At South by Southwest, Swag is everywhere, brands hand out everything from branded pens to t-shirts and everything in between. Attendees collected this swag all week, but then threw it away or left the unwanted items behind. So, TAKE5 created the TAKE5 Swag Exchange. For five days, attendees brought unwanted swag and traded it for stuff they actually wanted. All items traded in for enhanced the attendee’s festival experience, rather than weigh them down. Items such as reservations with a gift certificate to hard to book Austin restaurants, to sunblock, to someone who would stand in a long line for you, to VIP tickets. Just like the stock exchange, the Swag Exchange was run with a custom algorithm, that used supply and demand to calculate the daily value of each piece of swag. The rarest items were the most valuable.

Implementation: TAKE5 wanted to get bars into hands, but in a remarkable way that would drive millennials to share. Using a localized, real-time and personalized media plan at the festival only, we were able to get an unfair amount of the conversation for the brand's size and unknown status.

Placement: TAKE5 Swag Exchange venue took over a bar on Rainey street, a SXSW hotspot. Each element of the space was designed to be picture perfect and worthy of sharing on social media. The space was complete with additional activities to enjoy, from pinball to a DJ to an open bar to a TAKE5 remix GIF booth and TAKE5 Candy Bars everywhere.

Timeline: Five days that overlapped the SXSW interactive and music festival, March 11-16, 2016.

Scale: A line formed at the event each day prior to opening and attendees spent on average 30 minutes at the venue.

Named one of the most consumer relevant brand experiences at SXSW

32.7 million impressions

4+ million impressions earned media

5 million social media brand engagements

90.6% Twitter community growth

90% unique audience reach amongst target audience attending SXSW

2,700+ guests, nearly doubling the anticipated attendance

6,000 pieces of swag donated to Austin non-profit organizations

150,000 TAKE5 Bars sampled to SXSW registered attendees and event participants March 11-16, 2016