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Color Wheel Keep on Rollin'
Client: Sephora USA Inc.
Event: Tangerine Tango Make-up Pop Ups
Design: Craftsmen Industries, St. Charles, MO, 800-373-3575, www.craftsmenind.com; Neverstop, Seattle, 206-726-8016, www.neverstop.com
  Choosing the correct makeup product is all about determining the proper color to suit your skin tone, your eye color, and even your mood. It's no wonder, then, that beauty-product retailer Sephora USA Inc. teamed up with Pantone LLC, an international color authority, to create the Sephora + Pantone Universe beauty collection. Hoping to awaken con-sumers' passion for unique colors (and thus, to spark beauty-product sales), the partnership launched in 2012 when Sephora's collection featured Pantone's 2012 Color of the Year,
17-1463 Tangerine Tango.
To celebrate the launch of the budding partnership, Sephora enlisted the help of
Seattle-based experiential-marketing firm, Neverstop, to design and manage an unexpected retail environment - a pop-up retail shop, if you will - for two key engagements in New York and Los Angeles. Constructed by Craftsmen Industries of St. Charles, MO, the resulting mobile retail store took the form of the iconic Pantone Color Guide, a design/color-selection tool comprising myriad 12-inch-ruler-size cards (each one of which features several Pantone colors labeled with their names and numbers) that are attached at one end to create a sort of fan-like deck of color options. The store itself comprised an aluminum structure measuring 43-feet long by 23-feet tall, and featured a mechanized door that fanned out, just like the Color Guide, to display the color of the year and its various harmonized tones.
Inside the structure - a freestanding container that was hoisted onto a flatbed trailer for ground transport - consumers discovered sleek, minimalist shelving systems and back-lit displays that showcased the products. In addition, an exterior sound system broadcasting upbeat, contemporary tunes lured passersby to the space, and three makeup stations positioned on the pavement outside were staffed by beauty experts ready to assist customers in selecting and applying various makeup products.
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Equestrian Elegance
Client: CM Hadfield's Inc.
Event: Hadfield's Saddlery Trailer 2012 Tour
Design: Kentucky Trailer Technologies, Walled Lake, MI, 248-960-9700, www.kytrailer.com
  CM Hadfield's Inc., aka Hadfield's Saddlery, has provided rider apparel and gear for the last 40 years, and an integral part of the company has always been its mobile-display and retail-sales component. In March 2011, the firm unveiled its newest 53-foot-long mobile store, designed and built by Kentucky Trailer Technologies. Housed and transported via a tractor-trailer with double slide outs that open to create nearly 1,000 square feet of elegant retail space, the Hadfield's Saddlery Trailer 2012 Tour attended 11 horse shows and events over a 23-week period.
The Hadfield credo is to offer the highest-quality products via a luxury retail experience. And since its clients want to see and touch the merchandise as opposed to purchasing it online, bringing the product to equestrian events in a luxury setting seemed like the logical solution. Thus, the trailer offered a climate-controlled environment featuring designer fabrics and custom furnishings, such as a creamy leather wraparound couch trimmed in Hadfield's corporate blue hue. Here, visitors could choose fabrics for custom-made clothing or simply admire the rows of riding apparel surrounding them.
The exterior didn't disappoint as it continued the feel of Hadfield luxury with a glossy-black finish and blue and white trim. An entryway awning offered protection from the elements while outdoor seating and decorative foliage subtly told visitors "Come inside. We'll take care of you here."
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Target Applies a Strong Foundation
Client: Target Corp.
Event: Target Beauty Gets a Makeover
Design: Rock and Rain, Emeryville, CA, 510-597-1873,
www.rockandrain.com; MRA Experiential Tours
& Equipment, Madison Heights,
MI, 800-676-3520, www.gomra.com
 The beauty department in select Target Corp. stores recently got a stylish makeover of its own. So to tout the renovations, increase sales, and drive traffic to its beauty aisles, Target decided to take the product experts and Target Beauty brands on the road via the Target Beauty Gets a Makeover tour.
 Designed and organized by Target's brand design and event agency, Rock and Rain of Emeryville, CA, and crafted by Madison Heights, MI-based mobile-marketing firm MRA Experiential Tours & Equipment, the salon-on-wheels is housed in a red 20-by-8-foot shipping container. Transported to various renovated Target stores across the United States via tractor-trailer, the tour offered Target-store visitors beauty consultations in the stores' parking lots and product advice that they could immediately take with them into the retail stores to make their purchases.
