Events and Experiences (XE)

At Periscope, “XE” was shorthand for anything related to direct engagements with an audience.

Levi’s Century Challenge at Outsiders Ball 2015

• Food truck activations designed down to the Wet Wipes
• Trade show experiences and everything inside, outside, before and after the booth
• Fundraising events with built-in affinity-building and check-writing engagements

At the core of XE is a practice of extensive concepting — which I love. Research, ideation, brainstorming, spitballing, whatever you want to call, requires the ability to go W-I-D-E with your imagination and then filter that thinking through strategy. It can be a fast and frantic process, but we always crafted finely-tuned presentations that showed our clients (healthcare, motorsports, consumer banking, agri-business, consumer tech) what success would look like. And then we delivered.

Below are snippets from three intensive years on Periscope’s XE team. You can find a lot more on my XE Compendium site.

Social Sharing Campaign

To help Target celebrate the Minnesota Viking’s final season in the Metrodome, we converted a trailer into a video booth where fans recorded their favorite memories. For each home game, we compiled a short highlights reel showcasing fan videos and social media posts and played it on the jumbotron. The #32seasons campaign was a four-month endeavor that required not only designing the mini-dome, but also street team apparel, branded giveaways, touchscreen GUIs, and online assets as well as maintaining a flexible content calendar and managing tons of fan-generated love.

Trade Show Design

As agency of record for BASF North America, Periscope’s XE team helped them re-imagine what a trade show experience could be. We transformed a banquet room into a German bier halle-inspired hangout with a 20-foot bar, branded take-home mugs, and a centerpiece experience (below):
Five vintage fridges retrofit with touchscreens, video peek holes, custom messaging props and a sweepstakes component. The experience highlighted a unique proprietary innovation (coating seeds with beneficial bacteria grown in a refrigerator) and provided a defined and intensive interaction for BASF staff and the people they wanted to connect with.

As an established, global brand, BASF challenged us to work within their guidelines while also presenting a fresh face at annual trade shows. For each show, we developed theme territories and explored multiple visual solutions to bring them to life, and we always stretched a little to offer unconventional experiential tie-ins that would bolster their presence at the show.

Surprise & Delight

Target asked Periscope to create a social campaign building buzz and brand affinity. Our solution targeted the Monday blahs across the country with random acts of kindness. The “#perfectmonday” campaign surprised Joe and Jane Public with 935 free bus rides, 896 free lunches, 120 free tanks of gas, 245 free dinners, 683 free coffees or treats, and 120 free Target carts. For Target, this added up to: 844,145 social media impressions, 10,422 personal interactions, and $0 in paid media

*2014 AdFed MN Show Winner, Silver, Social Media Campaign*

Corporate Storytelling

Gesture-based games were just one part of the celebration that Periscope XE created for Cargill’s week-long 150th anniversary celebration. Here, the challenge was to select stories of innovation from Cargill’s deep history and pair them with cutting-edge gaming technologies. The results were wildly popular with Cargill employees and guests, and they effectively helped Cargill instill them with knowledge and pride for their company.

And so much more…

The co-branded bank/food truck…
Bicycles customized to portray Dreamworks characters…
Projections on a bridge to kick off a fireworks display…

There was never a dull moment or lack of opportunity to grow at Periscope.

XE, A to Z

I wrote this compendium filled with all the XE lingo, notions, insight and appreciation that I gained during my time with Periscope’s XE team.
Buy the book or browse the web site.

“Adam was a real creative catalyst on our team at Periscope. He’s a very collaborative creative thinker and works well in brainstorms to share ideas and build upon concepts freely. I could always count on him to explore a range of unique solutions to a problem, supported by both compelling creative and solid strategic rationale.
I often directed assignments that needed someone who could handle complex information and would be willing to work with others and ask for input when needed, without reservation. Adam handled the pressure of multiple projects and tight timelines well, and was always willing to lend a helping hand to teammates. He was committed to delivering superior work for our clients and his team.”

— Matt Miller, VP/Group Creative Director, Periscope