The concept of “stress-free travel” may sound like a distant fantasy, but Hertz is on a mission to alleviate travel anxieties through its Gold Plus Rewards loyalty program—and a pack of friendly golden retrievers known as the Gold Squad.

First introduced last summer to help airport travelers decompress, the brand’s highly trained group of pups has since begun infiltrating select Hertz locations, where the company says they’ve been very well received. But the Gold Squad, and the brand, really found their calling on Feb. 7, serving as presenting sponsor of Goldens in Golden, an annual celebration in Golden, CO, that this year drew more than 5,500 golden retrievers (and their humans) from around the country. Hello, dream event.

To bring the intangible perks of its loyalty program to life, the brand kicked off its sponsorship at Denver International Airport, where it unleashed the Gold Squad to relieve travel stress and spread some love to Hertz customers.

Then it was on to the main event, Goldens in Golden, where the brand hosted the Golden Pup Cup Café, a community-centric activation anchored by an Airstream trailer—where the Gold Squad made plenty of appearances—that provided humans with warm lattes and, of course, matching treats for their fur babies.

The footprint also included a branded mural that doubled as a photo op and featured “Feeling Golden” messaging, as well as swag and room to sit down and socialize. Outside of the activation, the Gold Squad mingled with human and canine attendees, alike, across the event.

“Ultimately, it was about: how can we have a meeting spot for folks to be able to sit down, entertain their dogs, interact with each other, and just have the best possible experience, and keep it all aligned to what we’re trying to achieve as a brand and as a company—that customer experience comes first,” says Brian Canning, cmo at Hertz.

Naturally, the Gold Squad and the café inspired social sharing on-site, but Hertz also drove hype in the leadup to Goldens in Golden with the help of its dog influencer partners, a group of golden retrievers (and their parents) that the brand has worked with over the last six months while expanding the Gold Squad campaign.

“This was an event that just made perfect sense for us in terms of being able to not only show up and make the event a little bit better from our perspective, but also to have golden retriever influencers [come] from all over the country, show the joy of a road trip, especially with your dog, and show off our cars and what you can do with Hertz vehicles, and the power of our Gold Plus program,” Canning says. “So it really aligns to what we want to do and how we want to represent ourselves as a brand and in the community.”

SQUAD GOALS

The good news for dog lovers is that Hertz is just getting started on translating its brand promise, and product, into an experiential platform. In fact, the company is currently recruiting for a Gold Squad Pack Leader, a role that will entail strategizing for, and producing, Gold Squad appearances and activations.

The goal, Canning says, is to grow the program exponentially. “We’re doing more and more cities. We’re going to be doing more events outside of the actual Hertz locations. So it’s just going to get bigger and bigger. [The Gold Squad] are going to become a part of our brand DNA, because it aligns, again, with what we’re trying to do in investing in the customer experience.” Agency: Preacher.

Related:

• Purina Enlists Pet Behaviorists to Build a Dog-Friendly Section at an MLS Stadium
• Milk-Bone and Jif Collab on a Pop-up, Dog-friendly ‘Museum’

The post Hertz Unleashes a Pack of Dogs and a Pop-Up Café at the World’s Largest Gathering of Golden Retrievers appeared first on Event Marketer.

USAA’s annual Salute to Service Lounge at the NFL fan festival offers an exclusive space for military members, veterans, USAA members and their families to hear from and meet NFL players and legends, participate in EA Sports’ Madden NFL experiences, and see the impact of the brand’s military support initiatives and nonprofit partnerships.

While the panels, talent appearances and venue design change to fit the SBX’s host city, the lounge’s aim remains the same: to reflect USAA’s “deep commitment to serving those who serve our country for over a century,” says Krissy Gorsuch, director-sponsorships at USAA, who takes us inside the activation’s strategy, development and touchpoints.

Optimizing Schedules and Venues

USAA expanded the lounge’s programming this year in San Francisco, adding a third day to have it open on the SBX’s Military Appreciation Day on Feb. 4, when all military members and their families receive free admission, courtesy of the Wounded Warrior Project.

