BravoCon positions itself as a shoppable moment with more brand sponsorships than ever

Bravo first launched BravoCon in 2019 to give fans closer access to its roster of reality TV stars through a variety of panels and programming. This year, Bravo has been hosting smaller sponsored events for fans throughout the country. But BravoCon remains its biggest fan-attended event thanks to extensive programming, meet-and-greet opportunities and branded activations. And in turn, the network’s parent company, NBCU, is seeking to turn BravoCon into more of a shoppable moment. The event had 22 brand sponsors this year, including Wayfair, Clorox and Lexus. Of those, 15 sponsors were new this year. And there was a greater focus on activations that allowed attendees to buy or sample products on-site.

Fandom events are increasingly seen as prime hubs for captive audiences, with thousands of fans traveling to see their favorite stars. San Diego-based Comic-Con, for instance, now attracts brands ranging from Hulu to eBay to Old Spice, some of which set up activations just outside of the festival to attract spectators who can’t afford a ticket.

NBCU, for its part, is positioning BravoCon sponsorships as ways for brands to win over ultra-loyal consumers.

“We have seen success with advertisers who partner with us throughout the year, but there is no bigger moment than BravoCon weekend,” said Allison Levin, president of advertising and partnerships at NBCU, referring to the annual event as the network’s Super Bowl.

Tapping a captive audience

The three-day event had nine custom pop-up builds for fans to engage with, some of which were shoppable, representing a 125% increase since 2023.

This year, there were also 32 talent partnerships, which have become particularly important, Levin said, as NBCU’s research and data show that fans are 66% more receptive to content and advertising when a Bravolebrity is involved than when other TV personalities are involved. Levin noted that Wayfair is a major sponsor this year, with two shoppable BravoCon showrooms curated by “Real Housewives” Heather Gay, Melissa Gorga, Shamea Morton and Bozoma Saint John.

Another pop-up partner this year was Unilever, which had multiple beauty brands present at BravoCon, including Vaseline, Tresemmé and Nexxus. Nexxus partnered with “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Dorit Kemsley on an interactive hair-styling suite where attendees could stop by for touch-ups. And Tresemmé partnered with Ariana Madix on a BravoCon-themed “Viva Gloss Vegas!” campaign to promote its Lamellar Gloss line.

Bobby McMaster, marketing lead at Tresemmé, said that for BravoCon 2025, the brand wanted to incorporate the glitz-and-glamour setting of Las Vegas.

“To continue the launch of the new Tresemmé Lamellar Gloss collection, a team of expert stylists treated attendees to dry styling appointments,” meant to give them looks that provided 72 hours of glass-like shine to take them throughout the 72 hours of BravoCon, McMaster said. The styling suite also acted as a sampling and giveaway hub. Fans waited in lines at branded slot machines and roulette tables to receive products from the new collection.

The idea was to position Ariana Madix — a Bravo star known for her hair looks and busy schedule as the host of “Love Island” — as the face of this activation. “And she did not disappoint,” McMaster said. Over the weekend, Madix debuted a brunette hair color, which McMaster said made for a great base for the Lamellar Gloss collection. McMaster said the partnership proved successful on the ground. “It gave Tresemmé unprecedented access to a premium storytelling environment, letting us integrate hair expertise directly into Bravo’s iconic talent, franchises and live fan touchpoints,” he said.

Unexpected brand appearances 

While there were plenty of beauty brands on-site to cater to Bravo’s female-heavy fan base, BravoCon’s sponsors also included more non-endemic advertisers like State Farm and T-Mobile. Lexus, for example, was BravoCon’s first-ever car sponsor — it ran a glam station out of a car trunk.

Clorox, meanwhile, was one of the returning sponsors to BravoCon this year. The company first installed a product pop-up at BravoCon in the fall of 2023 to ramp up its cold-and-flu season campaign.

This year, much of the company’s campaign involved Bravo reality stars using Clorox products to clean up their literal and figurative messes. One ad featured “The Valley” star Brittany Cartwright and “Real Housewives of Orange County” star Heather Dubrow promoting Clorox’s new Crisp Lemon disinfecting wipes. Clorox’s bedazzled wipes canisters were seen all over Caesars Forums, and the company held an off-site VIP brunch with Drybar and “Real Housewives of New York City” star Dorinda Medley.

Robin Santos, brand engagement PR and social content lead at The Clorox Company, said the company was excited to return to BravoCon for a second year. “Through this NBCU partnership, we’ve built an experience that lets fans enjoy the on-screen drama while tackling real-life messes at home,” Santos said.

Another change this year, Levin said, was more advertisers participating in the lead-up to the event. “We have 13 brand partners that launched pre-BravoCon campaigns,” Levin said. For example, T-Mobile ran a campaign with “Summer House” star Lindsay Hubbard, and State Farm released an ad starring Craig Conover of “Southern Charm” alongside “Jake from State Farm” — the ad has been running since the summer. Brands also sought to tie their TV and social media content to other Universal IP, including with “Wicked: For Good” promotional crossovers.

Levin said, post-event, NBCU will focus on measuring success to demonstrate the event’s value to advertisers and brand partners, such as through brand case studies.

The ability for marketers to break through has never been harder, said Levin, and opportunities like BravoCon are venues for telling stories within the Bravoverse to a highly engaged audience. “The goal, from the brand’s perspective, is to break through and build brand love among this loyal fan base,” Levin said.