The experiential excellence collection: Transforming the ordinary

In an age where we’re constantly bombarded by ads and marketing, brands are having to find ever more inventive ways to stand out and capture our attention.

Some of the best activations out there succeed by transforming traditional media platforms into something a whole lot more unexpected.

Take the humble billboard or bus shelter - mainstays of advertising for decades.  Yet now they’re being used in a range of new ways by imaginative brands as part of more memorable experiential marketing campaigns.

Here are a few campaigns that have caught our eye this month:

KitKat: Commuters dance with happiness

Waiting for a bus is an experience not cherished by many. However, chocolate brand KitKat saw it as the perfect opportunity for an experiential activation.

To mix things up and encourage people to use its famous ‘Take A Break’ tagline, the brand transformed three ordinary bus shelters in Bogotá, Columbia into interactive machines that got commuters dancing while they waited for their transport.

The machines asked intrigued participants to follow three steps as part of a playful challenge, including learning and performing dance moves. Once they had completed the steps, they were given a score and rewarded with a well-deserved chocolate bar.

Burger King: Gibberish menu surprise

A drive-thru is often considered to be the easiest way to order food. However, for many people around the world, such simple tasks aren’t so straight forward.

As part of World Literacy Month, fast food chain Burger King wanted to show its customers what it felt like to be illiterate. To do so, they created a very powerful activation.

The stunt saw customers pull up at a restaurant in New York ready to quickly order a meal. However, they were taken back when they realised they couldn’t read the menu billboard. This was due to the brand cleverly translating it into gibberish.

When customers went on to complain at the next window, they were told the shocking fact that one in five people can’t read or write.  It’s a great example of finding a clever way to bring a simple campaign message to life, making it that much more memorable.

GMC: Fun personalised billboards

When American automotive company GMC wanted to advertise its new SUV Acadia, it knew a traditional billboard wouldn’t be the best way to capture the attention of potential consumers in a shopping mall.

Instead, it created the world’s first responsive facial recognition campaign that got passers-by intrigued and engaged.

The campaign installed hidden cameras into 8 special screens at the Santa Monica Place shopping mall, that detected gender, facial expression, age and composition of passing shoppers.

In response, the technology enabled one of 30 videos to be played, which created the effect of a personalised billboard advert. The playful videos successfully engaged people of all ages in staring contests, games and even a popcorn eating challenge – all while learning about GMC’s new vehicle.

Joss Davidge is Director of the Unexpected at Because Experiential Marketing, the award-winning agency dedicated to enhancing Brand Love. Sign up to Joss’ next complimentary masterclass to learn about the most effective experiential marketing strategies