Anna Huddleston

This holiday season, Microsoft gave passengers at several U.S. airports the gift of free photos with Santa Claus. From Nov. 23 to Dec. 21, the brand set up its Holiday Photos on the Fly booth at 26 airports where it snapped holiday photos of consumers and then enhanced them on-site using Windows Live photo features, including Photo Fusion and Photo Mail.

At the Ft. Lauderdale Home Show Dec. 3 to 5, DISH Network set out to leverage its all-new 200-square-foot booth to attract new customers and upgrade the services of existing ones. To do that, it unrolled three distinct experiences, each to cater to a specific product line, resulting in a 150-percent increase in leads over the previous year.

To put its car audio and satellite navigation systems in the hands of its primary target—18- to 35-year-old male drivers—Pioneer’s United Kingdom division has beefed up its marketing efforts with experiential tactics that in six days in November helped generate $25,000 in direct to consumer sales. All of the action happened at the brand’s 620-square-foot booth at the MPH motor show in London featuring talent from the “Top Gear Live” television series (Nov. 4-7), and a 394-square-foot booth at an auto expo in Birmingham (Nov. 11-14).

As part of a strategy to connect with upscale consumers, Buick has partnered with Food & Wine and Travel + Leisure to produce a “cultural discovery” tour in which consumers test drive the Regal sport sedan and engage in experiences with celebrity chefs, local artisans and travel experts.

Pop-Tarts through December is bringing its iconic toaster pastries to life in a 3,000-square-foot pop-up shop located on 42nd Street in Times Square. Inside Pop-Tarts World, consumers can choose from more than 50 Pop-Tarts flavors and experience offbeat menu options like Pop-Tarts Sushi (minced flavors rolled up in a fruit wrap), and engage in other fun activities like the 16-foot Varietizer, a vending machine that allows consumers to pick up to six Pop-Tarts flavors that are served to them in a suction cup.