Picture this- You are out for walk in the Wynwood District during Art Basel Miami Beach. Your senses are taking in the artistic flavor of the graffiti filled walls and the colorful people from all over the world. As you walk between the art galleries in Miami you start to notice a crowd of people wearing similar garb, as you look even closer you notice that each and of them are wearing a sparkling white glove on one hand. You hear a familiar beat coming from a boom box that has been placed on the ground and in an instant the recently noticed crowd of people burst into a simultaneous moon walk.
You have just witnessed a Flash Mob.
Flash mobs are a great way to grab the public’s attention and companies around the world are now recognizing them as a great marketing tool. Many global brands around the planet are producing their own flash mobs to promote their company, product or event. Take for example a flash mob sponsored by Trident Gum which featured a performance by 100 women in leotards and heels dancing perfect choreography to Beyonce’s Single Ladies in Piccadilly Circus in London to promote a free concert sponsored by the brand.
http://youtu.be/qgguEZCE3Dk
Look for a venue in Miami to rehearse for your next flash mob? Contact us at Soho Studios. Soho Studios is an event space in Miami that offers 65,000 square feet of space. Our versatile 65,000 square foot facility has been used for music festivals, fashion shows, and is a known venue for Art Basel Miami Beach. Our list of worldwide customers includes Ford Motor, Absolut, Telemundo, Evian and Puma.
One of the most cutting edge marketing tools available today is experimental marketing or experiential marketing. Brand sponsored flash mobs, large art installations and events are just some examples of experiential marketing. Another way to go is to film a social experiment and post a video of it on YouTube.
Recently, Taco Bell staged a social experiment to promote the launch of their latest culinary creation, the Cool Ranch Doritos Locos Taco. Fans of Taco Bell’s Facebook page were given directions to go to a flower shop in Manhattan’s meat packing district and provide the secret password – The Blue Bouquet. Once the password was given, a Taco Bell representative, cleverly disguised as flower shop worker, presented them with a bouquet of blue flowers and a Cool Ranch Doritos Locos Taco. Some folks came in and asked for the taco directly and were met with perplexed stares. The whole thing was wildly entertaining and the video went viral with over a million hits on YouTube.
http://youtu.be/spzsY9FuqCo
Another way for effective brand exposure via experiential marketing is through an event production. At Soho Studios, a venue in Miami, Absolut Vodka hosted Absolut X, a free concert featuring indie rock favorite Bloc Party and drinks mixed with the clear libation Absolut is famous for. Soho Studios is known as a hub for experiential marketing events. Among all the other venues in Miami, Soho Studios versatility and capacity for large scale events allows event planners the freedom to use their imaginations to produce top of the line experiential marketing events that create the buzz that all brands are looking for. Whether you are looking to launch your brand or looking to increase the exposure of your existing brand, experiential marketing is a highly effective marketing tool.
Your event has ended, and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. In fact, everyone is raving about what a hit it was. At first, you're extremely excited that everyone enjoyed themselves, but then reality starts to sink in.
How in the world are you going to top this event next year?
Get Feedback
While your event may have been a smash, there are almost always ways you can improve on it. To figure out the best ways to make your event production even better, solicit feedback from attendees, employees and vendors to find out if they had heard or noticed areas that needed improvement. Maybe, the lines to get in your event were backed up because you didn't have enough people taking tickets or a concession stand was located in a low traffic area so it didn't earn the income you had expected. Learn from these mistakes and make adjustments and improvements accordingly.
Publicity
If attendance at your function was lower than you expected, your event strategy for next year should include ways to increase your visibility with the public. One of the most effective and inexpensive ways to generate buzz about your event is to utilize social media sites, such as Twitter and Facebook. Fortunately, actively publicizing your event on these two sites shouldn't add any more cost to your event planning budget.
You might also want to consider partnering with a coupon site, such as Groupon or Living Social. These sites will not only help you to generate more interest for your event, but they can also be an effective way to help you sell more tickets.
Choose an Exciting New Venue
If you've been throwing your event in the same old hotel ballroom year after year, isn't it about time that you move your event to a venue with more atmosphere, such as Miami's Soho Studios. Located in the vibrant Wynwood Art District, this 65,000-square-foot structure with its industrial detailing can add an edgy, modern look and feel to your event.
Surprise!
Everyone loves surprises and great ones can really make an event memorable. If you, for instance, hire a special guest for your festivities, you may want to conceal his identity until the day of your event. This could create great buzz and interest in your event as everyone tries to guess who your special guest may be.
