In order to connect and engage with their flyers in a more experienced, innovative and immersive manner, most airline brands across the globe today have done away with the advertising clutter. These brands are becoming more sophisticated in their marketing activities and are finding new ways to secure a special memory in the mind and hearts of their travelers. Today at EE, we look at 4 airlines that wowed their passengers with innovative experiential campaigns. 1-Southwest Airlines in-flight fashion show In order to spread the word about the Chicago shopping festival and engage their travelers in an immersive in flight experience, Southwest airlines associated with the organizers from the Magnificent Mile to host the first ”Runway in the Sky.” Held in the aisle of a 737 traveling from New York to Chicago, the event featured models wearing styles from Macy's, a reputed fashion expert. Additionally, the flight also had Wi-Fi, and organizers kept track of the number of social media impressions that were generated during and after the stunt. There were, 143 unique tweets with the hashtag #RunwayIntheSky; these posts were retweeted and ultimately created more than 1.7 million impressions for the airline brand and the shopping festival. 2- JetBlue ‘chain letter of human goodness’ JetBlue airlines through this initiative started a long-term campaign by awarding one free JetBlue ticket to several deserving individuals involved in humanitarian efforts. After one such person had been selected then the airline allowed that person to select another deserving recipient of a free ticket, and so on and so on. The first Fly It Forward ticket recipients included Tameka Lawson, who represented her Chicago non-profit I-Grow at a UN conference in New York, and Louis Elneus from Haiti. These initial recipients were found and picked by JetBlue employees, and now the airline is asking people to submit their own nominations for the next round. 3- KLM ‘seat cover’ greeting KLM is often known for surprising passengers with unexpected experiences however this particular campaign featured on showcasing the varieties of stories of the passengers travelling on the same aircraft on a given day. The campaign ‘Cover Greetings’ involved placing a personal message from loved ones staying at home to their relatives on the headrest of their KLM aircraft seat. The airline spotted people saying goodbye to their families and then asked them to decorate a seat cover with their own message. This brought out the emotional side of the passengers as they saw a headrest cover made especially for them. 4-EasyJet- recognize 10th million passenger campaign Capitalizing on childhood memories ‘Guess Who?’ game, EasyJet created a live version of the popular board game to celebrate the 10 years anniversary of the airline carrying 10 million passengers through the southern France airport. As part of the activity, passengers were invited to participate in a game to guess the 10 millionth passenger who was hidden in a group of extras. The rules were same and passengers had to ask questions about the passengers physical attributes to eliminate as many of the 24 people with one question. Those participants who correctly identified were given free flights with EasyJet. The campaign was an instant hit among the passengers with over 1 million impressions on social media on the same day.
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After 13 editions of this fundraiser by Genesis Foundation (GF), the 14th edition of CEOs Sing for GF Kids will be held in Bengaluru on Saturday, August 22, 2015 at ITC Gardenia. On this evening, 12CEOs of India Inc. will not only turn rockstars, but will sing for a cause to give 10 little GF Kids-A Chance to Live. An evening of musical performancesby leaders of boardrooms guarantees fun galore. The CEO performers who promise to enthral a gathering of more than 120 people with their singing talent include: Ajay Kaul, CEO, Jubilant Foods; Ajit Saldanha, CEO, Eventually International Entertainment; Arati Rao, Founder, B-Flat; BirenGhose, Country Head, Technicolor India; Dr. Harsh Mahajan, Founder & Chief Radiologist, Mahajan Imaging;Dr.ThomasChandy, CMD & Chief of Orthopaedics, HOSMAT Hospitals; Manoj Nair, President, Novel Office Space; Natarajan Vishwanathan, CEO - Paramarth Consulting; Philippe Haydon, CEO, The Himalaya Drug Company; Ramesh Jude Thomas, President & CKO, EQUiTOR Value Advisory; Shireesh Joshi, COO, Strategic Marketing Group, Godrej; and Sulaiman Jamal, CMD, Bevel Gears India. Some of the songs that will be sung at this event are –Yehnayandareydarey, O’ mere dilke chain, Jab koyibaatbigadjaye, Beatles medley, Break Free (Queen), Just the way you are (Billy Joel), Tears in Heaven and Scar burrough Fair on flute & Over the Rainbow on Harmonica. The curator of this initiative, Prema Sagar, Founder Trustee, Genesis Foundation expressed her gratitude and delight.Looking forward she said, “Bengaluru has some serious talent and we are really looking forward to an enjoyable, musical evening. As always, we are overjoyed with the support from our singing CEOs! Their love for music and their commitment to our cause of supporting critically ill children’s treatment, makes this event both, fun as well as meaningful.” Over the years, CEOs Sing for GF Kids has become aplatform for supporting critically ill children from under-privileged backgrounds to Give Life a Chance. In keeping with the Foundation’s purpose to build a participatory culture of giving, musically-inclined CEOs come together to raise funds for these children. The uniqueness of CEOs Sing for GF Kids lies in its ability to give otherwise busy corporate honchos an opportunity to indulge and showcase their own passion while raising resources for the lesser privileged in the same beat.
