Gamification is the new black.  Not familiar with the term?  You will be.

Simply put, gamification uses gaming mechanics and techniques in non-game environments to make things more fun.  It’s not a new concept – just think of Mary Poppins – but the convergence of a generation raised on videogames, the rapid evolution of technology, and the advent of social media have resulted in the marketing equivalent of The Big Bang.

In 2010 corporations spent $100 million on gamification and that’s expected to rise to $2.8 billion by 2016.  Why?  Because it works – and it works especially well with Millennials, the first generation to have television/gaming/computer/phone screens in their faces (or hands) every second of every day since birth.  Traditional marketing is easy to ignore in an over-stimulated world, so successful brands are thinking out of the box.

You’d like an example?  Of course you would.

Coca-Cola has developed a way to give consumers a completely custom product, paired with a fully interactive experience.  Coca-Cola Freestyle touch screen dispensers enable consumers to makes dozens of branded beverages fresh to order from more than 100 calorie and no-calorie brands – including varieties of waters, juices, teas and sparkling beverages that have never been sold in the United States.

Chandra Stephens-Albright, Senior Director of Marketing and Business Development for the brand, says, “It brings back the magic of the fountain of the past, re-imagines it for the future and then takes it a step farther by celebrating the idea that consumers can truly have their say at fountain — with choices tailored completely for them.”

Do you see that?  Tapping into customization and nostalgia all at once.  Nice!  But I digress.

To accompany the real-life machines, the Coca-Cola Freestyle Facebook app lets consumers use a digital vending machine to pick a cup design, mix a custom drink, add virtual ice, name the creation, and share it with friends.  The app contains a map of all the locations of the real-life Freestyle machines to facilitate experiencing it in real life.

There’s also a game app called PUSH+Play, uses the virtual Coca-Cola Freestyle machines as the foundation of a music-based memory game ala Simon.  Players can earn points for accuracy and speed, win badges, share their scores with friends, and of course search for Coca-Cola Freestyle locations nearby.

Other brands are tapping into gamification as well, to varying degrees:

•    Nike+ enables people to track their running progress using compatible personal GPS transceivers (iPhone, Nike SportBand, etc.,) to save their runs, establish and track goals, share routes with friends, challenge fellow runners, monitor pounds burned, and compare performances with others in the community at large.  The Nike+ website also provides suggested next steps for each user’s training regime. The “what’s happening now” section displays the most recent results and activity in the user’s country, and the Facebook broadcasting feature allows automatic sharing of the details of the user’s runs.
•    Audi uses the iPhone as a platform for mobile gaming apps, and Sony’s Playstation Home for building a virtual Audi Space.
•    Ford Fusion Hybrid has gamified greener driving.  The dashboard features a digital tree that flourishes or dies based on how well the driver utilizes the car’s energy-saving technology.  Drivers use the constant dashboard feedback to reduce emissions and keep their tree alive.

What does it mean in the bigger scheme of things?  Brands that use rich media, user generated content, and location-based technology to offer contests, competitions, and intangible or tangible rewards can hold consumers’ attention for longer periods of time, and keep them coming back for more.

From an experiential standpoint, I can’t wait to see what the future holds.

At our recent BACARDI “Like It Live, Like It Together” experiential events in Las Vegas and New York there was an extra video camera capturing some of the excitement for posterity.  Senor Vega, the man behind that camera (and editing, we assume) was nice enough to draw our attention to the final product published on DJ Irie’s YouTube channel.  We like your style, man!

Since a picture is worth and thousand words and video is worth even more, we thought we’d share this with everyone who wasn’t able to attend.  Enjoy!

In June 2011 Javelin and BACARDÍ, the world’s best-selling and most awarded premium rum, broke new social networking ground with experiential program “Like It Live, Like it Together.” Part of the larger “BACARDÍ Together” campaign (embracing social media to encourage real-life get-togethers) “Like It Live” turned BACARDÍ fans’ Facebook “Likes” into real life experiences curated by the fans themselves.

Prior to the event consumers entered to win tickets to the NYC and Las Vegas events, and voted for their top “Likes” including: Slam Dunk vs. Dunk Tank, BACARDÍ Mojito vs. BACARDÍ Cuba Libre, Hip-Hop vs. New Wave, Pizza Truck vs. Taco Truck, and Mechanical Bulls vs. Pillow-Fighting Playboy Bunnies. Top “Likes” were brought to life in true BACARDÍ fashion: NBA legends playing hoops with consumers on the rooftop; world’s largest skateboard/stage; life-sized Sico the Robot and more.

