Equipped with more than a dozen vehicles, Jeep descended on Buttermilk Mountain from Jan. 23–25 on a mission to return to its roots as an adventure brand and push the boundaries of its 20-plus-year Winter X Games partnership. And across a heated Base Camp for fans at the foot of the mountain, athlete partnerships, ownership of the event’s slopestyle competitions, an awards program, vehicle placements throughout the course, and broadcast, linear and social extensions, Jeep was omnipresent, whether fans were on-site or watching from home.

“To say that you can’t go more than a few feet in the X Games area without seeing a Jeep logo or an actual Jeep, is not really an understatement,” says Wendy Orthman, vp-marketing at Jeep. “So the title sponsorship has gotten us to a place where we are, in a lot of ways, synonymous with the Winter X Games. And everyone who steps foot or watches a broadcast or watches on social will know that Jeep was an integral part of the event.”

The Jeep Base Camp experience featured some of the creature comforts the brand has provided in the past, given the locale, like cozy places to warm up and customized sweet treats. The activation this year included branded hot cocoa, and beignets from a small shop in town; vehicle demos; heating stations; a chance to test the heated and massaging seats featured in certain Jeep models; photo ops; and autograph signings with athletes.

What’s more, the location of the Base Camp offered fans clear views of athletes on the Half-Pipe, meaning they could still catch some of the action while taking a respite from the cold. And, naturally, swag, was rewarded to visitors who interacted with the brand, with useful items including blankets, hand-warmers, lip balm and sunglasses up for grabs.

“I think anytime you’re at an outdoor event, there’s always some level of practicality in giving people a little shelter and a place to warm up. And all event marketing is run, in some capacity, on, ‘If you feed them, they will come,’” Orthman says. “So we’re trying to make it the kind of space that people are going to want to make a base camp, where they’re going to want to hang out and grab a hot cocoa and sit for a minute and take it in.”

The strategic placement of Jeep models (and logos) across Buttermilk was another essential aspect of the presenting sponsorship, not to mention athletes’ first two tricks were captured through a Jeep cam. Vehicles like the brand-new Recon EV, Gladiator and Wrangler Whitecap were stationed across the broadcast footprint, including the top of the slope where athletes take off, and throughout the course. They were also parked next to the stage during evening concerts and located at the Base Camp for fans to check out. To boot, a Grand Wagoneer provided shuttle service around the mountain.

“One of the things we wanted to do in the interactive event spaces is give [attendees] a chance to actually see and touch and feel the vehicles that they may have now seen on the broadcast, so that it doesn’t feel like they’re only exclusive to that which the athletes can interact with, but that they can actually open the doors and engage and get their questions answered,” Orthman says. “So a combination of product sharing and interaction, with giving them some hospitality on behalf of the brand.”

On the social front, Jeep worked with ambassadors and X Games athletes Alex Hall and Jamie Anderson to create content on the slopes that amplified the brand’s sponsorship presence, and to engage fans during meet-and-greets at the Base Camp—“something exclusive they can get through Jeep and this partnership,” according to Orthman.

Rounding out the title sponsorship was the first-ever Jeep Golden Grille Awards. One female and one male athlete who were at the top of their performance at the Games, and are heavily involved in inspiring the next generation of snow sports athletes, each took home the seven-slot, gold-dipped trophy.

Ultimately, X Games Aspen 2026 Driven by Jeep was just one event on the 2026 calendar as the brand reclaims its heritage (look no further than a newly inked multiyear sponsorship of The Snow League).

“We have been coming back to our core as a brand, and with that, it just felt like it was time for us to reconnect with those roots of being part of all of the playgrounds where people can take their Jeeps, be that sand or rock or snow,” Orthman says. “So strategically, you’ll see throughout the year that the brand is really realigning with all of those places where you go to have adventures and to live your best life in your Jeep.”