“For the seven sessions that we had, we reached max capacity every time. We always are able to get every single body in that room for these sessions, and we get great feedback from them,” Gorsuch says. “We started to see, the past couple of years, that we have a lot of repeat visitors who have been to this before in prior years at the different markets that we’re in, and they love it so much that they continually come back to SBX just to seek out the Salute to Service Lounge. It’s been really exciting to see that it’s gained that much momentum.”

This year, lounge visitors enjoyed a new vantage point away from the Moscone Center’s main convention floor with other brand activations, instead convening in an upstairs ballroom. The enclosed space allowed for a more intimate, private setting—no crowd noise or thumping music peripherally heard during Q&A sessions.

“Every year, placement is a little bit different. It’s highly dependent on the space, the capacity, what we’re able to do within the floor of SBX itself,” Gorsuch says. “It worked out well for us this year because we were really the only thing on that level before you went down to SBX, and we had a registration booth, which was the first thing you saw when you walked in through the doors, so people saw the branding right away and automatically knew that we were there.”

Distilling the Right Branding Combo

In December, USAA launched its new creative platform called “Taking Care of our Own,” which was incorporated into the lounge’s branding through large display panels and a video board that, during sessions, ran videos and messaging highlighting USAA’s year-round Salute to Service efforts. Gorsuch says the team takes into account the balance of Super Bowl and NFL branding with that of USAA.

“We know people are coming to SBX and to our activation with the energy of the Super Bowl, so we want to lean into that and leverage the spirit of the city, the color palette and the style guide that we work with the NFL on. But we also want people to understand that this is a USAA space that we’re bringing to our members,” she says. “When people walk in, they get the excitement of the Super Bowl branding, and as they’re walking out, the last thing they see on the exit walls is the USAA branding for a good reminder of how USAA is showing up for the military community.”

Leveraging Authentic Talent Partnerships

A special surprise for attendees, USAA invited Ellie and Emma, two golden retriever therapy dogs with more than 17 million followers on social media (@elliegoldenlife). Along with their owner Kevin Bubolz, an Army veteran, they spent time with attendees, gave out pawtographs, helped pack 2,500 care packages for veterans at the lounge, and introduced Salute to Service Award recipient Christian McCaffrey of the San Francisco 49ers on stage.

The dog influencers and McCaffrey were among several celebrities brought into the lounge, including Jaxson Dart, quarterback for the New York Giants; Emeka Egbuka, wide receiver for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers; CeeDee Lamb, wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys; Rome Odunze, wide receiver for the Chicago Bears; and, of course, brand ambassador Rob Gronkowski.

“One of the things that we look for when we’re partnering with talent is to ensure that they have an authentic military connection to maintain authenticity of the lounge,” Gorsuch says. “They’re coming to talk about their understanding and appreciation of the military, and it just comes through so much more authentically when they have that personal relationship and they understand the service and sacrifice behind what our service members go through.”

Bringing AI into the Mix

New for this year, an AI photo op was built into the queue space to engage fans as they waited for the lounge to open. In collaboration with EA Sports’ Madden NFL, of which USAA is the Official Salute to Service Partner, the photo booth ran an AI body scan of each participant, and they could then choose a Madden-inspired pose for the image that was available as a printout and downloadable file to share on social media.

“Last year, we had our own gaming kiosks so our guests who were waiting for the lounge could play Madden,” Gorsuch says. “And this year, we wanted to take it a step further so people could walk away with a keepsake and a memento of their time in the Salute to Service Lounge while keeping that interaction with Madden. It was a lot of fun, and we got some great feedback on it.”

Upcoming NFL Activations

In August, USAA and the NFL announced a multiyear extension to the longtime partnership. As the Official Salute to Service Partner of the NFL, USAA leads military appreciation throughout the season, particularly at Super Bowl, Pro Bowl Games, NFL Draft and NFL Kickoff. It is also the presenting sponsor of the Salute to Service Award, contributing $25,000 in the name of the award recipient to the military aid societies representing all U.S. military branches. New plans are on the horizon to enhance USAA’s international presence, and a one-hour Salute to Service broadcast show is in development.