After the container arrived at each store, staffers folded down its two longest sides, rolled out its attached red-and-white striped awnings, and positioned the styling center's accoutrements throughout the space. Upon completion, the 20-by-20-foot area offered a display of featured Target beauty products and four pop-up stylist stations. Here, professional makeup artists and hair stylists treated guests to complimentary makeup touch ups, hair trims, and beauty tips. Before visitors hit the stores, brand ambassadors offered them coupons, product
recommendations, and bags full of sample products.
In conjunction with Target's social-media efforts on Facebook and Twitter and in blogs, the Target Beauty Gets a Makeover tour drove traffic to the company's beauty aisles, increasing
sales of showcased products and elevating Target's overall beauty-department sales. Now that's a mobile-marketing bull's-eye. |
Duck and Cover
Client: ShurTech Brands LLC (Duck Tape)
Event: Duck Tape Rolls Across America Tour
Design: Pro Motion Inc., St. Louis, 314-997-0101, www.promotion1.com; Turtle Transit Co., Lancaster, MA, 978-365-9300, www.turtletransit.com
 In August 2012, the Duck Tape brand (a product of ShurTech Brands LLC) launched a whimsical mobile-marketing campaign it dubbed the Duck Tape Rolls Across America Tour. Hoping to generate awareness for the brand and its latest colors, ShurTech Brands and its marketing agency Pro Motion Inc. of St. Louis enlisted Turtle Transit Co. to craft a green, 31-foot "Duck Bus." The bus stops at state fairs, professional baseball games, air shows, and more - all in an effort to celebrate duct tape with a variety of fun activities.
Visitors are no doubt drawn to the Duck Bus by the various attractions near its entrance. The Video and Photo Kiosk allow crafty visitors to create a video explaining how Duck Tape saved their day, and to snap a souvenir photo against a colorful Duck Tape background. Meanwhile, cutouts of various characters, whose colored bits are made of Duck Tape, offer additional photo opportunities for Duck Tape fanatics of all ages.
Inside the Duck Bus, the Interactive Area features iPad stations and touchscreen monitors allowing visitors to learn how the product is made, how strong it is, and how to make various crafts (such as a wallet) out of it. The Fan Photo Wall offers a photo collage of Duck Tape craft projects shared by the brand's Facebook followers.
In addition, visitors can view the height of Duck Tape fashion in the form of two mannequins adorned in Duck Tape "formal wear," as well as a 7-foot-long timeline showcasing the product's history.
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The Flip Side
Client: Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc., a division of Unilever PLC
Event: Flipped Out Mobile Tour
Design: Turtle Transit Co., Lancaster, MA, 978-365-9300, www.turtletransit.com
 Sometimes the best way to get noticed is to flip the script. That's what Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc. did to promote its Flipped Out line of personal sundaes. A division of Unilever PLC, Ben & Jerry's enlisted the help of Turtle Transit Co., a mobile-marketing vehicle producer in Lancaster, MA, to develop a couldn't-miss marketing tool that would draw attention to its new product and act as a sundae-sampling site in eight key markets across the United States. But rather than just giving a traditional tractor-trailer setup a slight twist, Turtle Transit literally flipped out a standard,
16-foot box truck.
 The anchor vehicle for the Flipped Out Mobile Tour, the truck traversed the country carrying freezers stocked with product samples and storage compartments brimming with event accoutrements, while its exterior offered a jaw-dropping optical illusion. Though the base of the truck appeared normal, the top of it seemed to have an upside-down box truck attached to it - creating the impression that two vehicles had somehow merged into one. To create the effect, a set of real truck tires protruded from the top of the truck, and authentic smokestacks and radio antennae pointed toward the ground. Fuel tanks, headlights, and chrome grills were mounted to the assembly to further the flipped fantasy, which was covered in graphics featuring rolling green hills, a cheery blue sky, and a few cows. In keeping with the flipped theme, the scene was rotated 180 degrees to appear upside-down.
While the eight-city tour distributed more than 100,000 samples of the Flipped Out sundaes, the truck garnered more than 100,000 impressions at the events and en transit. Now that's a flippin' cool design. |
Eighteen-Wheeled
Education
Client: Kenworth Truck Co., a Paccar Inc. company
Event: T680 Tour
Design: EEI Global Inc., Rochester Hills, MI, 800-582-9250, www.eeiglobal.com; Kentucky Trailer Technologies, Walled Lake, MI,
248-960-9700, www.kytrailer.com
 As just about any car salesperson will attest to, successful sales often hinge on the salesperson's knowledge of the vehicle at hand. And you can't get up close and personal with an automobile via brochures and flashy promotional videos alone; you need some hands-on (and/or butt-in-the-seat) time to fully understand it.
 That's why Kenworth Truck Co., a Paccar Inc. company, created the Kenworth T680 Road Tour to launch its newest tractor, dubbed the T680. Originally introduced at the 2012 Mid-America Trucking Show in Kentucky, the company's T680 set a new standard for aerodynamics and fuel efficiency.
