Bold Ideas that Broke the Mold

What does “outta the box” even mean?

There’s a lot of noise out there: ads that blend in, campaigns that play it safe, and messages that get lost before they can even land. To break through, you need that people don’t just see, but feel. Something that makes people stop scrolling and start talking.

That’s what “outta the box” means to us. Not just bigger, but bolder. Not just unexpected, but real. Because in a world where digital spectacle is easy and forgettable, we strove to be memorable. These experiences fully represent brands in ways that hadn’t been done before. We entertained our audiences, sure, but more than that, we connected with them on deeper levels.

In this case study, we’re pulling back the curtain on some of our favorite projects—ones that didn’t just cut through the noise, but became something worth talking about.

A 14-minute spoof to generate overnight stays

When we decided to create a winter-centric campaign for Visit Carson City, we knew it needed to resonate emotionally, show why Nevada’s capital was a charming winter destination, and engage audiences in an unexpected way

So, of course we had to harness our love of Hallmark and Lifetime movies to make our own!

We partnered with Visit Carson City and Three Sticks Productions to create a spoof that makes Carson City its main character, highlighting local businesses and attractions with a blend of nostalgia and humor.

In addition, we crafted an integrated campaign that promoted the film, including digital ads, media outreach, and a travel itinerary inspired by locations featured in the film. These elements made it easy for our audiences to picture themselves here—and even easier to plan their trip.

Check the video out! (Disclaimer: Visiting Carson City may include falling in love, twirling in the snow, and a new obsession with the magic of small-town charm.)

The Santa Maria Valley swirl machine

The Swirl Machine is nothing if not innovative. In fact, it’s the project that helped our longtime client, Santa Maria Valley, stand out amongst wine country competitors.

This interactive experience stemmed from a desire to disrupt the traditional wine industry with a touch of fun and accessibility. The idea centered around allowing users to control the fill level and speed of a glass of Santa Maria Valley wine, swirling it onto a blank piece of paper. We pitched this to a board of directors with six slides and a basic prototype… which broke five minutes after the conference room emptied. (Talk about luck—but that's what it takes to go after wild ideas.)

Iterations upon iterations led to the digital transformation of the concept, using three cameras and automated processes controlled by Arduino technology. This allowed users to engage remotely while watching themselves control the machine.

Despite its brief operation of five days, the swirl machine was wildly popular. Check out the results for yourself:

• 5 days in service
• 2K+ spills and art pieces
• 1.7K visitors
• 3 prototype machines
• $100K in publicity value
• 10K pageviews

Curious about the hardware deets as well as our uncensored experience (aka, what went totally wrong and right)? Read our blog.

San Diego’s first-ever ferry wrap

California-based businesses are among the most sought-after audiences in the world. Our clients wanted to maximize their marketing power to target companies in this state and entice them to relocate and/or expand to Nevada. Armed with a limited budget, we created a unique economic development marketing plan and developed a marketing campaign rooted in guerrilla tactics to reach California businesses, both big and small.

We came up with timely themes that would appeal to the media for all pieces of the integrated campaign. One of them, “Missing”, featured California icons/landmarks (i.e., the California bear and the Golden Gate Bridge) mysteriously disappearing—later to be found doing business in Nevada. For max visibility of these visuals, we wrapped a ferry in the San Diego Harbor. It was hard to miss the massive headline: “Missing California Bear” as it shlepped business people and tourists across the waters.

Did it work? You tell us.

• 50% of all companies that relocated to Nevada in the three years after the campaign launched were from California.
• There were 9,500 website visits over five weeks.
• 265 local, regional, and national stories highlighted this 3-year campaign.

Smoke Blasters: a carnival-like game for post-trade show event

Even though cannabis isn’t federally legal, we’ve worked with several companies—including Cannavative, a boutique marijuana grower local to Nevada—that are recognized at the state-level. That came with challenges, of course; for example, we weren’t allowed to advertise their products on social media or in traditional media without getting banned repeatedly. But creative endeavors are where we thrive.

Cannavative was attending an industry trade show—but they didn’t want just another booth handing out informational flyers. They asked us to come up with a fun, interactive game people could play during the afterparty event. Luckily, we had some ideas. Some find inspiration from an Alice in Wonderland caterpillar blowing smoke rings, others find it from a YouTube video pumping smoke through a trash can. Regardless, the Smoke Blasters began to take life. Two players would step up to the booth and shoot smoke rings at stacked Solo cups. Whoever knocked the most over won all kinds of cool, branded swag.

Interactive mural at Reno-Tahoe International Airport

When you’re traveling, you take a lot of pictures, whether to share with Mom or your followers on social. Most of those moments happen outside of the airport… but what if the photo-ops started sooner?

After 10 days of work and 36 cans of paint, our team revealed an 11’Wx8’H interactive mural via press conference at the Reno-Tahoe International Airport. Travelers can use it as a backdrop while they come or go to their next destination, inspiring them to spread their wings while also making our local airport part of their stories. Not only did the mural feature our region's natural beauty and wildlife, but two symbols were strategically placed. An adult could stand in front of the mountain bluebird and a child in front of the damselfly as they posed, giving them wings.

The digital kissing booth

A conversation that could’ve happened IRL:

“What if we did a digital kissing booth for Valentine’s Day?”

“Ooh, yeah, and what if we made it happen in real time?”

“Sure. But how?”

This is how: hours of brainstorming, three different servers, two Raspberry Pis, a technical user flow journey, some late nights fueled by the pursuit of a good cause, and a ton of bandwidth.

At the time, we were interested in letting the outside world control a situation similar to other immersive activations, like the robot that skips rocks across Montana’s lakes or the Nike activation where you could digitally race Usain Bolt. This Kissing Booth idea allowed us to enter this conversation in a totally new way—and make people smile while we were at it.

Here’s how it worked: The user donates > user is put in queue > KPS3 is notified to move to recording room > Raspberry Pi starts recording > video is transformed into a GIF > custom GIF is sent to user.

Our kissing booth went off without a hitch—we’re talking 100% uptime. We raised nearly $4,000 for two local nonprofits: The Children’s Cabinet and United Way (Want to get into the weeds? Check out our blog.)

Long story short

Always welcome the ideas that seem wild. They’re probably your best ones. Even if project constraints prevent you from going with them in the end, at least put them out there.

Don’t just think—live outside the box.

Brought to you by…

EVERYONE.

No, seriously.

This has all taken place over the last 30 years.