Jessica Heasley

Event marketers have long looked to their brands for inspiration—extracting their best attributes unearthing their hidden benefits and transforming their emotional touchpoints into hands-on product experiences that are fun relevant and bigger than life. But now brick and mortar brands are taking a cue from the event world by shaking up their retail stores and turning them into interactive and immersive brand experiences.

State school sporting events have long been the venues of choice for marketers looking to make connections with coveted college student populations local fans and tightly-knit alumni networks. But the Big Ten is hardly the only game in town. This month we take a look at alternative student networks—accredited U.S. colleges often overlooked by marketers but jam-packed with demographically unique target groups.

SAM HOUSTON did it after the Alamo. J.R. Ewing did it after getting shot. And George W. Bush well who knows. Nothing can stop most Texans from showing their true grit even when the chips are down and this year the state’s tourism office is no exception.

Mobile marketers are going green as quickly as they can retrofitting and updating their tours to reduce carbon footprints and utilize biodiesel and hybrid fuel technologies. But what about the mobile vehicles that still—for now anyway—use good old gasoline to criss-cross the country? UPS made news last year when it revealed that the brand’s delivery trucks only make right turns on their routes saving the company $600 million every year. If nixing left turns can save millions we wondered what other tricks do mobile marketers have up their sleeves?