Experiential Marketing 51 | SunMatrix Ramble

Cadbury Creme Egg: When Will It Goo

Cadbury, along with agency MCsquared Dublin, created an integrated campaign that enlisted the Irish public to help their giant Creme Egg release its Goo. Here, “Goo” is the campaign’s shorthand for the public release moment.

Eight rocking giant eggs, each protected in a transparent case, were placed around Dublin. Fans were asked to tweet “Goo” using #tweet2goo or enter via the campaign Facebook app. Every tweet and Facebook post made the egg get more “egg-cited” until it “egg-sploded”.

The entire Goo event was broadcast live on the Cadbury Ireland Facebook page, and participants were automatically entered into a draw to win tickets to the London 2012 Olympic Games.

From social input to physical payoff

The mechanic is a simple loop with a strong public proof moment. People post. The installation reacts. The reaction builds suspense. Then the payoff happens in public, with a clear “we did that” feeling for anyone who participated.

In Irish FMCG launches where seasonal products rely on impulse and talk value, turning participation into a shared street spectacle can earn attention that paid media cannot easily buy.

Why it lands

This works because it turns a familiar product truth, the goo, into a shared mission. Because people can see progress building toward a public release, each post feels consequential rather than disposable. The spectacle turns remote social actions into something you can physically witness, and the ticking progress effect gives people a reason to keep posting and to pull friends in. The live broadcast also gives the event a second stage, so even people not in Dublin can follow along and contribute.

Extractable takeaway: If you want social participation at scale, design a public system where every small action visibly moves a shared object toward an inevitable moment. The promise of that moment does the acquisition work.

What the campaign is really buying

It is not just awareness. It is repeat behavior during a short seasonal window. The real question is how to turn a short seasonal sales window into repeat participation instead of one-off attention. The hashtag and the Facebook entry mechanic reward persistence, and the prize draw adds a practical reason to participate even if you are not nearby.

What to steal for seasonal participation campaigns

Make the participation rule obvious. One hashtag, one word, one job.
Translate digital actions into physical feedback. That is what creates credibility and excitement.
Build suspense, not just a reveal. Progress is a stronger engine than surprise.
Give it two stages. Street spectacle plus a live stream extends the audience.
Add a lightweight incentive. A draw works best when the core experience is already fun.

A few fast answers before you act

What is “When Will It Goo”?

A Cadbury Creme Egg activation where tweets and Facebook entries drive giant public eggs toward a live “goo-splosion” moment.

Why does the physical installation matter?

It turns online participation into something visible and real, which increases belief, excitement, and sharing.

What is the role of the hashtag?

It is the simplest participation interface. It makes the action easy to repeat and easy to recruit others into.

What is the biggest execution risk?

If the installation feedback is slow, unclear, or unreliable, people stop participating because they cannot see impact.

How can a smaller brand replicate the pattern?

Use one shared object, one simple input, and one visible progress signal. The object can be smaller, but the loop must stay legible.

EA Sports SSX: SSX Shakes

A cocktail order comes in, and a bartender does not reach for the shaker. A pro rider does. The drink gets “shaken” by performing the very snowboard trick it is named after, then handed over fresh to the guest who ordered it.

That is the core of SSX Shakes. A small, invitation-only pre-launch event in Belgium created to generate extra buzz and free press for EA’s SSX extreme snowboarding release on PlayStation and Xbox 360. Duval Guillaume Modem (Antwerp) stages the night around mood and shareability: music, a slope setup, a cocktail bar, riders, and hands-on game play.

How the mechanic turns into media

The mechanism is deliberately tight. Cocktails are named after specific snowboard tricks. Guests choose one. Riders perform the corresponding trick while holding the shaker, then deliver the finished drink. After the event, every blogger and journalist receives a personalised video showing the making of their own SSX shake, packaged for easy sharing with friends, fans, and followers.

In European games marketing where launches depend on earned coverage, the best activations create a photogenic proof point and a ready-to-publish asset for every attendee.

The real question is whether you can hand every attendee a personalised, ready-to-post asset that still feels native to the product story.

Why it lands

It collapses three jobs into one moment. It entertains in the room. It proves the SSX fantasy of trick-driven adrenaline in a physical way. Because the trick is also the “shaker”, the camera captures that fantasy in a single, explainable shot. Then it hands each guest a personalised piece of content that makes sharing feel like showing off a story, not doing a brand a favour.