Every BACARDI event needs sizzling musical entertainment, and these events delivered! The New York City event featured Kid Cudi, Tamara Sky, DJ Irie, Aloe Blacc, Eklips and DJ Mouss, Childish Gambino & Evolution of Dance, as well as a few other familiar faces. The Las Vegas event featured Cee Lo Green, Travis Barker and Mix Master Mike, Kid Cudi, Eklips, DJ Tamara Sky, DJ Irie, Aloe Blacc, Childish Gambino aka Donald Glover, Playboy Playmates, NBA legends Ron Harper, Allan Houston and Gary Payton, and more.

After an action-packed evening, consumers enjoyed their final “Like” – a pizza truck – and voiced their delight on Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks.

This time even a few Javelinites were caught in action. It sure looks like they’re enjoying their work!

Scroll over the images below to check out the slideshows:

In 2011, Javelin took People StyleWatch to the malls of America with a custom experiential pop-up store, delighting consumers, increasing awareness of the magazine, and enhancing advertiser relations with a celebrity stylist experience.

Throughout the month of March consumers enjoyed the star treatment of a one-on-one appointment with a stylist who took them through a “celebrity” stylist closet, educated them on fashion and offered advice on which styles suit them best, based on the March StyleWatch issue.

Clinique makeup artists pampered guests with makeovers to complement the new spring looks.

California Closets created custom closets for the program, displaying fashions in an easy to access manner.

Hip spring footwear exclusively from Vince Camuto was displayed in the Celebrity Stylist closet.  Upon purchase of Vince Camuto merchandise from nearby stores, guests received the convertible cross-body clutch featured in the March issue.

Eye-catching accessories (representing trends in the March issue) were on display at the Starbucks Frappuccino Finishing Touch Accessories Bar…complete with ice-cold Starbucks Frappuccino coffee drinks in four different flavors.

To top it off, everyone received a Celebrity Stylist branded tote included a StyleWatch March issue, Starbucks Frappuccino leather bracelet, Vince Camuto cell phone cover, Clinique mascara, Orbit gum, and a Kenneth Cole postcard.

The program earned 56 million print impressions, local television news coverage, extensive blog coverage, and massive word of mouth. The good news for consumers? It’s happening again in September 2011!

Brand love is nothing new around Javelin – after all, everything we do orbits around creating or extending brand loyalty through experiential programs.  Even so, there are a handful of brands that really make my heart race.  Among them?  Mountain Dew, and it’s not because of the caffeine.

Before I start yapping about why the Dew is so awesome, let’s take a moment to reflect on just how easily brands can lose their mojo after achieving a certain level of success.

With start-up struggles a distant memory and the financial/intellectual backing of a major corporation, market dominance is sure to follow, right?  Not necessarily.  Sure, the expertise and resources in sourcing, manufacturing, packaging, distribution, and sales, etc. are nice – and now there are specific people in charge of thinking about each of those things – but they all come with their own teams, goals, and strategies. Decisions are too often made in corporate silos with little regard to other influences affecting the health of the brand. To minimize this risk many corporations have brand managers and chief branding officers to keep an eye on the big picture, but the job doesn’t always come with the power necessary to overcome the silo effect.  Brand authenticity can easily become compromised, and the health of the brand can fall into peril.

Some brands, however, seem to have found a delicate balance where the efficiencies and expertise of a major corporation are maximized and the authenticity of the individual brand is cherished, nurtured, and celebrated – to remarkable effect.

One such brand is Mountain Dew.  They have consistently generated meaningful, relevant messaging that connects with their target audience (the elusive Millennial Male) to great effect, but their latest program has our collective jaws on the floor.

To promote the launch of its three new flavors, the brand created an extreme, first-of-its-kind experience at a film studio in New Zealand.  Skate park designer Corban Walls was commissioned to design a giant, fully functioning, pinball machine skate park.  In this 600-square foot life-size pinball machine, the skater is the ball, propelled from a platform by a giant plunger.  Skaters earn points by doing tricks on tunnels, ramps, flippers and bumpers, triggering sensors to generate flashing lights and arcade sounds.  Scores and times are displayed on a backboard to complete the picture.

MOUNTAIN DEW SKATE PINBALL from Jae Morrison on Vimeo.

After months of planning, seventeen days of build, almost $500,000 and lots of anticipation, the park kicked off on June 4^th with the Mountain Dew Skate Pinball Pro Comp.  Thirty top skaters including Haimona Ngata, Brett Band and Mike Bancroft went head to head to score the most points, be crowned skate pinball wizard, and win cash prizes.  The park will remain open to the public until June 26^th.  For more details or to skate it yourself, check out Mountain Dew New Zealand’s Facebook page or microsite for more details.

