The blue room featured 3D artwork requiring 3D glasses.Photo: Courtesy of Crush Studio
LOS ANGELES—The challenge: How do you build a massive, month-long activation that’s primed for photo ops, filming opportunities, and overnight stays while also promoting a new product every step of the way?

The solution: Find a production team that’s ready to think far outside the box—which sometimes involves scouring local warehouses to find a six-foot-tall pink penguin at a moment’s notice.

That’s indeed what happened when Mike’s Hard Lemonade recently promoted its new adult beverage—Mike’s Hard Freeze—with a month-long, ‘90s-inspired takeover of a house in the Los Angeles area. Working with Denver-based design and production studio Crush Studio, the brand transformed an entire house in the Encino neighborhood into an Instagrammable paradise—and a space to promote the new product via influencer stays, photo shoots, and industry events, culminating in a public sweepstakes that would allow

It was not being fully exploited because it was only being used for advertising. [We knew] it had the potential to become a full-fledged marketing platform. That was when we [transitioned it from being an] advertising-led platform to become an experience-led platform, which means that we are not observing and celebrating Priceless moments, but we are enabling and curating Priceless experiences for our customers and consumers.

In recent years, the brand has shifted to focus on creating