THEME:
The first few months of 2009 are filled with layoffs, budget cuts and cancellations, but the industry keeps on keepin’ on. Social media becomes more and more crucial to every campaign out in the field, thanks partly to its more cost-effective buzz-building potential. Bloggers and online influencers help to do the heavy lifting for the brand. The sea change makes everyone a little sea sick, until Lego shows up with its Experience Tour, and marketers discover that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

TREND:
Major brands are pulling products out of their trade show booth and paring down displays and demo stations. Microsoft reworks its CES strategy in 2009 to engage its key target: press. It minimizes its show floor space but creates a targeted, 14,000-square-foot off-site tent for journalists with sleek demo rooms and a full broadcast room for them to report from.

TREND:
Assets from previous programs give new life to budget-conscious events. For example, Napster reuses an outdoor-use geodesic dome from its X Games sponsorship for a trade show booth indoors at Best Buy’s business event. And at the Tampa Bay golf course where the annual Outback Steakhouse Pro Am was held Jim Beam Global deconstructs its Midnight in the Garden of Agave national tour and adds an unexpected nightclub feel to its tent.

CASE STUDY:
Cisco takes its global sales meeting virtual for the first time in 20 years: Global Sales Experience (GSX) goes online to recognize, motivate and reward sales teams. Brand messaging-themed scavenger hunts and puzzle-solving online games are offered, as well as a virtual concierge, sessions and keynotes.

CASE STUDY:
Non-endemic brands connect the dots for consumers at niche events, like McDonald’s which lands a sponsorship as official coffee of Mercedes Fashion Week in New York City with its McCafe espresso brand. The brand sets up a cozy café with stylish coffee tables, comfy seating and pretty throw pillows. The footprint also features three espresso machines manned by friendly baristas.