Gorsuch says site visits for the next SBX in L.A. will start in the summer, and the team will evaluate the space to figure out how to “make the lounge bigger and better every year.” Talent partnerships are also on their radar year-round, with an eye particularly focused on the upcoming NFL Draft in April and working with incoming draft prospects who have military connections. Rookies and fan-favorites may be tapped for the next edition of the lounge.

“We had tremendous success this year with the content that came out of the lounge, and we’re looking at that a little bit differently—how we tell the story of the lounge, the veterans we invite to it and the talent and players involved in our Super Bowl experiences,” she says. “We’ve seen some great growth in our social engagement from last year to this year, which is a big indicator of the interest and excitement that people have for the lounge.” Agency: 160over90.

Photos: Courtesy of USAA; Juanita Chavarro Arias

Related:

• Physical Recreations, Digital Engagements Power USAA’s Army-Navy Game Activation
• From Jersey Mike’s Shore to Visa Print Shop, Top 12 Activations at Super Bowl LX Experience

The post USAA’s Sponsorships Director Talks NFL Talent Partnerships and Optimizing a Lounge appeared first on Event Marketer.

With b-to-b audiences now comprising four generations of attendees (or five, depending on who you ask), conference organizers have their work cut out. Delivering on the distinct needs and values of each cohort—not to mention the growing desire for personalization at the individual level—requires a thoughtfully balanced approach to engagement that ensures every generation of attendee feels seen, and leaves the event with meaningful takeaways.

Of course, there’s no single playbook on how to cater to four different audiences. So we dug into new research on multigenerational marketing, and insights from recent interviews, to uncover the unique behaviors and expectations of each generation—as well as the ones these groups have in common—and how event profs can use that info to enrich the on-site experience for all.

COMMON GROUND

→Micro-Communities

According to Hilton’s 2026 Trends Report Special Section, Smart Meetings’ Valuegraphics study and American Express Global Business Travel’s 2026 Global Events & Meetings Forecast, most attendees have (traditional) networking fatigue, and would rather meet in small groups or form micro-communities based on shared interests than navigate largescale social occasions. Think: First-timer meetups, morning run clubs and quiet experiences built for neurodiverse attendees.

STAT: 66% of respondents said AI-powered networking helps them connect with like-minded professionals more easily

→Authenticity

Hilton’s report showed that the majority of attendees, regardless of age, are seeking event environments where they feel free to come as they are.

STAT: 84% of respondents said they value bringing their authentic selves to work events

→Local Culture

Attendees of every generation reported they want to attend events that incorporate aspects of the destination’s local culture, whether it be cuisine, entertainment or giveaways. Hilton’s study revealed that it’s a top perk for many conferencegoers.

STAT: 83% of respondents said having authentic local cuisine is a highlight of traveling for a work event

STAT: 66% said they prefer event swag or gifts that have a local connection

“You now have to be very keenly aware of the patterns of how people network, connect and learn, generationally… The takeaway for me is authenticity. It’s meeting people where they are, having the space and grace for who they are and bringing their full self to a conference, and encouraging them to be authentic and aligning to that.”

–Dan Preiss, VP-Experiential Marketing, Dell Technologies

GENERATIONAL DIVIDES

→Event Length

According to the 2025 EventTrack Experiential Marketing Forecast & Benchmark, produced by Event Marketer in partnership with Sparks, attendees’ preferred length of a b-to-b event tends to vary by their generation.

Preferred Length of a b-to-b event, by age:

• Under Age 25: 1 day
• Age 26-35: 3 days
• Age 36-45: 3 days
• Age 46-55: 3 days
• Over Age 55: 2 days

→Technology & Personalization

Personalization in events is more effective when engagements are designed for specific age groups, according to Invision’s The Business of Experiential ’26 report, as the definition of “effective” tends to vary by generation. Privacy is also a factor, with Boomers less likely to share their personal info.

