The year’s best experiential marketing campaigns
The Ex Awards turned 20 this year, but it wasn’t the milestone that made the program shine a little brighter in 2022—it was the slate of thoughtful campaigns reflecting an industry that has adapted, experimented, reorganized, streamlined and hustled its way onto the other side of this pandemic with its roots intact.
Honoring the best experiential and event marketing campaigns from Q2 2021 into Q2 2022, this year’s initiative spans 30 categories, including new recognitions for “Best B-to-B Roadshow or Regional Series” and “Best Multichannel Event Campaign,” all produced by the most innovative brands and agencies in the biz.
Many of the winning campaigns were a representation of lessons learned over the last two-plus years. Take the State Farm Football Find, a digital + live sponsorship program developed based not only on the knowledge that multichannel programs vastly extend reach, but the fact that modern sports fans rely on their second screens to enhance the viewing experience. The brand’s AR-powered football scavenger hunt reached the masses and yielded of-the-times rewards like NFTs, but extended into an in-person gameday strategy that included a concert, an interactive photo dome and prize redemption trailers. Or consider EY’s virtual educational event for employees, which went leagues beyond the old “talking heads on Zoom” format to feature presenters who interacted with a live data visualization, pulled out attendee insights and changed the direction of the show on the fly to respond to the audience’s needs.
The new era of experiential requires marketers to challenge industry norms and shed patterns and processes that no longer serve changed audiences in a changed world. Smart, strategic and flexible, the 90 programs you’re about to encounter embody that shift flawlessly. Cheers to 20 years, and 20 more.
Congratulations to all of the 2022 Ex Awards honorees.
