The best experiential marketing campaigns will truly bring a brand to life – that includes its personality, characteristics, values and attitude. This year, we’ve had the opportunity to bring hundreds of brands to life including Facebook, Grace Foods, Victoria’s Secret, Cadillac Fairview and more. Because experiential campaigns impact consumers on such a personal level, it’s a marketing method that will continue to thrive throughout 2018. As we look back on this whirlwind of a year, we have narrowed down 4 of our best experiential marketing campaigns. You’ll notice each brand experience leverages unique characteristics to make a positive impact on their consumers. Without further ado, let’s get started!

#4) Berczy Park Grand Re-Opening

Tigris had the tremendous privilege to plan the grand re-opening of Berczy Park which took place on Jun. 28/17. We were especially thrilled to win this business through a formal RFP process. This park is Toronto’s beloved communal space in the heart of St. Lawrence Market, also known as the gateway to Old Toronto. Our team was tasked with creating a unique event experience to bring the community together. This included children, families, seniors and of course, pet lovers, since the whimsical dog fountain is the focal point of the park.

Project Deliverables for an Experiential Event

Claude Cormier designed Berczy Park with the perspective of giving people a beautiful space to be together. The grand re-opening was 3 months in the making and working with the City of Toronto was an amazing experience. In the video above, you’ll notice musical and theatrical performances, food vendors, an official ribbon cutting and delicious food vendors. How do you create one of the best experiential marketing campaigns? Some of our project management deliverables included:

• Creating the master work back schedule, day-of-run sheets and site plans,
• Liaising with City of Toronto to coordinate safety/traffic/waste plans for the event,
• Booking and managing all vendors and supplies such as AV, P.R., entertainment, souvenir giveaways, décor, food and beverages,
• Working with the St. Lawrence BIA to plan schedules for day-of volunteers,
• Participating in communications and meetings with the community partners,
• Liaising with St. Lawrence Market and local businesses to participate in a mini-market on Scott St.,
• Day-of, onsite coordination/execution including overseeing set up, event execution,
• Post-event reporting on logistics including photos/recommendations.

You’ve heard us say this before – no task is too big or too small for the Tigris team. Whether it’s scheduling a team of brand ambassadors or turnkey event planning, we put an equal amount of detail and effort into every one of our projects. The deliverables for Berczy Park are similar to our scope of work for St. Joseph’s Toronto West Halloween Fest, an event we have planned since 2012. 

#3) #WHERESGEORGIETO

Our third best experiential marketing campaign of 2017 is a spooky one. On August 30, thousands of commuters started their day off with a shock when they saw 40 headless children in yellow rain coats floating over the sewers. To bring this activation to life, 40 of Tigris’ Toronto brand ambassadors were onsite with Rooftop Agency. 

The horror thriller IT, which crept into theaters September 8, begins with the disappearance of Georgie. The little boy chases his paper boat as it floats away in a stream of rain run-off while wearing his yellow raincoat and green rain boots. Georgie’s boat floats into a sewer and when he tries to retrieve it, he comes face-to face with Pennywise, an evil clown whose history of murder and violence dates back for centuries.

Onsite, each of our team members accompanied 1 of the 40 Georgies on street corners during morning rush hour in the Financial District. The objective of the stunt was to terrify Toronto and motivate pedestrians stop and take a with Georgie. Participants were also encouraged to post their shot on social media with the hashtag #WheresGeorgieTO to enter a contest with Warner Bros. Canada’s. The grand prize was two free tickets to see the premier of IT! Actively engaging with your target audience and asking them to participate creates a memorable experience. This experience was shared on several media outlets.

#2) WINNERS Fab Grab Promotion

Wouldn’t you like to win up to $250 to WINNERS, or tickets to an iHeartRadio concert? Tigris, in association with Bell Media, iHeart Radio and WINNERS created an unforgettable experiential marketing campaign across Canada that ran from the end of June through to Dec. 9/17. The purpose of the campaign was to promote WINNERS at 3 iHeartRadio concerts along with 18 radio remotes at WINNERS stores in Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Ottawa, Halifax, Montreal and Toronto.

