2012 Event Technology Awards
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COVER STORY It was just a decade ago that we lived life without so many of the high-tech tools and 201 2 EVENT gadgets that we can’t imagine living without today. There were no iPhones, no iPads and no touch screens. (Fingers were used to push actual buttons. Buttons!) Data collectors had TECH NO LOGY yet to discover QR codes, RFID, NFC or geolocation. Holograms and large-scale projections were cool theater tricks, but never AW ARDS saw the light of day in a marketing context. And 3D, well, it was still stuck in vintage movie theater photos of screaming audiences THE YEAR’S TOP WINNERS FROM THE watching “The Blob.” Probably the hottest event technology going in 2002 was the clunky ONLY RECOGNITION PROGRAM FOR 15-pound laptop where consumers could fill in “DIGITAL + LIVE” CAMPAIGNS 20 data fields to “register” at events. Sounds awesome, right? Thanks to the ingenuity of event marketers everywhere, times have changed. And those low-tech experiences have gone the way of the Commodore 64. What follows is our second annual Event Technology Awards report, where we bring you the industry’s 30 best digital+live campaigns as voted on by 12 brand-side judges –all the cool tools, smart apps, websites, bits, bytes and lumens that have transformed today’s best technologies into immersive, ROI-generating programs. Congratulations to all of this year’s winners. www.eventmarketer.com NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2012 EVENT MARKETER 45 THE 2012 EVENT TECHNOLOGY AWARDS Event marketers have joined the ranks of the throughout the event helped boost their EVENT TECHNOLOGY smartphone obsessed, unlocking the scores. Partner booths were outfitted with AWARD WINNER business potential of the ubiquitous QR Codes and users received bonus points for handheld through programs that trade fun checking in at each one. The highest scorers CAMPAIGN: Mobile Trivia Game incentives for consumer data. But few have were eligible to win one of 20 iPads. mastered the art of using smartphones in To address any potential compatibility CLIENT: Cisco conjunction with events to tackle multiple snafus among smartphone models and to PARTNERS: ten23, Snakblox marketing objectives at once. Until now. eliminate the need for a slow and bulky app The industry standard smartphone download that would definitely turn off strategy got a big-time upgrade this summer attendees, tech partner Snakblox leveraged when event marketers at Cisco used the HTML5 to create the gaming experience. Not mobile device to not only incentivize only was the resulting game fast and fluid for attendees to engage in the brand’s on-site attendees regardless of their device type, activations, but also to engage on a Cisco staffers could easily and quickly update meaningful level with the company’s on-site questions on the backend by uploading them partner activations. The resulting program to an admin panel. gave event organizers deep attendee data Post-event data generated by the game that surpassed the typical badge scan and revealed that theater presentations at the enabled the company to prove to itself and event boasted 100-percent attendance, with the paying vendors at the Cisco Partner many attendees standing in the aisles. Trivia Pavilion just how knowledgeable participants game players spent an average of 13 minutes were about the products on offer. in the game and participants visited an The winning technology was a custom average of nine out of 14 partner demo mobile game called the Cisco Cloud Mobile stations. Thanks to the new game, Cisco was Trivia Game and from June 10 to 13, it also able to close the show with an in-depth provided attendees at the annual CiscoLive! analytics report that revealed just how much user conference in San Diego with a fun and participants knew about the products on organic way to experience the event. offer—both in the Cisco footprints and in the Attendees got started by scanning a QR Code Partner Pavilions. The data can be used to on their device. The scan downloaded a trivia craft more efficient event experiences for the quiz that challenged participants to earn brand and help Cisco’s sales team prove the points by answering questions correctly. value of its event to its paying sponsors—and Answering questions quickly and spending keep those revenue-generating partnerships time at demo stations and partner booths rolling in. 46 EVENT MARKETER NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2012 www.eventmarketer.com BEST USE OF HANDHELD TECHNOLOGY Sporting events have long been fertile GOLD WINNER environments for brands that want to connect with passionate fans. But many of CAMPAIGN: 2012 Honda Indy the activations have started to look the same. Toronto Toss a ball here. Spin a wheel there. And then, badabing, badaboom! Everyone goes home CLIENT: Honda with a t-shirt. PARTNERS: The Taylor Group, Honda last summer decided