STAT: 42% of respondents ages 29-44 said customized digital touchpoints are key to getting personalization “right,” compared to ages 18-28 (38%), 45-60 (34%), and ages 61 and older (18%)

STAT: 84% of Baby Boomers are less likely to share their data with event organizers based on privacy concerns—even if it means forfeiting a more personalized experience

→Downtime & After-Hours

As Hilton’s study shows, younger generations tend to prioritize wellness more than their older counterparts, and that’s impacting conference agendas and session lengths. Or, as the Amex forecast stated, “This has caused a move away from the sprint-style and marathon-style sessions that were once so popular.”

STAT: 61% of Gen Z and millennial respondents reported they’re likely to skip sessions to decompress, compared to 31% of Baby Boomers

STAT: 68% of Gen Z and 61% of millennial respondents said after-hours activities are a top reason for attending work events, compared to 47% of Gen X and 34% of Baby Boomers

“Many successful events now design micro-communities—tailored spaces and experiences shaped by audience, budget, and goals—to make sure every generation feels included and engaged.”

–Rebecca DeLuca, VP-Destination Sales, LVCVA (2026 Global Events & Meetings Forecast)

Every generation has its strengths, and when those powers collide under one event roof, incredible things can happen. Or, as our 2025 Women in Events honoree Jenn Cammarota of Verizon, put it: “Gen Z brings a demand for authenticity and purpose; millennials push for balance and innovation; Gen X often bridges strategy with execution; boomers contribute deep institutional knowledge and relationship building. At the best events, these ‘superpowers’ blend—innovation with wisdom, strategy with creativity.”

Featured image credit: iStock/treety

Related:

• Research: 11 Datapoints on the State of Global Business Travel
• Watch: EventTrack 2026 Research Study—The Big Takeaways

The post What Each Generation Really Wants from B-to-B Events—And What the Data Says appeared first on Event Marketer.

Sporting tentpoles like the Super Bowl are, at their core, a platform for consumer engagement. But following in the footsteps of other properties, like NBA All-Star Weekend and its 26-year-old Tech Summit, the Bay Area Host Committee (BAHC) and the NFL saw an opportunity to elevate partners, and engage key stakeholders in town for the colossal football game in what’s next out of Silicon Valley.

The result was the first-ever Super Bowl LX Innovation Summit held at SFMOMA on Friday, Feb. 5, featuring a white-glove hospitality experience and an eight-hour agenda of immersive presentations, high-profile panelists and networking for more than 500 c-level leaders and VIP attendees across tech, sports, media, government and beyond (Agency: BeCore). YouTube served as presenting partner of the Summit and its ceo, Neal Mohan, joined the speaker lineup, which included Amy Howe, FanDuel’s ceo, and Andrew Bosworth, Meta’s cto.

“Our vision was simple but ambitious: to create a moment where the world’s highest-level innovators and thought leaders didn’t just gather to talk about the future—they gathered to shape it together,” Zaileen Janmohamed, BAHC president and ceo, told EM.

Here’s a look at the platform for business conversations around one of the biggest fan events of the year and why quality, over quantity, drove the event strategy.

Intentionality

C-suiters by nature are connectors of the dots, and so the Summit team offered a clear value proposition and throughline of storytelling for prospective attendees. Rather than leverage stock photography for the event creative, the BAHC’s minimal black and white branding allowed copywriting around the key messages to take the focus instead. From the save-the-date on through to the check-in process via a mobile app, the experience was all about quiet efficiency and deliberate decision-making.

The Right Venue

Even business leaders crave a change of pace, and the SFMOMA’s gallery spaces naturally offered moments of reflection, connection and inspiration. YouTube took over the museum’s atrium offering a welcome moment with barista stations serving up craft pours with branded foam designs. Morning coffee was an event in and of itself, with the gallery spaces open for meandering.

Flexibility

The day started off with high-profile presentations, broke for lunch and networking, and then concluded with a track of sessions that let attendees dive into topics that interest them most, choose-your-own-adventure-style. They could come in for a few sessions, leave for meetings, and then come back. However, the team designed the first session of the day to be just as compelling as the last session of the day, leading the attendees into a happy hour experience.

