State Farm activated its title sponsorship of the Border Showdown Nov. 28 with pre-game interactives that fanned the flames of competitiveness between the University of Missouri and University of Kansas football teams.

Taking a two-tiered approach, State Farm created activities for both the 18-24 and 30-49-year-old targets. For the young adult segment the company set up the State Farm Border Showdown Lounges for three days at a hotspot near each campus two weeks before game day. The lounges were equipped with five Xbox Live stations that allowed students from each university to play NCAA 2010 against each other in real time. Participants were given headsets so they could trash talk their opponent on the other end of the game. Crowds hung out to cheer on the players. The goal was to accrue enough points to beat the other team (Kansas beat Missouri 90 to 87). State Farm spread the word via a State Farm Border Showdown Facebook fan page and registered participants on site and at statefarmthrowdown.com where the scores and other related information were posted throughout the events. On the campuses, State Farm generated buzz through student organizations, hung up posters and handed out cards.

On game day at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium, State Farm appealed to all ages by bringing its Whack-a-Mascot (like Whack-a-Mole) mobile fan experiences to tailgaters. Instead of whacking a mole, each team could whack their opponent’s mascot, either a Kansas Jayhawks or Missouri Tiger. Those that provided personal information received branded merchandise like a Koozie or eye decals reminiscent of the black patches football players wear under their eyes. Of the consumers that went through and did the Whack-a-Mascot game about 25 percent provided their data; 80 percent of those opted in to be contacted by an agent (Gigunda Group, New York City, handled.)

“This year we have been trying to use our sponsorship as more of a platform versus just going in with some type of mobile unit on game day and having that be it,” Jerry Nevins, marketing analyst at State Farm, told Buzz. “The number of hot leads generated on game day far exceeded what was done previously. At least three times more than in 2008.”

During the game State Farm also executed a MU versus KU text promotion. Each team was provided a short code on the video board to see who could strike a virtual mallet (like at a carnival) by texting the most. When it was over State Farm sent each player a thank you message and chance to enter a $250 sweepstakes. Agency: Mobilco, Kansas City.

By Nancy Maes
Special to the Tribune
November 5, 2009

When Ryan FitzSimons realized that school budgets for the arts were being cut and that kids' minds were being boxed in by TV shows and computer games, he found a unique solution. He created Make-A-Messterpiece, a studio that recently opened in Glenview that says "yes" to the messy projects that kids were born to make. "We want to unlock and unleash kids' creativity," said FitzSimons, a marketing specialist based in New Hampshire who consulted with experts in fields such as education and child development.

The Glenview Make-A-Messterpiece is the first of its kind, but FitzSimons said he hopes to create others. At Bubbleology, one of five hands-on activity stations in the space, kids push buttons to release bubbles in an array of colors that explode on a piece of paper to create paintings with unique patterns. At the DrumRoll, a small, enclosed sound studio, youngsters dressed in protective garb make a music video as they bang on drums covered with paint that spatters to the beat of a recorded song. In the Creative Kitchen, children create Bug Splat by mashing fresh fruit into yogurt and make other healthy snacks. At the Experimentation Station, children do activities such as creating a volcano to learn the principles of science. Some elements of the activities, supervised by Mess Masters, change from week to week.

Although kids just like to have fun, FitzSimons had an ulterior motive when he developed Make-A-Messterpiece. "I like to call it ice cream with vitamins," says the father of a 3-year-old daughter. "We're teaching children in such a way that they don't even know it's happening. Creative play leads to critical thinking and problem-solving skills." Youngsters can also enjoy free play at arts and crafts tables; there's also a play area for infants and toddlers and another for an older crowd. Grown-ups can have their own kind of fun in the homelike setting of the club area, furnished with comfy couches and equipped with free Wi-Fi and plenty of publications to peruse.

Make-A-Messterpiece, 2050 Tower Drive, Glen Town Center, Glenview; $10 studio fee includes arts and crafts table and play areas, plus $5 per activity station (free for adults). Open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday; 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays; 847-730-5275, makeamessterpiece.com

Manchester, NH – Three of Gigunda Group’s campaigns took awards at the recent Pro Awards Gala, including multiple honors for the Duracell Power Lodge program and awards for the celebrated Charmin Restroom Experience and the Stanley Works Experience. The PRO Awards, sponsored by Promo Magazine, are given in 23 categories and recognize outstanding achievement in promotion marketing.

