SAN FRANCISCO—In January, MongoDB executed a city-wide brand takeover of San Francisco centered around its .local developer conference.
The tech company partnered with brand experience agency Manifold to extend its conference beyond the venue and into the city itself, using large-scale experiential marketing to reach developers and the broader tech community with multiple cultural touchpoints. The Taylor Group handled fabrication for the takeover.
The conference took place on Jan. 15 at The Midway, while the takeover happened Jan. 12-16 at various locations and businesses throughout the city.
An outdoor seating area with a vintage Japanese mobile coffee truck was on site at the conference. Photo: Courtesy of Manifold
“MongoDB has a massive following of developers, and reminding them that MongoDB is not only in the fabric of business, but also part of their SF community, was important,” explained Jennifer McBride, account director at Manifold. “Reaching out and engaging with them directly—not just at work, but in the neighborhood spots where they live, play, and dream up ideas—really made sense to everyone involved.”
Touchpoints included bright green “glow-ups” of iconic city landmarks including San Francisco City Hall and the Ferry Building; a fleet of wrapped and branded neon green Rivians that served as VIP shuttles for Bay Area tech executives and doubled as “moving billboards;” and custom embroidery on Levi’s denim jackets that was available via a 32-foot Airstream.
A weeklong promotional tie-in with local coffee shop and community hub Motoring Coffee included a limited-time drink menu with custom options like “Code Green” Mint Matcha Tonic, “MongoDB” Mocha Latte, and “Think Outside” Pistachio Cherry Latte, plus there were custom co-branded cups, branded giveaways, and a rare Shamrock Green 1976 Porsche 912E on display in the store.
The hip coffee chain is known for its use of cars in the decor and its communal work environment.
Motoring Coffee is known for its use of cars in the decor and its communal work environment. Here, a branded MongoDB flat-bed truck serves a desk space. Photo: Courtesy of Manifold
“Motoring is a beloved neighborhood coffee shop where you often find developers working, so they were central to our goal of meeting MongoDB’s community out in the world where they spend much of their time,” said McBride about the partnership.
Manifold also produced the conference’s invite-only after-party, which was held at Silicon Valley’s famed hacker house, AGI House. The agency partnered with UFB to host live robot battles in the venue’s backyard. There were also high-stakes poker matches in the newly designated MongoDB’s Founders Lounge, an AI palm reader that read guests’ fortunes, and algorave (algorithmic rave) DJs to live code dance music throughout the night.
“MongoDB had not done anything this multifaceted before as part of their series of flagship events, MongoDB .local. The goal was to paint the city green in a multitude of ways that made it nearly impossible for VCs and the startup, enterprise, and developer communities not to see their impact, relevance, and legacy in Silicon Valley and beyond,” McBride said.
Keep scrolling to see more from MongoDB’s San Francisco takeover…
The takeover included bright green “glow-ups” of iconic city landmarks including San Francisco City Hall and the Ferry Building. Photo: Courtesy of Manifold
A fleet of wrapped and branded neon green Rivians served as VIP shuttles for Bay Area tech executives. Photo: Courtesy of Manifold
Conference attendees could get custom embroidery stitched on Levi’s denim jackets. Photo: Courtesy of Manifold
A rare Shamrock Green 1976 Porsche 912E was on display in the Motoring Coffee store. Photo: Courtesy of Manifold
During the promotional tie-in period, custom co-branded cups were used. Photo: Courtesy of Manifold
Manifold also produced the conference’s invite-only after-party, which was held at Silicon Valley’s famed hacker house, AGI House. Photo: Courtesy of Manifold
Guests played in high-stakes poker matches in the newly designated MongoDB’s Founders Lounge. Photo: Courtesy of Manifold
The agency partnered with UFB to host live robot battles in the venue’s backyard. Photo: Courtesy of Manifold