What’s New in Experiential? Trends from GPJ Strategy
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What’s New in Experiential? Trends from GPJ Strategy

Our strategy team has their finger on the pulse of all things experiential, and they’re back with some recent trends.  The first CES Virtual is in the books CES Virtual is officially a wrap. While reviews about the event were largely mixed, much of the new technology on display (AR, 5G and 360-degree audio to …

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GPJ Announces Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Program Manager

At GPJ, we believe inclusion enables growth, diversity fuels innovation, and equity ensures that every voice is valued and heard. Individuals shine and teams radiate. Every person, project, and product is elevated. In that spirit, we’re thrilled to announce that Noelle San Jose will be stepping into the role of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Program …

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Experiential Marketing and Gaming: The State of Play
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Experiential Marketing and Gaming: The State of Play

READY UP As of this writing, we are heading into 18 months under COVID-19 conditions. With so many people keeping at home through waves of lockdowns, it’s no surprise that gaming is still on the rise as quarantines have created new fans. There have been multiple, well-documented success stories in the industry.  Animal Crossing: New …

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2020: The Perfect Year to Launch the Parents and Caregivers Group
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2020: The Perfect Year to Launch the Parents and Caregivers Group

Featuring Evan Strange (Left) and Kelly Olson (Right) 2020 has been a crazy year for everyone, and for parents and caregivers, the added stresses of a toddler barging in on work calls and the time needed to care for loved ones has made this a year that will never be forgotten (read: good riddance 2020!). …

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GPJ Employee Resource Groups: OPEN for Business!
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GPJ Employee Resource Groups: OPEN for Business!

Featuring Cody Eastman and Liya Hoshi It’s wild to think that it’s only been two years since the inception of our first Employee Resource Group (ERG), and what’s been accomplished in such a short time. From heartfelt dialogues around becoming comfortable with being uncomfortable to creating a full fledged Pride experience across 7 agencies and …

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The GPJ Contact Center: White Glove Service at Scale
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The GPJ Contact Center: White Glove Service at Scale

Featuring Penny Davis, Senior Manager The GPJ Contact Center based in Austin, TX, provides registration, housing and technology support to thousands of event attendees via telephone, email and chat technology. Supporting events like Dreamforce, Workday Rising and Adobe Max, it is a world class customer service center and our customer service representatives (CSRs) are some …

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Employee Resource Groups are Taking Action and Energizing Peers
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Employee Resource Groups are Taking Action and Energizing Peers

When the first GPJ Employee Resource Group (ERG) was launched in 2018, no one knew just how vital a role they would play in the evolution of our agency culture, and how these groups would grow to include perspectives and deepen relationships with each other, with clients and also our communities at large.   The groups …

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Re-THINKING Brand Activations:  IBM Think City
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Re-THINKING Brand Activations: IBM Think City

The final chapter in our journey alongside the development of IBM’s digital-first brand activations showcases the work of IBM’s Think City. (You can view the previous posts here and here.)  Think City was originally planned as a large-scale physical activation to debut at IBM’s Think 2020 flagship conference, but quickly evolved to digital-first as IBM’s …

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Celebrating Creativity, and Looking Toward the Future
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Celebrating Creativity, and Looking Toward the Future

The global pandemic may have put a temporary halt to creating the physical brand experiences we all know and love, but there is still plenty of creative work to recognize and celebrate.  The fundamental nature of experiences is that they know no physical or digital boundaries, and we’ve seen incredible creativity, collaboration, and resilience in …

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Gaming and Esports Playbook Part 2: Five Key Learnings
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Gaming and Esports Playbook Part 2: Five Key Learnings

By Wayne Leonard, Vice President, Account Director – Gaming & Esports In the first part of this series, we explored The Gaming Universe, the idea that gaming is not games (it’s entertainment), and summarized with this:  Gaming is about connection, it’s a form of entertainment, and gaming brands harness the passion of their fans so well …

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The Gaming and Esports Playbook Part 1: The Gaming Universe
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The Gaming and Esports Playbook Part 1: The Gaming Universe

