With our Club Ichi experience crawl, we explored Snap's Wellness House, Bakery's Pain Au Chocolate, LaCroix House, Sharpie/Paper Mate House, Audible's carnival, UKG's activation, Freedom Forum's 1A House, Fast Company Grill, and Inc. Founder's House.
My two official winners for best engagement of humans were Sharpie House and UKG! I give LaCroix a close 3rd place.
Why?
Sharpie House was fun, playful, tied closely to the brand voice, was well-staffed, and was hands-on experiential throughout the space. They launched their new markers as well as gel pens, and showcased them by having you actually use them.
You could color a mural wall. You could draw your very own design on a hat. You could write and mail a postcard! And best of all, you could draw whatever cocktail you wanted and the bartenders had to try to make it as close to your drawing as they could!
Brand ambassadors were there to refresh the markers and the experiences, but they weren't really even needed as guides because the place was so engaging! You may know that I'm a big Sharpie marker fan already - I left feeling deeply joyful and loving Sharpie even more!
UKG was my sleeper favorite! Sleeper because this new HR software built out an activation in a ballroom in a conference hotel - sounds boring, right? The activation itself was just some snazzy mini golf and a flipbook photo booth, but this is JUST what they intended and the staff put it over the top. They were all UKG employees and they were so happy to be there, interacting with guests, chatting about UKG, and offering up gifts and encouragement.
The activation was strategically placed inside the conference hotel, rather than as an activation out on the street, so they could catch conference-goers in between sessions to make sure they had heard of UKG. While they weren't permitted to invite people in from the hallways, per SXSW rules, they were able to lure them in from the doorways!. It was welcoming, inviting, and friendly.
LaCroix House was my third favorite. The space was beautifully designed, well activated, and brand ambassadors roamed the experience making sure everyone always had a LaCroix in hand. Lots of Instagrammable moments and perfectly predictable swag (t-shirts and totes). The boxes were all checked. Well produced. But through the bubbly warmth of the design it was just ever-so-slightly cold.
We popped into a bunch of other activations, but these were my highlights for attendee engagement!
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