As the summer season comes to a close, we reflect on success in the experiential marketing industry. Summer has been chock-full of activations, including pop-up shops, nationwide mobile tours, product sampling, and more!
Custom Containers
One of the biggest hits in experiential marketing this summer has been activations using custom containers. These are versatile assets that can be transformed into anything you can imagine. Typically, a brand chooses between a 20-foot or 40-foot shipping container to activate. Once you have your “base,” Lime Media starts to work the magic.
Dera Lee Productions partnered with Halsey’s summer tour to promote Halsey’s new line, About Face Beauty. The goal of the activation was to give people the opportunity to test each beauty product. What better place to activate makeup sampling than at Lollapalooza? Dera Lee Productions reached out to Lime Media to bring this concept to life!
Fabrication
Our fabricators hit the ground running with a 20-foot shipping container. The beauty of this activation is that we could repurpose a container previously used because our client’s requests for the container’s fabrication lined up with an earlier project. Not only did this save on materials and costs, but it also cut the production timeline in HALF!
The container used for this activation already had a custom-built side door to open by folding out and down. This created an extension of the container and opened up the footprint to allow for more activation space.
This door was produced by cutting a 12-foot opening on the designated side and framing it out. On the exterior, our fabricators reattached the container skin. This was done so the asset would look like a typical container when the door was down. Inside, they decked ¾-inch plywood and placed coin flooring on top. The door was raised and lowered using winches on either side in partnership with a pulley powered through the electrical panel. This work would have taken around a week to complete if it had been a brand-new container.
Since the door was already completed, our fabricators could get to work on the rest of the build-out. This included a false ceiling to hide the electrical work for the lights and winches, so there was a cleaner look inside the sampling area. They also built custom cabinets based on the client’s desired dimensions. Our fabricators did all the electrical work in-house, which they concealed with a false wall.
Once most of the fabrication elements were completed, it was time to get the interior and exterior vinyl wrapped.
The container then returned to our shop. Our fabricators hung the TVs and polished off the container’s interior. Then, they moved their focus to the roof, where they built and installed the large “About Face” sign. The sign consists of an aluminum framing with Plexi glass on the front and back of the sign. The sign was attached to the container with a hinge, controlled manually. The sign would lay flat against the container when the asset wasn’t activating.
Once the container was activation ready, we pulled it outside to take beauty shots before its departure. We send high-quality photos of each asset to the client. Upon client approval, we loaded the container on a gooseneck trailer, pulled by a flatbed truck, and sent it off to activate! In this case, it was going to Chicago to activate during Lollapalooza.
Activation
The container was loaded in at Lollapalooza a day before the festival started and activated throughout the event. About Face Beauty had a makeup vanity on either side of the container with samples of each makeup product they were launching. Attendees were able to wait in line to try out every product. Brand ambassadors were at each vanity to assist guests and answer any questions.
The makeup products were brightly colored and sparkly, making for the perfect addition to a music festival. The complete collection was also sold at the festival so guests could take the products home with them on the spot.
In addition to product sampling, there was a TV wall playing Halsey promotional content and a lounge area where guests could mingle and relax.
The activation was a huge success! Our client was beyond satisfied, and attendees LOVED testing the products and incorporating the experience into their Lollapalooza itineraries. Don’t wait! Promote your brand using Lime Media today. We have 130 assets in-house, ready for activation. Work with us, and let us bring your imagination to life!