Of Marketing and Meerkats

In my last blog I waxed and whined about delivery and installation, specifically about how disappointing my contact with a large retailer had been. In this week’s humble offering, I will set the record straight and provide much needed balance in a topsy-turvy world.

In January, I had to renew my car insurance. Some jokers at the place I bought last year’s insurance thought it would be good sport to double my bill this year. I presume they thought I wouldn’t check or that I had become so slow and so fat from contented married life that I resembled a sloth with arteriosclerosis.

Their words: ‘We have conducted exhaustive searches and can guarantee excellent value’. This was a lie. I Googled ‘car insurance’ and a website caught my eye. Compare the Market .com. ‘Their cheeky meerkats had kept me entertained during many a gap in Midsomer Murders’, I thought. ‘Let’s take a look!’

My incumbent insurer was not on the first, second, third or fourth page. Languishing in an uncompetitive fifty-fourth position, some three hundred and twenty-five pounds more expensive than today’s Usain Bolt, was my well-researched, excellent value proposition.

I rang my insurer.

‘Yes, that does sound expensive,’ she said. ‘Have you taken off the ‘online discount’?’

‘No. Should I? I don’t think I know what that is,’ I replied.

I waited as she tapped on her keyboard and did the telephone operator’s equivalent of sucking her teeth.

‘How does £625 sound?’ (£35 online discount – and knowing my new quote of £335)

‘It sounds £290 too expensive. Have you really made me hold on the line just to reduce the difference by 10 per cent?’

‘Would you like to renew?’

‘What do you think?’

‘I’m not paid to think, sir, just ask the questions!’

And that, basically, was that. I thanked her for her ‘service’ and asked how many customers they keep year on year. She didn’t answer, but I was left feeling that their aggressive pricing model would see them in ruins.

Back to the meerkats.

I booked my insurance and then clicked on the link to ‘Compare the Meerkat’s’ website. And I laughed out loud for the next thirty minutes as I selected my ‘originals meerkat toy’ thinking sentimentally of Alexsandr Orlov talking aloud as I read pseudo-Russian type about how fars genuine Meerkovo toy would travels and watched a video of it beginning its long journey to Roystons. Marketing genius. Very enjoyable, very funny and simples to use.

I received originals Bogdan in the post today and yet again it made me smile and want to tell the world. I am a huge fan and recommend both sites whole-heartedly.

Brilliants!

Event production success: The truth and the lies of the event APP

The live events industry faces new challenges with each wave of new technology. Depending on who you ask, these present themselves either as threats to be faced off or opportunities to embrace. Pumphouse Productions firmly believes the latter, embracing technological advances and using them, wherever appropriate, to improve event engagement.

Due to the uptake of iPads, Phones and Patches, we have become APP mad. A few years ago, we saw APP’s introduced into live events. Often these ‘APP’s’ were no more than a portal for a temporary website offering little over and above a registration website – just an extra button in fact – and came with their own raft of usability issues.

Reliable native APP’s are now available for any event, and this is genuinely exciting.

Consider the stats. An average smartphone has 65 APP’s installed, with the user accessing 15 of these every week. The early adopter phase is over and mainstream adoption is looming.

An event APP’s design is crucial. It must not only add value to the live conference experience but also as a post-event tool, where useful information can be quickly surfaced and shared.

The event APP usually has a range of stakeholders making it vital to consider who is most important with respect to the APP’s functionality. The answer must always be ‘the attendees’. Their adoption of the APP will determine its success. Granted, exhibitors, speakers and the parent company are all important too, but their needs should not obstruct its main function, delegate engagement.

Once built and registered, the Native APP is downloaded from an APP store, pre-event. A small amount of coaching may be required by delegates to maximise the APP’s power and usability, but once trained delegates will be able to pull helpful content in the most efficient way and customise their event experience. 73% of younger participants create a ‘must-see’ list pre-event, so content should be full and rich from the outset.

This could include:

• Video previews which allow speakers to advertise their presentations, gaining higher visibility in competitive circumstances.
• Biogs
• Exhibitors and product information
• Sponsor information and advertising
• Agenda
• Background information
• Directions and suggested sustainable travel options
• Competitions and games.

 

Benefits for APP-led events are many:

• APP users benefit from changes being made to their APP’s in real time. No need for change announcements or extra signage.
• Reduced need for printed materials.
• Typically, printed brochures need deadlines weeks in advance. The APP allows last minute changes to content with no expensive re-prints.
• VIP access can be APP driven for meetings with restricted access, book signings, keynote speakers etc.
• Messages can be pushed to delegates in real time as they have coffee or lunch, explaining when and where the next session will take place.
• Interaction and engagement can be boosted by surveys and polls. Information can be gathered immediately for use in the session.
• Relevant, specific information can be gathered by delegates quickly by QR code downloads.
• Exhibitors can scan delegate QR codes for later contact.
• Express check-ins can be made available for APP users.

 

App’s can be optimised for use on all mobile devices and a catch-all web-based version allows for those delegates who do not own a smartphone and for office-based non-attendees to monitor conference highlights. Social Media platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook, can be leveraged to advertise vital event information available exclusively via the APP.

 

Build in some testing time into your itinerary. A few key players should test the APP thoroughly and deem it fit for purpose or refine. Use video messaging to showcase the benefits of the new APP and consider games as a tool to drive interaction and engagement.

 

The savvy parent company rarely foots the bill for the event APP. Sponsors can be found to finance the APP in exchange for marketing possibilities that range from advertising space on the APP to being able to push messages to delegates in real-time at the event.

 

Done correctly, the APP will capture the complete event learnings to share with colleagues. A full list of presentations, articles, webinars and white papers can be made accessible. It will provide a list of contacts to follow up. Done correctly, it will not just enhance the delegate experience but completely shape and define it and allow messaging to be cascaded more accurately, driving future business change.