Though the Ben & Jerry’s sampling program is an old campaign, the thought process behind it is definitely one to think about.
As we know, Experiential marketing is garnering a lot of traction amongst Multinational brands, putting even more scrutiny to provide a higher ROI.
But how is this done?
In the summer of 2010 Ben & Jerry’s sample program featured free ice cream delivery in select markets based on social media demand (i.e. consumers could tweet their desire for FREE Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and a sampling truck showed up)
What does this tell us?
That they took a simple tactical stunt and integrated it with social sharing.
This simply means that for brands to ensure that their ROI is high, they have to continuously find ways to help the event live past its execution period through consumer sharing.
So whats the take home message?
With the help of social media platforms, brand advocates amplify their volume and become even ‘louder’ advocates thus increasing the ROI of a campaign.

The Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Mile brings the entire nation together to get active, raise cash and change lives. We were really proud to be part of it by not only helping Sport Relief to get more sign ups with our Experiential Marketing campaign but also to actually take part in the run.

With your generosity (and just a little bit of gumption on our part), we raised enough cash for 875 children in Uganda to have a rapid diagnostic test for malaria- that’s loads! This means they can get the right treatment quickly and gives them a chance of surviving long enough to reach hospital.

If you would still like to sponsor us and save some more lives, fear not, it is not too late.. just pop to our just giving page.

On behalf of the team at Blazinstar Experiential we would like to give a big thank you to all of those that sponsored us, check out the photo evidence!

Simulating the action of the addictive commuter game, the park will be a physical attraction for young ones and families, committed to the ultimate destruction of the irk Porcin Rougues.

Though we are not sure what exactly the park is going to entail, we definitely know its going to provide a living fertile community of gaming experiences, packed with innovation, attitude and most of all creative.

Global brands such as Nokia, T.Mobile etc. have all cashed in on the success of the game re-inacting it into a live brand experience, that we have all grown to love. We think, this new themed area would lure us game junkies more into the fabrics of the gaming world resulting in a true experience.

Have you seen Nokia Lumia’s Angry Birds interactive augmented reality installation? Check out our Twitter page. Interactivity at its best.

I have to say this is music to the ears of experiential marketers, we should all be ecstatic to see that finally brands are talking our language but just using different vocabulary. In 2012 it has been said that brands will be mostly adopting the ‘Paid, Owned, Shared and Earned marketing strategy. In other words forward thinking Brand Marketing Directors are looking at utilising paid media as an amplification tool to magnify earned and owned media rather than viewing each channel as separate entities, fully integrating and joining up all media channels. What this actually means is that more than ever brands are realising the power of WOM and recommendation, they just refer to it as ‘earned’ media. They realise it takes interaction and dialogue between brands and consumer to generate ‘earned’ media and they call this ‘shared’ media. They are also now in the mind-set, that an integrated strategy using of all these media channels working together will achieve brand advocacy. It is obvious to me, that what they are describing as Paid, Owned, Earned strategy is in fact the Integrated Experiential Marketing Methodology. In my opinion, there is no better way to create a dialogue and deeper engagement between brand and consumer, to generate content ultimately to evoke WOM and recommendation to take them through the advocacy pipeline, than the Integrated Experiential Methodology.

My question is, are brands starting to finally speak our language, and are going to start to get the recognition that we so richly deserve in the Experiential Marketing Industry?

Written by Dani Caplin. Marketing Manager.

Looking around London or any big city actually, we still continue to see adverts everywhere we turn, even in the oddest of places including tube stations, schools, parks, public transportation and even urinals.

Although we know that brands are finally realizing that they need to engage their target audience encouraging two way interaction, there are still many advertisers that will slap a QR code on their adverts regardless of the messaging or target audience and think this is the way to achieve it.

An example was last night, as I walked through old street station. I noticed a QR code on a poster and I wondered why with no Wifi signal or 3G, why the QR code had been placed there at all?

This is one of many pointless executions of the QR code, and is easy to understand why QR codes are now ignored by many consumers, who do not know what they are for- especially if they don’t even work! I personally think that this is a crying shame for the brands that do understand the concept.

What are your thoughts on this article? “Are Brands Abusing QR codes?”

Written by Kike Omisore. Marketing Assistant

Forward thinking agency Blazinstar Experiential, mark their expert positioning and add to their educational credentials by launching their very own in-house initiative, the first Experiential Marketing Institute in the UK.

Interactive seminars, lectures and workshops will take place and encourage the internal workforce to attend the sessions by rewarding each individual a certain amount of credits to redeem for monetary value to pay towards an accredited course of their choice. Seminars and workshops will also run, to extend Blazinstar’s long standing focus to train brands on the Integrated Experiential Marketing Methodology.

Thought leaders, and other industry experts will be invited into the Blazinstar Institute to lecture on their subject, and the Blazinstar experts will also run sessions to impart their knowledge and experience in the industry.

Educating the marketing generation of the future on the power of Experiential Marketing, is nothing new to Blazinstar Experiential. Ground breaking initiatives from Blazinstar’s founders have already included a book on Experiential Marketing- the first to be written by a UK author, and the development of the London Metropolitans ‘Digital meets Experiential’ Master’s degree.

Shaz Smilansky (Visiting Professor)and Marvin Foster (part time lecturer) are internationally  recognised, teaching the topic in various leading universities, as well as being flown around the globe to run seminars and lectures to various marketing agencies and brands who have a desire to learn the Integrated Experiential Marketing Methodology.

Shaz Smilansky comments ‘’The content era is upon us, and Live Brand Experiences, whether face to face or digital are forming the centre pieces of some of today’s best integrated campaigns and long term strategies.

