Discover how iMP’s innovative shipping container activation helped Yorkshire Water engage and educate audiences on sewer blockages.
Pushing our reputation as one of the leading experiential agencies to the max, we built this unique piece of kit.
Following the success of an integrated campaign to reduce blockages in hotspot areas through an experiential tour executed by iMP, Yorkshire Water further commissioned us to develop and create an escape room style consumer experience.
Called ‘Unblock Against The Clock’ and constructed from two shipping containers stacked on top of each other, this (literally) huge brand activation includes three fully colour coordinated rooms: a kitchen, a bathroom and a sewer (of course). The top and bottom containers are linked by a bespoke twisting tubular slide which leads down from the kitchen and bathroom into mock sewer complete with fatberg, rats, spiders and other blockage nasties.
Led by an iMP ‘Crystal Maze’ style host and brand ambassadors, consumers are challenged to solve clues against-the-clock via touchscreen systems in each of the rooms. The clues direct consumers to non-flushable items hidden somewhere inside the room. Once found consumers are then able to move on to the next room. Not as easy as it might sound as the containers hold a colossal 26,000 ball-pool balls making it all the more difficult to find the rogue items.
Shipping containers are a great way to create branded event spaces where a gazebo just wouldn’t be suitable or premium enough. Resistant to the great British weather, visually impactful (they look pretty cool) and versatile we can pretty much put anything inside. Sizes range from 10ft cube-style containers, 20ft units with mezzanine balconies to huge 40ft long containers.
The premise of the activation is to educate consumers about what NOT to flush down the toilet or sink at home, thereby reducing blockages and the number of costly residential callouts by Yorkshire Water. Every year, Yorkshire Water is called out to more than 30,000 sewer blockages across the region, costing £2.4 million with 40% of these blockages being caused by wet wipes flushed down toilets. Visiting Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield, Huddersfield and Sheffield city centres, the tour has helped significantly reduce the number of blockages and continues throughout ‘Unblocktober’ across Yorkshire.
You bet there is – the full experience promotional video is available to view here. There’s also a feature in FMBE here.
David Gibbons, Managing Director of iMP said “This is certainly one of our most technically challenging experiential activations to date. We’ve created single storey shipping containers before, but never a bespoke double-decker shipping container with integrated slide and sewer. The team at Yorkshire Water were brilliant and allowed us the flexibility on how best to deliver this unique activation. Brilliant fun with an educational and serious environmental message – we’re looking forward to the next unusual brief.”
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David and team at iMP are the real deal - kind, personable, dependable, professional, and offer a craftsmanship that rivals any agency I've encountered in my career. We will absolutely be using iMP again for any future UK activations (if they will have us) and highly recommend for any companies seeking an incredible experience - ESPECIALLY if you're a US-based team like us, and need an expert on location.
Brand Director, Life360
Hiring iMP for an event I was leading on for a new client was a great decision. They turned around a high quality sampling event and promo vehicle with a very short turnaround time, and their staff on the day were incredibly enthusiastic and professional. They made the process easy and the client very happy, we'll definitely be working with them again.
Brand Director, Lee Kum Kee
Had a wonderful experience working with David and the whole iMP team for an event this summer! David went above and beyond to help wherever possible and the branded ice cream van turned out beautifully. Hope to work with iMP again soon!
Brand Manager, ETTG
We partnered with iMP Sampling & Experiential for a summer campaign with one of our clients, and we couldn't be happier with the results. They executed a total of 42 in-store events nationwide, and their team's expertise in sampling and experiential marketing truly shone through. The staff were great at engaging with customers and helping us to achieve our goal of increasing footfall and participation at each event.
Account Director, CreativeRace
We worked with iMP for our event stand and staffing of the Ideal Home Show. David and the team were fantastic, our stand was incredible and we had so many compliments on it. The staff were great, they are really high energy and engaged our consumers at the stand. I would highly recommend if you are looking to run any sampling or experiential events for your brand.
Brand Manager, Snuggledown
We worked with iMP on stands for two different events and were thrilled with the quality of the items we received. The team executed our brief to a fantastic standard, working to a tight turnaround to deliver all materials required for both events, and were extremely supportive and quick to respond to any questions we had throughout the process. Thank you iMP for your work on this project to ensure we had incredible activations at both of our events!
Brand Manager, BOL Foods