The program is ingenious for grabbing the attention of the brand’s young, irreverent fans and simultaneously seducing older Gen Y and Gen X consumers with the retro-nostalgic pinball twist. People far past the age of interest and/or ability to skate have been delighted by this whimsical program that revisits (in a life-sized way) the comfort and nostalgia of their childhoods.

Well done, Dew! Well done.

THE MAKING OF SKATE PINBALL from Jae Morrison on Vimeo.

The World’s Best-Selling Rum Breaks New Social Networking Ground By Bringing Fans’ Facebook “Likes” to Life

BACARDÍ® – the world’s best-selling and most awarded premium rum – will bring people together by bringing their Facebook “Likes” into real life experiences at events in New York on June 13 and Las Vegas on June 15. “Like It Live, Like it Together” is the experiential arm of the iconic rum brand’s “BACARDÍ Together” campaign, and is brought to life by Javelin.

A “Like It Live, Like It Together” preview event was held in New York’s Gansevoort Plaza in NYC’s Meatpacking District on Thursday, June 2. Emceed by Elvis Duran from the Z100 Morning Show, the event featured performances by award-winning rap artist Nas and leading mixmaster DJ Envy, “flair” bartenders, and an outrageous representation of the top “Likes.”

• NBA legend and former New York Knick, John Starks
• Sico the roving robot
• A pizza truck with free slices for everyone
• The world’s largest skateboard
• A Playboy Bunny pillow fight

After the “Likes” were revealed, the high-profile musical talent for the “Like It Live, Like It Together” events were announced. In New York, Aloe Blacc, DJ Irie, Eklips & Tamara Sky will perform, followed by headliner Kid Cudi. In Las Vegas, Travis Barker, Mix Master Mike, DJ Vice, Aloe Blacc and DJ Irie will be followed by headliner Cee Lo Green.

BACARDI models with iPads helped consumers register for the “Like It Live, Like It Together” Facebook ticket contest, and encouraged the use of #LikeItLive to keep the buzz going on Twitter and FB.

Augmented Reality is Surreal…
Literally, Augmented Reality (AR) superimposes a fantastic world—with its own set of rules and dreamlike imagery—onto the standard reality we all know and love. This allows us to play the role of Voodoo Witch Doctor, we guide those without our powers into an unseen universe hidden just below the surface. Best of all, we don’t need any magic herbs, sacred mushrooms, or dried lizard tongues.

With no more than a camera and a computer, we can start to expose the worlds that live behind everyday objects. And, these exposed worlds don’t involve a creepy spirit realm filled with ghosts (unless we really want them to). Augmented Reality shows its users information that can be played with on each user’s own terms. This blurs the lines between reality and whatever world we want to bring people to. Talk about Voodoo.

Play With Information on Your Own Terms
We’re living in an information age, where we can find answers to most questions almost instantly. If someone wants to know about your business, your product, they can find reviews on their cell phones while standing in the marketplace. Best Buy embraces this idea, printing QR codes on shelving labels to help guide people to their website (which has reviews and ordering information). Lego has taken how we play with information a step further.

Lego lets you play with its models without potential buyers opening a box, brand ambassadors constructing demonstration sets, or (in some cases) without anyone leaving the comfort of their home. So, how does Lego give a pseudo-hands-on experience, marketing their toys? Augmented Reality—computers augmenting images from a camera and displaying them back to the user. Literally, this puts the ability to play with Lego’s products in your hands without putting anything in your hands.

Watch it in action!

Seriously, did you watch the video?

Experiential Marketing in the Home?
It goes beyond their amazing, in-store kiosk. Lego grants us this hands-on experience without us needing to leave our homes. Their website now supports AR technology, granting web surfers the same ability to play with legos at their computers. I don’t mean any offense, but TV commercials simply can’t do what AR is offering. Why aren’t more brands giving consumers the ability to experience—no, to play with— their products on the consumer’s own terms?

Over the last 6 to 10 years, experiential marketing has been a big buzzword. The general thinking was that creating exciting live experiences between brands and consumers drives results. Experiential programs were broadly focused without much of a focal point on measurement, amplification, or building long-term relationships with consumers.

Over the last few years as the economy tanked, marketers found themselves in a new world where they needed to justify their expenditures – especially when it came to experiential engagement. Programs had to pay for themselves or they simply wouldn’t get approval from upper management. Rather quickly the new buzzwords became digital and social media, word of mouth, metrics and KMI’s. Data capture became incredibly attractive . Who was actually attending those live experiences that cost so much to create? Some circles turned to virtual events to offset huge fabrication costs and create just-as-compelling experiences in a digital environment, thinking “Why not? More people can be engaged at a lower overall cost.”