Layered Content

The event balanced main stage content (seven keynote-style sessions) with interactive breakout panels (six), with the hosts of the No. 1 business and technology podcast, “Acquired,” serving as guest moderators. In this way, the stage conversations were complex, with every word spoken something the attendees would hang onto. Kevin Yeaman, Dolby ceo, and Giles Baker, svp of OptiView, led a CES-style keynote on the power of immersive sound and vision, and how experiences like live sporting event-viewing are evolving.

“When partners don’t just activate but genuinely co-create the experience, attendees feel that authenticity,” Janmohamed says. “From the NFL’s executive partnership on content and strategy to many of our partners providing strategic counsel and participation, every partnership layer mattered.”

Stage-to-Floor Engagement

The team designed collaborative and additive partner experiences. Premiere partner Dolby, which hosted the BAHC’s Super Bowl LX kickoff party, transformed the main stage into an immersive, sensory experience using Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos for all the content there. And a Technology Playground brought the conversations on stage to life.

Our editors were on-site at the Summit to experience Meta’s latest smart glasses activation—the Oakley Meta Vanguard glasses and the Ray-Ban Meta Headliner glasses. Brand ambassadors led us and the attendees through interactive tests of its products, activated by voice commands and hand gestures, and after trying a few pairs on, we snapped a photo printed onto a sticker.

Talk about seeing into the future.

Photo credits: Courtesy of Bay Area Host Committee; Juanita Chavarro Arias

Related:

• Three Production Lessons from the Ryder Cup Main Stage Ceremonies
• AI-Driven Keynote Tips from AMD’s Next-Gen Presentation at CES

The post Steal-worthy C-Suite Event Ideas from the Super Bowl LX Innovation Summit appeared first on Event Marketer.

This week’s hot takes on hot topics in experiential marketing cover Clean Machines, glam trucks and the Gimme Gummy Bar.

BEAUTY FANS BELLY UP TO THE GIMME GUMMY BAR IN L.A.

Surviving the news cycles this year has felt more like an Olympic sport than anything that happened at Milano-Cortina 2026.

It’s no wonder, then, that the “Gimme Gummy” trend, an ASMR-inspired aesthetic defined by its flexible textures, glossy finishes, rubberized details and tactile nature, was a top trend in the 2026 Pinterest Predicts report. While driven by Gen Z, the trend signals a broader consumer shift towards creature comforts, customization and sensory play, as consumers respond to overstimulation and trend fatigue.

And NYX Professional Makeup wasted no time getting beauty fans hyped for Gimme Gummy as a key 2026 beauty theme with the two-day Gimme Gummy Bar. Together with Pinterest, the brand from Feb. 20-21 hosted an activation in L.A. that not only offered some serious experience-design eye candy, but gave consumers a hands-on, customizable experience steeped in the trend.

Attendees crafted personalized bag charms at the Chewy Charm bar, sampled NYX’s newly launched Jelly Job lip gloss products, snapped photos in curated settings and indulged in sweet treats at a gummy candy bar. Lip gloss and gummy bears? Take all of our money. (Agency: NVE Experience Agency)

Photos: Courtesy of Pinterest

CREATORS TAKE THE SPOTLIGHT AT TIKTOK’S GLOBAL LIVE FEST

Influencers live in a whole realm of their own. Look no further than TikTok’s Global Live Fest, an annual event dedicated to celebrating the achievements of top creators (and their communities) on TikTok Live, a feature that allows users over the age of 18 with 1,000-plus followers to interact with their communities in real time via livestreams. Following a series of in-app creator competitions, Global Live Fest serves as the yearly culmination of a tastemaker showdown.

This year’s event, hosted Feb. 12 at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, attracted more than 600 creators from 45 countries—not to mention the 4 million people who tuned into the live broadcast—for a conference and awards show that shined a light on the best of TikTok Live creator content and community interactions from the past year.

Multi-hyphenate actress and entrepreneur Keke Palmer served as the evening’s lively host, while singer Demi Lovato gave a closing performance featuring some of her biggest hits, plus tracks from her newest album.

