How To Turn Event Attendees into Brand Storytellers
Experiential marketing is at its strongest when attendees aren't just spectators, they become storytellers. That's exactly what Rollin Bagels and WellWell Studio pulled off at their "Left for Crumbs 5K" in Brooklyn.
Here's how they turned runners into passionate content creators, and why this kind of event activation delivers results that keep giving.
The Strategy: Incentivize Sharing
To move beyond the standard 5K race experience, Rollin Bagels & WellWell Studio layered in simple, meaningful incentives:
- Selfie at the food truck → free coffee
- Photos from the run → free bagel
- Race videos → exclusive event merch
They made it seamless:
- Scan a QR code onsite
- Enter email to opt in
- Upload content via MAGNETIQ's Co-Lab UGC tool
- Receive a digital voucher for the reward, redeemable on the spot
This structure delivered instant value to participants — and a lot of usable, owned content for the marketing team.
The Execution: Clean + Organized
What made it work in practice:
- The QR code gating helped with both opt-in and tracking
- All uploads & permissions captured through a unified flow
- Rewards (voucher) delivered digitally and redeemed immediately
- Content fully accessible via one dashboard — no fragmented storage
The Results
Here are the measurable outcomes from this activation:
| Metric | Outcome |
|---|---|
| Activation opt-in rate | ~45% of runners participated in content sharing |
| Volume of submissions | Dozens of photos & videos from attendees |
| Pieces of organic UGC | 40+ assets generated |
| Participant satisfaction | Runners left happy, with food, merch, and stories to share |
These results illustrate how experiential + UGC campaigns can yield both quantity and quality of content, as well as build goodwill and brand loyalty.
Why It Matters (for Brands)
This kind of activation nails several priorities every modern marketer cares about:
- Frictionless user journey — low barrier actions (snap, upload) with high upside
- Trackable, owned content — content you can use, with permissions in hand
- Instant gratification — rewards delivered during the event heighten engagement
- Long-tail benefits — content lives on in social media, testimonials, and future campaigns
Best Practices & Lessons
To replicate this kind of success, consider:
- Keep the incentives simple but meaningful
- Use tools (like MAGNETIQ Co-Lab) that centralize content & permission collection
- Make the opt-in flow super easy (QR + email + upload)
- Plan rewards that are redeemable immediately — so the "feel good" moment is in the moment
- Ensure dashboards or reporting make all content easy to access, approve, and reuse
Ready to Activate Your Next Event?
If you're looking to transform your events from passive experiences into content-rich activations with measurable ROI, MAGNETIQ is built for that. We'd love to help you plan, execute, and capture your next event campaign.