Our industry, like all others, is ever-evolving. New priorities (and thus buzzwords) have entered our lexicon, and will continue to do so as the economy, marketplace, and our industry move forward. Transactional experiences. Narrow-casting. Ownable content. Always-on experiences that facilitate seamless engagements between brands and consumers through online and offline modes of communication. Marketing campaigns without a definable beginning and end. These are the new realities of our today and tomorrow.

Today consumers skip nimbly from medium to medium – from a live conversation to a Google search to a Facebook post to a mobile app to retail, back to mobile to perhaps browse through an online catalog for the store they’re standing in, accessing an augmented reality app through their device where they can actually visualize themselves trying on various outfits from that very store, then pressing a button to purchase the items online at a discount. Some even have an automatic update about the purchase post to Facebook, visible to their friends.

This is the world we live in. As an experiential marketing agency, we understand how savvy brands need to approach consumer engagement in this complicated environment. It’s no longer about who can create the best experience, who can best leverage social media or digital, or who has the coolest mobile app. Tactical execution is critical, but strategy trumps all.

We are Javelin.

Grey Goose treated attendees at Tales of the Cocktail, the premier gathering of top bartenders in the world, to exclusive experiential events that brought the brand DNA to life. First up was the filming of Beyond The Bar, a series of documentary shorts celebrating characters behind and beyond the bar.

The United States Bartenders’ Guild and Sundance Channel, the series presenters, selected twelve mixologists through a casting process based upon style, creativity and overall originality. These twelve hail from across North America, and embody the best in the business: April Wachtel (Boston), Evan Hawkins (Atlanta), David Ortiz (Miami), Joaquin Simo (New York), Scott Baird (San Francisco), Eric “ET” Tecosky (Los Angeles), Charles Joly (Chicago), Eddie “Lucky” Campbell (Dallas), Tony Abou-Ganim (Las Vegas), Danny Valdez (New Orleans), Willy Shine (New York) and Lauren Mote (Vancouver).

Key influencers and members of the media were invited to watch the filming of the series, which will begin airing October 2, 2010 during Grey Goose Entertainment’s acclaimed TV series Iconoclasts. TheBostonist.com summed it up best: “Iconoclasts, a show that features ‘people who are game-changers in their field,’ says executive producer Emil Jattne, “is a forum where said iconoclasts (from Maya Angelou to Tony Hawk) can showcase their process, their inspirations and accomplishments. The Beyond the Bar 1-minute vignettes will stud the 15- and 45-minute mark of 6 episodes.”

Next on the Tales agenda was an exclusive Parisian-inspired celebration at Latrobe’s, where guests enjoyed four satellite flavor bars inspired by the streets of Paris. Each one represented a flavor of the Grey Goose portfolio and featured specialty cocktails. Grey Goose brand ambassadors highlighted the latest mixers, unique fruits and fresh herbs, with a bird’s eye camera projecting the action for guests throughout the venue. Exclusive clips of Beyond The Bar were shown in a private screening room for guests to enjoy at their leisure.

Months in the making, the Grey Goose events at Tales of the Cocktail looked as effortless as ever thanks to several key members of Javelin’s Grey Goose team: Kristopher Curtis, Angie Maniscalco, David Catron, Casey Hunter, Jason McCarthy, and Sean Collins. Thanks for all you do, team – you’re awesome!

If you ask 5 different people to define experiential marketing, you’ll probably end up with 5 different answers (moreover, if you’re talking to the right people, all 5 answers will probably be on-target in one way or another).  Here’s a great piece by Erik Hauser from 2007 that comments on the “fluidity” of experiential marketing:

The definition of experiential marketing is fluid – as is the methodology itself. It was once little talked about, and is now being embraced as a silver bullet. I once posed the simple question of experiential marketing’s definition to the Experiential Marketing Forum (experientialforum.com), and received more than 200 definitions from more than 150 countries.

Given the wide range of views on what experiential marketing encompasses, it follows that literature on the subject abounds. Since many of these books rival college textbook prices, we thought we’d start a reading list challenge to lay down the definitive word on which titles are worth your time and money, and which ones are not.

We haven’t had time to read all of these experiential marketing books, so we turned to user reviews on Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com to help sort through the mayhem.  We’ll ignore the reviews that read like the publisher wrote them for the back cover of the book, and focus on the brave souls who threw down their hard earned cash to discover if a book was a sleeper or a gem of marketing wisdom. The verdict will be a thumbs up, thumbs down, or when we can’t tell yet, thumbs sideways.

