B-to-B Events

In this monthly series, EM brings you tips and tricks from pros and experts who’ve been eating social media marketing for breakfast. So eat up, and check us out on Twitter @eventmarketer and Facebook.com/eventmarketer for more.

The South by Southwest (SXSW) Music, Film and Interactive festival is one of the top centers for innovation in the global technology sector. Startups flock to the Interactive portion of the festival by the dozen to court investors and pitch new clients. Some are revolutionary, some are destined for the dustbin and some are uniquely suited to event marketers, and EM dove in to find the ones that you would be wise to look into and keep an eye on in the second half of 2012.

Borglar

This summer, Clear Channel Spectacolor, a division of Clear Channel Outdoor, is activating in New York City the “Times Square Dunk Tank,” an interactive billboard, Facebook app and live interaction program designed to appeal to consumers and impress advertisers.

Indeed, it was the year’s greatest case study. An amalgam of every hot trend, activated by every new event marketing strategy—all with the power to drive $1 billion in sales (and that’s just for starters).

It isn’t often that a b-to-b tour gives rise to one that connects with consumers, too. As a matter of fact, it’s quite unusual, says Julie Garlikov, vp-marketing at Torani, the Italian coffee syrup brand. But that’s exactly what happened last year when Torani took to the road with its bottles, cups and blenders, hitting independent coffee houses along the West Coast that use the syrup in their coffees and a few of the distributors who service the accounts.