 So to ensure that its dealers and salespeople had their own up-close-and-personal experience with the T680 before it hit the showroom, Kenworth enlisted EEI Global Inc., a Rochester Hills, MI, experiential-marketing firm, along with mobile-marketing experts Kentucky Trailer Technologies. The trio then created the T680 Tour, which visited Kenworth dealerships across Canada and the U.S. to educate salespeople about the unique selling points of the brand new piece
of equipment.
Kicking off in May 2012, the resulting T680 tour comprised a tractor-trailer combo, featuring the T680 tractor along with a 53-foot double-expanding trailer. Offering roughly 1,000 square feet of space, the trailer housed a self-guided exhibit experience that detailed the tractor's ultra-comfortable seats, Nav Plus system, sleeper and day-cab options, trim and interior-color choices, and more. What's more, museum-quality graphics and video-presentation displays described the benefits of the truck's capabilities. After a trip through the trailer, Kenworth salespeople could put the hammer down on a one-way trip to their next sale. |
Wienermobile Redux
Client: Kraft Foods Co. (Oscar Mayer)
Event: 75th Anniversary Oscar Mayer Food
Truck Tour
Design: Pierce Promotions and Event Management LLC, Portland, ME,
800-298-8582,
www.piercepromotions.com; Turtle Transit Inc.,
Lancaster, MA, 978-365-9300, www.turtletransit.com
 Debuting in 1936, the inaugural Oscar Mayer Wienermobile was crafted to help Oscar Mayer (originally a butcher shop in
Chicago and today a brand owned by Kraft Foods Inc.) generate awareness for its meats. Piloted by George Molchan, aka "Little Oscar," the Wienermobile visited stores, orphanages, schools, and children's hospitals, and participated in parades and festivals across the nation.
By early 2011, the Wienermobile fleet had grown to seven vehicles, and the brand was about to celebrate its 75th Anniversary. So to honor the milestone, Kraft wanted to distribute free hotdogs to the public via a new food truck that would include a full-size commercial kitchen. Kraft turned to its experiential marketing agency, Portland, ME-based Pierce Promotions and Event Management LLC, to design, launch, and  manage the new and improved Oscar Mayer Food Truck. Pierce, in turn, enlisted the help of Turtle Transit Inc. for the design and fabrication of the newest hotdog on wheels. The resulting vehicle had the recognizable elements of the original Weinermobile, it also featured a kitchen that met strict standards imposed by NSF International (previously the National Sanitation Foundation) - including stainless-steel countertops, sinks, electrical-safety equipment, and a freezer,
The resulting 75th Anniversary Oscar Mayer Food Truck Tour debuted in New York in May 2011. The 30-foot-long vehicle paired exterior graphics with hand-sculpted Fiberglas components to create the iconic Oscar Mayer wiener on top of the vehicle. Meanwhile, a flip-up vending window and menu board on one side acted as a service station from which to distribute hotdogs at various marketing events and retail locations. Like a hotdog and its bun, the commercial kitchen and Wienermobile exterior were a "hot diggity dog"
of a marketing idea. |
BAE's En-Route Interceptor
Client: BAE Systems Inc.
Event: Hawk Advanced Jet
Training System National Road Show
Design: Featherlite Inc., Cresco, IA, 800-800-1230,
www.featherlitespecialty.com
 How do you convince U.S. Air Force officials that your fast-jet training program is the product to replace their existing, and aging, T-38 training systems? If you're BAE Systems Inc., you create a state-of-the-art mobile demonstration center and meet military officials on their own turf. During 2011 and continuing into 2012, the Hawk Advanced Jet Training System (AJTS) National Road Show visited more than 18 locations, including Air Force air shows, the Air Force Association annual event, and the Military Bowl.
Housed in a 53-foot tractor-trailer featuring a slide out on one side and a canopied entrance area along the other, the tour explained BAE's flight-training system, the Hawk AJTS, via video, simulations, and an interactive display. After viewing a briefing and product video in the main theater, attendees each received a personal escort through the trailer's four primary components: a cockpit simulator, two desktop trainers that illustrated the basic functions of the throttle and sticks, an interactive display that educated visitors about ground-based training devices, and a debrief station which demonstrated how instructors can provide feedback using the system.
During 2011, the tour hosted more than 2,000 Air Force personnel and decision makers. What's more, approximately 14,000 visitors outside of the Air Force ranks also toured the trailer. While the proposal process to replace the Air Force's T-38 training system isn't anticipated to begin until 2013, the tour showed military officials that the Hawk AJTS can literally help get their pilots ready for takeoff.
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