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Welcome to Studio Sessions, interviews filmed in the field with the minds behind the moments. In this episode, Sylvia Lopez-Navarro, national manager of brand experience, corporate events and auto shows at Kia America, joins us at the 2026 Experiential Marketing Summit to discuss how brands like Kia are building real emotional connections with audiences, what that actually looks like in practice, and the small, unexpected moments that often land hardest. Plus, we explore what it means to feel fully...

Forget the branded tote stuffed with collateral and QR codes. The post-show “experience” today is becoming a well-crafted campaign, with the on-site hero engagement as the jumping off point. Let’s explore the ways b-to-b event marketers are making their show messaging sticky and shareable with the keepsake long game.   Turn the experience into a resource. For the Taste Collective by 1800 Tequila bartender roadshow, Proximo Spirits brought in a James Beard-nominated food scientist, the owner of North...

When Hendrick’s activated a Time Traveler’s Tavern at Tales of the Cocktail last summer, spirits industry insiders got a taste of its eccentric “Giniverse” with a tour through a world of paradoxical characters and concepts. This year, with the launch of Another Hendrick’s, the first permanent expression added to its lineup in a decade, the notably peculiar brand opened up its cabinet of curiosities to consumers, and upped the ante on what “immersive” and “world-building” really mean. Welcome to Anotherland....

When Hulu debuted its Get Real House last year, it was like “lighting in a bottle,” says Kottie Kreischer, svp-events at Disney Entertainment Television. The event brought together the streaming service’s reality TV stars under one roof to share announcements, offer series first looks and create content-gathering opportunities. With all the positive buzz the event generated, Hulu had to bring it back, but year two saw everything scaled up. On April 22, more than 150 unscripted TV icons and creatives—along...

Every year, the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix draws ire from racing fans for being too hot and muggy, but Florida’s humid climate proved to be the perfect testing ground for SheaMoisture’s newest frizz-fighting product, Silk Press in a Bottle Prep Cream. The brand identified the May 2-3 race weekend as the next stop for its Sheacation experiential platform, popping up its Hot Off the Press Newsstand in the Lincoln Road Shopping District to highlight the second edition of its Yes, And magazine that debuted...

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW THIS WEEK This week’s hot takes on hot topics in experiential marketing cover cave raves, salty stunts and nostalgic Bowl Heads.   MINUTE RICE DISHES OUT BOWL CUTS AND A HELPING OF NOSTALGIA Millennials will recall that the hairdo of our youth was unequivocally the bowl cut. From the classrooms filled with boys sporting the dishware-inspired haircut, to the boy bands who rocked it on stage, it was a cultural phenomenon. And thanks to Minute Rice, and America’s preoccupation with...

Day two of the Experiential Marketing Summit offered up a jam-packed slate of hands-on experiences, curated off-sites and discussions focused on how fresh thinking, hyper- personalization, sustainability and measurement maintain relevance and impact in a digitally dominated world. Let’s dig in. More Coverage: • EMS 2026: Everything You Missed on Day One • Winners Unveiled: The 2026 Ex Awards   The Main Stage The morning kicked off with a high-energy trivia contest, followed by an outstanding EMS...

How to create live events that build trust, fortify relationships and boost brand credibility Artificial Intelligence isn’t hiding what it is. The word “artificial” is right in the name, after all. But as more and more consumers are being inundated with AI content, they are also finding themselves questioning the credibility of what they see. And as a result, they’re craving access to the things they can see and feel to determine what they can really trust. Welcome, marketers, to the Trust Economy—a...

Behind the scenes, IBM helps power some of the world’s biggest sports properties, and that means fans often interact with its tech, but not the brand itself. So during this year’s Master’s Tournament, of which IBM is a 30-year partner, the b-to-b company teed up a strategy designed to expand its audience beyond customers and clients, and into the consumer realm. Enter: Masters at Madison Square Park, a public watch party hosted April 9-12 that brought the action from the fairway in Augusta, GA, to...

For its first consumer activation, Verde Farms took a big swing, hosting not only a sampling pop-up, but also a five-course VIP dinner for media and influencers—all on the same day. And the two-part event on April 2 paid off, reaching 7,700 Nashville locals and tourists, as well as thousands of social media users. First, the organic beef brand set up a food truck outside of Bridgestone Arena, and throughout the day, distributed 678 sliders in clamshell burger boxes custom-designed with a floral print...