Related:

• Jeep Treats X Games Attendees to a 4D Film Experience
• Q&A: Sonic’s CMO Talks Tapping into the X Games Fanbase

The post Inside the First-Ever ‘X Games Aspen Driven by Jeep’ Title Sponsorship appeared first on Event Marketer.

Diner experiences caught the attention of the editors of Fast Company this week as Tesla opened its new Supercharger station in L.A. that doubles as a Tesla-branded “retro-futuristic diner.” There, visitors can enjoy “greasy finger foods” while making use of the charging stalls (which reminds us of this trend).

This month Pantene announced its own diner-inspired campaign, the Pantene Fixins Truck tour which will hit cities across the country with a “menu” for hair needs, as well as samples, styling tips, and photo ops on this “diner on wheels.” It’s all part of a “Fixins for Country Fried Hair” integrated marketing campaign inspired by brand partner and singer-songwriter Kelsea Ballerini’s Southern roots, according to Pantene.

Earlier this year, Tanqueray leveraged the relatable diner concept to help “demystify” the gin category and make it more accessible to a new generation of drinkers. The Classic or Nothing Diner popped up at Austin Food & Wine Festival and New York’s MetLife Stadium. The sampling space featured a red leather banquette, checkered flooring, iconic brand imagery, and martinis and fries—also known as the “Adult Happy Meal.”

From automotive to personal care to spirits, diners are doing it all for a variety of brands. But it was a sampling play last year by Cheez-It that served up a headline-generating playbook for all things retro. Activated in Woodstock, NY, with a ’60s theme of course, the Cheez-It Diner kept its snacks top of mind for summer road trippers by serving up “absurdly cheesy” American fare, like Deluxe Cheez-It Milkshakes, Mac & Cheez-It, Cheez-It Biscuits and Sweet-N-Salty Cheezcake. Order up.

Related:

• Cheetos’ Restaurant Returns as the Flamin’ Hot Spot in L.A.
• Tanqueray Serves Up a Traveling Diner and ‘Adult Happy Meals’

The post Experiential Trend of the Week: Diner Digs appeared first on Event Marketer.

Games & Simulators

Games, driving simulations and friendly competitions were incorporated into several booths, and with a large chunk of consumers attending NYIAS with kids, it was a smart tactic. Hyundai offered a multiscreen Racing Challenge, with participants qualifying during select periods for a daily tournament and top scorers receiving prizes, as well as an EV Ride simulator. Over at Genesis, Magma racing simulators gave attendees a chance to play Gran Turismo 7 while driving the Genesis Gran Berlinetta race car.

Plus, Nissan launched a five-part giveaway program that included a scavenger hunt that yielded a bandana, a bike photo op, a collectible poster and vehicle walkaround, a brand trivia contest and an Ariya EV ride-along. But Toyota, which dedicated the majority of its exhibit to its partnership with the NFL, may have taken the cake in the category. The brand’s lively group of stage presenters brought kids up on stage for live trivia games that also included audience participation throughout the day. Visitors could also participate in “Let’s Play Flags” and “Tacoma Toss-To-Win” games.

Lifestyle Gear

Almost of all of the big players, including Ford, Toyota, Chevy and Genesis, dedicated a portion of their booth space at NYIAS 2025 to a mini lifestyle-gear pop-up where items from jackets to shirts to tumblers to keychains and beyond were on display and available for purchase. It’s worth noting that many people who attend the auto show are already superfans of a brand, and some of them are willing to shell out a decent chunk of change to buy the automaker’s apparel, especially if it’s exclusive to the event.

Special Appearances

Some exhibitors leaned into influencer and celebrity appearances to up the ante on their booth experiences. Take Kia, which delivered an NBA appearance and signing on April 26 with former New York Knicks star Latrell Sprewell as part of the brand’s NBA sponsorship.

The talk of the town, however, was a two-day showcase featuring global auto influencer and founder of RAUH-Welt Begriff, Akira Nakai, who performed a live vehicle build for the first time at any auto show while on-site at NYIAS 2025. EM was lucky enough to spot Nakai as he worked on a 2006 Porsche Carrera S in real time, which drew consistent crowds.

