Is there such a thing as bad publicity?

For those of us involved within the creative and promotional industries we all appreciate the power of print and the value in checking grammar, word flow and spellings before a big event. Occasionally slogans can get lost in translation with computers formatted slightly differently, not to mention the less Shakespearean versions of English used throughout the world.

But imagine our surprise when we heard about the latest news from multinational electronics company, Samsung at this weeks CES conference in Las Vegas.

We've all heard about Hollywood Producer Michael Bay leaving the stage during the launch of Samsung’s new curved TV, but the experiential side of the launch revealed a technological rain wall, sadly containing a misspelled ‘Experiece’; an otherwise inspired concept which looked great but sadly also captured the attention of social media.

Perceptions of brands have never been formed or altered quicker than they are right now with the accessibility of the internet and social media.

Both of these occurrences have gained huge exposure for Samsung, so you could argue that they have received more coverage than they could have dreamt of, albeit not directly about their product but it certainly goes a long way for brand exposure. So is it true that 'there's no such thing as bad publicity’?

See previous Blog entries for some of the experiential escapes The MotivAction Group have provided.

Remember… join the conversation and let us know your thoughts; follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook.

The Olympic Park’s ‘Pop-Up’ Legacy

We don’t know if you noticed but a rather large sports festival popped up in the East of London last summer. And it seems that it’s set to become a firm favourite with festival and sports organisers wishing to ‘pop-up’ an event.

Harnessing the nation’s feel good factor following our Olympic glory, the park has already played host to an array of outdoor cultural events, ranging from the Open East Festival, the Wireless Festival and this summer’s hugely popular Anniversary Games.

The sheer scale of these projects really does impress. Amid the on-going renovation works you’d never expect to find swing ball arenas, cultured catering, multiple stages and the largest chunk of astro turf you’ve ever seen! It’s no mean feat!  

So far, the immediate Olympic legacy has been most enjoyable, with the diverse nature of the Park’s Event calendar perhaps the most pleasant surprise. Yet, the best bit of the lot is the fact that this ‘Pop-Up’ perfect festival ground is wham bam in the middle of London’s east end bringing exciting arts programmes to the masses, a green playground which really shouldn’t be.

Keep your eyes peeled for more thought provoking ‘Pop Ups’ as the trend continues to sweep the industry.

If you’d like to hear about anything we have professionally‘popped up’ here at MotivAction, get in touch.

Lets us know your thoughts; follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook & read all our latest Blogs

Play to win, don’t play to play: launching Varo Foods’ Moinmoin product

“Play to win. Don’t play to play.” said the Managing Director of Varo Foods in amazement after first setting his eyes on the Westfield Stratford demonstration kitchen we had created for him.

It may sound like an obvious statement but sometimes it can be hard to hand over the keys to your prized brand to an experiential agency and just let them ‘get on with’ creating a sampling event.

It probably hadn't helped that we’d been planning the launch of his new Nigerian delicacy Moinmoin for nearly a year, discussing a range of different venues and events and having to cancel them as the product simply wasn't ready.

Moinmoin is a dish served at Nigerian celebrations (known as Owambe) and family recipes are a closely guarded secret handed down from generation to generation. So it’s no surprise that Nigerians are very outspoken about what makes a good Moinmoin. You can see why no one had yet dared to package it as a convenience food - there was a lot at stake. 

Getting the recipe just right and waiting for the glacial manufacturing process to complete meant that the product sampling activity just got pushed further and further back. After all this time dealing with suppliers it was evident Varo Foods’ Managing Director hadn’t realised just how professional the live sampling activity could look. 

That’s precisely why he got MotivAction involved at the outset. We would take care of the whole process, ensuring our brand ambassadors were fully briefed, that Westfield Stratford’s demonstration kitchen was bright and vibrant and most importantly that his shiny new brand was properly represented throughout the whole weekend. 

No matter the client, brand or budget, MotivAction are there to win; not simply to play.

And you know what? It all paid off. After trying our hot Moinmoin samples the Nigerian target audience couldn't believe Varo Foods had managed to create such a tasty product. During our three days at the demonstration kitchen we had sold hundreds of tins of Moinmoin, created tens of thousands of opportunities to see the brand and Varo Foods saw their social media activity increase three-fold.

It looks as though Varo Foods’ Moinmoin has all the ingredients it needs to win!

If you would like to know a little more about the sampling activity we created for Varo Foods please get in touch with me at ideas@motivaction.co.uk and I’ll happily send you a case study.

