Experiential marketing examples
Pop-ups, brand activations and live moments people turned up for and filmed. Grouped into 5 formats, with a one-line idea for your brand and a budget guide on each.
Doable with a small team, gifting or a simple partner swap.
Needs a paid creator, some production or a co-branded product run.
Celebrity fees, TV airtime or a large custom build.
Budget is our estimate of what it would take to run the same idea yourself, not what the brand spent.
The pop-up shop with a rule
8 examples
Venue: a [SHOP / CAFÉ / BAR] for [1–5 DAYS] Rule: [HOW YOU PAY / WHO GETS IN / WHAT'S DIFFERENT] Point: what the rule says about your brand Invite: press and local creators on day one
Budget: Small to mid. Short leases and simple fit-outs keep it manageable.
The Markup Marché
Fake grocery stores selling everyday items at luxury prices, including a $175 banana, to call out beauty industry mark-ups.
Why it spread
It shows the brand's low-price stance instead of telling it. Source
Pie Society
While billionaires met in Davos, Oxfam ran a one-day pie shop in East London serving pies with a side of wealth-inequality facts.
Why it spread
A cheap, everyday food makes an abstract number feel real. Source
The Bike Thru
Oatly opened a drive-thru for cyclists in Amsterdam, so riders can grab a drink without getting off.
Why it spread
Redesigning a car format for bikes fits the city and the brand perfectly. Source
The 1p pop-up
To bring back its Saving Challenge, Monzo ran a 1p pop-up stunt for Coventry City fans.
Why it spread
An almost-free offer tied to a local club gets fans queuing and posting. Source
Chicken Wine bar
Fans nicknamed La Vieille Ferme "Chicken Wine" because of the bird on its label. KFC and the wine brand opened a fried-chicken-and-wine bar in Shoreditch.
Why it spread
The idea came from fans, so it felt earned rather than forced. Source
The bookstore with no books
Audible opened a permanent New York space for browsing and sampling audiobooks.
Why it spread
A physical place for a product with no physical form is a story in itself. Source
McSki
The world's only ski-thru McDonald's, at the Lindvallen resort in Sälen, Sweden.
Why it spread
A familiar brand in an unexpected setting keeps getting rediscovered and shared. Source
Beans for beans
A pop-up store where you could only pay with cans of beans, which were donated to a food pantry.
Why it spread
A money-free shop was a headline on its own, with a good cause built in.
Step into a world people know
6 examples
World: [FILM SET / PRODUCT / LANDMARK / ICON] fans know Experience: stay, ride or dine inside it Access: a competition or a short booking window Content: the winners' photos and videos
Budget: Mid to big. Most need a venue partner and a real build.
The Poké Ball hotel
A human-sized Poké Ball sleeping pod you can stay in, set to land in Hokkaido.
Why it spread
It turns a sleep-tracking app into a place fans want to go and photograph. Source
The All Conditions Express
Nike ran an all-orange branded train at the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics to relaunch its All Conditions Gear line.
Why it spread
A striking object at a global event gets filmed by everyone there. Source
Uber Drift
For a month, visitors to Tokyo could book a ride-along in a Nissan drifting sideways, through the Uber app.
Why it spread
A bucket-list experience inside a utility app gives tourists a story to tell. Source
The loneliest seat
At the Champions League final, Heineken put a second seat next to the stadium's most isolated one, for a competition winner.
Why it spread
A small, human idea at a huge event shows the brand's "fans have more friends" line. Source
The Home Alone house
Fans could step into a recreation of the Home Alone house in London, with photo spots and props.
Why it spread
A set people know by heart becomes a place they want to be photographed in. Source
A night at the Louvre
Airbnb and the Louvre ran a contest for one couple to spend the night in the museum, with dinner by the Venus de Milo and a bed under the glass pyramid.
Why it spread
A once-in-a-lifetime stay makes people enter, share and talk about the brand even if they don't win. Source
The live spectacle
6 examples
Event: [JUMP / GAME / DEBATE / DELIVERY] that happens once Stage: [LIVESTREAM / BROADCAST / VENUE] people already watch Stakes: why it might fail Clip: the 10 seconds everyone will share
Budget: Mid to big. Safety, permits and broadcast add up.
Tetris in the sky
The Red Bull Tetris World Final was played live in the sky over Dubai, with each move shown by 2,800 drones.
Result More than 7 million mobile qualifiers from 60 countries.
Why it spread
A game everyone knows at an impossible scale is made for video. Source
The edible mascot
At the first Pop-Tarts Bowl, the mascot climbed into a giant toaster and came out as a giant Pop-Tart that the winning team ate.
Result 4x more engagement than all other bowl game sponsors combined.
Why it spread
It was so strange that it dominated the social conversation that bowl season. Source
Stratos
Felix Baumgartner jumped from the edge of space, streamed live.
Result Around 8 million concurrent live viewers on YouTube.
Why it spread
A genuine world record the brand owned end to end.
Watson on Jeopardy!