The Duracell Power Lodge was honored in the categories of Best Idea or Concept, Best Use of Event Marketing, and Most Innovative Communication Strategy. Honors for Best Idea or Concept are awarded to genuinely new promotional ideas or fresh interpretations of established ideas, which the Duracell Power Lodge certainly lived up to. The goal of the campaign, active from November 24 through December 31, 2008, was to power the iconic 2-0-0-9 numerals that light as the ball drops on New Year’s Eve entirely from human power. Gigunda produced, managed and lead the technology design team. Visitors to the Duracell Power Lodge rode on custom-fabricated snowmobikes, which used rotary technology to capture energy from the spinning wheel while the bikes were pedaled. This energy was captured in the Duracell Battery Center and used to light the night’s big moment. More than 200 pedal hours worth of energy powered the 2-0-0-9 numerals for 20 minutes.

Gigunda Group’s Charmin Restroom Experience was also honored in the Best Sampling Program or Trial Recruitment category. Winners in this category demonstrated effective sales promotion of a product or service by means of sampling or trial. The third year of the Charmin Restroom Experience hosted more than 300,000 visitors between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve in its Times Square location. The 12,000 square-foot public restroom served one of the most basic human needs during the busiest time of the year and generated more than 464 million media impressions.

The Stanley Works Experience received honors in the Best Campaign on a Budget category. Gigunda created the four-day Stanley Works Experience at the Texas Motor Speedway in Ft. Worth, Texas, to engage consumers with the full range of Stanley products. The program showcased Stanley's portfolio of products through a variety of hands-on, product-focused activities in an effort to expand the perception of Stanley from hand tools to a company that also makes industrial tools for oil rigs and security systems, one of which is used at the White House. According to Promo Magazine, the Pro Awards honor the brightest strategies and most innovative ideas for engaging customers.

About Gigunda Based in Manchester, New Hampshire, Gigunda Group is an innovative experiential marketing agency prides itself on being idea instigators and insight experts. Gigunda has activated experiential programs such as the groundbreaking Charmin Red Cross of Restrooms campaign in New York City and Tide Loads of Hope. In addition to P&G, Gigunda’s client roster includes brands such as Sony, Yahoo, Activision, Kellogg’s, Nike, GlaxoSmithKline, Mars Snackfood and Stanley. Last year, Promo Magazine named them the most creative agency in the United States. The company has won more than 60 industry awards since 2007 and was honored with the prestigious P&G Family Care Inspiration Award in 2006. END

October 2-4 Grand Opening Experiential marketing firm Gigunda Group and national brand Bounty join forces to unlock kids’ creativity and improve academic performance Glenview, IL – Like never before, Chicago-area kids have a chance to get creative, go hands-on and make a mess, thanks to the opening of Make-A-Messterpiece, the ultimate kids’ creative studio.

With a couple of very successful – and messy – weeks of operation under its belt, the studio will mark its official grand opening with a celebration of equally grand proportions, including appearances by Nili Yelin, “The Storybook Mom” and 10-year-old singer and host Anthony Gargiula, who has appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, the Today Show and the CBS Early Show. From Friday, October 2 to Sunday, October 4, Make-A-Messterpiece, a fully-outfitted creative studio designed to let kids’ imaginations run wild, will celebrate its grand opening in style, allowing kids and their families full run of the 10,000-square-foot space at The Glen Town Center in Glenview, IL. From paint-filled drums and an over-sized bubble machine to a kid’s kitchen and volcano experiments, Make-A-Messterpiece fuses good old fashion smarts with over-the-top creativity like never before.

“From the moment we’re born, we’re told over and over “don’t make a mess,” but there is undeniable empirical evidence that links creativity to critical thinking and, therefore, to higher academic achievement,” said Ryan FitzSimons, the mastermind behind Make-A- Messterpiece and owner of experiential marketing company, Gigunda Group. “Since creativity is often messy, at Make-A-Messterpiece, we say YES to the MESS – and we’ve built the ultimate creative studio where kids can make messes as big as their creativity can manage.” And, it turns out, all this creativity is connected to academic achievement. In a study done at Stanford University, young people who participate in the arts were found to be four times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement. That’s a 400 percent greater chance to excel just by participating in artistic endeavors.

Now, Chicago-area moms – and their white walls and carpets – can breathe easy as Gigunda Group presents Make-A-Messterpiece, the ultimate kids’ creative studio, with Bounty as their inaugural sponsor. “The Chicago area will be the first to experience Make-A-Messterpiece,” said FitzSimons. “We hope, over time, to expand our reach. Ultimately, we’ll go wherever there is a need to unleash and unlock kids’ creative minds.”

