Pro Motion's Experiential Marketing Blog

by Steve Randazzo

I'm riding in a beautiful 45' motor coach from Nashville to St. Louis and I have to tell you, this vehicle draws attention from passersby and from customers.  We just left a fuel station and every single person around the station looked over at us to see who was getting out of the coach and to marvel at the huge branding graphics on the side of the bus.

Now, I'm not a marketer who thinks much of some eye balls gawking at 45' of beautiful 3M graphics although I do recognize the positive branding enhancements you get from consumers seeing your brand in the marketplace.   I know impressions don't change behavior, but getting face-to-face with key customers sure does!

Motor coach promotions change behaviors and emotionally connect consumers to your brand.  When you pull up to a customer's parking lot, everyone coming to work that day begins the internal buzz..."hey, did you see the motor coach out in the parking lot?  Who from here gets to go in it?"  Then, the pre-invited guests begin to arrive for their scheduled meetings and the ROI begins.  

Based on our research, customers who participate in motor coach promotions say:

1. They appreciate that the mobile trade show comes to them.
   Net result: It saves time and money and shows the brand's appreciation of the relationship.
   
   
2. Products that can't be easily 'carried into' a sales call can be presented in the right environment inside the motor coach. 
   Net result: Customers have the opportunity to experience the product first hand and see the true value of it. 
   
   
3. The meetings/presentations are more effective since key customers can be present together and join in more meaningful dialogue. 
   Net result: The executives are able to make faster decisions.

ROI Summary:   Saving time and money, experiencing the actual product and making faster decisions.  

Every client whom with we've discussed results specific to their motor coach promotion has confessed that the positive ROI and self-funding program exceeded their expectations and after the first motor coach promotion, it became easier to get funding for the next motor coach promotion; what gets measured, gets funded!

If you are ready to break the status quo in your marketing plan and begin to bring relevance to your brand, take a look at a motor coach promotion and begin a real branding program that delivers a tangible ROI.

by Cathi Kennedy

Do you have a product you would like to have your consumer try before they buy?

Would you like to have that same consumer try your product and then walk inside a retail location for an immediate purchase?

Then you are ready to start planning your experiential retail tour!

The first thing to do when thinking about activating an experiential marketing retail tour is to determine your goals..   Program objectives are a big part of planning any type of marketing expenditure.  As they say...”What’s get measured, gets funded.”  What is important to you and your team that will raise the bar?  Sales?  Additional shelf space?  Prominent displays?  Coupons distributed and redeemed?  Touches?  Return on investment is an important start and there are many things you can measure for the success of your program.  Check out our blog article, How to Measure the ROI of Your Mobile Tours, for some inspiration.

Ok, now, you’ve figured out that in order to get your brand to the next level you need to show an increase in sales and coupon redemption… how does that happen?  The next step  is to think about what the experience will look like.  What is the consumer experience that will entice them to stop and check out your brand and then ultimately purchase?  

In the next blog about retail tours, we will explore consumer experiences and other things to think about as you put your experiential program plan together.  Or, if you don’t want to wait… just give us a call!

by Megan Zeik

Surveys show that brand managers are increasingly turning to experiential marketing to drive sales rather than just increasing awareness.  According to the AgencySelect 2013 special report from the Event Marketing Institute, “a separate survey of brands found that increasing sales was the number one event marketing goal and strategy.  Just a few years ago increasing awareness was considered the primary goal.  The focus on sales indicates the growing importance of events as a revenue generating marketing tool.”

by Tony Paske

MySpace has had some work done and looks really good for almost 10 years old! Instagram and Facebook’s relationship appears to be getting better. Boy, they had some trust issues, didn’t they? I do hope traditional media makes some real changes this year. Talk about letting yourself go!

I am not one for New Year’s resolutions in my personal life. The beginning of the year just seems like an arbitrary and somewhat impractical time to be making life changes. It’s probably just the severe Seasonal Affective Disorder talking, but I’d rather make my personal changes in the springtime, when I feel good about being alive. But I’m cool with making resolutions specific to my other life.

This year I really want to focus on the relationships in my experiential marketing life. 2012 introduced me to some new friendships, and admittedly I hung onto a few old acquaintances for a bit too long. That will change in 2013.

• In 2013, I resolve to stop hanging out with QR codes. Everyone LOVED the new kid until they realized how boring, cumbersome and useless he really is. It was kind of embarrassing to be seen together towards the end of last year – sort of like hanging out with this guy. #outofstyle
• Speaking of, in 2013, I resolve to cut the ironically long, no-longer-funny hash tags out of my life. I mean, who is going to remember something like #hashtagsshouldnotbecompletesentences when they go to post pictures from our awesome events? I’m going to keep ‘em short and sweet this year, sticking to just a few so that our messaging can actually gain some momentum.
• In 2013, I resolve to spend some more meaningful time with Augmented Reality. We have hung out a few times, but I think AR is a really cool dude, and we can be doing some fun, innovative things together. He’s not for everyone, but AR will pop up at just the right special event, for just the right occasion.
• In 2013, I resolve to learn more about the consumers who visit our events and who hang out with our street teams. We are often so focused on the experience itself that we forget to learn about why our consumers enjoy the things they do. I think that if we can get to know each other on a more personal level, we can be friends and hang out even when we’re not at events.

