evm_september-2023 - 21

IDEAS
partners have an in-house film crew and
offer professionally edited footage of the
show after the fact as a separate line item
in the budget. And as far as logistics,
experts say an ideal planning timeline is
anywhere from 45 days to three months.
Show costs depend on the number of
drones and the complexity of the performance,
as well as the type of drone design
software a drone show partner is utilizing.
FOCUS ON 'EXTRAS' FOR THE
SPECTATING EXPERIENCE.
For the Stella & Chewy's drone show, the
point of the show was to be pet-friendly
and silent, and so the team didn't incorporate
any extra production elements like
live music. But they did give out little red
flashing buttons for dog collars, which is a
safety device that allows pet owners to see
their animals better at night. This popular
giveaway helped create a festival atmosphere
later that evening for the drone
show, and the team reportedly spotted
dogs with those flashing lights on their
collars around the pier for days after.
" There was something beautiful about
standing on the beach and watching the
display in relative silence, which is something
that you're not used to with a crowd
that big, " Erstad says. " It was something
that made people get quiet for 10 minutes,
aside from the occasional 'ooh' and 'aah,'
which was really quite surreal. "
CONSIDER THE STORY, NOT JUST
THE SPECTACLE.
When a donor family reached out to the
marketing team at Muscular Dystrophy
Association with an offer to host a benefit
concert event at Point of the Bluffs Vineyards
in upstate New York, the team wanted
to create an emotional moment that
would be memorable for all in attendance.
The team sought permissions and interviewed
three different families, whose
stories inspired a poem about the struggles
of living with this disease (Partners:
Celestial, drones, creative and event production;
SPH Engineering, and its Drone
Show Software).
" When the concert ended, it was
announced that people would walk out
of the back of the building right onto the
beautiful lawn overlooking the lake, and
the drone show started. Lily from one of
the families who was interviewed, was the
voiceover, " says Louise Zingaro, national
philanthropic officer-eastern division for
Muscular Dystrophy Association.
eventmarketer.com
And this is where theater and the
human factor can inspire a sincere experience,
as opposed to a promotion: As " Lily "
struggled to take a seat at a desk lit by a
single lamp placed in the field overlooking
the airspace for the show (where spectators
were stationed), the emotions from
her words echoing throughout the field
stimulated the activity of the drones. The
show was called, " Humble Courage, " and
400 drones created light formations " symbolizing
the unwavering spirits of individuals
living with muscular dystrophy. "
" While the drone show is taking place,
they're hearing audio with the poem that
tells the story. It was just incredible, " Zingaro
says. " Transformational experiences
are an essential component to making our
fundraising successful and in helping to
bring our mission to life. "
Stella & Chewy's wanted to target
consumers who " go above and beyond
to look after their animals, and make
sure they have the best life possible, " says
Rachel Brubeck, senior manager-digital
marketing. But the mission of the show
was to open up a dialogue on social media
about fireworks and alternatives. It was
a message that resonated with pet parents
but had farther reaching applications
as it relates to neurodivergent or sensory-averse
audiences, too.
" In terms of the visuals in the sky,
it was predominantly fireworks [shapes].
The beauty of it was that we were able
to then interlace these other brand messages,
where we had the cat and the dog
coming in together, and looking at the
fireworks. We had the hand and the paw
coming together and creating a heart. So
we had the opportunity to just intersperse
these love messages, as well as our logo,
of course, " Erstad says.
THINK: SOCIAL MEDIA
'LIGHTNING STORM.'
You're going to want to get the entire organization
on board with a drone experience
for maximum impact.
" One of the things that made the show
successful for us was working with all
the different marketing departments within
our company. So working with the
creative department to figure out what
does this look like? What does it feel like?
Which logo? And so on. And then working
with the digital department to figure
out, how does this actually translate on
social media, and what is the way in which
we will bring this to the world after the fact
that is going to be most impactful? " Erstad
says. " And then, it's also working with
our sales teams. We had our sales force in
Santa Monica come to the event. "
Drone content is the gift that keeps
on giving, and it can be " sliced and diced "
many ways for social media and marketing
mechanisms for years after, opening
up an opportunity to tap into the general
marketing budget, as opposed to just the
event budget, according to the experts.
" We had a small media campaign that
we ran across a couple different platforms
to drive views, but what really surprised
us the most was the amount of organic
content where people were posting their
own capture of the show, or sharing some
of the content we had captured, but then
having their own message tied to it about
the experience from their pet, or how
important and meaningful it was to them
that companies are providing this type of
show for pet owners, " Brubeck says. " So
that's the part that was really endearing to
us-the positive impact across social from
people who appreciated the experience. "
Two paws up.
FALL 2023 EVENT MARKETER
21
IMAGE CREDIT: MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY ASSOCIATION
http://www.eventmarketer.com
evm_september-2023

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