Educating agency staff, and brand marketers on these strategies and methodologies is paramount to Blazinstar Experiential, and Experiential Marketing as a whole. ‘’

This satire, artistic and entertaining expression has spanned the globe as the way to get attention from the public, executed from the likes of  the most high profile brands, to famous icons and even down to ordinary bands of people, making them feel like they were a part of ‘THE NEXT BIG THING’. However, new engaging stunts have taken inspiration from flashmobs, pushing the boundaries of the marketing world to yet another level utilising the integral digital medium which consumers are becoming so accustomed to.

Intel has brought back the flashmob style theatrics with a few tweaks, showcasing the features of their new ‘Ultrabook’ laptop. Demonstrating the products ultrathin design, portability and responsiveness, Intel used 60 individuals to create a man made billboard made up of synced mini screens of Ultrabooks across various spots in Los Angeles.

With an element of surprise and a wow factor to passerby’s, messages were displayed across a digital wall of ‘Ultrabooks’ creating interactivity with its audience.

The manmade billboard, entertained people by- cheering teammates as they played sports, displayed musical performances and random messaging. Appearing at the end of each clip was the message “Transform Your Everyday” thus, transforming simple locations into a mini pop-up theatre.

We have to admit that the stunt is fun and creative, and seems that Intel have truly managed to captivate and convey their key message to their audience, the question we are secretly asking ourselves, are flashmobs back with a difference?

Massages, facials, makeovers are just want we need to brush off the wintery months making us reminisce about our very own pamper session we created last year for Americas best selling brand Mary Kay.

Blazinstar Experiential successfully created and implemented Cardiff’s first ever pop up shop along with tailored digital amplification to raise the profile of Mary Kay and to generate word of mouth and stand out in the UK market.
The eye-catching Mary Kay pop up shop dressed in a giant bow was created and filled with life size Mary Kay make up prop replica furniture, and there were various interactive zones that included an immersive series of brand building activities; A ‘Make Up Artist and Beauty Consultant Makeover Zone’, a ‘Virtual Makeover Zone’, a ‘Satin Hands Experience’ and a ‘Kiss Personality Test’. Giveaways included delicious Mary Kay branded cup cakes, served with pink lemonade, and a Mary Kay goody bag. Participants were given the chance to fully immerse themselves in the Mary Kay experience.

Blazinstar Experiential initialized Digital and PR as amplification channels to amplify and to extend the reach of the Live Brand Experience content. Participants that had a photograph taken of their makeover transformation could be found post campaign on the Mary Kay micro-site. In addition participants had the chance to win £500.00 worth of Mary Kay product, by simply uploading their photographs onto the Mary Kay Facebook page where friends and family could vote for their favourite makeover.

We are definitely looking forward to more memorable pop-up moments this summer. Tell us about your memorable experience or ones you look forward to?

If you would like information on Pop Up Shops, ask the experts….. planning@blazinstar.co.uk

One of the UK’s biggest years of sport, Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Mile is back and fast approaching.

To get the entire country together and proactive, Sports Relief has embarked on a number of partnerships, marketing and media campaigns to unify the inhabitants of the UK. As one of the appointed agencies, Sport Relief collaborates with Strategic Experiential Marketing Specialist, Blazinstar Experiential to encourage sign-ups and raise cash to help change the lives of vulnerable people across the UK and the worlds poorest countries.

Sport Relief will reach out to families, across six high footfall shopping centres with brand ambassadors communicating key messages to the target audience and encouraging them to sign up to one of the flagship Mile Events.

The Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Mile sign-up experience can easily be spotted.  Character performers inspired by the TV commercial, Panto Horse and Milo, feature alongside the promotion, adding fun and increasing customer interactions with the brand.

Here are some we fell in love with….

The Marmite makers are ‘spreading the love’ with the release of three limited edition e-cards designed by an artist and Marmite Fan, Pete Fowler.
Featuring the message: ‘I need you in my life, ‘spread the love,’ and ‘lets get together’, fans can add a personal message to their favourite design before sharing it with their facebook friends via an app.
We think it’s a nice interactive initiative, but I guess you’ll either love it or hate it.
Dove erects Valentine’s Day ‘Tweet Screen’ is another experiential marketing campaign that blew our minds as Dove helped Londoners answer Men’s hardest questions, Women and beauty.
The beauty brand rolled out a screen in London Victoria station, displaying twitter responses to the questions asked about women and beauty. On Valentines a message was asking commuters, “What do you love about your valentine?” while the Dove team handed out white tulips to commuters to share with their loved ones.
Yet another love campaign and one of Blazinstar’s favourite is the Heineken Serenade, which has been fostering romance in the lead up to Valentine’s Day here in the office. With the launch of a fun new Facebook application called ‘The Serenade’, Based on the brand’s second global film ‘The Date’, the new app enables Heineken consumers to send humorous personalized songs to potential partners, inviting them on a date.
‘The Serenade’ definitely put smiles on our faces as we heard a few giggles as the team were compiling songs to loved ones.

Last but not least, a campaign that warmed our hearts was the Women’s Aid Valentine’s Day campaign to raise vital funds by selling virtual gifts, with a text-to-donate mechanic.
The Women’s Aid Cabinet of Dreams, featured nine Valentine’s gifts designed by Grey and displayed majestically in bell-jars in a Soho shopfront 3D installation.Shoppers could ‘purchase’ the gifts by texting the number next to each item, and donate an amount between £2 and £20 to Women’s Aid. The purchase cwas then sent via text to the recipient to inform them of the donation and their unique present.

What are your favourite picks??