A Vuka activation, conceived and run by me.
Festival activation · KAABOO Del Mar 2015
Vuka at KAABOOThe Magic Charging Garden.
Everyone at a festival needs two things: energy and a phone that works. So we gave them both.
The real problem
Most brands at a festival hand you a can and move on. You forget them by the next stage. We didn't want to be sampled. We wanted to be remembered.
What I noticed
KAABOO's crowd was grown up and stylish, exactly who Vuka was made for: people who had outgrown the neon energy drinks aimed at teenage boys. And every one of them had the same two problems by mid afternoon, a flat phone and flat energy.
The call I made
Skip the booth. Build somewhere people actually want to be, and measure success in minutes spent, not cans handed out. Music and the arts had always been our turf, so this felt like home.
What I built
A 40 by 60 foot garden with a gigantic swing at its heart, phone charging, a backlit bar and brand ambassadors inviting people in. A place to sit down, recharge your phone and recharge yourself with an ice cold Vuka.
The words
As the official exclusive energy drink of the ultimate three-day "mix-perience," Vuka will be providing attendees with a chance to re-energize and recharge, both physically and electronically. Throughout the concert venue, attendees can sample all flavors of Vuka's tasty natural beverages being handed out by their "Vuka Fairies", along with having the chance to recharge their electronics in Vuka's "Magic Garden".
What happened
Our space averaged more than 10 minutes per visitor, and we sampled over 3,500 bottles across the event. It went so well that KAABOO signed Vuka for three more years, putting the brand in front of more than 150,000 festivalgoers each time.
The lesson
Give people a reason to stay, and the brand does the talking.
The work
What I brought
- Concept
- Sponsorship
- Experiential design
- Sampling
- Brand ambassadors
- Social