As soon as news of the pandemic enveloped the world and sweeping event cancellations across all industries began, brands and experiential marketing agencies were headed into the uncharted waters of COVID-19. It became evident that brands and agencies needed to act quickly to reimagine the future of event marketing and develop different ways to reach the consumer without compromising health and safety.
As the months dragged on and minimal progress had been made in reopening the economy, numerous online polls showed consumers’ demand for entertainment. After 3 months of global self-isolation these results were not surprising. There was, and continues to be, much noise about virtual events, but after months of Zoom happy hours people are not overly excited to join another virtual call or event.
Now more than ever people rely on socialization and shared experiences. As soon as provinces across Canada began entering Stages 2 and 3, Karma came together with several trusted brand partners to activate safe and impactful programs at multiple locations nationally.
Our brand experiences are rooted in safety and provide solid assurance to consumers and staff at retail locations that we have a plan to make their experience as safe as possible, supporting their return to normal physical interactions. Through our experience and expertise, we want to show that safe live engagements can also be fun!
1. Cadillac Fairview Drive-In Movie Theatres
In partnership with Cadillac Fairview, we launched a series of “Welcome Back” events, which include Drive-In Theatre series, Inspiration Wall and Face Mask studios. These were all pilot initiatives – once executed, the results were reviewed and now they’re being expanded to other CF properties based on what is the best fit for that market.
Popular online news outlets reported the success of these pilot programs that focused on safe entertainment
Karma Talent were fully equipped with necessary PPE, with roles including: Arrival and Entrance coordinators, Ticketing/POS coordinators, Parking Attendants, Concessions Coordinators, and Washroom Attendants/Line Maintenance. Karma Talent ensured physical distancing guidelines are maintained at all times, and communicated frequently with consumers about safety policies.
In addition to the drive-in theatres, Cadillac Fairview launched several other programs to promote a safe consumer experience as in store shopping returned in Stages 2 – 3: the Inspiration Wall and Face Mask Studios.
Karma provided an MC, Photographers, and Brand Ambassadors to enhance the consumer experience and engage with customers at the footprints located in centre courts of CF Polo Park in Winnipeg and CF Chinook Centre in Calgary. We look forward to activating at additional properties over the coming weeks.
2. Burt’s Bees Buzz About Burt’s National Education Program
For the third consecutive year, Karma has partnered with Burt’s Bees to deploy 25 educators and make-up experts across Canada to educate cosmeticians at top beauty retailers. Over the course of 8 weeks, educators visit over 900 beauty boutique locations nationally to provide product knowledge and an opportunity for retail staff to experience Burt’s Bees innovations products, with strong focus on cosmetic performance and sustainability initiatives.
As product testers have been removed at all cosmetic retailers nationally to prevent the spread of the virus, Burt’s Bees created an innovative ‘Test Box’ for retailers to be able to have access to product testers and the ability to show consumers product performance in a safe way.
Beyond education and product demonstration, Karma Talent collect consumer behaviour data from cosmeticians and store management to ensure measurable results.
3. Tineco Vacuum Best Buy Installations
Although online shopping grew exponentially and became more popular with consumers, studies show that 49% of consumers noted their shopping activity for non-food items has stayed the same or increased despite the outbreak. Despite the digital shift, in-store shopping is still the channel of choice for electronics.
With this in mind, Tineco has partnered with Karma to rebuild and upgrade their displays at 110 Best Buy locations nationally, to prepare for store openings nation-wide. Karma sourced Talent with extensive experience in assembling fixtures to build retail displays and merchandise products at Best Buy locations. Tineco vacuum displays were built and installed from scratch in under one hour per visit!
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