B-to-C Events

New Belgium Brewing Co. this month has unleashed a team of “beer rangers” clad in tan and olive uniforms who will appear in bars and retail outlets as well as in print ads and online games to introduce a new brew called Ranger IPA. Their mission: “To Protect. To Pour. To Partake.” Their get-up: a wide-brimmed hat, red kerchief, olive shirt and pants and tan gaiters.

Burger King on Feb. 4 embarked on the biggest tour in its history, an 18-week, 41-city BK Next Best Move national mobile tour that is hitting African-American communities in search of “game-changers” both on the basketball court and in urban areas across the U.S. Reality TV star Syrus Yarbrough will accompany the tour to all 41markets.

REDUCING PAPER USE at events can be as difficult as making major lifestyle changes. Both require a real shift in mindset. Companies like Oracle and Microsoft are encouraging change by rethinking the need for thick paper show books and embracing digital methods of information delivery at its events through on-site kiosks, computers and mobile devices like smartphones.

LAST YEAR COULD BE CALLED the year of the handout. For eight hours on Feb. 3, Denny’s restaurants gave away two million free Grand Slam Breakfasts—two pancakes, two eggs made to order, two sausage links and two strips of bacon. Snack-cake maker Little Debbie last fall gave away one million cupcakes (125,000 cartons holding eight cupcakes each. Yummy).