Extractable takeaway: If your goal is buzz, do not just invite press to watch something. Give them a personalised, category-native moment that can be posted as a complete narrative, without extra editing or explanation. By “category-native”, I mean it uses the category’s own cues and rituals so the story makes sense without context.

What to steal for your next press and influencer activation

Build one iconic “single frame”. A rider mid-trick with a cocktail shaker is instantly legible. Your activation needs a moment people can recognise in a second.
Make participation the content generator. The guest’s choice determines the trick and the drink. That turns attendees into co-authors of the footage.
Personalise the output, not the invitation. The personalised video is the real multiplier. It gives each person a reason to share that is about them, not the brand.
Keep the mechanic on-brand. Tricks are not decoration here. They are the core of SSX, translated into a bar ritual.

A few fast answers before you act

What is SSX Shakes in one sentence?

A pre-launch event where SSX-themed cocktails are “shaken” by pro riders performing the matching snowboard trick, followed by personalised recap videos for attendees to share.

Why does the personalised video matter so much?

Because it turns attendance into distribution. Each guest leaves with a finished asset that is already framed for social sharing and blogging.

What is the brand objective behind a concept like this?

To generate earned media and social reach before release by creating a highly visual, retellable moment tied directly to the game’s core fantasy.

How do you adapt this if you cannot produce personalised videos?

Keep the “one guest, one ready-to-share asset” rule, but simplify the output. Capture a short, branded clip or photo that features the guest’s choice and the hero moment, and deliver it to them in a format they can post immediately.

What is the main failure mode if someone copies this format?

If the “hero moment” is not instantly understandable on camera, the event can be fun in-person but produce weak content, and the earned media engine stalls.

Mercedes-Benz F-CELL: The Invisible Drive

To demonstrate the claimed low impact of its new fuel cell vehicle, Mercedes-Benz has created an “invisible” car that blends into its surroundings.

The trick is a simple, showable hack. One side of the car is covered with LEDs. A camera captures what is on the opposite side, then the LED side displays that live feed so the vehicle appears to disappear from a specific viewpoint.

Stunts like this turn abstract emissions claims into a single, watchable proof-of-idea.

The mechanism that makes the metaphor work

This is not magic and it does not need to be. It is optical camouflage framed as a brand statement. Optical camouflage here means using a camera view and a display surface to mimic the background from a chosen angle. If the vehicle’s impact is close to “nothing,” the car should look like “nothing.” The LED-and-camera setup makes that metaphor instantly legible, even to someone who has never heard the term “fuel cell.” Because the illusion happens live on the car, the metaphor reads as evidence instead of post-production.

In enterprise automotive and mobility marketing, visual proof beats technical proof when the audience is not willing to parse specs.

The real question is whether your claim can be understood and repeated from a single viewpoint without the brochure. This is a strong sustainability communication move when the trick is honest and the metaphor stays tighter than the explanation.

Why it lands

It creates a physical moment people can point at. Sustainability messaging often lives in numbers, claims, and fine print. Here, the message is experiential. You see the effect with your own eyes, and you can describe it in one sentence.

Extractable takeaway: When your product promise is invisible, build a demonstration that makes the promise visible in under five seconds, using a single repeatable rule people can explain to someone else.

Steal the invisibility demo pattern

Pick one metaphor and commit to it. The entire execution serves one idea. That focus is why it travels.
Use real-world physics, not post-production. Even when the audience knows it is a trick, they trust it more when it is happening live.
Design for the shareable angle. Viewpoint-dependent illusions work because they are built for cameras and spectators, not just participants.
Make the explanation part of the experience. The best stunts include a built-in “how it works” story that spreads with the clip.

A few fast answers before you act

How does the “invisible car” effect work?

LED panels on one side of the car display a live video feed captured from the opposite side, creating a camouflage illusion from a particular viewpoint.

What is the brand point of using invisibility here?

It turns an environmental claim into a visual metaphor. If the impact is minimal, the car is presented as visually minimal within the scene.

Why do these technology stunts get attention when product specs do not?

They compress the story into a single moment people can see, record, and retell. That makes the promise easier to believe and easier to share.

What is the main risk when copying this approach?

Overcomplicating the trick. If the audience needs a long explanation to understand the effect, the stunt stops being a stunt and becomes a demo.

How do you keep a metaphor stunt from feeling like greenwashing theater?

Keep the claim narrow, make the trick transparent, and ensure the metaphor points to a product attribute you can substantiate elsewhere, even if most people never read the detail.