HBO Experiential Event | Room 104 Premiere Party

As one of the leading experiential marketing agencies in the United States, we offer distinct experiential marketing campaigns that provide end-to-end service along the way. HBO reached out to us to help them launch the premiere event for a new series called Room 104. With a signed NDA and a greenlight to design, we were more than happy to get to work on creating an immersive experience that brought the HBO series to life.

Do hotels hold secrets? Of course. But what holds even more secrets? The walls of the rooms themselves. Patrons of all ages, colors, and sizes that visit year by year, week by week and day by day, with their very own deep, dark secrets. Set in a single room of an average hotel is “Room 104.” The room where everything and anything takes place.

What better way to promote the new series than to engulf series premier VIP’s directly into the set of the show itself? Experiential marketing all the way. So when The Syndicate came to us for a partnership in recreating an interactive set replica from the recently premiered HBO series, Room 104 we were more than willing. And we are not just saying that because they are an awesome team to work with.

The Project 

The Project, yet relatively simple, had its nuances. An all-in-one pre-screening event, set replica, and series launch party, The Room 104 Project presented itself with a lot of bases to cover. So, for this one, the Marketing Genome team was partnered up with The Syndicate (The Syn), an award-winning entertainment marketing agency known for its long-standing reputation across the music, comedy, and pop-culture industries. 

The 3-part event was appropriately situated on the pool deck of The Standard Hotel in West Hollywood. The hotel was chosen, specifically for its retro look and spacious pool entertainment area, which was undoubtedly the perfect spot to not only house the 200-person guest list but also, an ironically accurate backdrop to cast the hotel vibe this particular experiential event so much needed.

The Set Build

The Room 104 set replica, appeared to the standard eye as a pretty easy build but, as we do with many of our set replicas, precise sourcing of all elements including beds, walls, windows and even linens were key to making it spot-on and hence look like “an easy build.” Ever wonder why pro-athletes make it look so easy? Because they’re pros. Same idea here – Good Experiential Marketing Agencies can make it look easy becasue they are just that good.

The Partnership

Although this was a team effort and a good one at that, Marketing Genome and The Syn did have dedicated roles and responsibilities. As described above, Marketing Genome was tasked with re-creating a completely functional set replica of Room 104 from the HBO series. It needed to be “Instagram-worthy”, fully operational (including electricity) and ready for anything a typical hotel guest could throw at it –Sans smoke detectors BUT room service included.

Speaking of room service…The Syndicate handled all the major event planning details including; guest lists, food and beverage planning with the Standard Hotel’s staff, event favors, specialty libations, pool floats and much more.

Neither team was left to fend for themselves. This event was carried out in unison, as we are both extremely capable experiential marketing agencies that know how smooth an event can go when everybody plays nice.

The Results

We always yearn to collaborate ideas, work ethics, and strategies with other uber-creative teams. This is how we grow. But with every project, there of course comes some curve balls, that not only force us to think outside the box, but to challenge our work ethic and creativity capabilities thus boosting our maximum potential.

Provided with the project, came a tight timeline as well as very little images, pictures, or information to recreate the room from the HBO series. Our team had precisely one week to plan, fabricate, ship, and build Room 104. Luckily, both teams hit the ground running and everything was completed with time to unwind, relax and enjoy the show.

With all the hard work put into the planning, design, and management, we were also surprised with the number of guests. More people came to the event than expected including some well known celebs. This helped peak impressions on social networks including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat with guests itching to post their pic in Room 104 before the first episode even ran.

Final Thoughts

More and more, we find ourselves building and recreating major movie and film set replicas like the Jurassic World Gates and the Spiderman Upside down Bedroom. This has not only immensely expanded our core offerings, but also our capabilities as a whole. We have tapped into hidden talent at recreating spot-on, immersive experiences that insert fans into the movie, or television series, and directly into the characters’ shoes without just sticking a VR mask onto their heads (although sometimes it’s a nice addition).

This is yet another one of those projects that enabled us to flex the creative muscle, that we oh-so-love to work out with! This was our first time having the pleasure to work with The Syndicate, and it went well beyond our expectations. It was a partnership that ran like clockwork. To this day we still explore ways to work with one another in hopes of running yet another successful experiential marketing campaign. 

Thanks Guys!

marketinggenome.com needs the contact information you provide to us to contact you about our products and services. You may unsubscribe from these communications at anytime. For information on how to unsubscribe, as well as our privacy practices and commitment to protecting your privacy, check out our Privacy Policy.