Behind the big idea: Gigunda and Bounty Based in Manchester, New Hampshire, the innovative experiential marketing agency prides itself on being “idea instigators” and “insight experts.” What began in 1994 in FitzSimons’ dorm room has grown into a full-service marketing agency, complete with cutting-edge experiential marketing and brand engagement experience with the world’s top brands. With satellite offices in Tampa, Detroit, St. Louis and Chicago, FitzSimons’ vision to revolutionize the way brands interact with consumers has gone global with programs such as the groundbreaking Charmin Red Cross of Restrooms campaign in New York City and Tide Loads of Hope. In addition to P&G, Gigunda’s client roster includes brands such as Sony, Yahoo, Activision, Kellogg’s, Nike, GlaxoSmithKline, Mars Snackfood and Stanley.

The Bounty brand, which has worked with FitzSimons for the last 15 years, saw an opportunity with Make-A-Messterpiece to expand beyond the traditional boundaries of marketing and truly engage the consumer in a fresh and interactive way. With a keen focus on unlocking kids’ creativity and academic performances, sponsoring the inaugural run of Make-A-Messterpiece was a no-brainer for Bounty.

As part of its sponsorship of Make-A-Messterpiece, Bounty partnered with Russell Simmons’ Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation to kick off the Building Bounty-ful Bridges project, a youth art exchange project between children in six cities. Rush is dedicated to providing disadvantaged urban youth with significant arts exposure, access and education. Building Bounty-ful Bridges kicked off a six-city tour in New York City with Russell Simmons and Mary J. Blige on September 16. The tour stopped at the Make-A-Messterpiece studio on September 23 and will visit four more cities before unveiling the final project in November. “At Bounty, we saw the Make-A-Messterpiece studio, along with the Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation partnership, as opportunities to help children grow and learn by sponsoring fun, ‘hands on’ activities that encourage curiosity and creativity outside the classroom,” said Eric Higgs brand manager for Bounty. “It is our way of saying ‘never let messes get in the way of your children learning and trying new things.’”

How it works: Make-A-Messterpiece provides structured, supervised play and learning through planned activities. Kids are encouraged to make as big a mess as their creativity desires using everything from paint, markers, crayons, construction paper, glue, glitter, cookie dough and musical instruments. Trained staff, with fine arts and teaching backgrounds, work interactively with children in the creative, flexible environment and, at the end of their stay, children take home their Messterpieces. Keeping the messes – and fun – coming, includes lining up a number of activities at the Make-A-Messterpiece studio:
• Kids Creative Kitchen uses science and math concepts to create tasty treats.
• Bubble’ology teaches cause and effect using air movement.
• Little Sprouts gets kids involved with nature and teaches nurturing and responsibility.
• Drum Roll focuses on rhythm and sequence, fundamental skills of basic math.
• Experimentation Station is a rotating science station where kids develop creative problem solving skills.

Make-A-Messterpiece will be open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and each station will feature new activities each week. “We’re committed to supporting creativity and the arts in this community,” said FitzSimons. “We absolutely believe this commitment will mean greater academic achievement and performance on the part of Chicago-area children.”

Where the mess began: Make-A-Messterpiece has been in development for more than three years. In a focus group forum, the concept of Make-A-Messterpiece was shared with a cross-section of moms to gain deeper insight into what kind of destination moms are seeking for their kids. Gigunda discovered that creativity ranked the highest in importance among these moms. Additional focus groups were held with key professionals in all areas of education to determine relevant activities that encourage growth. Educators, child psychologists, child development specialists, gallery coordinators and even a toy company CEO were consulted during the creation of the concept.“This is all about vitamins through ice cream,” said FitzSimons. “And using innovative ideas to empower, educate and support our youth to unlock and unleash their creativity is about as good as it gets.”

