Successful brands understand the importance of forging meaningful connections with their fans. Technology is rapidly changing the opportunities these companies have to increase engagement, but it also means they have to adapt to catch consumer attention in a busy world. MVP Interactive is one of the leaders helping major brands like Coca-Cola and the National Basketball Association (NBA) do just that.
Using mediums such as augmented, virtual, and mixed reality, MVP Interactive helps its clients build extended reality experiences that engage consumers through tactical and sensory input. According to the company’s chief executive officer and founder, James Giglio, an immersive experience can help individuals foster lasting memories and affinity with their favorite brands.
“People cherish experiences over products. But when you can tie a product or a brand into an experience, that creates the magic,” he points out.
Upleveling the Traditional “Sales Experience”
Building that experience is what MVP Interactive does. The company’s work, in partnership with Budweiser, invited Chicago Cubs fans to step up to the plate for a virtual home run derby challenge at the Plaza at Wrigley Field in 2017. The following year, MVP Interactive worked with Coca-Cola to design its branded Social Lounge at Nationals Park, complete with an interactive photo station that morphed fans into the classic player bobblehead. And Columbus Blue Jackets fans enjoyed the team’s official 4,000-square-foot Fan Zone, complete with a Slapshot Challenge and augmented reality experiences.
More recently, MVP Interactive paired up with the Major League Baseball (MLB) for its 2023 season. Boston Red Sox fans lined up to virtually “pose” with their favorite players at Fenway Park. Colorado Rockies lovers practiced their swings with a Wifi-enabled bat at Coors Field that recorded and shared their stats. Meanwhile, Detroit Tigers game goers stepped onto the virtual mound to throw their best pitch.
Businesses are already recognizing the potential of immersive experiences, as the augmented and virtual reality market is projected to reach a value of over $114.5 billion before 2027. But Giglio pinpointed it early on while working in the advertising industry in 2011, regularly visiting sporting venues as part of his day-to-day work.
Thinking Outside the Box of Traditional Advertising
“The opportunity that I saw was the need for brands to leverage technology to their consumers to create a frictionless engagement,” Giglio said, explaining the thesis behind MVP Interactive. While he was still working within the confines of the technology available a decade before, Giglio envisioned bringing the sports experience to life for fans through interactive components—like a kiosk or gaming module—right there in the stadium or venue.
Those interactive touch points were, according to Giglio, the perfect place to exchange an experience for consumer data: “It’s a frictionless call-to-action between consumer data and brand affinity. From very early on, the vision was using technology to break that barrier down.”
Giglio’s vision gained traction in early 2012 when he locked in a meeting with major league baseball team Tampa Bay Rays during a business trip to Tampa, Fla. The team’s marketing executive recognized the opportunity that Giglio was pitching: A remarkable brand experience for Tampa Bay Rays fans that went beyond a swag table handing out branded towels, keychains, or bobbleheads.
Taking Risks for Major Business Growth
Later that year, Giglio launched MVP Interactive, headquartered in Philadelphia, PA. The company started prototyping its first interactive kiosk equipped with cameras to take branded fan photos or engage gamegoers with a touch-screen game. That same technology is now patented and known as the Morphingstation. Giglio’s innovation landed him a meeting with the NBA in late 2012, which offered up the opportunity to introduce MVP Interactive’s brand experiences to the world.
The risk? Giglio agreed to do it for free. His team designed a custom fan experience for the NBA’s 2013 Jam Session, part of its All-Star Game in Houston, Texas. Attendees morphed themselves into a digital bobblehead, complete with a shareable GIF of the transformation.
“We show up in Houston, set up next to the autograph stage, and the rest is history,” recalls Giglio about his team’s month-long hustle in Houston, working to secure sales meetings with NBA teams. “We left with our first six-figure contract as a result of taking that risk of doing a free activation with the NBA.”
Meeting the Expectations of Modern Consumers
According to Giglio, traditional advertising doesn’t meet the demands of today’s modern customers or fans. Antiquated marketing efforts do not engage Millennials or Generation Z, who grew up at the center of a connected world as digital natives. Technology, he says, is necessary to bridge the gap.
MVP Interactive has proven itself to be up for the challenge. The team combines decades of experience with in-house experts in game and software development, creative and environmental design, hardware fabrication, and more. The custom-built experiences offer brands a way to “seamlessly gather the data of the user” as part of a full-cycle marketing strategy.
“We provide a real 360 approach to whatever technology our clients want to build,” says Giglio. “From discovery to deployment, we can check off all the necessary expertise areas to accomplish the goal of the client.”
The company aims to be a one-stop shop for clients rather than just another name on the vendor roster. Discover how MVP Interactive helps brands build core memories with their fans at mvp-interactive.com.