Planning an event is only half the battle. You also need clever event marketing techniques that will convince people they cannot afford to miss your event. Marketing your event is made much easier when you turn to the Internet as a resource and craft a digital event strategy. It lets you engage more people while removing time and geographical constraints found in other forms of marketing.
You should consider these important elements in crafting a digital strategy for your next event:
Create Social Media Conversations
Initiating conversations through social media channels is an effective tool for getting people to talk about your event. For your Twitter account, for example, you should decide on all event hashtags in advance. Then start promoting those hashtags on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and other popular social media sites.
Encourage people to follow the event hashtags for news and information related to your event. Create a pre-event network and allow attendees to submit proposals and offer feedback on your upcoming event. Giving them a voice will make your event more appealing.
Blog about It
You can't surf anywhere on the Internet without splashing into a blog. Still, there is no reason why you shouldn't blog about your event. You can consider a couple of options with blogging. The first is to live blog during the event. You can post photos and offer real-time updates on what is happening. This approach works well with annual events.
A second option is to blog about the event afterward. You can create a post that summarizes the event and link to any other relevant posts covering the event. Incorporate SEO keywords tied to your event so people can easily find blog posts in search engines and share them with their friends.
Engage with Mobile Apps
Create a mobile app for your event. It can offer attendees access to the event calendar or schedule. They can browse through scheduled speakers and entertainers, venue information, ticket prices and everything else related to the event. Mobile event apps will help keep your audience continuously engaged before and during the event so that you can accomplish your goals.
ABSOLUT® WELCOMES THE NEXT GENERATION OF COLLABORATION WITH X AT OUR VENUE ON MAY 16TH AT 9:00 pm.
This ABSOLUT® X event will be the epicenter of Art, Music and Cocktails. Featuring indie rock band Bloc Party, Miami contemporary artist Agustina Woodgate & mixologist Lermayer will be combing their talents during Absolut's X event.
Taking experiential marketing to a whole new level with this event in Miami, ABSOLUT® will incorporate music, art and mixology providing an immersive experience.
Soho Studios is located in Wynwood, Miami's arts district. Our venue is the perfect location for experiential marketing events. Repeating the success of Swedish House Mafia and Absolut's event at Soho Studios in 2012. We look forward to this exciting event in Miami.
Bloc Party are a four-piece from London who specialize in creative rock music and who have defined themselves as one of the UK’s most loved musical exports. Upon release of their debut, Silent Alarm in spring 2005, Bloc Party were catapulted into the global spotlight, garnering worldwide fans and critical acclaim, with the NME voting Silent Alarm “Album of the Year” and Urb Magazine calling Bloc Party “Band of the Year.” They made their American television debut on “Late Show with David Letterman,” which was soon followed by a performance on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”.
Bloc Party will partner with Agustina Woodgate to create an interactive artistic collaboration, and perform hits like “Children of the Future” from their most recent album Four. Guests will create custom ABSOLUT® masks to develop their “ABSOLUT® self,” making their dream identity a reality. Working with the non-profit Architecture for Humanity, Woodgate’s finished art will be donated and installed in a selected public space, leaving a piece of ABSOLUT X to live on in Miami.
Agustina Woodgate aims to create art that fosters exchanges between people rather than encounters between a viewer and an object. Through these exchanges, meaning is elaborated collectively, rather than in the space of individual consumption.
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1981. She graduated from the Instituto Universitario Nacional de Arte, Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2004. Often responding to a place or situation, Woodgate makes objects, site-specific and context-based installations, performance, and collaborative event-based projects that focus on the interplay between human beings and their surrounding environment at both macro and micro levels. Site specificity is usually the point of departure for her creative process, involving research into the site and its relations. Agustina works inclusively and socially, finding new access points for communication to create public, intensive, and process-oriented works. She currently lives and works in Miami, FL.
Serving as ABSOLUT X’s instigator of creativity, Agustina and her work encourage thought and challenge “the norm.”
From Andy Warhol to Swedish House Mafia, ABSOLUT® VODKA has a long history of collaborating with and supporting cultural provocateurs. With the launch of ABSOLUT® X, the brand is challenging partygoers to transform their present and futures, creating a new reality where there are no rules. ABSOLUT® X will continue to ask “What is your X?” in Seattle, New York City and Philadelphia this summer. For more information visit ABSOLUT X.