The main event: The grand opening celebration not only offers kids and their families full run of the studio, but weekend-long schedule of special guests, including Nili Yellin, “The Storybook Mom,” on Saturday and 10-year-old signing phenom Anthony Gargiula on Saturday and Sunday. Nili Yelin is a storyteller, part-time for kids and part-time for adults. A graduate of the Northwestern University theatre school, Nili spent twelve years in New York as a working actress in theater, film and television. She was a writer and performer for MTV Networks, appeared regularly on Saturday Night Live and performed her own original stand-up comedy in clubs throughout the East Coast. Since coming to Chicago, Nili has combined her love of children and literature to create The Storybook Mom and encourage children to develop their imagination through interactive storytelling, crafts and dance. She also does voice-overs for commercials and industrials for a variety of clients including Mercedes Benz, Sears and Advocate Healthcare. Nili recently joined with the Crown Family Play Lab at the Field Museum to do special events and is the narrator on the Field Museum’s children’s podcasts. Anthony Gargiula is a 10 year old Glenmont, NY native. He started singing at age 2 and has been singing ever since. His first public appearance came when he was 5 years old and entered a Radio Disney singing competition and sang “Midnight Train To Georgia.” He won the contest and was on his way to his big break, which occurred in May 2006 when entered a local Radio Disney "High School Musical" singing competition and won. He went on to place second in the nationally in the competition. Since then, Anthony has performed on the Today Show, twice on the Ellen Show and was Ellen DeGeneres' American Idol correspondent in Los Angeles on the red carpet where he interviewed Season 7 finalists in 2008. Anthony is the youngest performer to ever sing at Carnegie Hall in New York City. He sang the National Anthem at two Knicks basketball games at Madison Square Garden, the Belmont Stakes and Boston Bruins hockey games. -END-

Eukanuba wanted to do something special to showcase their deep knowledge of the varying nutritional needs of show dogs as well as the average pet. They engaged Gigunda Group to create an experience that would engage, educate and entertain event attendees.
The program, which targeted both dog owners and breeders, came to life in the arena’s lobby, a high traffic area of the event. Gigunda created a three-pronged approach to engage visitors – Know, Grow and Show – that brought Eukanuba’s deep knowledge of a dog’s nutritional needs to life in an accessible way. In the centerpiece of the program, visitors could “go to the dogs” by experiencing life like a dog does.

In the Know area, visitors learned about the science behind the food as well as the company’s history of innovation via a video display wall. The Grow area represented the stages of a dog’s life and brought a dog’s world to life through interactive areas that show how dogs interact with the world through four of their senses. In the Show area, visitors could watch videos and see live demonstrations.

About the Grow Exhibit:
• Dogs see the world similarly to a human with red/green colorblindness. At the See station, consumers could get inside a dog’s head and “see” the world as a dog would. While this is easy enough to compose using static video, Gigunda was able to create the effect on a live video feed of the area surrounding the exhibit. Visitors put on a pair of digital glasses that were connected to a camera mounted inside a fiberglass dog’s head that panned the exhibit area in order to “see” the setting as the many dogs in attendance did.
• Dogs have the ability to single out an individual sound from the world’s cacophony. At the Hear station, attendees donned headphones in front of a large screen showing a park scene. At first, consumers heard all the sounds of the scene as a human would. Then, using flash animation, Gigunda added “hot spots” that visitors could click on to single out a particular sound from the park setting just like a dog does.
• A dog’s sense of smell is between 1,000 and 10,000 times greater than a human’s. At the Sniff station, consumers sampled different concentration levels with the help of an oxygen bar. This was, by far, the most popular and engaging exhibit at the event. This station provided the show’s great “a-ha” moment for human attendees.
• A dog’s sense of taste is only about 1/5 as strong as a human’s. At the Taste station, visitors can taste juice drinks that are fully flavored and then those that are diluted to what a dog would taste.
• The focal point of the Grow area was a machine – much like the nightly lottery number machine – in which different colored balls, representing the different good bacteria necessary in a dog’s digestive system – bounced around. Visitors could win prizes for answering questions about canine nutrition.

MIAMI – With all eyes on Miami for Super Bowl XLIV, Gigunda Group went the extra mile – airing some clean laundry on a blocks-long clothesline to raise money and awareness for those in need.

P&G's High-Touch B-To-B

Procter and Gamble brands Charmin and Bounty worked with Manchester, NH-based Gigunda Group to develop a traveling platform that lets the company’s sales reps wow their clients while communicating all the necessary product information. The result is a 65-inch flat-screen television with a custom-built, proprietary, multi-touch software display featuring up to three interactive environments that the salesperson can “click” with their fingers to launch video, images and product specs. The technology has transformed what was once a slog through PowerPoint slides and paper spec sheets into something participatory and better aligned with the tools, technologies and devices, like the iPhone and Droid, customers are using in their everyday lives.

By Elaine Wong

Branded retail locations have helped sell computers and footwear for years. Now, toaster pastries are getting in on the action, with one iconic brand enjoying significant buzz from its recent foray into New York's Times Square.

Pop-Tarts World debuted Aug. 11 at 42nd Street, between 6th Avenue and Broadway. Joining other packaged-goods brands like M&M and Hershey in establishing a retail fixture at one of the world's great crossroads, P-T World boasts an everything Pop-Tarts-inspired café (menu items include ants on a log and the Fluffer Butter) and fan merchandise. The store sees 1,500 to 2,000 visitors per day.

