ADFED ~ Dinner and a Show

Posted by admin on June 9th, 2009

Experiencing Experiential Marketing

As an expert in social media marketing, I consider it my duty to stay on top of the latest trends in media, social marketing, networking, advertising and public relations. That’s why I attend meetings of the professionals in those disciplines. If you need help with PR, marketing, advertising or social media, these types of associations offer the latest news and cutting edge strategies. In addition to reading the latest books and blogs on the topic, attending these organization’s events have given me a step up on a lot of my peers. Of course, if you are not interested in learning the latest and greatest on your own, you can cut your learning curve by hiring an expert such as me!

Here’s an example of just one event:

Last week I attended the local ADFED meeting which took place at The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale.

What started out as a networking event quickly turned into “dinner and a show,” so to speak. Really it was little munchies, lots of wine and other libations, two outstanding speakers AND a Fashion Show.

The “Show” was brought to us by Jordana Engholm President of Jordana PR International, Wagner from BE ~ Beloved Experiential an experiential marketing firm, and Alexander Michaels from Mode Lifestyle Magazine.

Wagner

Wagner kicked off the “show” portion of the meeting with the #1 Trend In Consumer Marketing – Experiential Marketing

“Experiential marketing connects consumers with brands in personally relevant and memorable ways. The alternative term, customer-experience marketing, emphasizes the idea of communicating the essence of a brand through a personalized experience.”

Some of the experiential marketing strategies includes renting body space (companies tattoo messages on peoples heads and bodies).

He opened up his program sharing a video featuring Improv Everywhere – “Improv Everywhere causes scenes of chaos and joy in public places. Created in August of 2001 by Charlie Todd, Improv Everywhere has executed over 80 missions involving thousands of undercover agents. The group is based in New York City.”

Here is the video he shared:

“On a cold Saturday in New York City, the world’s largest train station came to a sudden halt. Over 200 Improv Everywhere Agents froze in place at the exact same second for five minutes in the Main Concourse of Grand Central Station. ”

You can check out the Improv Everywhere’s other 80+ missions at: Missions.

While you are at it grab a copy of The Improv Everywhere’s new book ~ Causing a Scene, Extraordinary Pranks in Ordinary Places with Improv Everywhere

Next Wagner talked about brand advocates and ambassadors and how they design a branded event that results in a two way conversation between the brand and the consumer. He shared many other examples such as the Tide Mobile laundry Mat called Loads of Hope that went to the Katrina victims and invited residents to drop off their dirty laundry and pick it up the next day all clean, folded and bagged. Other examples of experiential marketing included:

Target Children’s Book Festival

Pixmen Brand Ambassadors

Charmin Restroom Experience (You Tube Video)

You will be reading more about those campaigns on Redhead Marketing and in my book Quirky Marketing ~ 365 Ways to Promote Your Business Using Zany and Non-traditional Holidays.

You can learn more about experiential marketing at Beloved Experiential’s Learning Center

Alexander Michaels

Next up was Alexander Michaels, Editor in Chief of Mode Lifestyle Magazine. He shared his story of building and loosing wealth, writing and publishing several books, starting a fashion and lifestyle magazine and thinking BIG! My favorite quote by Michaels was: “If you think big, the small steps can be very hard to do, but they are often more important to reach your goals.”

At the end of his program he gave away 5 subscriptions to his magazine and I won one of them! Whoohoo, cannot wait to get my first copy!

After Mr. Michaels spoke students from the Art Institute did a fashion “TRUNK” show featuring 5 of their top talent. I got to briefly meet Medye Tucker of Veneno Designs after the show. I also met Kristin Beck from Cruise Planners, Amy Holtsberg (Freelancer) and Frank Capella, Actor and Poet (he has appeared on CSI Miami and several other TV shows around town).

The event was hosted by students of ICON, the Fashion Club at the Art Institute.

I just love networking especially at NEW events. I measure the success of the event by the people I meet and the things I learn. This was an A+ event. If you live, work and play in South Florida, check out The Greater Fort Lauderdale Advertising Federation. Maybe our paths will cross there too.

rosie said,

June 13, 2009 @ 2:24 pm

Thanks for this insightful post. I feel as if I attended the session.

Heidi Caswell said,

June 13, 2009 @ 10:00 pm

It is more important today to step outside of the box like this. Branded events which turn into 2-way conversations with consumers. Much more effective than telemarketers anyday.

And there there where all those redheaded twins?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81v8YxRNnZc&feature=channel

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