Sandra O’Loughlin

You’d expect a trade show for truckers to be larger than life. After all, the trucks are big, so it takes a lot of space to display them. But this year, Navistar’s 78,000-square-foot space at the Mid-America Trucking Show (MATS), which took place March 22 to 24 in Louisville, KY, was four-to-five times its usual size and the largest footprint of any exhibitor at MATS in its 40-year history.

Huawei Device USA, a subsidiary of the Chinese-based information and communications technology provider, launched its first experiential campaign at Taste of Chicago from July 11 to 15, giving U.S. consumers their first “taste” of Huawei smartphones and tablets from carrier partner T-Mobile. The campaign’s theme, “Access Smarter,” highlights the accessibility, quality and affordability of the Android-based devices.

To promote the July 25 grand opening of Chicago’s new CityTarget, the retailer created a series of experiential activations that engaged consumers and excited them about the new store. The store is one of five smaller-scale “urban” Targets slated to launch this year in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle. The new stores are about two-thirds the size of Target stores typically located in suburban areas and offer home goods, apparel, beauty supplies and grocery products that appeal to young, trendy city dwellers.

Stonyfield, the organic dairy brand, this summer is activating a Know Your Food mobile tour to educate consumers about healthy food choices.  The six-city tour includes grassroots marketing, small community events and guerrilla sampling at each stop and ties in with Stonyfield’s year-long Food Superheroes online campaign.

Bacardi in June sponsored the first game in the World Soccer Masters Tour, a new property that launched in Miami and gave the Miami-based rum brand a chance to connect with Hispanic soccer fans as it celebrates its 150th anniversary. The event, held June 23 at Sun Life Stadium, drew more than 48,000 fans who watched Lionel Messi, the world’s best player for three years in a row, and other top soccer players.