The Lincoln Motor Company brings a car experience and a brand launch to Miami for Lincoln's all-new 2013 Lincoln MKZ.
This new sedan brings a whole new meaning to luxury and with the Lincoln Hello Again event you will experience this luxury with different experiences. Combining the arts of Wynwood with a series of places that are defining the industries that they are Lincoln Automotive invites you to our urban space where your experiences will begin.
Our unique Pavilion Studio will provide you with a brief overview of the visionary creative enterprises, cultural organizations and game changing individuals that will guide your rediscovery of Miami, before setting out on a drive to explore them firsthand. For directions to this luxury event please click here.
The Lincoln Motor Company will provide you with the all-new 2013 Lincoln MKZ as your personal transportation through the hidden surprises and the new wave of Miami.
During your tour of Miami you’ll have exclusive access to SHIKANY prior to its public opening, with a taste of the cuisine that will be featured there. You will also learn to craft your own artisan cigars at the Wynwood Cigar Factory and sample the finest brews at Panther Coffee.
But that’s just a taste of what’s in store. RSVP to experience the re-imagining of Miami now.
You are invited to discover a Miami that very few have ever seen.
May 16th - June 2nd every Wednesday - Sunday
Reservations are available from:
11:00am - 4:00pm (every 30 minutes)
6:00pm - 10:00pm (every hour)
Say hello, again to the city you drive through every day as you experience new places, new tastes, new sounds. You won’t want to miss this exclusive opportunity for you and a guest.
Here are some great Vine clips from the event including some photos of the Lincoln Hello Again tour.
and from the auto show
Your Hello, Again Miami experience will feature:
Panther Coffee Turbo Cupping Experience
Commissioned art installation by Evoca1
Organizing a gala is an excellent way to raise funds for a good cause. You can draw on the movers and shakers of your local community to get behind a charity you support. They will enjoy a night of fine music, fine dining and fine entertainment while you get positive exposure for your cause.
It takes plenty of preparation to put together a gala that will be the talk of the town. Here are a few things you can do to make your gala go off without a hitch:
Promote it
The best way to get as many people involved as possible is to spare no effort in promoting a gala. Send press releases to the local media announcing the gala. Line up interviews with local TV stations to get stories done on it. The more people know about your gala, the better your chances are at having a high turnout.
Recruit Reliable Volunteers
Event planning is much easier when you have an army of volunteers who can get even the smallest details right. You need people who can do everything from marketing the event to planning entertainment to securing the right gala venues. This will keep important details from being ignored or forgotten until the last minute.
Book Good Entertainment
The right music creates a fun atmosphere for your gala. Hire a live band to provide songs that will set a festive mood for the entire night. Many bands will love the chance to be connected with a good cause while promoting their music. And your guests will have a enjoyable experience if there is plenty of good music to dance to all night long.
Use Social Media
Generate buzz for your gala by advertising it through social media channels. You can set up a Facebook page for the event and have attendees RSVP to the gala page. You can also create custom hashtags for the event on Twitter to let everyone talk about it before and after the gala.
Serve Good Food
The best way to a person's wallet is through their stomach. Serving a high quality meal is a sure ticket to creating a venue filled with happy and generous guests.
It is impossible to find a nonprofit organization that has had a greater impact on the Miami art scene than the Knight Foundation. It has donated a total of $86 million over a six-year period to provide funding to several key arts institutions and offer support to local artists looking to enrich Miami's culture.
One area where the Knight Foundation has had significant impact is in the Wynwood District. The Knight Arts Challenge led to the creation of an incubator for various Arts groups in 2009. It was opened inside the Light Box at Goldman Warehouse. Local arts groups were given performance space, gallery space and a shared office.
The Knight Foundation has helped foster the transformation of the Wynwood District into a hub for the arts. This personified with the presence of Art Basel Miami Beach, which uses the Wynwood District as one of its venues to showcase hundreds of works of arts to tens of thousands of visitors from around the globe. Benefiting from the presence of Art Basel Wynwood has become a must-see destination for art lovers everywhere.
One of the most recent developments will be the addition of more than a dozen artist-designed crosswalks to the Wynwood District. The first crosswalk, designed by Venezuelan artist Carlos Cruz-Diez, will be installed in front of the Wynwood Walls. 15 crosswalks are planned and each one will showcase original artwork from Miami-area artists. This is one more step in transforming a former industrial area into a pedestrian-centric neighborhood.