IBM's Watson computer competed on Jeopardy! against its two greatest champions.
Result Watson won.
Why it spread
A quiz show made an abstract enterprise technology easy for anyone to understand. Source
The drone match ball
Emirates delivered the match ball to Real Madrid's stadium by drone.
Why it spread
A sponsorship moment that is actually worth filming. Source
To Bounty or not to Bounty
A debate at the Oxford Union on whether the Bounty should stay in the Celebrations tub.
Why it spread
It takes a long-running argument everyone has and gives it an absurdly serious stage. Source
The installation people walk up to
6 examples
Object: a giant / strange [THING FROM YOUR STORY] Place: [PUBLIC SPOT] people pass every day Point: one line that explains it Duration: [DAYS], then gone
Budget: Mid to big. Builds and permits cost more than the idea.
The Trafalgar Trojan Horse
A giant Trojan Horse appeared overnight in Trafalgar Square for the release of Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey.
Why it spread
A huge object that appears overnight in a famous square is a guaranteed photo. Source
The Fountain of Filth
To launch a drama about Britain's sewage crisis, Channel 4 built a 10-metre fountain on London's South Bank.
Why it spread
A physical, slightly disgusting object makes an abstract scandal impossible to ignore. Source
The flattened restaurant
A&W made a Toronto restaurant look squashed flat for a day to launch its first smash burger.
Why it spread
The whole building becomes a visual pun for the product. Source
The see-through EV
Engineering group Sandvik built a full-size transparent electric car made without mined materials, to show how much green tech depends on mining.
Why it spread
Taking something away is a clear way to show why it matters. Source
Sweden's sunniest spot
With Sweden's weather institute, IKEA found the country's sunniest square metre on Gotland and marked it with two stone IKEA chairs.
Why it spread
A data-backed fact gives the press a story and people a place to visit. Source
Your Tree on Battersea
The public designed Christmas trees on iPad, and 24 winning designs were projected onto Battersea Power Station.
Why it spread
People share their own work, so every winner promotes the campaign. Source
The useful moment
6 examples
Problem: [SMALL, REAL ANNOYANCE] your audience has Fix: [FREE / BOOKABLE / SURPRISE] help, in person Where: the place they already are Stat: one number that proves the problem
Budget: Small to mid. Often a room, a few staff and a press release.
Pints & Ponytails
A night above a London pub where dads learned to braid their daughters' hair over a pint.
Result Grew from 10 dads to 35 in under three weeks, and dads in other cities asked to host their own.
Why it spread
A practical, slightly vulnerable skill in a relaxed setting is exactly what people tag their friends in. Source
The Testlist
Specsavers and Groove Armada ran club nights for over-50s, with entry unlocked by taking a free online hearing screener.
Why it spread
The reward (a night out) is tied directly to the action the brand wants (a hearing check). Source
Open-to-chat baskets
On Valentine's Day, Asda trialled red shopping baskets in three stores that single shoppers could pick up to show they're open to a chat.
Why it spread
A simple, low-cost idea that gives the press a light story and people a reason to visit. Source
Secret wrapping rooms
Travelodge offered parents free 75-minute hotel rooms stocked with wrapping paper, tape and mince pies, so they could wrap presents in secret.
Why it spread
It solves a small, real Christmas problem, which makes it an easy story for the press. Source
Letters to Santa
Orange post boxes in airports so children flying at Christmas could post letters to Santa, after research found 71% worried he wouldn't find them.
Why it spread
A small worry children really have, solved in the place they'll be. Source
UberKITTENS
On National Cat Day, Uber users in three US cities could request kittens to their office for 15 minutes, with the money going to animal shelters.
Why it spread
A silly new button in the app gives people a reason to open it and tell everyone they did. Source
How to plan a brand activation
- Decide what people should do there (try, buy, sign up, film), then design around it.
- Pick one twist people can repeat in a sentence. That's your headline.
- Choose a place your audience already goes. Getting people to travel is the hardest part.
- Plan the photo: one spot that looks great on a phone, with your name in shot.
- Invite press and creators for the first day, and keep filming for your own channels.
Want creators at your pop-up or activation?odim.co brings creators to launches and events, and handles the brief.
Talk to odimExperiential marketing examples: FAQ
What is experiential marketing?
Experiential marketing gets people to experience a brand in person, through a pop-up, an event, an installation or a live stunt, rather than just seeing an ad.
What is a brand activation?
A brand activation is a campaign or event that gets people to interact with a brand, often a pop-up, sampling, a live stunt or an installation. The examples on this page are brand activations people filmed and shared.
What are some good pop-up shop ideas?
Give the pop-up one rule people will repeat: pay with something unusual (Heyday's beans), sell at a shocking price (Monzo's 1p pop-up), or change how people shop (Oatly's Bike Thru).
How much does experiential marketing cost?
It ranges widely. A one-day pop-up with a simple rule can be done on a small budget; a live spectacle or big build needs a large one. Filter by budget above.
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Spot a mistake or know a campaign we should add? Email team@odim.co.