How Ryde: Used a Photo Booth Activation to Engage 2,000 People at The Coffee Party Toronto
At a busy outdoor event with 2,000 people, a branded activation has about three seconds to earn someone's attention. Most miss that window. The ones that don't are the ones that give people something to do, not something to look at.
That's exactly what Ryde: energy drink understood when they brought their brand to The Coffee Party at Stackt Market in Toronto this past May. And it's why a photo booth activation became the centrepiece of their presence at the event.
Here's how it worked, and what made it generate over 250 branded photos across a single afternoon.
The Event: The Coffee Party at Stackt Market
The Coffee Party is one of Toronto's most popular recurring outdoor events, bringing together thousands of people in a vibrant, social atmosphere. The May edition at Stackt Market drew approximately 2,000 attendees, a high-energy crowd moving through a curated space of brand activations, food and drink, and entertainment, with the Toronto skyline as the backdrop.
For Ryde:, a Canadian energy drink brand, the goal was straightforward: get their product in front of as many people as possible, create a memorable brand moment, and generate shareable content that would extend their reach beyond the event itself.
They needed an activation people would actually stop for.
The Setup: A Classic Print Photo Booth Built Into the Ryde: Activation
We set up a Classic Print Photo Booth at the heart of the Ryde: activation space at Stackt Market. The booth was branded with Ryde: on the start screen and the print template was custom designed to match the brand, their logo, their colours, and a deliberate blank space at the bottom of each print.
That blank space was the key.
The Ryde: team was stationed nearby, sampling their energy drink and talking to guests. Our Revolve attendants were at the booth, ready to pull people in and run the experience from start to finish.
The Guest Experience: From Photo to Board in Under Two Minutes
Here's how the experience played out for every guest who came through:
Guests would approach the Ryde: area, either drawn to the energy drink sampling or
spotting the photo booth. Our attendant would greet them, get them positioned, and take their photo. If they weren't happy with the first shot, we'd take it again. No rushing. The goal was a photo they actually wanted to keep.
Once they approved the shot, our attendant printed one photo per person in the group, plus one extra. The first print to come out had a job to do.
Our attendant would hand the guest a marker and direct them to the blank space at the bottom of their print: write what gives you energy. The prompt was delivered with genuine enthusiasm, not like a survey, but like an invitation. Guests wrote everything from the names of their friends to their morning rituals to their favourite Ryde: flavour. Some were funny. Some were heartfelt. All of them were personal.
While they wrote, the rest of their prints finished coming out. By the time they handed the marker back, every person in their group had a print in hand. A Ryde: team member would then take the written print and place it on the display board.
The whole interaction took under two minutes. Guests left with a physical photo, a digital copy if they wanted it, and a piece of themselves on the board for everyone at the event to see.
The Board: When You Run Out of Room, You Know It Worked
The display board was designed to hold the printed photos as they accumulated throughout the day. By the end of the event, it was completely covered, not just full, but overflowing. The team had to find additional space to keep placing photos.
That board became something people stopped to look at. Not because it was a piece of branded decor, but because their photo, and their answer, was on it. Alongside 250 other people who had just had the same experience minutes earlier.
That's the difference between a branded display and a community moment. The board earned attention because it belonged to the guests, not to the brand.
The Results: 253 Photos, a Full Board, and a Second Booking
Over the course of the event, we produced 253 branded photo prints. Each one left the event in someone's hand, in their phone, or on the board, carrying the Ryde: brand with it.
From a brand awareness standpoint, the numbers tell part of the story. But the more meaningful result was qualitative: the Ryde: team was so satisfied with the experience that they immediately booked Revolve for their second Coffee Party activation.
When a client books you again before the first event is even over, you know the activation worked.
What Made This Brand Activation Work
Looking at this activation from a brand strategy perspective, a few things drove the outcome:
The interactive mechanic gave guests a reason to stop, not just look, writing on your own photo is a participation moment, not a passive one
The physical print created a tangible takeaway that guests kept, branded content that left the venue in someone's pocket
The board created social proof in real time, guests saw 100 other people had done it and wanted to be part of it
The attendant experience was warm and seamless, no friction, no confusion, just a smooth flow from photo to print to board
The digital sharing option extended the reach beyond the physical event without requiring any extra effort from the guest
None of these elements work in isolation. The reason this branded photo booth activation generated 253 photos at a 2,000-person event is that every step of the experience was designed to make participation easy and the outcome feel worth keeping.
Planning a Brand Activation in Toronto?
Whether you're activating at a festival, a trade show, a product launch, or a corporate event, the photo booth experience we built for Ryde: is fully customizable to your brand, your space, and your audience.
Custom print templates, branded start screens, interactive mechanics, digital sharing, and professional attendants, every element is built around your activation goals, not a generic template.
If you're planning a brand activation in Toronto or the GTA and want to talk through what a photo booth experience could look like for your event, get in touch. We respond to all inquiries within 1 hour.
