Cogs & Marvel Takes Gold and Silver at Eventex Awards
Adobe Field Trip and Long Beach Pride shine in Virtual Employee Engagement and Positive Change categories
The Eventex Awards, one of the world’s most celebrated accolades for events and experiential marketing. Let’s run this year’s numbers: 761 entries, 49 competing countries, 83 jury members. Stats like that make Cogs & Marvel’s 2 big wins all the more rewarding. For 2023, we scooped Gold and Silver for two innovative pieces of work, Adobe Field Trip and Long Beach Pride, respectively.
Our gold for Adobe Field Trip came in the Virtual Employee Engagement Event category. Adobe Field Trip is an annual experience for Adobe families that showcases the best of Adobe creativity, culture, and community. With the conditions of the pandemic, the experience took on new significance for the company. “We were asked to design and execute an immersive programme for a global, remote audience,” said Greg Schram, Associate Creative Director for Cogs & Marvel. “Large Zoom sessions had become normalised—we needed a fresh approach to engaging families at home with creative, educational, and community-minded interactions. It needed to be approachable for all ages, accessible, and substantial enough to fill the void of past in-person company gatherings.”
The result was a completely original, broadcast-quality children’s TV show and companion web-based experience. It blended live-action with bespoke illustration, animation, and original theme music. The show starred Zobee, Adobe Field Trip’s curious alien mascot, and human host Sharmaarke. With Zobee, they went from outer space to coral reefs, to a world made entirely of art supplies, and beyond. Along the way, they met a diverse cast of guest experts, including NASA rocket engineer Tiera Fletcher, deaf content creator Sheena McFeely, and young crayon activist Bellen Woodard. There were follow-along exercises including meditation and how to make healthy snacks. A live sign language interpreter and live chat prompts invited families to discuss the show as they watched. In the end, the audience realised they’d been creating their own vibrant field trip all along.
“We’re delighted that Eventex has recognised our hard work, but more importantly, we’re inspired. At Cogs & Marvel, we don’t just set the standards, we raise them. ”
Adobe Field Trip garnered 138% of the expected audience attendance. Participation came from 17 countries across all major global regions. The Adventure Portal totalled 4,100 households. In other words, it smashed the gold standard.
Even before we won silver in the Positive Change category, our Long Beach Pride project was indeed one we were proud of. “Around the world, Pride celebrations have become synonymous with ‘parade.’ Long Beach Pride needed us to completely reimagine their annual celebration to attract a new generation and community of guests and allies.” said Sheila Milani, Creative Director for Cogs & Marvel.
The Cogs & Marvel approach considered the LGBTQIA+ movement in the wider, contemporary socio-cultural landscape. “We especially wanted to elevate trans women of colour and the protestors whose acts of resistance gave rise to what we know as Pride today,” said Milani. “We designed a hands-on, immersive experience that brought stories from the trans and BIPOC communities to the forefront of Long Beach Pride.”
Activations at Long Beach Pride 2022 included The Transcendence Dome, a pop-up museum featuring a graphical history of pioneering trans women of colour; a silent disco that encouraged dancers to move to their own beat; a Drag makeup station offering touch-ups and full makeover sessions; and a Voices Wall that allowed visitors share messages. And oh yeah, Grammy award-winners Iggy Azalea and Natalia Jiménez performed.
Long Beach Pride was a multi-faceted attraction that platformed joy and acknowledged pain. The entity had lacked a physical presence for two years; its return through our conception broke every metric that had been set. More than 25,000 tickets sold—a 63% increase from the last ticketed event, which resulted in a 248% revenue increase. The 104 exhibitors translated to a 23% YOY increase. The Instagram reach increased by 500% and profile visits went up 3,000%. Facebook reach jumped 1200% and page views rose 820%.
We’re delighted that Eventex has recognised our hard work, but more importantly, we’re inspired. At Cogs & Marvel, we don’t just set the standards, we raise them.
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