The Knight Foundation has played a major role in making all of these developments possible. It first demonstrated a serious commitment to supporting the Miami Arts with a generous $20 million donation in 2008 to fund endowments at the Miami Art Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art and the New World Symphony.
The Knight Foundation’s support also continues through the annual Knight Arts Challenge contest, which provides funds to the best ideas designed to enhance the arts in Miami and South Florida. This challenge has helped spur many of the positive developments for the art community in Wynwood and will continue to influence it in the near future.
Looking for the perfect event space in Miami can be difficult. There are many events in Florida that take place all year round and choosing the right event space like Soho Studios will be the best decision you will make.
Soho Studios was the perfect event space in Miami for An Affair of the Arts Performance and Gala in 2008. This event was a great success because of the location, VIP guest list and event space, as the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts (NFAA) completed its annual youngARTS Week with at black tie event where over 800 guests visited Soho Studios.
As reported by SocialMiami.comMargarita and Armando Codina chaired the event, while SunTrust Bank served as Title Presenting Sponsor and Lin Arison, AT&T, Goldman Sachs, and Merrill Lynch as Benefactors. Other attendees included NFAA Chairman-Elect James Dubinand wife, Susan; Adrienne Arsht; Don Carlin; Ella Fontanals Cisneros; R. Kirk Landon; Audre Mendel; Paul and Trudy Cejas; Woody and Judy Weiser; Sandra and Stephen Muss; Billy Cypress, Chairman of the Miccosukee Tribe of Florida; Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Dean of the School of Architecture, University of Miami; and Frank Everett, Director of Tiffany’s Bal Harbour.
This event started with a silent auction and cocktail reception. However unlike other events in Florida this event had amazing luxurious items for sale from brands such as Tiffany & Co., Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman and Escada.
The event was followed by dinner, dancing and performances by rising star youngARTS alumni, including Nashville Star winner Chris Young, 2003 youngARTS Winner in Popular Voice and Presidential Scholar in the Arts; American Ballet Theatre soloist Sarah Lane, 2002 youngARTS finalist in ballet; Pianist Rachel Kudo, 2005 youngARTS Winner in Classical Piano; and Tenor Rafael Moras, 2006 youngARTS Silver Winner in Classical Voice and Presidential Scholar in the Arts kept the spirit of the evening strong.
World renowned architect and design visionary Frank Gehry was presented with the Arison Award for his contribution to the education of young artists. Critically-acclaimed dancer and American Ballet Theater Executive Director Rachel Moore, 1982 youngARTS winner in Dance and a Presidential Scholar in the Arts, received the third annual NFAA Alumni Award.
As most events in Florida progress through the evening, this event continued with the inaugural youngPATRONS Late Night Party, under the leadership of Sarah Arison and youngPATRONS committee member Ali Codina, opened its doors for more celebrating with DJ Irie and more performances, including jazz singer Grace Weber and pianist Julian Pollack, 2006 youngARTS finalists who recently cut their first CD.
Out of all the events in Florida youngArts had the best event at our venue in Miami. At our event space in Miami we pride ourselves on service with extraordinary capabilities.
Throwing a launch party can become your ticket to making a strong first impression. It can influence for good or bad how people view your brand. Launch parties are the time and place for attracting new clients and investors who want to take a chance on your brand.
How can you turn your launch party into an unforgettable event? Getting these elements right is a good starting point:
Location
Location means everything with a launch party. Where you throw it should fit with the messaging for your brand. You can reserve the best party venue Miami has to offer, but the party won't work if the venue doesn't match your branding. If you are opening a new dance studio, for example, a launch party at a local club might be the right fit. A corporate launch party might be best suited to a convention center or hotel.
Guests
Who you invite to your launch party matters as much as the party itself. Your guest list should include a mix of potential clients, potential investors and representatives from the media. Send out a media advisory or press release announcing the launch party to local TV stations, radio stations, newspapers, magazines and bloggers related to your brand's niche. This will alert the right people to show up at the right time and in the right place.
Entertainment
Think beyond an open bar and dance music to keep your guests engaged at your launch party. Entertainment options work best when they incorporate the party theme. One excellent idea is to feature a live demo of the product or service central to the launch party. Live music, food and drink, games and raffles are other good entertainment options for launch parties.
Sponsorships
Sponsors should play a huge role in your launch party. They can provide free food and drinks to guests. They can donate gifts to give to party guests. And they can donate a venue for hosting the party. Donations from sponsors can help you keep costs down so that your launch party doesn't break the bank.
