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FIVE THINGS TO KNOW THIS WEEK This week’s hot takes on hot topics in experiential marketing cover Farmer’s Barkets, Pizza Plazas and Hair Monsters.   DOGGOS COME FIRST AT THIS POP-UP ‘FARMER’S BARKET’ Someone needs to give BARK’s creative team a raise. Last year, it was luxury flights for dogs and their humans. This year, it was a “Farmer’s Barket” that served as a reimagined Saturday market experience built entirely for pups. Indeed, to celebrate BARK’s new positioning as a company that’s “co-owned...

Experiential marketers have wasted no time experimenting with AI-fueled activations and applications to drive personalization and streamline the work behind the scenes. But this year, marketers are ready to accept AI as a member of the team. Enter: AI agents, which are shifting from “curiosities” to game-changing assistants for marketers and attendees. Demonstrating both its capabilities and the power of AI agents in a tangible way, CollegeVine, which uses a network of students, data and AI agents...

There are many ways to describe the Hendrick’s Gin brand, but “boring” isn’t one of them. Over the years, the company has built a peculiar “Giniverse”—inspired by the unusual way its liquid is distilled—and an assortment of eccentric live experiences to match. Take this year’s Tales of the Cocktail conference in New Orleans, LA, where the Hendrick’s Time Traveler’s Tavern mega-bar experience enveloped members of the spirits industry in a bizarre world of paradoxical characters and concepts through...

Fans of video game Lords of the Fallen are hard core, and CI Games knows its audience. So for the sequel reveal at Gamescom 2025, held Aug. 20-24 in Cologne, Germany, the independent video game developer and publisher brought the game’s dark fantasy world to life on the show floor with a themed activation called the Tattoo Sanctum. The chainmail-inspired booth featured glowing runes, caged walls, large character cutouts, key art from the game and a live dj, but the centerpiece was the tattoo studio...

Duolingo has produced its digital Duocon forum since 2019, but virtual events have seen a major overhaul since pre-pandemic times. These days, presentations are shorter, avenues for audience interaction are robust, and content is visually striking. So on Sept. 16, we tuned in to Duocon 2025 to find out how the brand (and pop culture darling) approached this year’s virtual conference. Highlights of the event included two product reveals, each designed to showcase Duolingo’s evolution from a language...

Skincare brand CeraVe is turning 20 and says it’s inviting all of “its friends” to celebrate. The brand is touring the country from July 29 to Sept. 14, popping up a birthday present-shaped activation in six cities: Chicago; San Francisco; Riverton, UT; Ann Arbor, MI; Tallahassee, FL; and Asbury Park, NJ. The 20 Years of CeraVe Tour’s larger-than-life, 20-by-20 gift box structure features blue glass walls, doorway streamers and a giant white bow wrapped around the exterior. To help beat the heat,...

Event Marketer’s Rachel Boucher, head of content; Kait Shea, senior editor and manager-digital; and Juanita Chavarro Arias, managing editor, recap and provide commentary on some of the top experiential marketing stories, ideas and trends of the month. Think: the coquette aesthetic, hatching eggs and kidney pledges. New episodes drop monthly. Subscribe to The Brief LinkedIn Newsletter For more information on The Brief newsletter and The Brief, Live!, reach out to the editors. Related Links: CeraVe’s...

Photo credit: Taylor Regulski for Lollapalooza; Courtesy of Airbnb Lollapalooza annually takes place during peak music festival season, with this year’s four-day passes selling out in under an hour back in March, once again proving the event to be a huge draw for music lovers. About 115,000 people attended each day of the festival from July 31 to Aug. 3, organizers confirmed, saying that attendance numbers were about the same as in 2024. Festivalgoers flocked to see headliners like Olivia Rodrigo,...

Event Marketer’s 2025 B-to-B Dream has been unveiled. Each month, we’re sitting down with one of our all-stars to talk trends, best practices and all things uniquely b-to-b. Kelsey Schneider, Global Event Manager, GE HealthCare For Kelsey Schneider, experiential marketing has always been a numbers game. From the time she stepped into her role as a data and analytics specialist at GE HealthCare 11 years ago, to her current position as the company’s global event manager, Schneider’s penchant for quantifying...

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW THIS WEEK This week’s hot takes on hot topics in experiential marketing cover mascot train takeovers, soda-powered car washes and financial speed dates.   ESPN STANDS CLEAR OF THE CLOSING DOORS ON NYC’S E TRAIN When ESPN’s fully branded E train rolled into service in New York City on Aug. 21, a few special guests hopped aboard to commemorate the launch of its all-new d-to-c streaming service and enhanced ESPN App. For the morning’s inaugural ride, ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro was...