As far as experiential activations go, it doesn’t get much more exciting than activating at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Australia!
Carriageworks is one of Sydney’s largest contemporary arts hubs, home to some of Australia’s leading ideas and events. Being amongst the living and breathing inspiration of the fashion industry was thrilling, to say the least, and we’ve now got sufficient outfit inspo to last us through til summer. But fun clothes, runway shows and designer keep-cups aside, there was a lot more to be excited about in our involvement with the activation pre and post-event.
If you have attended any of the events at MBFWA, you would have been hard-pressed to miss the luxe space designated by Tempus Two Wines, an expressive and contemporary wine brand based in the heart of the Hunter Valley wine region. This year we partnered with Tempus Two to develop a stylish, interactive space that featured front and centre at Fashion Week, stretching the main foyer from the registration desk to the Mercedes Benz Star Lounge. We collaborated with the wonderful Tempus Two team to ensure the space portrayed the essence of the brand while providing an area for Fashion Week attendees to sit, relax and sample a selection of Tempus Two wines.
The activation centred around the new Tempus Two ‘Wine on Tap’ bar, featuring their varietal Rosé, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio and Shiraz (the Rosé definitely took on the title for most popular selection throughout the week!) Next to the bar, we featured a simple black media wall with the quintessential Tempus Two poplar tree, framed by a hexagonal arbour adorned with black and metallic roses. An array of gold plinths sat on either side displaying a range of iconic Tempus Two bottles to complete the styling.
Sounds gorgeous, sure, but what does this have to do with social?
Well, everything! Being part of the event organisation process enables us to align our social strategy directly with the event activity, ensuring the entirety of the activation has a seamless connection that flows from styling to user experience, to social proof and back again.
The space was designed with social amplification in mind, featuring an Instagram competition to drive traffic to the Tempus Two bar, as well as promote the brand’s involvement in MBFW on a larger scale. Leveraging brand involvement in events drive higher reach and national coverage as well as gathering content that can align a brand to particular interests (such as fashion and the arts) to reach new audiences and communicate authentic partnerships.
The social competition utilised custom interest targeting to reach the people most likely to be attending MBFWA or similar events to encourage foot traffic. The entry metric included a creative photo element which, to enter, people snap a photo of themselves visiting the Tempus Two Wine Bar and upload to Instagram with the hashtag #tempustwowineoclock. The prize was a personalised bottle of Tempus Two UNO Pinot Noir Shiraz, the crème de la crème of Tempus Two winemaking, following the social trend of personalisation in prizing. To kick this activity off, we had an on-site professional photographer on the first day of Fashion Week to capture imagery with the media wall that attendees could then use as entries.
Events also offer the perfect occasion for behind-the-scenes and live content! Especially in the form of Instagram Stories, BTS-style content is a core strategic pillar that conveys authenticity and amplifies the brand’s storytelling abilities and connecting with audiences on a more organic level. We had a lot of fun featuring some of the BTS content on our L&A socials as well for further amplification!
And then all of a sudden, Fashion Week is over. Months and months of preparation reduced to a single week is an exhilarating sting, but the experience was worth every second. Although Fashion Week only lasts a week, we’ll always have social!
Related Tag: Social Media Advertising Sydney
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A self-described walking contradiction, Kristyn is our copy queen with big love for her L&A fam. She fills her spare time reading and writing and wants to travel to every country in the world.
