Even in a down economy Californians still love cruisin’ in their squeaky-clean cars. So to make connections in the local market State Farm offered drivers something special for their gas-guzzling babies—spa therapy. From July 7 through Aug. 3 two Los Angeles car washes were transformed into Zen-inspired red and white pagodas where drivers received free cold drinks cool gel eye masks and massages while their car was being treated to a body scrub.

Fact: Photo activation is certainly no spring chicken in the event space.

The power of b-to-b road shows continues to grow with brands of all shapes and sizes reaping the benefits of on-demand tours that take products and services directly to customers and prospects.
Some tours are producing such stellar results that the brands behind them are actually selling sponsorships to their own programs. And why not? Bringing in non-competitive entities can add some extra energy to the tours while offsetting costs with sponsorship fees.

Event Tours: History-NASCAR Partnership Promotes ‘Ice Road Truckers’

To drive tune-in to this season’s June 8 premiere of “Ice Road Truckers ” cable net History teamed up with NASCAR in a partnership that brought an Ice Road Trucker-themed experience to four track events this season. History also created a series of mini-documentaries that will air during episodes of the series.

This April the Microsoft Windows brand for the first time turned to experiential marketing to give its Windows Live Photo Gallery and Windows Live Spaces photo sharing and social networking services a boost in awareness. From April 19 through May 11 residents and visitors to New York City’s Brooklyn Heights and San Francisco’s Pacific Heights neighborhoods could swing into one of the brand’s Windows Live Portrait pop-up Studios for free professional photo sessions.