B-to-C Events

If you are ready to turn over the keys to that fleet of gas guzzling shuttle buses at your next event, you’re not alone. For the third year in a row, asset management company Janus Capital Group has used pedicabs to transport athletes and their families during the annual New York City Triathlon held the third week in July. The company sets up transportation stations where families can hop on after the athletes start the race and get dropped off at the finish line. Then the athletes get a lift after the final stage of the race instead of having to walk an extra mile and a half back.

On Oct. 31, workwear brand Dickies wrapped up a mobile experience called The Yard at the Voodoo Festival in New Orleans in which consumers tried to destroy its work pants with sanders, razors and weed-eaters. The effort was part of an integrated campaign that includes TV ads and social networking sites that reinforce Dickies’ workwear heritage and its original 874 work pants.

In a high-tech world, the last of the low-tech event sectors is plugging in.

Event staffing has for years been a rather “hands-on business” in which third-party brand ambassador providers recruit and manage staffers for the agencies that work directly with brand clients. These staffing partners relied on a mix of phone, fax and email, and in many cases recruited B.A.’s using classified ads.

This Oct. 10 marked the fifteenth consecutive year that Volkswagen has been a sponsor of the Chicago Marathon, and to celebrate that fact it launched the the Chicago Marathon Expo on the day before the race and the VW Fan Zone on race day, halfway through the race at mile 12, where it invited participants and attendees to grab a little hospitality, VW-style. The Expo and Zone together drew about 125,000 people.

From April to October, the Arby’s Charity Tour visited golf tournaments and community events in 17 markets to raise money for local Big Brother Big Sisters agencies and other youth mentoring programs. The tour has been running for 13 years, but this spring it upgraded from a tour bus to a 40-foot by 80-foot trailer with a built-in replica of an Arby’s kitchen that served its signature roast beef sandwiches and Jamocha shakes.