Experiential Pit Stops -

Summer means road trips are taking place all around the country, and usually, vacationers are more excited about the destination than the journey. (We’d certainly fall into that camp.) And yet brands are making a case for the rest stop as a destination of its own, transforming the highway staple into a full-blown experience.

Take Buc-ee’s as the prime IRL inspiration. More than a gas station, the large travel center chain has enough features and world records to make it a required road trip pit stop—all locations are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We’re talking fresh brisket carving; Buc-ee the Beaver meet-and-greets; the world’s largest convenience store at 75,593 square feet in Luling, TX; the world’s longest car wash with 255 feet of conveyor in Katy, TX; and the “cleanest restrooms in America.”

So with that level of hospitality and grandeur in mind, let’s take a spin through the latest pit stop-themed activations that revved up consumer engagement.

Gas station-inspired installations have been hot in the festival space. In April, SipMARGS, a canned sparkling margarita brand, invited Revolve Festival attendees to The Sip Stop, where festivalgoers could snap photos, sip cold margaritas and check out a vintage branded pickup truck. Similarly, when luggage brand BÉIS made its Stagecoach debut last year, it rolled up to the desert with the BÉIS Pit Stop. The branded trike motorcycle and retro gas pump photo op out front were the activation’s biggest hits, along with a bag charm bar, makeup touch-ups, The Saloon and BÉIS-themed convenience store snacks.

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Looking to reach the college student demographic, Indonesian coffee and candy brand Kopiko took over a Mobile gas station near UCLA in May. The “L.A… Fueled by Kopiko” stunt set out to sell one packet of Kopiko candy to each student consumer at the station for $2.99 in exchange for up to $70 worth of free gas, and Gen Zers bought into it, with the team ultimately dispensing 9,000 gallons of fuel. Sixty influencers, “free gas” signage, roaming LED billboard box trucks and flyers distributed around campus contributed to the campaign’s success.

Down the road, SoCal clothing brand Dandy Worldwide kicked off its road trip pop-up tour at its home base in May with a vintage, checkered gas station shop and classic red car. Thousands of fans showed up to snag giveaways, flex their creative muscles at the custom patchwork studio, shop event-only products, capture content and hang out with the founders. It also made its way to Chicago and has plans to hit two more stops in the fall, which will be chosen by fan votes on social media (steal-worthy idea, alert!).

Lastly, Sheetz, a mid-Atlantic convenience store chain, hosted a concert series last fall right from its own parking lots. Truck Bed Sessionz surprised road warriors and fans with a one-hour, pop-up concert at three of its stores, with the first in Bethel Park, PA, featuring up-and-coming country singer-songwriter Ian Munsick. As Zachary Sheffield, senior creative manager at Sheetz, put it, “This turned an everyday stop into something really extraordinary.”

And that’s what this trend is all about.

Featured image credit: Flannery Underwood