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The most recent development in the domain of experiential is American Express announcing its partnership with the tennis sensation Maria Sharapova for a virtual reality game. The game will now allow the U.S. Open fans to return the tennis legend’s serves with their own moves, A strategic move to capitalize on the frenzy of the U.S Open, this particular experiential campaign by American Express is being lauded by critics and fans alike. Interestingly, this is not the first time that the multinational financial services company has used the technology of virtual reality to create customer experiences. Previously during the N.B.A. All-Star weekend in New York, American Express had invited basketball fans to engage in a digital video experience called Pivot. And it is not just American Express, most brands across the world today are actively using oculus rift and virtual reality at events. So what makes technologies like oculus rift and virtual reality tick for marketers? Well for those who do not know about it The Rift is a virtual reality head-mounted display developed by Oculus VR and is mainly used for gaming purposes and Virtual Reality (VR) replicates an environment that simulates physical presence in places in the real world or imagined worlds and lets the user interact in that world. Marketing experts believe that solely on the fact that oculus rift and virtual reality can provide tangible experiences to target audiences of a brand makes it a must use for marketers. How does a hotel or holiday company convince someone that it can offer an amazing experience when the person has never tried it in the first place? A brochure or website has their own limitations but actually taking them to the destination and allowing them to walk around the accommodation, to look at the views, to be in the experiences, that’s the sort of tangible experience that gives a real sense of what it would be like and sells it like no other medium. As an example, Marriott Hotels internationally has been offering newly married couples VR honeymoon experiences for quite some time now and they are a big hit. Also streaming content in a manner in which it appears absolutely live and directly in person has also become a possibility today. Thanks to the technologies in subject people anywhere in the world can have access to what it feels like to be at the event even if they are thousands of miles away. NBA currently is collaborating with Samsung to bring live basketball experiences to their global fan base. Another impressive use of oculus rifts and virtual reality is being done by online hiring companies and multinationals that is providing their prospective employees a real time experience of what would it be like when they join the job? Can experiences for people be any better? So basically these technologies are bringing the unthinkable and unimaginable to reality and that too without costing the time, efforts and monetary value of creating something real from scratch. Majority of brands in the country today who are willing to spend on BTL engagements opt for associations with large scale events. However, the current times call for a more dynamic and intimate relationships with customers. Something is which registers more to consumers apart from the logo pasted on every event branding. Oculus rifts and virtual reality serves this purpose as it helps brand customers develop a strong connect with the brand, an experience that they would always thank the brand for.
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Eminent brand consultant in the country, Santosh Desai, has picked up stake in brand strategy and design firm DY Works. Mr. Desai picked up the remaining stake from the erstwhile promoter of DY Works, Mr. Sanjeev Malhotra of Alia Group. In 2009, Future Brands helmed by Desai picked up the majority stake in DY Works. Speaking on the occasion, Ms Alpana Parida, President, DY Works, said, "We'll be looking for future synergies between the work Future Brands is doing and design work DY Works does. Given Santosh’s in-depth knowledge and wide experience, we are confident of building synergies through culture-based design and rural-focused brand amplification strategies. We'll be working together on some projects. We'll be focusing much more and building design for India in product innovation and creating brands which are more India-specific." Commenting on the development, Mr. Santosh Desai said, “The synergy between strategy and design is relevant. DY Works encodes solutions through design, thereby creating designs that impact market shares and brand valuation, Additionally, an approach embedded in culture is common to us as well. For brands to succeed in India – we need an understanding of the Indian cultural context, of dimly lit kirana stores and changes in consumer mindsets.” DY Works has grown almost 3-fold in the last 6 years and has Corporate, Consumer and SME practices with offices in Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru. The firm also focuses on the rural market and is currently undertaking an extensive rural research to understand the emerging consumer – new behaviors and beliefs in over 150 villages firsthand. Ms Parida believes that understanding India is the key to building successful brands - and that building strong brands should not simply be an outcome of how large your advertising spends are. Understanding the deeper belief systems of Indian consumers, the retail environments and the shopper experiences at kirana stores, the understanding of why some products and brands are adopted in inner India and why some are not - and using that understanding to create solutions that grow market shares is what makes this firm unique. While Parida will continue as President; Desai will continue as an advisor with the company.
