Five Things to Know This Week
This week’s hot takes on hot topics in experiential marketing cover custom Cat-lectibles, nostalgic food courts and Kitchen Witch trends.
Etsy Plants a Creative Village at the Daisy Chain Fields Festival
Oliva Rodrigo’s Daisy Chain Fields music festival has been (flower) crowned a blooming success. And that paints a rosy picture for the sponsors that attached themselves to the inaugural nonprofit show, hosted Aug. 29 in Irvine, CA, which benefited women’s and girls’ charities.
Among top partners was Etsy, which built on its partnership with Rodrigo and the Daisy Chain Fields Collection she co-designed with 10 women-owned Etsy shops, to deliver the Etsy Creative Village, where festivalgoers were invited to meet, and buy directly from, many of the makers behind the collab.
The Village was a multi-stop destination that encompassed a mix of shopping and hands-on experiences, and rewarded those who made purchases with free gifts and perks. At the Boutique, seller-designed patches could be added to official festival merch or fans’ own clothing, and floral bandanas were available to buy and personalize with custom embroidery.
At the Etsy Bead Fountain, attendees could dig through mounds of colorful beads to create a complimentary safety-pin brooch and search for hidden Etsy pennies that could be cashed in for a prize (this touchpoint felt cringey from a sustainability POV). Over at the Parlor, sellers offered temporary tatts and handmade hair accessories that were co-designed by Rodrigo.
And at the Workshop, visitors could transform memories from the day into a “junk-journal” page using stickers and other creative supplies from Etsy shops, and had the chance to buy co-designed journal kits.
Mall Culture and Y2K Vibes: Cheez-It Opens a Food-Court Stall
The revival of mall culture appears to be in full swing (we can smell Auntie Anne’s from here), and Cheez-It is making moves with a month-long food court takeover at the Westfield Topanga Mall in L.A.
In partnership with Chain, the brand is opening up the Y2K-themed Cheez-It Court from Sept. 2-30, and serving up cheesy twists on classic mall fare, including the Cheez-Y-Bun, Crunchy Cheez-Dog and Cheez-Steak.
The custom-branded food court stall is billed as the “ultimate third space” and will feature everything from Y2K-inspired designs to cracker-patterned counters to throwback-inspired employee uniforms.
After the Cheez-It Court’s grand opening, the brand will release the recipes for each of the food court dishes online. Word.
Pinterest and Warner Bros. Conjure the Kitchen Witch Trend in L.A.
Fall is quickly creeping in, so it’s no wonder that the Kitchen Witch trend, found in Pinterest’s new Hobby Trend Report, is going hard. And with “Practical Magic 2” debuting on Sept. 11, it was just the right time for the social platform to team up with Warner Bros. on a bewitching activation.
From Aug. 28-29 in L.A., the hobby trends jumped from Pinterest’s digital report and into a pop-up space on Abbot Kinney Boulevard that was inspired by the Owens home from the franchise, and offered a series of trendy activities.
Touchpoints spanned an Herbal Apothecary focused on intentional living, a hands-on candle-making station, tarot card readings that leaned into the Cosmic Reset trend, and an interactive Crystal Bar that revealed the meanings behind crystal types. (Agency: NVE Experience Agency)
Read All About it: Dove’s Charli xcx Tour Sponsorship
Attending a summer concert is fun. Being self-conscious about sweating at the show… not so much. So as part of Dove’s sponsorship of Charli xcx’s Music, Fashion, Film Tour, the brand installed newsstands in three cities to tout its Whole Body Deo as the solution. (Another example of how concert tie-ins are trending.)
On Aug. 26, Dove simultaneously popped up at Repo Records in Philadelphia, Iconic Magazines in New York, and Book Soup in L.A., to bring its tour partnership to the streets.
At each newsstand, the first 300 people in line scored a limited-edition Dove x Charli xcx newspaper with exclusive photography of the artist on tour, and featuring Peel & Reveal stickers that rewarded dozens of fans with a pair of free tickets to a tour show.
All told, Dove cleaned up, with 750 newspapers, 800 deodorant bottles and 30 pairs of tour tickets dished out. (Agency: Shadow)
Anime NYC Fans Create ‘Cat-lectibles’ at a Hobby Shop for Cat Lovers
“Cattitude” is real, and Friskies is embracing that vibe with its Certified Frisky campaign, a celebration of feline-like energy that came to life at Anime NYC on Aug. 20 inside Cat-lectibles, the brand’s hobby shop for cat lovers.
The exhibit offered feline fans the chance to upload a photo of their cat and create a free custom trading card at a dedicated station. Kitties were reimagined as anime heroes, kaiju, bounty hunters and other characters, each with an origin story plucked from the brand’s fantastical “Friskies World.”
One winner even snagged a custom Cat-lectibles collection starring their own cat that came complete with a 3D-printed figurine, hand-illustrated poster and retro tin lunchbox.
For those who didn’t score the grand prize, a collectible blind box filled with Friskies samples was a nice consolation prize. (Agency: Momentum Worldwide)
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