that it Globacore wanted more from its auto racing sponsorship, so it created the Honda Trivia Racing Game for the 2012 Indy Races in Toronto. Visitors to the automaker’s tent were invited to grab one of four iPods and race virtual cars around a track on a large-format video wall. But it wasn’t just a passive racing game. Multiple-choice trivia questions controlled the virtual cars, going faster for correct answers and slowing down for incorrect ones. Sound effects on the iPod controllers matched the cars’ speed changes and reinforced whether the answer was correct or not. A “Top 10” ranking on a leaderboard encouraged people to return to defend their position, and the whole experience from attendees in less time. registration to checkered flag took only four And yeah, fans could still win that minutes, enabling Honda to engage, perennial event t-shirt, but they probably educate and capture data for more learned a little bit about Honda along the way. Hollywood is getting in on experiential like museum experience into an interactive one. SILVER WINNER nobody’s business as movie studios discover The guide featured photo galleries, behind- the value of live experiences that bring their the-scenes video footage, interactive maps CAMPAIGN: Warner Bros. entertainment franchises to life. Last March, linked to hotspots throughout the exhibit Studio Tour London: The Warner Bros. joined the trend when it and exclusive interviews with the films’ Making of Harry Potter transformed its “Harry Potter” trilogy into a directors, makeup artists, costumers and CLIENT: Warner Bros. 150,000-square-foot self-guided, three-hour more. Tom Felton, the films’ villainous Draco tour that gave consumers in London a behind- Malfoy, narrated the guide, which was offered PARTNERS: Thinkwell Group, the-scenes look at all of the unique artifacts, in eight languages. Antenna International sets, costumes and props created for the Nearly 4,500 people were surveyed after movies. visiting the tour and 86 percent of them rated An iPod touch-based Digital Guide their experience as “Excellent” or “Very Good.” transformed what could have been a passive Muggle approved. www.eventmarketer.com NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2012 EVENT MARKETER 47 THE 2012 EVENT TECHNOLOGY AWARDS BEST USE OF A CUSTOM APP EVENT TECHNOLOGY It seems that everyone and their dog has an Mia the wellness coach—serve as hosts of the AWARD WINNER app these days. (Seriously, Google “dog apps” game, and players get access to real-world and see what we mean.) But few brands have benefits, including merchandise offers from an app that delivers on multiple marketing sponsors in beauty, fashion, fitness and CAMPAIGN: Workout in the objectives, across multiple channels, at once wellness. Perhaps the best part of the game Park Social Game while still being fun and, most importantly, comes from the mobile app, which enables CLIENT: SELF Magazine addictive for its customers. women to log and track real-life fitness goals PARTNERS: In-house SELF magazine delivered on all fronts this and then watch as their progress impacts year when it launched its SELF Workout in the their in-game avatars. (But wait! I said I Park Social Game, the first-ever social game wanted six-pack abs!) The mobile app also from a magazine brand. Workout in the Park lets players earn rewards for their real life is a 19-year-old live marketing program that activities. invites consumers to engage with the Self-improvement is at the heart of the magazine and its partners for free fitness, game’s mission. The app and other social nutrition and health-inspired activities. The components make it easy for players to share Social Game was designed to extend the their in-game activities with friends. It also program’s live elements digitally and socially gives the magazine’s marketers a constant in order to increase brand awareness, boost touch point to keep the program and the the magazine’s database and drive revenue brand top of mind between live events. The through advertising and sponsorship. game environment features ongoing updates Through the game, women can create and that tie real-life events to the virtual world. customize their own workout park, create The SELF Workout in the Park Social Game avatars that reflect their physique, play was launched on Facebook on April 7 and in fitness, nutrition and wellness challenges, the two months that followed, the game was mini-games and puzzles, and deck out their downloaded over 250,000 times and players avatars in hip workout gear and fashion spent an average of 14 minutes per session. accessories, among other activities. The more The game has generated more than 200 the consumer plays, the more they can million media impressions, including a hit in customize their avatar, for instance, chiseling the Advertising column in The New York Times their bodies up or down based on their activity that read, “ SELF’s arrival into social gaming is level.