• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, May 4, 2016

As brands and agencies shift their focus to creating "brand experiences" for consumers -- yes, I still have a hard time accepting the fact that they want to have an experience with a brand rather than just buy it and use it -- various organizations, conferences and award recognitions have popped up. Every year, Event Marketer puts on its Experiential Marketing Summit to highlight and capitalize on the growth in this area. 

At this year's Experiential Summit which convened this week in Denver, Boston area-based brand experience agency Cramer was named to Event Marketer's It List, a list of the top brand experience agencies in the country. 

Of the win, Cramer CVP Scott Connolly said, “We couldn’t be happier to have made Event Marketer’s It List once again, and we’re proud to be in the company of so many creative leaders in this field. Our team never stops pushing the envelope when it comes to creating unique, innovative experiences on behalf of our global clients, and this recognition is a testament to everyone’s commitment and imagination.”  

Hmm. Just how, exactly, do you push an envelope? I mean, an envelope is pretty small. Do you get down on your hands and knees and push it around with your nose? And to what end? Does pushing the envelope from one end of the room to the other actually constitute something of merit? Something to be proud of? Something to celebrate with an award?

I have a hard time picturing all these super-successful ad execs down on their knees, nose to the ground, in hopes of getting a pat on the back or winning a new client or snagging an award at an industry conference. Really, I'm having a hard time with this whole pushing the envelope thing. It's like some sort of twisted, spin-the-bottle game 13-year-olds would play back in the day in hopes of scoring with their junior high school crush. 

Anyway, Cramer execs were present during a roundtable discussion at Experiential Marketing Summit to talk about how they strategically used 140-foot screens and 360-degree video to "challenge the way events utilize time and space" which, apparently helps "bring ideas to life.” Damn, what happened to just telling the consumer how awesome your product is and why they should buy it? Everything seems like such a circus for lunatics now.

Alas, Cramer Director of Creative Technology Lindsay Nie is totally into it and said, “Tools that create unique event experiences need to be tied to an overall message and purpose. What makes Cramer stand out is that we first find out what a client needs to achieve, and then we find - or create – whatever it takes to make that happen.”

Oh hell, I guess that's better than a double truck spread in a newspaper that screams "buy my shit."  

Yeah, Cramer isn't into that shit. They're into way more sophisticated shit. In a quote clearly written by someone in PR, Connolly added: “Audiences continually raise the bar on what they expect from live events. Cramer’s tremendous growth and standing as an It-Lister demonstrate our team’s ability to deliver imaginative ideas and results in an increasingly competitive field. Audiences demand different, unique, and memorable, and that’s where we excel.”  

Cramer is an It-Lister, I tell you! An It-Lister! It's almost like they're happier to be on some business publication's made up list of awesome agencies as opposed to winning something that actually means something. Like a Cannes Lion. Oh wait. My bad.