Experiential Marketing

One of my first-ever “experiential” marketing stunts was for Juice Press. At the time, there were only four stores in Manhattan, and the goal was growth. I was tasked with figuring out how to drive business to a store that wasn’t even on a main street. A challenge that would become my first real lesson in what experiential marketing truly means.

We called her JP1 - 2nd Street between 1st and 2nd Ave

The Concept: Day Club: Workout is the New Black Out 

The idea was simple: get all my friends in the nightlife scene to swing by JP on their way to the gym or wherever they were headed. As much as this concept sounds like it is last week, it was actually in 2012. That meant the early days of social media. This was pure word of mouth. IFYKYK. All my best girl friends were models, so I hit them up to come and hang, and then I blew up everyone in my phone. 

“Meet me at Juice Press at 5 pm for free wheat grass shots.” Then I did the same thing at the same time on the same day, the following week. Repeated it a few more times until we made that block hot. Every cool kid in town made a cameo at the day club post gym, pre-gym, or just on a coffee run. 

In the first year, we had a member of the Strokes, a first baseman for the NY Yankees, models, club owners, restaurant owners, and neighbors all stopping by to drink green juice and catch up with friends. JP1 became the place where you could always run into your friends. I went on to help Juice Press open 14 stores with that same philosophy in mind. Become a neighborhood guy. Be the spot on the block where people can’t help but stop by. 

That is the heart of what I do: creating a place, a feeling, and a ritual that makes people feel part of something. The connection is the strategy.