B-to-C Events

Summer concerts bring kids of all ages out to fairs and festivals, amphitheaters and arenas to rock with their favorite bands. And this year, as they piled into stadium parking lots and plied their way through the concourse crowds, they found all kinds of engaging experiences. Some, thanks to OfficeMax, got to create signs to wave to the performers on stage. Kia airbrushed attendees with temporary tattoos. KC Masterpiece and Kingsford fired up the grill for fans at backstage barbecues. And those are just a few of the on-site events.

Secrets are irresistible. It’s no surprise then that brands are using them to lure consumers to events. There are secret locations, secret build outs, secret celebrity appearances—you name it. But making sure a mysterious event is interesting enough to hook consumers is an art form that requires building the right amount of anticipation. Here’s a peek at how it’s done:

SAMSUNG

Brita this month is handing out reusable water bottles and coupons on eight college campuses to drive students to local stores to purchase one of its signature water pitchers. The program kicked off on Aug. 20 and runs through September at the Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA, George Washington University in Washington D.C., Gonzaga University in Spokane, WA, Pennsylvania State University, University of Arkansas-Fayetteville, University of California-Berkeley, Washington University in St. Louis and Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT.

When Ford’s zippy Fiesta hits American streets this year, to the casual observer it will look like a fun, affordable ride. With a sticker price of less than $15,000, some models come with a message center and trip computer on the dashboard, a floor console with a USB port and other amenities designed to appeal to hip, urban drivers and even some segments of the boomer crowd. They’re pretty easy on the gas, too.

To drive excitement and leads for the North American launch of the 2011 Ford Fiesta, Ford has launched a multi-tiered program of events in four Northeast markets—New England, Philadelphia, the New York/Tri-state area and Washington, D.C. The Fiesta Northeast tour, which launched in June and runs through the end of October, follows on the heels of the Fiesta Movement, the award-winning national campaign that put 100 agents behind the wheel of their own Fiesta for six months and had them document the experience on their social networks.