Connected Homes

Some of the brands pushing their electric vehicles leveraged their show presence to demonstrate how their broader product ecosystem works by creating connected-home vignettes that displayed how car charging ports and vehicle-to-home power backups operate. Both Kia and Hyundai took this route.

Themed Flooring

We saw a number of exhibitors leverage flooring materials to delineate the kind of terrain that a vehicle is capable of traversing, the storyline behind a product, or to match the theme of the broader exhibit. From football fields to the mountains to nature preserves to cobblestone, vehicles were positioned in a variety of environments.

More Trade Show Trends to Watch:

• Field Report: Things We’ve Never Seen at Trade Shows Until Shoptalk 2025
• As Trade Shows Embrace Influencers, Exhibitors are Leveling up Engagement

The post Five Exhibit Trends from the 125th New York International Auto Show appeared first on Event Marketer.

The experience, held at Ford Performance Racing School in Fairfield, UT, convened owners of the F-150 Raptor, Bronco Raptor and Ranger Raptor (which was just introduced in North America earlier this year). Vehicle owners drove from as far as Maine, Florida, and parts of Canada, to attend, according to Ford. Partnerships with brands like BF Goodrich and Traeger helped supplement the on-site experience, while collabs with off-road ambassadors like Vaughn Gittin Jr. drove buzz on social in the lead-up.

Focusing on early hand-raisers.

An experience like this would normally cater to the media or automotive influencers, giving them the opportunity to create exclusive reviews and content for YouTube and elsewhere for consumers. But in targeting owners, the team took a staged approach to the communications to generate maximum engagement.

“We announced that we were going to be doing this event, where it was going to be, the date, and then we didn’t really share too much more, but people could sign up to express interest,” says Dawn McKenzie, communications manager for Ford Trucks. “Those were our early hand raisers and were the people that were most likely to sign up and attend, so we were able to further communicate with them and target them with more than the general Ford community.”

Treating consumers as content creators.

Some of the attendees were influencers in their own right with large followings, and they helped generate some 1.6 million in combined organic views on their social content from the experience. The team overall clocked 150 social posts 73,000 social engagements.

“We wanted to do a measurement report afterward just to see what the online conversation was after the event from the content that people had created, and we ended up pushing it out farther than a week because even a week after the event, people were still posting new content that was getting a lot of engagement,” McKenzie says. “We considered that a big win-win.”

Have a feedback mechanism.

Ford product experts were on-hand to interact with consumers for educational moments and the drives, including a chief engineer of performance, and the team that designed the Raptors. The attendees could give their feedback in terms of what they like about their vehicle or what they would like to see directly to the experts.

Have partners enhance the on-site experience.

Among partners on-site was Traeger, whose teams provided and cooked dinner for all of the attendees. Partner FOX Shocks co-hosted a workshop. BF Goodrich provided tire services and attendees could actually get a discount on new tires and get them swapped out right on site.

But beyond corporate partners, the brand recognized the entire enthusiast ecosystem and set aside spaces for Raptor Run Clubs, which are driver-led, owners’ clubs around the country. As key partners, they helped spread the word about the event and then, on-site, were able to recruit new members and drive additional influence.

Offer exclusive event merchandise.

To help position Ford and Ford Performance as a lifestyle brand, the team produced exclusive merch that consumers could only get at the Raptor Rally. It turned out to be the Ford merchandise team’s most successful event.

“Even if [the drivers] went to an event sponsored by somebody else, they’re not going be able to get exclusive Ford news or meet and mingle with the Ford engineering and design and marketing brand team, get the exclusive merchandise that’s from Ford, get access to some of the vendors,” McKenzie says. “So, it was all about creating a unique opportunity that we were able to provide, and that we learned so much from, too.” Agency: Imagination.

