London 2012: The Cadbury House

The beloved candy giant, which signed on as at the “official treat of the Olympics” had the longest lines by far at the London Live Fanfest at Hyde Park.

Although much of the event industry focuses on the likes of global TOP sponsors such as Coke and Samsung, some of the other brands attached to the Games are putting on quite the consumer spectacle.

Cadbury, a sleeper sponsor in the run up to the Olympics, is wowing crowds (and generating lines up to three hours long) with a massive experience-based, purple, inflatable House of Cadbury. Gets a solid EM thumbs-up for entertaining waiting consumers with “line entertainment” that includes hand sticker giveaways and fan competitions that have folks doing hula-hoop competitions, jig dancing, etc. (there are signs posted throughout the line noting how much longer the estimated wait time is). Upon prepping to enter, brand ambassadors “register” consumers using iPads that collect name, email address and Facebook handle. The information is that linked to a plastic “Cadbury House Card” handed to each consumer that they activate with a swipe when they enter.

From there, they start the experience, a zoned progression that begins with a Welcome to Joyville area that kicks off the journey the way only Cadbury can—with a sample of warm gooey chocolate served in a Dixie cup. From there, guests go through a trio of short, fun “history” lessons on Cadbury. Next up, a gaming area with a Kinect-powered soccer ball videogame and a photo-activation booth inviting visitors to take “funny face” photos that are stored on their House Cards.

The final legs of the 30-minute total experience include a larger-than-life white board-style wall on which guests write their wishes for Olympic athletes, another area profiling Olympic athletes and a final interactive area with virtual wresting, slingshot games, a long jump contest and other tech-powered elements. The final engagement? An oversized floor-to-ceiling video backdrop of crowds cheering positioned behind a mock medals ceremony stage. Consumer stand on the stage as if accepting their medal and a photo is taken and then stored on their House Card.

Upon leaving, consumers swipe the House Cards at a Share Station to have the stored photos uploaded to Facebook or emailed to them, and brand ambassadors ask them to participate in a short survey, with the data recorded on mobile devices. (Editorial Note: Our editors were giggling over the fact that after the first delicious sample was provided to consumers, the visitors were not given another chance to satisfy their sweets cravings until they existing the experience and ran into… Cadbury stores selling chocolate. We assume there was an immediate sales spike. LOL. TTYL.)