Abby Peterson, Creative Director/Brand Activation Specialist
There’s a specific feeling you get when a brand experience is done right. It feels less like marketing and more like discovery.
At Connelly Partners, we know that moving feet to purchase requires moving souls first. Modern consumers don’t fall in love with brands because they are told to. They fall in love because of how a brand made them feel in a moment: seen, welcomed, surprised, connected.
So when we were tasked with the challenge to bring Gorton’s Seafood to a younger audience in a way that felt authentic and modern, we knew they needed to discover and experience the brand for themselves.
We believe Gorton’s isn’t in the frozen seafood business. It’s in the surprise and delight business.
We’ve had Gorton’s show up in unexpected places in consumers’ lives – whether in a new recipe, on the grill at a tailgate, or on an influencer’s sweatshirt from our merch store.
But this time we needed to go bigger.
So why not go where everything is bigger? …Texas.
Each March, hundreds of thousands of people descend on Austin for South by Southwest, featuring seven days of connection, discovery, and culture-shaping creativity. SXSW is best known for its conferences and festivals that celebrate the convergence of tech, film, music, education, and culture. It’s known as the place for discovering the next big thing.
“It’s been called a rite of passage, a whirlwind, and even a new world. But above all else, SXSW is a stage for storytellers, a platform for boundary-pushers, and a place where authenticity and innovation thrive.” – SPIN Magazine
With over 450 brands activating at the festival each year, it’s one of the hardest environments for a brand to stand out. Everyone is competing for the attention of a highly influential audience (one that is famously resistant to being sold to). To succeed here, brands must earn the attention, not demand it.
To create that lasting impact, we couldn’t half-ass it. Flopping on a stage of this magnitude was not an option. If our event didn’t blow away our audience, they’d leave with a worse opinion of the brand. So we decided to host a massive party far from coastal New England Gloucester all the way in Austin, TX.
We brought Gorton’s Shrimp & Cocktail to life through a full branded house takeover on Rainey Street, creating an authentic slice of Gloucester infused with Austin’s energy. The home was wrapped in Gorton’s bold and iconic yellow, instantly recognizable from the street, while a massive ship’s wheel archway welcomed guests inside.
The visual design had to be clever and aesthetic enough to surprise our audience, leading to sharing the Gorton’s brand into the world as walking advocates.
Signage and merch included things like shrimp being lassoed and lines like “Ahoy, cowboy!” and “This is, in fact, my first rodeo.” We carried the theme through every last detail, down to the “Buoys” and “Gulls” bathroom signs, and a menu of custom cocktails inspired by the New England brand. (Cape Ann Codder, anyone?)
Every element of the event needed to foster that feeling of connection, community, and discovery that we know this younger audience craves. Up and coming bands played throughout the day in the front yard. Our Shrimp Shack served tacos, sliders, and shrimp samples paired with custom cocktails, while daily live cooking demonstrations from popular influencer @theShaySpence showcased how simple and modern the product could be. Each room offered a unique interactive moment. An analog photobooth encouraged guests to pin photos to the wall to create a living mosaic of the diverse community who experience the brand. A hands-on activity dispenser sparked spontaneous interaction between guests.
When an experience creates surprise, warmth, or connection, it stops being marketing and starts becoming a memory.
We had a line down the block all day, both days of the event. Beyond Texas we had millions of social impressions before, during, and after the event. Attendees didn’t just share content. They endorsed the brand, signaling to their own communities that Gorton’s is full of unexpected possibilities.
This was more than a branded activation. It was a cultural moment and a powerful step forward for a brand ready to evolve. We transformed a brand once seen as predictable and outdated to one that shows up in surprising and culturally relevant ways, on people’s plates and in their lives.
That’s what it means to move souls in order to move feet.