Leading up to each concert was a series of radio remote at a local WINNERS. The remotes gave shoppers the opportunity to enter the branded FABgrab for the chance to win tons of amazing prizes. The activation was promote by Virgin Radio onsite. To participate, shoppers were required to show our BA’s their recent WINNERS purchase or try on an item at WINNERS for entry to the FABgrab. Upon entry, participants have 15 seconds to grab as many certificates in their hands as possible. Once the 15 seconds are up, they must place all their certificates into a WINNERS bag and select one. Prizes range from $5-$250 to WINNERS or tickets to the upcoming iHeartRadio concert. 

Creating a Memorable Experience for WINNERS Consumers

The activation for each concert includes an inspirational accessory wall, step-and repeat mural wall for photo-ops, along with the FABgrab machine. To create an impactful activation that reflected to the look/feel of WINNERS brand vision for the iHeartRadio events, Tigris was tasked with sourcing branded tents, banners and a fitted table cover for the prize table. We also custom built the sleek/modern accessory wall and sourced the inflatable FABgrab that was re-purposed for the remotes. In addition, a custom snapchat filter was available for both the remotes and concerts. 

This event is truly one of the best experiential campaigns because WINNERS customers experience a meaningful interaction with brand ambassadors. In addition, they are shown an unforgettable experience inside the FABgrab and walk away with a prize. What more could you ask for? 

Our last event for WINNERS is coming up on Sat., Dec. 9 at iHeart Radio Jingle Ball. We will be sharing our 3rd and final video from this event shortly so stay tuned!

#1) TransferWise Wakey, Wakey Canada

You may have seen one of our best experiential marketing campaigns on the news, especially if you live in Toronto! TransferWise developed an idea for their Canadian launch, and it was nothing short of big and splashy. Haven’t heard of the brand? TransferWise enables customers to transfer money abroad quickly and easily with low-cost money transfers. Banks and other providers often add a markup to their exchange rate while advertising low fees, which means you could be paying huge hidden charges. TransferWise transparently displays its fee upfront and deducts it before conversion. No nasty surprises and more money in YOUR pocket. 

The concept was brought to life on Apr. 5-6/17. On the pre-shoot day, 10 of our most daring and enthusiastic staff were booked to “sleep” in random places around Toronto including Union Station, Nathan Philip Square and outside of the big banks. On Apr. 6, the sleepwalkers (90 in total!) walked through the underground PATH during morning rush hour to their destination, Brookfield Place. Once there, they listened for their cue (a large air horn) and broke out into a massive pillow fight – playing their part of ‘waking up’ to hidden banking fees – to a tee.

Can you imagine a pillow fight with 90 people in pyjamas? We’ve got the footage to show you! The video we co-produced with ManyMakers hit 325,000 views in 5 days – not to mention the 55,000+ views on our own Tigris Events fan page (15,000 organic and 35,000 with an ad). We have also been recognized for our work on this project with 2 awards! On Nov. 9/17, we took home the Best B2B Marketing Award at the 2017 CAMP Awards and on Nov. 17/17, won a Gold Stevie Award in New York City for Best Viral Video of the Year.

What Do The Best Experiential Marketing Campaigns Have In Common?

The best brands understand and invest in their consumer’s experience. Some findings that have proven to be true are:
1. Differentiated brand experiences drive consumer choice
2. Consumers will pay more for brands that offer unique experiences
3. Too few brand are meeting the consumer demand for unique experiences

It’s unforgettable moments like those outlined above, that the connect consumers to brands, and create the very best experiential campaigns.

Are you interested in creating a campaign for your brand in 2018? Contact Tigris today! Tigris is a multi-award winning brand experience agency specializing in innovative, turnkey experiential marketing strategies. In addition, we have nearly 14 years experience exciting consumers and executing thousands of programs across the country. We’ve even executed a few in the United States and one in Singapore! You can depend on our experiential expertise to build you an unforgettable program while our dynamic events staff successfully execute it. Don’t get lost in the crowd! Tigris promotes products and services with “the power of presence” so you’re brand doesn’t go unnoticed.