offer an experience that could be touched and viewed. Engagements included tunnel projection, a series of screens hanging from the ceiling that greeted attendees at the main door, cube projection suspended from the truss that featured call-to-action lines and other content. Those unable to attend could access the experience via a 360-degree tour from their computers, phones and tablets. The Expo touched 9,000 attendees, received more than one million website hits and garnered positive reviews from industry analysts.
BRONZE WINNER
Campaign: Digital NewFront 2015
Client: AOL
Partners: Barkley Kalpak Agency
AOL went into the 2015 NewFront with one key message: that it provides celebrity-focused, original programming and consistent video content 365 days a year. With that Content 365 message in mind, A/V immersed attendees in the Content 365 offering. Packaged under the theme of “Unleash,” the NewFront conveyed that AOL is unleashing a new breed of storytelling, delivering content to consumers here, there and everywhere.
While celebrities were on hand to promote the content, video was the star of the event. Massive widescreen and overhead ceiling projection literally surrounded the audience in the video content that supported the Unleashed theme as attendees felt the scope of Content 365 in a visceral way. The opening video created a “wow!” moment and set the tone for the evolution of content consumption, with AOL at the forefront. Additional videos supported the breakdown of content consumption by format rather than the traditional daypart, such as small screen “snackable” content, all-screen storytelling and big-screen streaming. A 40-foot wall featuring 365 iPads streamed continuous footage demonstrating the magnitude of AOL content. For AOL’s new live morning show RISE, a live segment was created on the main stage during the presentation. All told, it was an immersive, Content 365-experience.
BEST AUDIENCE INTERACTION
GOLD WINNER
Campaign: Coke Zero Drinkable Billboard
Client: Coca-Cola Co.
Partner: IMG Live, Ogilvy & Mather, Specialized Mobile Exhibits
There are the billboards that one sees off in the distance while driving down the highway, and then there is this billboard—one that dispenses fresh, bubbly Coke Zero to masses of Millennials captivated by the 10-f