010 2 F O BEST
Sundance’s Tweethouse
Social Lives Social media gave marketers new ways to woo attendees, get feedback, and extend the impact of events long after they ended.
Armani Exchange’s truck
BEFORE THE EVENT To promote a July catalog preview in New York, Ikea reached out to fans through Facebook, the Brooklyn store’s Twitter page, and IkeaFans. com, an independently run Web site with an audience of more than 150,000. After deciding to relocate the Vans Warped Tour 10 days before the event, organizers used social media to spread the word to attendees, resulting in the same attendance as last year.
Marc Ecko’s campaign launch
In July, Armani Exchange promoted its new fall line from a retro ice cream truck that made stops throughout Los Angeles. The store’s Twitter page alerted followers to the truck’s location and giveaways. DURING THE EVENT The 2010 Sundance Film Festival had
its own Tweethouse, which hosted panel discussions about social media’s role in the film industry during the day and parties in the evening, including a celebrity “tweet-up” to raise money for Haitian relief. AFTER THE EVENT In June, Yves Saint Laurent Beauté held a party in New York for its Belle d’Opium fragrance. The brand created a dedicated Web site to publicly document everything, from the onsite build-out to the Twitter posts from the night of the event. Marc Ecko Cut & Sew’s fall/winter 2010 campaign featured multimedia ads starring Lindsay Lohan that combined augmented reality and photography. At the August launch party in New York, attendees played with the technology on computers and then uploaded videos to social media sites.
NOT SO INDIE ANYMORE As marketers look for new places to engage their target audiences, some events that started scruffy are incorporating slicker, businessminded elements.
At the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, grown-up brands such as American Express and Microsoft sponsored tents with air-conditioning, charging stations, and plenty of product placement.
52 bizbash.com winter 2010–11
Held in Los Angeles in March, the Independent Spirit Awards moved from an intimate beachside tent to a larger downtown venue with six sponsor tents, including an Elle magazine greenroom.
PHOTOS: ASHLEY TURNER PHOTOGRAPHY (VANS WARPED TOUR), ALBERT MICHAEL/STARTRACKSPHOTO.COM (LOPEZ), BRYAN BEDDER/WIREIMAGE (MARC ECKO), BIZBASH (COACHELLA), LINE 8 PHOTOGRAPHY (ELLE GREENROOM)
The Vans Warped Tour