Event Marketer – Super Bowl LII: Experiential Marketing from Minneapolis
The original article appeared in Event Marketer February 8, 2018 – http://www.eventmarketer.com/article/super-bowl-lii-roundup-minneapolis/
Inside the brand events and activations surrounding the big game, from warming lounges to virtual reality to a stadium sleepover
Temperatures may have been in the single digits for Super Bowl LII on Sunday, Feb. 4, but that didn’t stop football fans from getting out and engaging with brands at events across Minneapolis, including Super Bowl LIVE, the big game’s annual free festival. Here, we take a look at some of the best experiential marketing (shout out to the Minnesota-based brands who came out in force) surrounding the biggest football event of the year… go long.
Sleep Number Activates a VR Field of Dreams
Sleep Number’s multiplayer VR experience underscored the importance of a good night’s rest.
Minneapolis-based mattress brand Sleep Number didn’t get much rest in the days leading up to the big game. For starters, the brand became the official sleep and wellness partner of the NFL, inking a multi-year partnership with the property. Through the partnership, every player in the NFL will be offered Sleep Number’s 360 smart bed featuring technology that offers insight on how a person sleeps best.
The highlight of Sleep Number’s Super Bowl LII presence, however, was its virtual reality experience at the Super Bowl LIVE fan festival—the biggest multiplayer VR football game ever created. The engagement, which aimed to illustrate how everyone from parents to pro athletes are achieving their goals with quality sleep, began at the virtual 50-yard line, where fans had 60 seconds to throw as many passes as possible to targets down the field. The further away the target, the more points they earned. The second half of the game became more challenging, simulating what the experience would be like after having a poor night’s sleep. Even onlookers could get in on the action thanks to a 30-foot video wall displaying a spectator view of the experience. Meanwhile, a leaderboard revealing daily and all-time high scorers kept the competition fierce.
Sleep Number also treated music fans to a pop-up concert featuring country superstar Braid Paisley at its location inside the Mall of America. But before Paisley took the stage, he stopped by the brand’s VR experience at Super Bowl LIVE to test his skills on the gridiron. Agency: Groove Jones, Dallas (virtual reality).
