B-to-C Events


The NFL Experience fan zone for Super Bowl XLVII last Sunday in New Orleans was chock full of brands vying for a bit of the fan's attention. Under Armour, the performance sports wear brand (that incidentally designed Baltimore linebacker Ray Lewis' golden game day shoes), brought one of the hottest games in town with its NFL Scouting Combine Experience. 

To preserve and bring to life the legacy of the figure that is the inspiration behind its brand message, Diageo spiced rum brand Captain Morgan teamed up with the Sundance Channel and award-winning director Michael Haussman to create “The Unsinkable Henry Morgan,” a documentary film about renowned privateer Captain Henry Morgan’s conquests in Panama. The 30-minute documentary follows a team of artists and experts as they travel through Panama in an effort to learn about Morgan’s legacy in the country today.

Events can be the stuff of great stories, and rather than closing the book when it’s time to pack up and move on, some marketers are taking the next chapter online, on movie and TV screens and even onto JumboTrons where footage captured on-site continues to engage audiences. Following are four examples of events, from cooking to cybercrime, cranberries to cars, that live on the airwaves and video screens long after the lights have gone out on the physical event and the last attendee has gone home.

GMC is back on tour promoting its vehicles and its Home Life experiential marketing platform at Home & Garden and Boat shows around the country. Its first stop this year was the Atlanta Boat Show, which took place in mid-January. Next up is Cleveland at the Great Big Home and Garden Show on Feb. 2. GMC's Home Life tour will make 11 stops this year.

Coming off the success of a six-month, 11,000-mile tour that began in July 2012, Duck Tape will once again hit the road, relaunching the Duck Tape Rolls Across America tour this month. The tour, which packages the creative product interactions that happen at the yearly Avon Heritage Duct Tape Festival in Avon, OH, home of the Duck Tape brand, features an interactive bus loaded with activities designed to inspire and educate consumers about the fun and practical uses of the tape.