(Image: edyaophoto.com/Eat It Up Media)

Visitors to the Distillery District’s Winter Village can virtually transport themselves to Costa Rica via an augmented reality (AR) portal experience.

It’s part of Visit Costa Rica’s immersive Pura Vida Chocolate Experience pop-up, where visitors can walk through a multisensory journey meant to capture the lush Central American country’s culture, flavours and biodiversity.

An engraved wildlife wall and a tree canopy beneath a blue sky evoke the country’s famed forests, with hanging bird-nest chairs where visitors can relax and soak in the Costa Rican spirit of “pura vida” (pure life, or good life).

Cultural touches, such as a traditional ox-cart motif and surfboard tables, decorate the space, which also features family-oriented activities like a colouring wall. The AR portal, powered by HiroXR, can be launched inside the space to take visitors to a few of the country’s tourism hot spots.

Interactive food stations throughout feature Costa Rican-inspired desserts, cakes, specialty coffee, a chocolate fountain and a decadent hot chocolate served in a real coconut.  

The Pura Vida Chocolate Experience activation is live throughout the Winter Village, which is on now until Jan. 4. It was planned by Canadian destination marketing firm VoX International and executed by Eat It Up Media, which owns the media and sponsorship rights to the Distillery District. The site was designed by Beth Edney.

Ottawa Tourism Lounge

The Distillery District’s Ottawa Tourism Lounge, open Nov. 13-17, invites visitors into a branded container set up as a cozy retreat from the bustle of the village, with comfortable seating, festive decor and complimentary hot chocolate served in branded cups.

Visitors can settle in to watch Ottawa Tourism’s holiday rom-com short film, Magic on Set. The activation is part of the tourism board’s ongoing efforts to inspire Canadians to rediscover the capital as a premier winter destination.

Planning was led by Toronto media agency Epitaph Group with execution by Eat It Up Media.

Premier Protein x Balzac’s

Premier Protein is launching its limited-edition Chocolate Mint protein shake by putting in a special seasonal coffee.

The Protein Peppermint Mocha will be available exclusively at the Balzac’s Coffee Roasters location in Toronto’s Distillery District throughout the Winter Village. 

The beverage combines espresso with Premier Protein Chocolate Mint shake, topped with whipped cream, chocolate drizzle, brownie crumble and fresh mint. It can be made hot or iced.

The collaboration is being amplified through owned social content, paid influencer partnerships and earned media, including an on-air TV morning show test taste. Hunter handled PR, influencer and partnership management.

Both brands will highlight the Protein Peppermint Mocha on their Instagram accounts and host a contest to award three prizes consisting of Premier Protein Chocolate Mint shakes along with Balzac’s espresso blend and a Balzac’s gift card. Toronto influencer partners will spotlight the beverage and share their tasting experience. 

Premier Protein’s marketing efforts have focused on showcasing its shakes as more than just a drink but as an ingredient that can be incorporated into recipes, such as its participation as one of the sponsors of Top Chef Canada‘s current season.

Similarly, marketing director Alberto Macher tells Media in Canada the brand has seen “great success” with local partnerships and social collaborations centred around the viral “proffee” (protein coffee) concept, and that the popular Winter Village presented an opportunity to take proffee to the next level.

“Together with Balzac’s Coffee, we’re able to put a protein-packed twist on a beloved holiday coffee beverage front-and-centre at one of Canada’s most popular holiday markets,” he says. It’s Premier Protein’s first strategic collaboration in the Toronto and broader Ontario market, and another way to bring its shakes off the shelf and into an experiential setting.

Success for the collaboration, Macher says, will be measured through awareness, social engagement and trial.