I recently worked an event for Chase and United’s New United MileagePlus Explorer Card. The event took place in Justin Herman Plaza and featured a pop-up baggage claim where consumers could line up for free and pick a bag off the carousel. Each bag contained a prize, some of which included: a Luxury Hotel & Resort Getaway, Fujifilm DSLR Camera, $200 Tumi Gift Card, eReaders and the grand prize of 1 million flier miles. The event was a huge hit and the crowd grew to enormity once the word got out.

This type of event required a lot of staff and I was impressed at how well managed the promotion was considering this. The hours were long, the sun was blazing and the crowd was crazy. Despite all of this, staff kept high energy and the event left a great impression in the minds of consumers. Having a large event like this run so well is somewhat rare and I’m happy to post about what a success the event was.

I recently worked a guerrilla marketing stunt for the promotion of the movie 30 Minutes or Less. We drove around in a food truck giving away free pizza, free pre-screening movie passes, t-shirts, hats and posters outside of nightlife spots. On top of this, we tweeted our location with the hashtag #30morl so others could follow and encouraged people to check in on Foursquare to unlock the 30 Minutes or Less badge. While Twitter was a huge part of the campaign, other apps  and websites had to be utilized as well such as Meetup.com and SF Fun and Cheap. With the growth of smartphones, these can be used and updated on the fly. It’s exciting how many resources are out there today for reaching the right demographic and finding the right hot spots. Success no longer just depends on  influencing those at the event, it now depends on utilizing all of your resources to find the right spots, reaching more people who would otherwise not join in, and making the conversation last.

•  Design: Keep your booth design simple but eye catching, clean (literally and in terms of design), and stick to your branding.

• Give-aways: Give away branded promotional items, but make it fun. Make up a game where conference goers can learn about your company at the same time.

• Incorporate Social Media: Tweet, blog and Facebook about the event. Find out the event’s Twitter hashtag and interact with others who are at the conference. Lure them to your booth via the internet.
• Personal Touch: Make sure your booth staff is upbeat, leaves a good impression, and communicates the brand effectively.
• Follow-up: Make sure you contact your leads after the event , thank them for stopping by your booth and add a personal note about your interaction if possible.

A resource I find useful for tradeshow marketing is The Tradeshow Marketing Blog.

Fairly Legal is series about Kate Reed (Sarah Shahi) being a firm believer that justice can always be found, even if it’s not always in the courtroom.”Once a lawyer at her family’s esteemed San Francisco firm, Kate’s frustration with the legal system led her to a new career as a mediator”.

The promotion consisted of a street team, all dressed in the same attire to emulate Kate, mocking a protest and yelling the show’s taglines such as: “Get Kate, Mediate!” “Don’t Hate, Litigate”(on Haight Street) and “No Mitigation, Only Mediation”. Also, we handed out gray and white cookies because “justice is never black and white”.

While this promotion was being run in other cities, I assume that it received the most attention in San Francisco and Berkeley due to the fact that it was a mock protest. Many people in areas that are famous for protesting voiced their frustration with the promotion saying that they felt it was “out of line”.  Well, being a publicity stunt, negative attention is still attention and therefore the promotion was effective. There were, of course,  people who enjoyed the event as well, finding it entertaining.

To promote this cause, Yahoo! surprised people in cities across the U.S. right before Christmas Eve with an act of kindness. In Boston, the Yahoo! promotion team surprised consumers at a locally owned toy store called Magic Beans. We were given $6,000 to pay for people’s purchases when they got to the register. Up until the money ran out, every person who came to the cashier was told that their purchase was a gift from Yahoo!, and in return we asked that they repay the favor with an act of kindness. People were completely caught off guard, and the reactions were incredible.

For a taste of what a magical day it was, check out this video:

This was the ultimate experiential campaign because it left people with a contagious happy and thankful feeling. To join in on the goodness, be sure to add your act of kindness to kindness.yahoo.com

The event had a Philips Norelco footprint set up where people lined up for the movie and included Tron character cutouts, displays of the shavers, and photo and poster give-aways. In my opinion the campaign was a great way to reinforce the prestige of the product. TRON and Philips Norelco may seem like a far-fetched collaboration, but offering complimentary tickets to an advanced screening of an eagerly awaited film definitely creates a prestigious brand image.

My job was to be an “in-vehicle host” and ride around with the test drivers and answer any questions they may have about the vehicles.  After the test drive, we surveyed drivers on how the event effected their impression of GM. Consumer feedback proved that the event was a huge hit.  Almost every single person had a positive reaction and seemed excited about GM. A lot of people had changed their opinion of the company and said that they were much more likely to buy a GM vehicle in the future. Old perceptions usually die hard, but GM seems to be making huge steps in the right direction. This just proves the power of an event that is well thought out and properly executed.

• Being aggressive doesn’t work. When you are overly aggressive, you look desperate. People want to feel as if they are making their own decisions and not being forced to listen to you. People don’t want to feel threatened. Instead of being aggressive be approachable and amiable.  Be confident but not aggressive
• Along the same lines, people don’t want to be hassled. Everyone is busy, and nobody wants to feel like they are being conned into spending money. Instead of hassling someone, simply be a person they want to talk to.
• Smile. This is probably the simplest thing to do. It will not only make you feel better, it will attract others to you.
  
• Look as if you are having fun. People want to be around happy people. If it looks like you are having fun, people will subconsciously think that if they talk to you, they will be having fun as well.
• Develop a general interest in people. What better way to look as if you are having fun than by actually having fun. People are generally  interesting, funny and exciting. Cherish the fact that you work in a field where you can interact with people all the time.
• Don’t act as if it’s a big deal if people don’t want to talk to you. Sometimes, no matter what, some people just aren’t going to want to talk to you. Simply smile and let them be on their way. Other people are watching you and will notice how you react.
• Emit warmth. When you think positively about people, it shows. Don’t be afraid of people and develop a feeling of warmth.

The most important communication tool is trust. How can you get someone you don’t even know to trust what you’re saying and listen to you? ..by emitting positive energy. When you think positively, everything else will follow. Your body language, tone of voice and your general demeanor are all extremely important but they will take care of themselves if you think positively and are sure of yourself.

Brand repositioning is an extremely challenging tasks. Changing a consumers view on a brand is harder than getting the brand in their head in the first place.  Using an experiential event to reposition a brand is a good idea because it gives consumers direct contact with the “reposition”.  Also, Campbell’s went about it the right way by broadening their reach rather than trying to change the view of existing consumers. By repositioning, Campbell’s also differentiated them self from competitors.

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