BlogHer Banks on Free Digital Summits to Keep Brand Audience Engaged During Quarantine

For 16 years, BlogHer has built its core business on educational, in-person conferences meant to connect women bloggers, content creators and small business owners. But due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the SHE Media-owned brand, like all media brands in 2020, had to cancel its planned physical summits and completely revamp its event strategy for an…

Budweiser’s New Interactive Concert Series Features the Hits of Happier Days

Budweiser has been tapping into nostalgia for its ads during quarantine, and now the beer brand is extending that theme to music. The AB InBev brand has debuted Budweiser Rewind, an interactive live music series in which artists perform their greatest hits and share stories their fans haven’t heard before. The brand kicked off the…

Apartment Therapy Transformed a Live Design Pop-Up Into a Digital, Shoppable Experience

Apartment Therapy expected to draw some 10,000 people to Industry City in Brooklyn for its first-ever Small/Cool Experience in April. The interior design- and lifestyle-focused website had tapped 20 designers to curate 20 shoppable spaces under 120-square-feet that would highlight forecasted 2020 design trends. However, before Apartment Therapy could begin the physical builds for the…

2020 Is the Year of Virtual Proms and Graduations, With Help From Brands

The middle of May is normally a time for high school proms, college commencements and graduation parties, but the Covid-19 pandemic has made those moments impossible for the class of 2020. As millions of students in the U.S. are missing out on traditional graduation experiences, brands are stepping in to offer some quarantine-friendly alternatives: virtual…

The Infatuation and Dell Pivot Festival Partnership to Skill-Learning Event Series

The Infatuation was slated to host its annual EeeeeatsCon food festivals in Los Angeles and New York this year with Dell as a first-time sponsor. But when the events were postponed indefinitely due to Covid-19, the restaurant review site and the tech company had to figure out a way to translate their experiential partnership digitally….

Fans Can Design Their Own Train Cars for TNT’s Snowpiercer Series

The fictional Snowpiercer train consists of 1,001 cars, ranging from a luxurious art gallery to an aquarium. Now, TNT is inviting fans to create their own train car designs to celebrate the first season of the post-apocalyptic series. Ahead of the series premiere on May 17, TNT has launched a digital campaign for fans to…

Breaking Down the Myth of the Work-Life Balance

As an executive, a creative and a mother of four, I’m often asked about how I balance it all. And the answer is: I don’t because it’s impossible. To be successful, we are often sold articles about how we have to wake up at 5 a.m., drink celery juice and focus on one thing. Those…

This Event Production Company Pivoted Into a Full-Time Sanitation Service for Businesses

Experiential marketing and event production agencies have had to retool their businesses to stay afloat during the pandemic, shifting to virtual events full time or manufacturing PPE for healthcare workers and essential businesses. One company in Chicago has become an entirely new business amid the Covid-19 crisis. Platinum Events, which operated as an event production…

8 Event Tactics Create & Cultivate Used to Produce Its First Digital Summit

Like many brands, Create & Cultivate had planned its event schedule for the first half of 2020 before Covid-19 began to spread throughout the U.S. The online career advice platform and business event series for women entrepreneurs, which produces about 40 summits annually, was even able to host its first large-scale event of the year…

Brands Find Virtual Ways to Celebrate Cinco de Mayo at Home

You might not be able to celebrate Cinco de Mayo at a bar or restaurant this year, but brands are trying to make it easier to have your own social distancing-approved celebrations with new digital campaigns and virtual events. Tequila and food brands are leveraging social media to not only teach consumers how to make…

Will Shoptalk’s Virtual Conference Postponement Push the Industry to Rethink Digital Pivots?

In-person event cancellations and postponements are commonplace in the age of coronavirus, with certain events announcing plans for timely virtual pivots while others inform attendees they’ll be back in 2021. Shoptalk, however, might be the first during the pandemic to postpone a virtual conference at the last minute. The annual retail and ecommerce industry event…

Klarna’s Digital Brunch Series Supports Drag Community Impacted by the Pandemic

Covid-19 has impacted everyone who makes a living off of live entertainment, including drag performers. The drag community, which largely makes their income off nightly shows, drag brunches and touring, has had to adapt to a new reality by taking their talents online. Klarna is doing its part to support drag queens impacted by the…

Live Experiences Need Brands Now More Than Ever

I recently celebrated the start of my 19th year working at Superfly. I didn’t realize the date had come around until a number of LinkedIn notifications from friends and colleagues reminded me. It caused me to reflect on my own journey. It’s been incredible what the last two decades have brought us in the world…

Bumble and BuzzFeed Invite You to Sit In on 11 First Virtual Dates

Virtual dating is the only safe option for people looking to make romantic connections during the Covid-19 pandemic, and dating apps have adapted by releasing features that encourage users to date at home. Bumble, in particular, continues to promote the in-app video chat and call tools it launched in 2019. In the last two weeks,…

How HBO Got Insecure Fans to Attend a Virtual Block Party

HBO’s experiential tactic to build buzz for its comedy series Insecure has always been a promotional block party. The network hosted a small gathering in Brooklyn to celebrate the series premiere in 2016 and grew the event into Insecure Fest, a 2,500-person festival in Los Angeles for Season 3 in 2018. HBO was slated to…

Nikon’s Virtual Event Series Invites Photography Fans to Sharpen Skills in Quarantine

Hosting virtual happy hours on videoconferencing platforms like Zoom is the new normal for agencies and brands during the Covid-19 pandemic. Nikon, however, is putting its own spin on the concept with a virtual program for photography enthusiasts looking to learn new skills or simply get inspired. The imaging products company has launched #CreatorsHour, a…

6 Things to Think About When Creating a Virtual Conference

Adobe was slated to host around 23,000 people at the Adobe Summit, its annual flagship conference in Las Vegas, from March 29-April 2. But the outbreak of COVID-19 forced the software company, along with countless other brands, to cancel or postpone their in-person gatherings and rethink how they could safely deliver an alternative event. Alex…

Jägermeister’s Virtual Charity Brunch Will Offer Cold Brew Cocktail Lessons

The weekend luxury of getting boozy brunch with friends may be on pause because of COVID-19, but J?germeister wants to show consumers they can still experiment with virtual brunches at home. More specifically, the brand plans to demonstrate how its licorice-flavored digestif mixed with cold brew coffee could be a new brunch cocktail staple to…

Airbnb Debuts Online Experiences With Unique Activities

The COVID-19 pandemic forced Airbnb to temporarily halt its Experiences business, but the home-sharing platform has introduced a new way for consumers around the world to attend off-the-beaten-path events from their couches. Airbnb has launched Online Experiences, which allows hosts to continue earning income by offering their experiences on video-conferencing platform Zoom. The virtual events…

With Events On Hold, Experiential Agencies Use Their Skills to Fight COVID-19

COVID-19 has wiped the calendars of experiential and live event agencies for the foreseeable future, forcing them to shift their business models. Agencies that have been able to stay afloat are working with clients on digital pivots or contact-free consumer experiences as well as brainstorming ideas for when events potentially return post-pandemic. Simultaneously, some companies…