Overview

BigCommerce recognized an opportunity at a major outdoor industry conference to shift from transactional sponsorship to community-driven brand building. Rather than a traditional booth presence, the strategy centered on creating an experiential activation that celebrated existing BigCommerce merchants as brand ambassadors, showcased their success stories through multiple touchpoints, and generated pipeline through deeper engagement. The approach positioned BigCommerce as a facilitator of community and success and was fully funded by sponsorships by relevant ecosystem partners.

Challenge

Standing out at a competitive industry conference required more than standard sponsorship tactics. BigCommerce needed to create an experience that would resonate with outdoor and ecommerce brands, demonstrate real merchant success, and drive meaningful conversations with prospects. Coordinate a multi-faceted activation across a unique venue, secure buy in from merchant partners and sponsors, create engaging onsite programming, and execute flawlessly to build both brand authority and pipeline.

Solution

BigCommerce developed a Summer Camp activation hosted at an aviary—a distinctive venue choice that reinforced the outdoor industry theme and created memorable atmosphere. The experience wove together multiple community-building elements: bespoke customer activations featuring BigCommerce merchants (Bob Ross artist, lemonade stand, leather bracelet making, Fenigo, Intex Outdoors, and Theo Chocolate); 6 sponsor-led mini sessions in an outdoor pit auditorium; onsite enablement through tabletop pyramid displays of customer case studies; a gamified ecommerce explorer experience with stamp-based raffle entries; and live Omnitalk podcast recordings featuring customer and partner interviews. Strategic outreach to current merchants secured their participation as ambassadors. Raffle prizes (live onsite art, Intex furniture, Cordova Outdoors coolers, inflatable canoe) created excitement and incentivized deeper engagement. Coordinated transportation and logistics ensured seamless attendee experience. This multi-layered approach positioned merchants as the centerpiece and BigCommerce as the community leader.

Results

• Event fully funded through partner sponsorships ($100k+ value)

• Over 70% of attendees engaged with ecommerce explorer gamification

• 6 sponsor-led, curated mini sessions delivered onsite industry expertise

• Live podcast programming created content assets for post-event amplification

• Featured current BigCommerce merchants in multiple brand activation touchpoints

• $1.8M in primary sourced ARR pipeline generated | $5.2M in influenced pipeline from post-event conversations