SXSWorld
Issue link: https://sxsw.uberflip.com/i/130442
Are You Experienced? Marketers Find New Way to Engage Audiences by Dan Solomon S cavenger hunts are always fun, but most of the time, completing one won't get you a pair of tickets to see Prince play at an 1,100-person capacity club. Samsung's "The Next Big Thing" campaign culminated in exactly that, as the electronics manufacturer brought the regal, purple-clad musician to Austin's La Zona Rosa venue for the closing night of SXSW 2013. The company offered free tickets to fans who used their Samsung phones to complete a series of challenges and check in at various locations around the city. Samsung's Prince concert was probably the highest-profile of the experiential marketing campaigns at SXSW, but it was hardly the only one. More and more, companies are focusing on promoting their products by giving their audience unique opportunities, whether that is watching Prince perform, or getting the chance to take a photo atop the "Iron Throne" in a Game Of Thrones promotion at the Austin Convention Center. Amid a crowded field, offering unique—and sharable—experiences is an important way to stand out. That's something that Lori Peterzell, VP of Marketing for A&E, considered when she planned the network's transformation of Buffalo Billiards into the Bates Motel to promote the of the venue, A&E hung a neon Bates Motel sign and maintained that presence through the entire festival; inside, the network set up a video booth in which attendees could enter a Bates Motel room full of props from the show production, and subsequently receive a digital flip book that they could share on social media. Drawing attention to the activation were Bates Motel-themed "do not disturb" signs on hotel room doors at major SXSW hotels throughout downtown Austin. AIMEE WENSKE "Our efforts were catered to the 'tastemakers' and influencers that are the SXSW conference attendee ... We knew it had to be experiential and sharable, so offering social media engagement tactics was key. The SXSW environment is unique in that the brand needs to stand out from the many other brands activating in the vicinity." premiere of the new series of the same name. "Our efforts were catered to the 'tastemakers' and influencers that are the SXSW conference attendee," Peterzell says. "We knew it had to be experiential and sharable, so offering social media engagement tactics was key. The SXSW environment is unique in that the brand needs to stand out from the many other brands activating in the vicinity." The activation at SXSW was a success in that regard, and the attention to detail that went into the campaign is instructive: On the outside 36 S X S W O R L D / M AY 2 0 1 3 Peterzell says A&E was "very pleased" with the activation, which was tailored specifically to SXSW. "We look at each opportunity as being unique, and we customize the overall concept and activations to the distinctive audiences each promotion or event provides," she says. That is something that Ivan Bates Motel prop room Enchevitch, manager of culture marketing for Sonos—which occupied a house on 3rd Street, just a block from the Convention Center, for its Sonos Playground—recognizes as well. To succeed, an activation has to be tailored to the event. For Sonos, which makes a nine-speaker wireless soundbar, that meant showcasing music. "We're a company of music lovers who make products for music lovers," Enchevitch explains. "People who come to Austin are music lovers, so having an experience rooted in music has to be key—but it must occur in a way that the person feels that we, as a company, see music as our core as well." While the goal is always to make sure that the experience during SXSW is worth paying attention to despite so much competition,