Although the Experiential Marketing industry has suffered greatly because of the pandemic, agencies and brands have somehow managed to launch activations while respecting COVID-19 guidelines. Here you will see some of the favorites that were launched in 2020, when it looked like everything was coming to an end. There is no doubt that creativity, necessity, and the drive to move forward make things happen!
The Experiential Drive-Through became the “#1 trend” of 2020.
This trend allowed brands to keep connecting with consumers safely during the pandemic, and it also pushed agencies to step out of their comfort zone and think beyond the activations that usually worked, which generally focused heavily on large gatherings of consumers in a single location for greater reach. These drive-through experiences are centered on large areas such as parking lots, stadiums, and open fields, which allow distance between activation areas and thus provide a safer event that follows COVID-19 rules.
1. HULU
Event Marketer recognized some of the best activations, such as HULU's, where the agency AGENC created an event built around a pandemic Halloween, offering consumers the chance to attend the ~HULUWEEN drive-through and drive-in movie event. It was incredible how they recreated characters such as Edward Scissorhands and Carrie, and how they transformed the area to make it feel like a terrifying forest full of special effects with lights, fog, and sounds. Hulu gave attending consumers bags of candy, popcorn, and small bottles of hand sanitizer, plus an in-vehicle photo booth experience as a special take-away, before guiding them to the 30 x 50 foot LED screen where the movie would be shown.
Want to learn a little more about Experiential Marketing? This will interest you: What Is Experiential Marketing?
2. RESY
The hospitality platform Resy offered a unique “food tasting” experience through a drive-through event that reached “foodie” consumers by offering 10 courses of dishes never before served in restaurants. Resy and American Express Gold Card joined forces and, in collaboration with the agency Shiraz Creative, hired the best chefs in Los Angeles, CA, to support local businesses and, as part of the program, to provide 1,000 face masks to the World Central Kitchen Organization as support and a donation for its efforts. This program was pay-to-play: the ticket to enter the event cost $95 and offered fully touchless technology for a clean and safe experience. The “foodies” received the dishes in their cars, along with audio that guided them through the 10-course experience and explained the contents of each dish while they enjoyed the food with background music selected by the chef. A unique experience for food enthusiasts.
3. Abrams Books
The book publisher Abrams Books launched a 17-city tour in 18 days promoting Jeff Kinney’s new novel “Diary of a Wimpy Kid.” Together with the agency Switch, the publisher created a drive-through experience where visitors bought the book and went through a unique experience in which kids felt like part of the novel, with a pool-party theme that included all the effects. The journey involved driving through areas where lifeguards sprayed the cars with water if they did not follow the rules, until reaching the area where Kinney surprised them with their autographed copy of the book and handed it over with a net to keep his distance. At the end, he himself bombarded them with water balloons, and so visitors finished the drive-through with happy kids. Definitely a successful way to reach “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” fans and promote an outdoor experience where, despite the pandemic, it was possible to hold a book signing with the author and sell books.
4. Lexus
Lexus launched a 3-day culinary experience for Lexus car owners and offered a drive-in movie night at L.A. LIVE’s Event Deck in downtown Los Angeles. The activation consisted of a 3-course gourmet meal served with cocktails. As part of the experience, they also offered movie trivia before the film and gave goodie bags to everyone who attended the event. Lexus definitely raised the bar on pampering its consumer fans!
5. NETFLIX
Netflix and the company Secret Cinema teamed up to create a drive-thru activation promoting “Stranger Things,” since production had been halted on season 4 due to the pandemic. This was their way of transporting their audience to 1985 from the safety of their vehicles. This experience cost $59 per car, and in groups of 24 cars, visitors navigated the multi-level area, stopping at different areas and watching scenes from the production.
And so Netflix keeps promoting itself during the pandemic as one of the strongest brands, despite the great success it has already established worldwide.
References: Event Marketer, article by Rachel Boucher, executive director of Event Marketer, and Kait Shea of Event Marketer. Cover image taken from the Resy Local Scene blog
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