Fans Rejoice With the Return of BravoCon to New York

Fandom is a powerful thing, and NBCUniversal's BravoCon showed how fans and brands can join in on it together. The convention for all things Bravo started in 2019, bringing some of the network's most beloved celebs from franchises like The Real Housewives face-to-face with fans. Though Covid-19 led to the cancellation of the 2020 and 2021 events, BravoCon 2022 was bigger than ever, taking place Oct. 14-16 at the Javits Center in New York City. "It is hard to pinpoint one thing—this is bigger, better and stronger. We had three different smaller venues, and now we have this huge floor space," Ann Scheiner, evp of agency partnerships, advertising and partnerships at NBCUniversal, told Adweek. With an event space that regularly houses the likes of New York Comic-Con, fans had plenty of room to take part in various photo opportunities with their favorite Bravolebrities, enjoy activations such as a replica of Andy Cohen's Watch What Happens Live clubhouse and even shop the various brands from the stars, including She by Shereé. In addition, panels allowed attendees to get sneak peeks at the new seasons of their favorite shows, including the upcoming seasons of The Real Housewives of Miami and The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip 3. And panel Q&As allowed for especially interactive and engaging sessions, with fans getting to pose inquiries and even an occasional "How are you?" to the various stars in attendance. State Farm's pop-up neighborhood at BravoCon Strengthening brand partnerships The fan enthusiasm, talent participation and available space made BravoCon once again conducive to activations, with brands from Frito-Lay to State Farm participating. Companies were integrated into the space in a way that felt natural, rather than just taking up space to sell products, according to Jamie Cutburth, svp of One Platform creative and development, advertising and partnerships at NBCUniversal. "We're leveraging our advertising partners to tell their story. And most importantly, we're doing what's really entertaining for the consumers," Cutburth said. In 2019, State Farm brought its She Shed to BravoCon. In 2022, the company built an entire Bravohood, a real-life neighborhood inspired by a variety of Bravo shows. Fans of series like Below Deck and Project Runway would likely recognize special areas of the Bravohood as State Farm created an engaging marketing partnership for attendees to enjoy. Some lucky fans who attended the first day of BravoCon were even able to see popular spokesperson Jake From State Farm. How NBCUniversal Is Bringing Fandom—and ‘BravoCannes’—to Cannes Lions "We're trying to educate and we will, but first and foremost, we're trying to get the likability, the awareness. And really with select targets, we began to do some of that," said Sue Beigie, marketing director of State Farm. Creating a cohesive brand experience was a point of pride for NBCU during the 2022 event. "That's our creative culture: How do we take their brand and our brand together to create something really exciting? And then we work really closely with the agency of the clients to create the spaces and make sure that our IP exists right next to their brand," Cutburth said. "So everyone feels like they're represented in the best way possible for the consumers."