If you’ve read any of these books and have thoughts to share, please add your comments! If you add something particularly insightful, we’ll update the post with your thoughts and provide a link back to your site. Are you ready?

1. Experiential Marketing: How to Get Customers to Sense, Feel, Think, Act, Relate (1999),by Bernd Schmitt

The consensus on this book is that it treats old news (moving beyond features and benefits, marketing to consumer emotions, etc…) like it’s a revolution. Probably nothing you don’t already know.

2. Experiential Marketing: A Practical Guide to Interactive Brand Experiences (2009) by Shaz Smilansky

One 5-star positive review does not inspire supreme confidence but there’s no reason to believe there isn’t something worthwhile here. Jury’s out.

3. Experience the Message: How Experiential Marketing Is Changing the Brand World (2006) by Max Lenderman

Generally favorable reviews with a few thoughtful critiques. Lenderman hits the right notes with his analysis of the experience economy.

4. The Experience Economy: Work Is Theater & Every Business a Stage (1999) by B. Joseph Pine

This one seems to have withstood the test of time. However, it reads like a textbook (because it is one).

5. Customer Experience Management: A Revolutionary Approach to Connecting with Your Customers (2003) by Bernd H. Schmitt

Schmitt’s follow up to the 1999 release mentioned above received more positive feedback, but he still got knocked for his somewhat academic approach.

6. Managing the Customer Experience: Turning Customers Into Advocates (2002) by Shaun Smith

Positive reviews abound, but it sounds like a new edition is needed to take into account changes in mobile connectivity and the social web.

7. Critical Thinking in Consumer Behavior: Cases and Experiential Exercises (2009) by Judy Graham

No reviews to go on here. Have you read it?

8. Let Them Eat Cake: Marketing Luxury to the Masses – As well as the Classes (2005) by Pamela N. Danziger

According to one reviewer, the book lacks the why and how of marketing to the masses versus particular classes. Another reviewer thought it sounded an awful lot like this book, Trading Up: Why Consumers Want New Luxury Goods and How Companies Create Them by Michael J. Silverstein.

9. Ageless Marketing: Strategies for Reaching the Hearts and Minds of the New Customer Majority (2003) by David B. Wolfe

Loads of favorable reviews.  However, I’m curious what Wolfe would have to say on marketing to the new customer majority in today’s economic climate.

10. There’s No Business That’s Not Show Business: Marketing in an Experience Culture (2003) by Bernd H. Schmitt, David L. Rogers, and Karen Vrotsos

Seems to be targeting those interested in learning about what it’s like to work with major brands and (relatively) large budgets, not those who already work with well-known brands.

11. Events Design and Experience (Events Management) (2007) by Graham Berridg

A different look at events than what you might find in the other books listed here. The focus is on design elements.

12. Brandscapes: Architecture in the Experience Economy (2007) by Anna Klingmann

Another look at design in the experience economy. This one scales it up to the architecture of buildings and environments. Kudos to Klingmann for the portmanteau title too!

13. Place Branding: Glocal, Virtual and Physical Identities, Constructed, Imagined and Experienced (2009) by Robert Govers, et al.

While not directly applicable to experiential marketing, there are lessons here for any brand manager.

14. Trillion-Dollars Moms : Marketing to a New Generation of Mothers (2005) by Maria Bailey, Bonnie Ulman

Like Wolfe’s breakdown of the new customer majority, this title focuses on marketing to a specific demographic. Anonymous reviews don’t cut it though.

15. Brand Enigma : Decoding the Secrets of Your Brand (2009) by Duncan Bruce, David Harvey

A how-to guide for placing your brand at the center of your business… no reviews yet. Have you read it?

16. Life after the 30-Second Spot : Energize Your Brand with a Bold Mix of Alternatives to Traditional Advertising (2005) by Joseph Jaffe

Worth a look. Jaffe makes the case for mixing up your ad budget with new media. Another title where an updated edition might be needed.

17. Greentailing and Other Revolutions in Retail : Hot Ideas That Are Grabbing Customer’s Attention and Raising Profits (2008) by Neil Stern, Willard Ander

Interesting premise. No reviews though. Have you read it?

18. New PR : An Insider’s Guide to Changing the Face of Public Relations (2007) by Phil Hall

Looks at the role of experiential marketing strategies in public relations. No reviews yet. Have you read it?

19. Before the Brand : Creating the Unique DNA of an Enduring Brand Identity (2002) by Alycia Perry, David Wisnom, David Wisnom III

With this title, the emphasis is on brand identity. We’ll need to read it or hear your thoughts on it before we make up our minds though.