#2013resolutions (I suppose that’s a good start).

by Steve Randazzo

Want to cut your sales cycle in half?  

Want to build brand loyalty?  

How about converting new users with a smaller budget?  

All of these outcomes happen when you promote your products with a motor coach promotion.

Branded motor coaches provide the opportunity to create a lot of presence and awareness in the marketplace.   Their biggest advantage in a B to B environment is they are a marketing machine! Based on our experience, motor coach promotions provide one of the best ROI's when you transport your products or services directly to the parking lot of your prospect.   

When you show your customer you care enough to bring your products or services directly to your customers parking lot, they show you their appreciation by buying your products.   We've experienced CEO's, CMO's and other decision makers spend hours completely focused without any distractions on our clients’ products.  How does this happen you ask?  Well, think about how much time and money you have saved them by not asking them to fly to a trade show or to your home office.  Think of the message you send by bringing your products to them so all of the decision makers can see your demonstration at the same time.

Think of this as "Mullet Marketing"; Business during the day and party/VIP events at night!  Our clients have closed millions of dollars in sales by utilizing motor coach marketing.

Isn't it time for your company to break from the status quo and let us help you to build a successful motor coach promotion?  This is one sales tool that hits a home run every time!

by Cathi Kennedy

Retail tours are a great experiential marketing tool.  Also called, retailtainment, a retail tour brings your product to life at the point of purchase for your consumers.

An experiential retail tour provides the opportunity for a consumer to try it before they buy it.  Having a program at retail locations will increase sales as consumers have the immediate opportunity to purchase what they just touched, tasted, smelled, saw, heard or tried out…you get it.

For an experiential retail tour to be successful, you need to consider some important factors when you are planning your experiential marketing program.

• What is your plan?
• Where will you take the tour?  Where are the best locations?
• What will the weather be like?  What time of year will the retail tour be activated?
• Will the program be activated on weekdays, weekends or both?
• What are your goals for the program?
• Sales?
• Touches?
• Coupons distributed?
• Premiums distributed?
• What is the consumer experience?
• Sampling?
• Games?
• Premiums?
• Sweepstakes?
• Coupons?
• Other interactive experiences?
• Where is the consumer experience?
• Set-up inside?  What is the best location?
• Set-up outside? What is the best location?
• Who is your Activation Team?
• What is your brand’s demographic?
• Are your Brand Ambassadors a fit for your brand?
• How much training do you provide your Brand Ambassadors?
• What is your communication plan with the retailer?
• What is the process/plan for internal communication with the retailer?
• How will the retailer communication with store employees?
• What is the PR and pre-event communication plan?
• What are the PR opportunities?
• What type of pre-event communication will happen?  In-store?  Use of social media?

Check back for future blogs in this series as we cover each of these topics in greater detail.

If you need help answering these and other questions, give us a call, we have experience with many retail programs and would love to help you build deep emotional connections with your consumers!

by Megan Zeik

Word of Mouth is an important purchase influencer.  In fact, according to the Word of Mouth Marketing Association’s (WOMMA)  and Column Five Media’s infographic it is the most influential element (54%) driving purchase decisions today.  That is an important statistic to keep in mind when planning your marketing strategy.   Here are a few other key findings to note from WOMMA:

by Tony Paske

With the Olympics and the election season of 2012 in the rear-view mirror, where does Experiential Marketing go from here? Really, where do we go? 2012 provided a pretty obvious, easy-to-follow roadmap for the year: align with the annual sporting events (Super Bowl, March Madness and the World Series), get into the Olympic spirit, cheer for Democracy, and that’s a wrap.

by Megan Zeik

We love this infographic from Go To Meeting! We have always believed that face-to-face marketing is the best way to effectively engage and influence your customers. Research backs our belief proving that face-to-face engagements establish a greater level of trust, are perceived as more credible, are more productive than other methods of communication and are more efficient.

Why is face-to-face marketing so effective? There are several reasons that customers are more engaged when they are immersed in a live brand experience.

by Ali French

The saying “a picture is worth 1,000 words” has special meaning in everyone’s life. To me, pictures help to remind me of how funny my family is, how crazy my friends are, and how cute my dog is. They also remind me that my sister got the photogenic genes in the family, but that’s beside the point. Here at Pro Motion pictures are everything to us, not just to show our life as a guerrilla marketing agency, but also our life as an experiential marketing family.