Inspired by Big Thinking
When I saw the Star Wars takeover of the Empire State Building on Instagram, I smile-gasped. I thought to myself, “noooo wayyyyy!!!” Once I realized it was, indeed, a “yes way” situation, I was absolutely gobsmacked and began to share every related post with boundless excitement on my own social channels. What also made this campaign so special is that I know and have worked with some of the brilliantly talented people who were a part of this project. The takeover was so much more than a light show — the right product was in place, a celebrity partnership with hubba-hubba-Hayden-Christensen was leveraged, it was synchronized with the timing of entertainment, and then supported with a monstrous PR push. I am familiar with how much work it takes to pull something of this magnitude off; in fact, thinking about the approval process alone makes me wince. But the grind was well worth it. I could not be any more thrilled for everyone involved. This was nothing short of spectacular.
Star Wars Takes Over the Empire State Building
What I love about these grandiose initiatives is that they force me to think bigger. It fuels my imagination when I wake up in the middle of the night and can’t fall back asleep. The Star Wars Empire State Building takeover had my brain exploding with fireworks wondering how other brands can apply.
Well, one thought led to another… which led to my favorite two words, “what if…”
What if… Beyblade took over the Las Vegas Sphere? I don’t mean just using the Sphere as a billboard. Bor-ing. Instead, I would tie a major Beyblade event to the Sphere. Nationals? World Championships? Something entirely new? This would draw in the primary target demographic to Vegas for the experience. Similar to Star Wars’ execution, products would be sold, there would be a celebrity partnership with ONE OK POP (who sings the Beyblade X theme song, “Prove”), and of course, battles. We could have a contest where people can submit their own Beyblade concepts for tops and stadiums. Characters from the show would interact with fans (a la Disney World style). Food vendors would offer Beyblade-themed consumables (Beyblade burger, anyone?). The finale after the kid-friendly competition would be a concert by ONE OK POP, which would be visually supported with Beyblade battle visuals throughout the Sphere. I can think of a couple of designers who would have a field day creating such a thing!
Even Tetris had their Vegas moment.
But let’s not stop there! Phase 2 of the event would shift its focus to fostering the community of adult Beyblade fans. This would look and feel more Vegas-ey. Imagine that ONE OK POP wraps up their show at 10 p.m. Then, there would be a countdown to midnight on the Sphere for everyone inside and outside to see. As the clock strikes midnight, “LET IT RIP” would be blown through the speakers, and then an EDM beat would drop. It would be ideal to partner with a Japanese DJ (Steve Aoki, pretty please?). It’s common to incorporate pop culture into EDM visuals. Excision just featured Shrek during Ultra, for example. So it would be fitting to incorporate manga and Beyblade characters from the show into the visuals. There would be an emphasis on throwback characters to appease the adult audience. The amount of traction and social media engagement that incorporating Shrek yielded was massive, and I’d expect nothing less with manga coming to life on the Sphere. It is a fun and cost effective (since you’d be doing visuals anyway) method to further increase exposure. All while Aoki is playing music, the adult fans can be battling under the black lights and glow in the dark vibes. Let’s not forget it’s Vegas - let’s put money on the line for the adult tournaments.
Speaking of money, yes, I realize this would cost big bucks. But as I mentioned already, this is big thinking, which, to me, is limitless. And maybe we pull in other complementary brands — Transformers? Dragon Ball Z? The point is that there are options as far as how we financially and logistically figure this out. And we all can agree that when the investment makes strategic sense and when timing meets creative strategy, it is a $uch a beautiful thing.