But that’s not all, folks. The festivities actually got started ahead of Global Live Fest on Feb. 9 with Regional Live Fest, an event for U.S.-based TikTok Live creators held at Area15 in Vegas that featured an appearance by dj Steve Aoki, who received the Entertainment Live of the Year Award.

Beyond Vegas, TikTok hosted nine regional Live Fest events around the world, from Dubai to Rome to Seoul, honoring the impact of creators on their respective follower communities. (Agency: Seen Presents)

Photo credit: Seen Presents

SEPHORA AND TNT SPORTS DELIVER GLOW-UPS ON THE GLAM ROOM BUS TOUR

Alternative sports leagues are gaining traction, and the savviest of brands are making moves to capitalize on the properties’ growing fandoms.

Take Sephora and TNT Sports, official partners of Unrivaled, a professional 3 vs. 3 women’s basketball league founded by two WNBA stars. As part of the sponsorship, the brands on Feb. 20 launched the Glam Room Bus Tour, a mobile experience that brings the permanent Sephora Glam Room located at Unrivaled’s Miami headquarters directly to fans around South Florida.

The tour’s custom-built, glass-paneled mobile unit is packed with activities that span pro beauty stations, product sampling, personalized services, exclusive giveaways and curated photo ops, allowing fans to get the player treatment for a day.

As part of the campaign, the brands are also crafting opportunities for behind-the-scenes coverage from the tour to be included in TNT Sports’ Unrivaled broadcast coverage, and Bleacher Report social platforms.

From Sephora Arena to the University of Miami, the co-branded Glam Room Bus Tour will hit a variety of locations through the remainder of the league’s 2026 season, which wraps on March 4. Talk about an alley-oop. (Agency: Digitas)

Photo: Courtesy of Sephora

SEEING IS BELIEVING INSIDE CASCADE’S LARGER-THAN-LIFE DISHWASHER

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to step inside your dishwasher? Nope, us neither.

But we have to say, many of the influencers who walked through Cascade’s “Clean Machine” experience at the Florida State Fair (Feb. 14-15) genuinely seemed to enjoy it. And the sensory installation wasn’t a one-off endeavor. Rather, the dishwasher detergent brand is rolling out a full Clean Machine tour that is slated to make stops across the U.S. this year.

In an effort to “unshroud the mystery” of what happens inside a dishwasher when its Platinum Plus product kicks in, Cascade is inviting consumers to step into the interior of a larger-than-life dishwasher to watch a full cycle powered by the product, and the science behind it. The experience comes to life through large screens that offer close-up views of the process, along with oversized dishwasher-rack installations filled with dishes, mugs and pans.

Beyond the Clean Machine, consumers at the State Fair could snap photos with giant props, enter to win a new GE Profile dishwasher, play a Spin the Plate game to score Cascade samples and swag, like water bottles and sweatshirts, and even meet Reggie the Repairman, the star of the brand’s newest tv campaign, who was available to answer any burning dishwashing questions.

Image: Courtesy of Procter & Gamble

LANEIGE LINKS PRODUCTS WITH PLAYLISTS AT ITS POP-UP BEAUTY STUDIO

Competition among beauty brands is fierce, but Laneige was well-equipped for the mindshare battle from Feb. 5-6 as it celebrated the launch of the JuicePop Box Lip Tint in NYC with a personalized, music-driven activation dubbed the JuicePop Box Studio.

The pop-up gave visitors a chance to explore eight Lip Tint shades through the lens of music via a sensory journey that matched each tint with its own genre and playlist. The idea? To make finding a new shade as exciting as finding your next favorite song. And music was woven throughout the experience, right down to playlist prompts at the brand’s dedicated shade stations.

The space also operated as a content studio, with plenty of shareable design elements on hand, from a record wall to oversized product installations, that begged to be captured. A traditional photo booth that yielded physical prints was also in the mix, along with branded refreshments and skincare giveaways. Juicy. (Agency: CNC Agency)

Photo credit: CNC Agency

More from The Brief:

• The Brief: Drive-Thru Pit Stops and Traveling Basecamps
• Watch: January 2026 Experiential News Commentary

The post The Brief: Clean Machines and Gummy Bars appeared first on Event Marketer.