B-to-C Events

When brands make a major investment in creating and executing a pop-up the focus is often on
awareness—creating impressions and buzz and changing perception of the
brand by casting it in a new and inventive light.

But just because a pop-up is more about making a splash doesn’t mean that brands should
totally forget about moving that needle. Smart marketers are finding
ways to drive consumers back to the product even after they leave the
pop-up.

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?

Capitalizing on the swap meet trend (where friends and peers meet up to exchange clothes and accessories) Teen Vogue earlier this month held a Style Swap for 500 of its young readers. The Style Swap held at The Metropolitan Pavilion in New York City was so successful the magazine plans to hold additional swap meets across the country as part of an annual event.

Palm is connecting with participants in this year’s City Chase races (in eight cities across the U.S.) by providing its Palm Centro smartphones to help them navigate the race via SMS and other features. The U.S. series (City Chase is a global event) kicked off in Philadelphia earlier this month followed by stops next month in San Diego and San Francisco.

IN LITTLE HAVANA the scene and smells were comfortingly familiar—the aroma of deep-fried foods and cigar smoke wafted Latino rhythms echoed and anti-Fidel signs abounded. Under an unseasonably warm 90-degree sun families sluggishly made their way to Eighth Street where the annual Calle Ocho Cuban festival promised cultural fanfare—and maybe more importantly free stuff from some of the nation’s top brands. For marketers it was the perfect opportunity to reach one of the top Hispanic markets.