By Wayne Leonard, Vice President, Account Director – Gaming & Esports Our team has been working in gaming and esports for over two decades. From launches and trade shows to broader marketing and tournaments, we love engaging with this passionate, creative and special fan base across the globe. As the world has gone digital this summer, we’ve …

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The Future of Experience
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The Future of Experience

The future is full of things we can’t predict or imagine, however, the need for physical connection and proximity is certain to endure. The desire to be together in space and time; to be in the presence of something other-than and bigger than ourselves, can’t be tamed or extinguished. A new world and future of …

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Re-THINKing Brand Activations: The Debut of IBM’s Quantum Activation
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Re-THINKing Brand Activations: The Debut of IBM’s Quantum Activation

Continuing our journey alongside the development of IBM’s digital first-activations, we share with you today the next installment in our 3-part blog series ‘ReTHINKing Brand Activations,’ featuring the debut of IBM Quantum.  Let’s get you up to speed as to where we left off. IBM and experiential partner GPJ were faced with a new and …

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A New Experience of Experience
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A New Experience of Experience

By Brendan Brown, Senior Director, Strategy and Planning Last year a street vendor in San Francisco told my wife and I that the difference between fine art and commercial art is that with fine art you see nothing up close and everything from far away. For commercial art the opposite is true. Chaos in that …

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Experiential Trends Shift and Accelerate in the Time of Covid-19
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Experiential Trends Shift and Accelerate in the Time of Covid-19

    By Martyn Clarkson, VP, Strategy Insights by Team Strategy, GPJ One of the most interesting aspects of the Covid-19 disruption has been the response from brands and industries. While there have been sweeping changes, many trends already present in 2019 are accelerating. From better digital experiences, to safer experiences, to smaller, more meaningful …

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What Does an Industry Do When Its Customer Base Vanishes?
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What Does an Industry Do When Its Customer Base Vanishes?

    By Ken Madden, SVP, Head of Digital Engagement at George P. Johnson   This won’t be the first (or last) piece you read about how COVID-19 has devastated an industry. The road ahead for live events certainly appears daunting. When its customer base instantly vanishes, what can an industry do? The answer, short …

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‘Go LIVE Together’ Coalition Launched to Protect the Trade Show and Live Events Industry
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‘Go LIVE Together’ Coalition Launched to Protect the Trade Show and Live Events Industry

  Auburn Hills, MI, April 26, 2020 — George P. Johnson Experience Marketing (GPJ) has partnered with Freeman to unite live events leaders from across the United States to announce the formation of Go LIVE Together, a coalition of 80 founding partners—representing over 4,000 companies with U.S. operations—who have joined forces to support legislative actions that will aid …

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GPJ Co-Founds Live For Life Event Industry Coalition
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GPJ Co-Founds Live For Life Event Industry Coalition

The LiveForLife coalition was created by a small handful of events agencies, companies who are normally competitors, but who saw a growing need for temporary structures, PPE, and testing centers to fight COVID-19, and wanted to combine their expertise for the common good. As designers, fabricators, project managers and logistics experts, our industry and agencies …

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IBM and GPJ Re-THINK Brand Activations as Digital First
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IBM and GPJ Re-THINK Brand Activations as Digital First

GPJ has been IBM’s experiential agency of record for over 20 years – during which we’ve created award-winning experiences and overcome unexpected storms. What has remained consistent has been GPJ’s unwavering resilience in continuing to strengthen the IBM brand – no matter the situation – by creating dynamic brand experiences that deliver on their business …

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Doing Our Part to Help
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Doing Our Part to Help

GPJ is no stranger to challenges. During this unprecedented time of quarantine and shelter initiatives, our teams continue to lead with what we do best: thrive in complexity. GPJ remains steadfast and hopeful for a strong recovery, and we are doing our best to help. Efforts with Universities GPJ is partnering with several universities on a …

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A Key to Resilient Experiential Marketing: Virtual Events
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A Key to Resilient Experiential Marketing: Virtual Events

Chris Meyer is CEO of GPJ. Your event has been cancelled. Today it’s coronavirus, tomorrow it could be something completely different. Disruptive or catastrophic events aren’t new for those of us in the event industry—whether it’s a budget cut or a public health crisis, it’s these circumstances that push us towards innovation. Heading up one …

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