Background & Objectives

Our team collaborated with Bose to create an immersive brand experience and launch event at New York City’s Glasshouse that introduced their highly-anticipated new product, the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II to consumers, influencers, and press. The Bose QC Earbuds II offer intelligently personalized performance that’s uniquely tuned to the shape of every ear - resulting in an unprecedented listening experience and the world’s best noise cancellation from any headphone - banded or in-ear.

Goals

We were tasked with producing a launch event where select members of the media were able to experience the QuietComfort Earbuds II ahead of their release to the public, as well as an evening tastemaker launch party. Working closely with the Bose team, we developed and created a fully immersive entry moment and sound tunnel that welcomed guests, followed by an immersive hands-on demo for press that allowed them to experience the product’s advanced technology and the benefits of its personalized features.

The challenge was to present the product in a way that showcased both its functionality and design, but most of all by showing guests the effectiveness of the noise cancelation. Guests were able to absorb all aspects of the QuietComfort Earbuds II from the entry moment, to the product reveal, to the live demonstration, to interviews with Bose executives and product experts. On top of the product launch, this event debuted Bose’s new brand vision, “Sound is Power,” which we were able to bring to life.

Press Event Experience

We began by creating a welcome moment that was a visual and auditory experience that immersed press in the new brand vision. Guests entered a tunnel filled with digital tickers displaying key lines from the brand’s messaging in multiple languages. Accompanied by 360-degree spatial audio, where voices in various languages recited the messaging from all directions, press were fully immersed in the experience accompanied by a background track that followed them down the hallway towards an illuminated Bose logo.

When guests reached the end of the tunnel, the audio disappeared and they were met with a goosebumps crescendo, complete with climactic audio and oversized 3-D block letters that spelled out “Sound is Power.”

From there, the press walked into a dark, quiet room (a stark difference from the powerful heart-thumping welcome tunnel) where a member of the Bose team greeted them and introduced the earbuds. The room magically came to life around them, as several custom-fabricated plinths displaying the earbuds began to illuminate, while a large LED screen with custom content and tickers rounded out the experience to create an emotional and powerful reveal.

The whole experience was theatrical, scripted, and intimate as these small groups of press were introduced to the product as the world’s first audience.

The press then made their way into a product demonstration where they got to try the QC Earbuds II for the first time. They entered a 270-degree projection-mapped room where a Bose product expert, accompanied by on-screen graphics, guided them through the personalized fit of the earbuds and several demonstrations showing the immense power of the product features. The room immersed its occupants visually and auditorily into scenarios where they could experience the noise cancellation in real life.

Each participant donned a set of QuietComfort Earbuds II and the demo started with virtual scenarios that were carefully crafted with audio, projections, and lighting cues as a custom playlist played through the earbuds. One example transported them into a booming NYC subway car, another within an in-flight airplane cabin, and another a bustling streetscape. In each scenario, guests were instructed to use different modes of the product and could experience firsthand just how powerful the noise cancelling technology of the QC Earbuds II actually was.

Each piece of this roughly 7-minute demo was timed flawlessly between our A/V teams, presenters, and brand representatives to create a magical experience and provide a real-life picture of how the earbuds would perform in these common scenarios. Afterwards, the press were invited to join Bose for brunch while interacting with key executives and product spokespeople.

Launch Party Experience

After the press event, there were just a few hours to transform the space into a blowout evening launch party. The event partnered with New York Fashion Week and was the kickoff party for the famous week of shows. We hosted over 1000 people, highlighting the product and engaging the crowd, featuring sets by fashion designer and DJ Heron Preston and DJ William Lifestyle, then culminating with an intimate live performance by Grammy Award-winners The Strokes.

Upon check-in on ground-level, guests made their way to the 6th floor of the Glasshouse, taking in stunning panoramic views of the city. Following the creative aesthetics of the event, a digital ticker step and repeat greeted guests as they came off the elevator. They entered the event through the immersive sound tunnel that doubled as a classic fashion show runway as they made their way into the product reveal, and ultimately into the main event, following the same entry path as press earlier in the day.

Guests could sign up for product demos throughout the evening in order to experience the QC Earbuds II firsthand and become immersed in the product. The event featured several experiential elements bringing the “Sound is Power” messaging to life, which greatly encouraged organic social engagement.

Standout activations included two interactive video booths where guests could create and share content. One was a robotic 'Glambot' arm that gave guests a chance to model their earbuds as they struck a pose in front of a custom mylar wall featuring LED tickers. This experience was created because of its versatility in capturing the product and the guests in a fun way. The camera was able to begin on a tight shot of the earbuds inside the subject’s ear, then pull out and rotate rapidly to feature a full body shot that allowed guests to get creative with their content. This fashion-inspired piece of content for guests was a perfect showcase for the product and only possible with the robotic arm.

The second booth, The Record Room, was an interactive video booth art installation made from backlit Bose-branded records allowing guests to interact with a MIDI drum machine, whose buttons affected the sound and lighting around them to create a 12-second shareable piece of content. This content piece was based on the personalization of the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II, demonstrating that users have total control over their aural experience with the product.

In addition to the content capture, there was a massive merch area that provided even more personalization for guests. This exclusive Bose merch station inspired by New York Fashion Week had custom Bose and Heron Preston merch where guests could modify and create their own designs with handheld printing guns, yet another touchpoint of the personalization theme.

The experiential touches went all the way to food and beverage. With the NYFW partnership in mind, a menu that was curated and designed to be an experience in itself, as delicious and innovative as the event. Two pour-over drink stations featured fresh ingredients where guests could interact with the bartenders while premium appetizers were served directly to guests throughout the evening on custom art piece installations, once again elevating the experience.

The Strokes closed out the evening with a captivating 50-minute set that wowed fans and attendees alike. In the end, over 1000 people were able to experience the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II for themselves at this exclusive launch event. Guests were able to learn more about Bose and the brand’s passion for powerful sound, and extend the reach of the launch via social platforms.

Guests included a mix of influencers, lifestyle press, key Bose stakeholders, friends of Bose, cultural tastemakers, and die-hard Strokes fans. Notable influencers and guests included Chanel Iman, Paris Helsinki, DayRon Sharp, Dylan Mulvaney, Jin Ha, Jo Ellen Pellman, Rebecca Minkoff, Sheena Melwani, Young Paris, 24kGoldn, Keshi, 347Aidan, and RenForShort.

Guest Response

Bose aimed to reach consumers and press in an engaging, authentic, and personal way, and we worked together to achieve these objectives through custom curated activations, social reach, and most importantly, physical touchpoints. Every piece of the activations - during both the press and party events - had a functional and deliberate purpose to highlight the quality, functionality, and personalization of the product. Press who attended organically reiterated the brand’s talking points without influence, with the overwhelming consensus that the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II took the noise cancelling crown from its competitors - a key driver in product development. The event generated earned media through positive editorial coverage, as well as thousands of organic social media posts from influential guests.

“Bose puts on a helluva demo!” - Digital Trends