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One of the most amazing facts about the world of experiential is that it can bring anything and everything to reality. If a marketer can dream a creative thought then it can be weaved into a mesmerizing campaign through experiential and added to the marketing mix of a brand. It is in fact only due to this attribute of experiential that the domain of marketing today is more exciting than ever. Brands nowadays are even integrating environmental elements such as water to make their experiential campaign stand out from all others. We at EE are thrilled with this practice and below mentioned is our list of top 4 brand activations on water. 1-Land Rover floating rugby ball This particular activation by the notable automobile brand featured an oversized rugby ball being used to carry a Land Rover down the Thames in London. The 8.2 metre-high ball travelled 25 miles down the river, from the Tilbury Docks to Tower Bridge. The activation was symbolic of the brands association with the Rugby World Cup and the highlight of the campaign was Land Rover ambassador and Rugby World Cup 2003 winner Lewis Moody driving the vehicle out of the giant ball. Land Rover was also used to transport the Web Ellis Cup throughout the Rugby World Championship. 2-Airbnb’s floating houseboat Online hospitality platform Airbnb recently created a blue coloured houseboat and sailed it down the River Thames for five days in May, to celebrate the arrival of new laws that favour home-sharers. The floating house was designed Star Events and consisted two bedrooms, a living room, bathroom, doghouse, garden with real grass and an apple tree, and it took four months to build. Fans were called on to experience the floating home by way of a star-studded party and sleepover for one lucky competition winner and three friends, who were treated to spa treatments and a private dining experience. 3- Sharknado 3 stunt This was one of its kind activation that was used to promote the brand of a film series instead and featured John Grimes and Edward Grimes (actors) who joined in the experiential bandwagon to promote their film Sharknado 3. The activation stunt saw the pair race down the river in a boat with sharks attached, giving off the idea that they were being chased by the carnivorous creatures, comprising three species - tiger shark, hammerhead and great white. Specialized production studio Wild Creations created the intricate stunt and the activation was an instant hit among the fans who simply could not wait to catch the movie after the thrilling experience. 4- Microsoft stages cycle stunt For this experiential campaign Microsoft teamed up with renowned cyclist Danny MacAskill to create a loop-the-loop-style cycle stunt to promote its Cortana brand. The stunt involved MacAskill riding a five-metre, loop-the-loop structure with the Cortana signature illuminated in front of the London Eye. The Cortana software helped with MacAskill's training for the challenge by arranging his meetings, setting appointment reminders, playing his favourite music, providing bad weather warnings and finding maps. The event used the Twitter hashtag #MakeItHappen to reflect the idea that Cortana software knows what users want and how to make it happen.
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The jury for EEMAX Global Awards 2015 has been constituted yesterday. The jury members will deliberate on the winning entries competing for the various awards under categories such as Best Product Launch, Best IP, Best Wedding, Best Mall Promotion, Best use of technology at an event, Best Dealer Activation Program, Best Outdoor Event, Best Space Design and others. Call to submit entries for the awards was made last week. Agencies can currently submit their work at entries.eemaxglobal.com. Empanelled agencies have been called forward by the Event and Entertainment Management Association (EEMA) to volunteer as jurors. However, the names of jury members have not been disclosed and strict adherence to secrecy has been advised to participating jurors. The jury will be conducted under the chairmanship of EEMA Patron, Michael Menezes, who will monitor the judging process and lay directives for the same. The Screening Jury session will be supervised and audited by the official auditors, EY. The jury is to be held simultaneously in Delhi and Mumbai on September 4, 2015, at Hotel Le Meridian and Hotel Taj Lands End respectively.
