Note: This set of concepts were developed for Envy, an experiential agency, for their client, CBS Interactive, focused on their plans to create a pop-up store in Atlanta during the Super Bowl.
CBSi
Super Bowl VIII – Pop Up Activation
CBS Interactive wishes to create a pop-up that defines “the living room of every sports fan’s dreams” and place it in an area of Atlanta with high foot traffic for a period of two months to capture the attention of fans in town for the SEC Championships and Super Bowl 53.
Superbowl VIII is scheduled to be played on February 3, 2019, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.
Venues
Is there a single Atlanta venue with high foot-traffic that will capture both football fans and holiday shoppers with the time and the right mindset to explore “the living room of every sports fan’s dreams?” Possibly.
- Shopping District
Holiday Shoppers (which include football fans) do come out in great numbers during the holidays and are in the proper mindset to explore a retail activation. The closest, upscale shopping district to the Atlanta football venue is likely Atlantic Station, an outdoor shopping and entertainment district, that also has dining and entertainment traffic. It frequently features pop-up stores (especially during Halloween), and is often the host site for Circe du Soleil. - Tourist Attractions
The main tourist attractions near the Mercedes Benz Stadium are clustered around Centennial Park and include the Georgia Aquarium, World of Coke, the Center for Civil and Human Rights. In addition, there is foot traffic generated near CNN’s headquarters, Phillips Arena, and the Georgia World Congress Center. Centennial Park attractions also include something specific for the football fan, The Chik-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame. Most importantly, the Centennial Park District is close to Mercedes Benz Stadium and GA Tech football venues. According to the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District, this area is the top attraction in Atlanta:
Centennial Olympic Park : 3 million
Philips Arena: 1.6 million / 160 events
Georgia Dome: 1.5 million / 87 events
Georgia World Congress Center: 952,246
Concept:
Presently, this activation is conceived as a retail Pop-Up featuring a single “ultimate sports fan living room space” to entertain and watch the game in and surrounded by multiple sponsor areas. While this approach is easy to wrap your head around, it might not be optimal for the following reasons:
- A single space, big enough to hold all the CBSi and sponsor brands, event activities, and sponsor technologies might lose the intimate feel of a living room.
- A single space necessarily features a single home décor aesthetic – and is that really a one-size fits all thing these days?
- Everybody loves a choice. With one setup, the choice is, “do I like it or don’t I?” Multiple choices allow for, “which one do I like better and why?”
Battle of the Man Caves
What if our activation featured 4-6 individual room set ups with various embedded technologies to appeal to different Sports Fan archetypes? Attendees would flow between the rooms like they do through an IKEA showroom, finding the one that fits their personality and tech appetite best.
Possibilites include:
- The Rapid Superfan
filled with jerseys, trophies, memorabilia, etc - The eSports Techno Superfan
high-tech sports gaming in a sleek tech haven - The Stealth Sports Fan
So stealthy in design your partner won’t even realize it is all about sports viewing. - The Starter Sports Cave
For the recent college grad just starting out
The tour might even include:
- Tailgating Super Vehicles
All the necessary Sports Fan tech on the back of a truck, with a grill and fridge too.
Benefits of a decentralized approach:
- More intimate, home-scaled viewing environments
- A broader range of home décor personalities reflecting the variety of tastes among sportsfans
- Better traffic flow through the activation- more individual opportunities to experience the sponsors’ product benefits without waiting in line – less congestion
- More opportunities to include technology from different sponsors, or different products from the same sponsors.
And…
- The multiple set-up approach creates an opportunity for visitors to engage more deeply by voting for their favorite setup.
- By voting, each visitor could enter into a sweepstakes to win one of the setups. Multiple set-ups mean multiple prizes/winners and a more interesting contest. The person who wins the set-up that was voted the favorite, might also win tickets to next year’s SuperBowl.
We look forward to discussing this concept with you shortly…