More Scenes from Ford’s Raptor Rally:

Photo credit: Melissa Majchrzak Photography

Related:

• Ford Takes the Media on an Off-roading Adventure to Launch the New Bronco
• Field Report: Inside the ‘Once-in-a-lifetime’ Mercedes-Benz Experience at the Masters

The post Owned Vehicles, Brand Partners, Merch: Five Insights on Ford’s Raptor Rally Experience appeared first on Event Marketer.

EYECARE by SYLVANIA experts replaced participating cars’ headlight bulbs and guided attendees through the DIY process.

Car headlights illuminate roads at night or in bad weather, but if they become dim or foggy, it can create a safety issue. So just like eyes get routine health checkups, headlights need regular maintenance to preserve visibility. Automotive lighting brand SYLVANIA ran with this analogy to educate drivers by launching an “eye exam” pop-up experience one evening in January for cars driving through the desert outside of Las Vegas.

“People don’t really think about their headlights that often; they turn them on, they work. So we really wanted to continue to educate people on the fact that over time—just like tires, brakes and windshield wiper blades—your headlights are wearing out as well. It’s just not as easy to see or do a test on them,” says Erin O’Malley, director-marketing at SYLVANIA. “If you do wait until burn out, you can lose up to 50 feet of visibility. That’s like a tractor-trailer length.”

Taking place at the SpeedVegas dirt track once the sun went down, the interactive “EYECARE by SYLVANIA” drive-through exam experience was set up with several checkpoints to simulate each step of a doctor’s appointment, tailored to check the health of a car’s headlights. Brand ambassadors in lab coats greeted attendees at check-in; verified their car’s year, make and model; and confirmed it was using halogen headlights to be able to participate in the pop-up. Then, attendees were directed to a “waiting room” area until it was their turn to drive into the designated “office” portion.

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Participants that were called into the eye doctor’s office pulled their car through an archway to park in front of a custom-built automotive phoropter (similar to an optometrist’s testing device made up of various lenses) and giant SYLVANIA-branded eye charts. Drivers turned off their car, keeping the headlights on to illuminate the charts, and a brand ambassador walked them through their headlights’ current state of visibility.

The EYECARE by SYLVANIA pop-up experience featured a custom-built, first-of-its-kind aut phoropter similar to the phoropters used by optometrists.

With a baseline established, the automotive phoropter covered up a headlight and switched on SYLVANIA’s SilverStar Ultra halogen light, showing the difference in color and brightness between the car’s existing bulbs and potential new ones. Rolling away the eye charts, a second test to see how far the lights could reach had road signs, deer and even a bigfoot cutout placed at various ranges ahead of the car in the dark desert environment. At the next station, SYLVANIA professionals replaced the participating cars’ headlight bulbs and guided attendees through the process.

“There was a lot of engagement from the participants getting out of their vehicle and being taught how to do it,” O’Malley says. “That was one of the other pieces of this pop-up—not only do we want you to experience the difference of what you’re seeing and how you can better your visibility, but also that it is a DIY project. You can do it yourself.”

Attendees came away from the experience with upgraded headlights and a restoration kit to keep their lenses clean and looking clear. The kit also contained stickers, a car air freshener and a cleaning cloth for glasses, continuing the eye care theme.

The SYLVANIA team brought the eye exam pop-up program together in three months and collaborated with product and engineering departments to nail down the necessary lighting and safety logistics. Leading up to the event, the brand used Facebook and Instagram to encourage advance registration for a time slot, and a mobile billboard traveled up and down the Las Vegas Strip to spread the word.

In the end, 10 cars had the chance to go through the hourlong exam experience, and O’Malley says video captured at the pop-up was crucial to amplifying the “EYECARE by SYLVANIA” campaign beyond the one-night activation. SYLVANIA offered free at-home headlight restoration kits, the same ones distributed to pop-up participants, for U.S. consumers to order through its website. Agency: Fitzco.

TAKE A TOUR OF THE EYECARE BY SYLVANIA EXPERIENCE:

Photo credit: SYLVANIA

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