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Global communications consultancy firm Maxus has been appointed to manage the media mandate for Greenlam Industries Limited. Greenlam Industries Limited has been beautifying spaces for years by infusing creativity into every piece of work and turning it into planks of sheer beauty and brilliance. Greenlam is the market leader in laminate manufacturering. With over two decades of experience in the surface décor space, Greenlam has been instrumental in introducing the international décor trend, in India & to the international markets. A name to be reckoned with in surfacing products in more than 100 countries, Greenlam Industries Limited is standing tall with its guiding philosophies – innovative technologies and creative solutions. The company is engaged in the manufacture of decorative laminate, decorative veneers, doors, wall clads, wooden flooring and MFC (Melamine Faced Chip Board). Speaking about the win, Kartik Sharma- Managing Director, Maxus South Asia said, “We are in the process of evolving strategic long-term plans for the brand. We are delighted to have acquired the media mandate for Greenlam Laminates and are looking forward in achieving higher goals with this association. Using the right media mix, innovative strategies and technologies that we have at our disposal, we are sure to make this association a very successful one. It will be a great experience for the team working on the Greenlam Laminates business as is an exciting category!” Alex Joseph – Vice president – Marketing & communication Greenlam Industries was equally delighted about handing over the media duties to Maxus. He said, “We have partnered with Maxus as we believe they will bring value to our marketing efforts. We are sure this association will prove to be a rather fruitful one as a media agency, We expect Maxus to go beyond just the traditional way to build the brand “
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Times have changed and it is not just interactive ATL advertisements that TV show producers resort to for promoting their shows today. With more mature content being served to their viewers, the producers of television shows are also selecting mature marketing techniques to sell their overall product too. As a result most television channels are devising experiential activations that let fans delve deeper into their favorite shows, as well as introduced the programs to potential new audiences. In this list, we at EE share with you the top 5 Innovative experiential campaigns by TV shows. 1-The Simpsons Kwik-E-Mart Truck This one comes from the most popular cartoon characters of the kids. In this campaign the Fox cartoons embraced Austin's food truck culture and created a pop up Kwik-E-Mart that served more than 3,400 frozen drink Squishees at a rate of 2.6 orders filled per minute. While waiting for the drinks, fans could check out branded iPads tethered to the truck that featured every single episode of the show and the passersby could also take a photo of themselves inside a Kwik-E-Mart. 2-Game of Thrones This experiential campaign garnered huge accolades for the shows producers as it gave the fans an immersive experience with their favorite TV show. The interactive exhibit featured beer tasting of Ommegang's Game of Thrones-themed Three-Eyed Raven brew and a chance to sit on a comfortable replica of the Iron Throne. Using augmented reality, attendees could wield a sword and play a game where they destroyed boulders that appeared on screen. The better you did, the more of your image would appear. http://bcove.me/ow4pbkzh 3- Bates Motel In this experiential campaign the producers A&E created a replica of the eerie Bates Motel where the fans could not only check out the rooms but they could also search for at clues from the upcoming season. The fans through this campaign could also enter to win a one-night's stay at the hotel, complete with brownies from Austin bakery Delish and a welcome package from Tito's Vodka. Winners also had access to minibar room service from liquor delivery service Drizly, as well as maid service sponsored by booking platform Handy. The campaign not only gave the existing viewers a chance to get a personalized experience with their favorite TV show but it also served as a platform for passerby’s to explore a new interest and get hooked on to the show. 4-Sankat Mochan Mahabali Hanuman Sony Entertainment Television launched its mythological show titled ‘Sankat Mochan Mahabali Hanuman’ and to create buzz around the show, the channel added an experiential leg to its marketing might. Besides large hoardings at key locations, the channel created branded kiosks were put up at four temples of Lord Hanuman across the state of Uttar Pradesh. Dressed as Hanuman’s Vaanar Sena, volunteers served prasad boxes and water to the devotees. The branded kiosks were put at Sri Sankata Mochana Hanuman of Varanasi, Sri Hanuman Badi temple (old) of Aliganj, Lucknow, Sri Hanuman Badi temple (New) of Aliganj, Lucknow, and Sri Bade Hanuman of Prayagraj, Allahabad. Additionally the channel also introduced drones that have been flying in various cities across the country over a congregation of people reciting Hanuman Chalisa. Since this was one of the first times a TV show was being promoted with engaging experiences the launch of the show registered record viewership. 5- Friends The last activation of the list is though currently awaited but has managed to creat a storm across the United Kingdom already. Comedy Central UK recently announced that it will host a week-long fan experience to celebrate the iconic sitcom Friends in September through Friendsfest. The experience will feature a full-scale set of Monica’s New York apartment, which hosted many of the scenes in the show, an exhibition of original props and memorabilia, and a Central Perk-inspired café where guests can have their picture taken on the famous orange sofa and enjoy a coffee. FriendsFest will also include a pop-up blow dry hair salon, inspired by the ‘Rachel’ haircut, a Big Apple-themed courtyard and a foosball table. Interesting fact about the experience is that the tickets to FriendsFest sold out in less than half an hour after going on sale. Such is the power of creative experiential campaigns.
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