A Brand Experience Case Study: Gore-Tex demonstrate that technical clothes can look stylish

After the success of the PR launch MotivAction delivered for the Gore-Tex ® SURROUND™ Product Technology launch in January they asked us to deliver a new brand experience live event that would showcase garments featuring their Gore-Tex fabrics and treatments.

Gore-Tex has been providing waterproof and breathable membranes and finishes to clothes manufacturers such as Berghaus and North Face for many years. However, many fashion consumers don’t realise the range of cutting-edge fashion brands that feature Gore-Tex or just how ‘on-trend’ some of the styles are. Gore-Tex asked us to showcase some of these garments to fashion journalists, particularly the Japanese influenced brands, such as Bathing Ape, nanamica and Visvim, who have developed a series of very stylish clothes.

MotivAction took over the Future Gallery, a fantastic white studio space in London’s Covent Garden and produced a colourful and vibrant, modern Japanese-inspired fashion show. We created bespoke mannequins from brightly coloured Perspex which were used to showcase some of the key garments. On the walls we hung giant coloured frames at jaunty angles within which we hung branded shoes.

The focus of the day was two high impact fashion shows in the style of a photo shoot. Shot on a bright blue background, our stylish models paraded in front of the photographer and his shots were instantly projected onto the walls around the journalists.

The event created a real buzz with journalists exclaiming how much they enjoyed the brand experience and the opportunity to get close to the garments. In fact, by the following morning many bloggers (such as Hypebeast, the most read online fashion news and information outlet) and journalists had written about the clothes they had seen.

Posted by Andy Cording, Brand Experiences Account Manager

‘Tis the season to get ‘fest’-ive for brands

It comes around just once a year and there are absolutely no snow covered scenes or cherubic choristers in sight. That’s right, the summer festival music season is fast approaching. And it’s not just the world’s music fans that are gearing up to see their favourite bands. The world’s biggest brands pay good money to attend the summer festivals because they know that when music fans aren’t moshing or doing air guitar, they have a captive audience that will interact with their brand.

These days brands wishing to do their brand experience activity have so many festivals other than Glastonbury to choose from. Festival organisers have realised that festival-goers that used to enjoy them in their youth would still like to attend even though they now have children. Harvest at Jimmy’s Farm and Latitude are two great examples and many brands that target this audience benefit by creating standout brand experiences that entertain and engage them.

And don’t think that festivals are strictly the domain of trendy twenty-somethings. There are festivals aimed solely at the toddler market. Lollibop in Regents Park is a summer festival for kids under the age of 10 and features appearances Rastamouse and Peppa Pig. They even have Ministry of Sound put on a mini disco for them! Again, the brand experience or live experiential opportunities are endless.

Throw in some MotivAction brand ambassadors that are trained to engage and talk with enthusiasm and knowledge about your product and you’ll find it’s a winning combination.

So, if you want your brand adored and loved by a captive audience at this year’s summer festivals then you’ve still got time book some space. Give us a call, we’ll be happy to help.

Brand Experience: Reality bites for Abercrombie & Fitch

As far as live events go, the American reality TV show Jersey Shore is (for anyone under the age of 25) a global success. Never the less, as far as branded events go, the fashion retailer Abercrombie & Fitch are adamant it won’t be an event with their logo slapped all over it. So appalled are they with the behaviour of the show’s star, Michael ‘The Situation’ Sorrentino that this week they have reportedly paid him significant sums of money NOT to wear their clothes on screen in order to protect the brand they have spent millions of dollars cultivating. Given that this show is adored by fans all over the world you can see why they're getting a little hot under their preppy, pastel coloured polo collars.

Is this simply a highly effective bit of brand PR during the annual summer news slowdown (this subject was even deserving of 5 minutes airtime on BBC Radio 4!) or, heaven forbid, the beginning of an anti-sponsorship phenomenon?  Historically, brands have had ultimate control about whose svelte or ripped bodies their brands are seen on, but with the advent of YouTube and 24 hour rolling reality churning all spectrums of suspect behaviour out of our screens, brands could quickly find themselves having to spend more and more of their time and money in the bizarre situation of 'unpromoting' their products.

Not all brands have had the foresight or frankly the guts to do this - do you remember when Daniella Westbrook accessorised her whole life in Burberry? A&F, however, have always been outspoken and never shied away from telling the public what it feels which is why I think the much anticipated PR backfire won’t necessarily happen. Whether you think them arrogant or not, A&F have laid a very clear marker in the sand by stating that they are certainly not associated with the common 'dross' of reality television and instead are the exclusive label for those preppy enough to turn their backs on the quick fix of fame reality TV promises.

Now, where did I put my matching Burberry sock and underwear set?

Posted By Andy Cording, Brand Experiences Account Manager at The MotivAction Group