B-to-B Events

After 18 years of pitching its iconic tents at Bryant Park, New York’s Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week has uprooted the stakes. This fall the show moved to Lincoln Center, a venue farther from the Garment District, yet considered a hub of refined culture and art. EM scoped out the new digs and chatted with IMG’s Christina Neault, executive producer of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week/IMG Fashion, about the move.

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, the Official Candy of the Consumer Electronics Show, which was held Jan. 6 to 9 in Las Vegas, took its inspiration for the unveiling of its new Minis from a typical Silicon Valley product launch, but did so in its own sweet way. The candies, which Reese’s calls the “Next Big, Little Thing,” are about the size of a dime and come in a resealable, standup pouch.

Smart makes one of the smallest production cars in the market. But belying its stature, the brand went tall and broad with its exhibits at this month’s North American International Auto Show at the Cobo center in Detroit. The brand kept its little efficient cars in the spotlight, not taking focus away, but enhancing the fun with simple, neat coolness. The best interactive was designed to highlight the consumer’s ability to customize everything about the Smart experience by showing just one feature.

Since the iPad launched, more event marketers are making it the handheld of choice for their events, especially for street programs designed to drive traffic online.

The Honda National Dealer Meeting, which took place last June at the Denver Convention Center, lifted the lid off Pandora’s box, but instead of unleashing the evils of mankind, it portrayed Honda’s view of the world, its technology and approach to the future. This Pandora’s Box is a 3D media server that had Honda engines and power trains, motorcycles and people movers flying through the air and landing on stage.