Since the launch, the brand's buzz has improved on the Web, with positives rising to 88 percent from 74 percent before the brick-and-mortar launch, per interactive marketing shop Zeta Interactive. Some of the words most commonly associated with Pop-Tarts are "memory/memories," "great" and "fun," Zeta found—solid associations for any brand. Plus, the tone of posts surrounding the brand has become more positive as well.

The brand is even overtaking familiar competitors. Measured in terms of average daily volume (i.e., the number of online daily posts), Pop-Tarts' popularity is currently 16 percent higher than Wheaties, 18 percent above Cheerios, 22 percent more than Frosted Flakes and well ahead of breakfast food juggernaut Quaker Oats at 84 percent.

That says a lot about the brand, particularly one that has taken a backseat to more healthful (and non-toaster-required) grab-and-go morning fare like Kellogg siblings Nutri-Grain, Kashi and Special K.

Pop-Tarts' pop-culture status is extending beyond the brand itself. Kellogg's brand buzz has also increased by 6 percent since the store opened, and overall tonal buzz surrounding the Kellogg brand grew from 77 to 84 percent over the last two weeks, per Zeta.

P-T World is also having a noticeable effect on the brand's social media presence. Its Facebook page grew from 1.8 million to 2 million fans within two weeks after the store launched, Kellogg said, and consumers are engaging in the conversation via wall posts as well as uploading photos of themselves at the store, brand associate director Scott Sundheim said.

Kellogg originally developed the store as a way to draw consumers—new and old—to a 47-year-old brand that built its heritage on the notion of "fun." Consumers come to the store for all different reasons, but they're all looking for "a really fun experience," Sundheim said.

Kellogg is also using the store as a way to garner take-home lessons and marketing insights for Pop-Tarts. The top seller in the store, among the toaster pastries, is its new ice-cream sandwich. Also popular: Pop-Tarts sushi made with crushed pastry bits in a fruit wrapping. (Some bloggers, however, have described the concoction as "gross," "chalky" and one even equated it to "cardboard.)

In addition, PopTartsWorld.com, the brand's e-commerce platform, has gotten 17,500 hits per week. Sundheim said the online store is an extension of the brand's retail presence, a way for many fans to get Pop-Tarts branded merchandise even though they cannot physically visit the store.

Mark Feldman, COO of NetProspex, a company that publishes a directory of business-to-business sales and marketing contacts, follows Pop-Tarts closely and said he's not surprised by the results.

"When you open a store on Times Square, you can really propel a recognized brand to icon status," he said, adding that the challenge, going forward, will be for Pop-Tarts to continue leveraging the buzz, perhaps by having consumers come up with user-generated content about the brand. Oreo fans, for instance, will often post YouTube videos on how they like to eat their favorite cookie. (The Kraft Foods-owned brand is nearing 9 million Facebook followers.)

Al DiGuido, CEO of Zeta Interactive, the firm that conducted the research, said Pop-Tarts' buzz has the potential to go a long way. He's already seeing many convenience store and newsstand owners in New York City move the product to the front, and it's certainly got the potential to increase sales.

"All this pop that is being generated in terms of awareness could register in terms of receipts and cash registers [ringing]," he said.

Gigunda was cited for their expertise in pop-up stores, sponsorship activation and mobile marketing. The editors singled out the agency’s Make-A-Messterpiece program in Glenview, Illinois, as proof of Gigunda’s enormous creative juices and superior execution.
According to Event Marketer, “what all of the Top 100 have in common is a boutique state of mind—an ability to scale up or down, reinvent themselves to better serve their clients and the market and produce more intimate and highly targeted programs that leverage every type of media and technology—both live and online.”

Ryan Fitzsimons, CEO and Founder of Gigunda Group said he was humbled that Gigunda was among such a talented group of companies. “We work hard every day to knock it out of the park for our clients. Creativity is our currency and we spend big on every program that we execute. It’s an honor to have our efforts noted by the industry’s top publication. It means a lot to us.”

Event Marketer’s profile of Gigunda Group: Gigunda Group
Oh Fitzy, you still got the mojo, big boy. Still gets our award for the best ideas around. If you haven’t spent time with the Gigunda crew, go to makeamessterpiece.com and look at the agency’s creative chops in full, unadulterated form. Part children’s museum, part pop-up store, part experiential masterpiece, Gigunda has taken P&G’s Bounty brand and turned it into a true destination brand. If you saw the ROI on it, you’d drool, then pass out, then drool on the floor while you were passed out.