MICROBRANDING YOUR EVENT FOR FUN AND PROFIT
Recently, the Fabulous Honey Parker and I were called by the Park City Chamber of Commerce and Visitors & Convention Bureau.
Why is it a Chamber AND Convention Bureau, all in one?
This is a small town. One organization for both functions is especially sensible when you consider how many local businesses cater to visitors and conventions.
And the reason the Chamber/Bureau called us?
It was our turn to create advertising for one of their events, if we wanted to play.
They rotate such duties among member ad agencies.
As good, civic-minded folks, we thought: Why not?
Besides, it would be a nice change of pace.
We have surprisingly few local clients.
If we want a face-to-face conversation with almost any one of our clients, we have to get on a plane.
SO, WE DID SOMETHING WE RARELY GET TO DO WITH A CLIENT
We went in and sat down at a conference table with them.
And we talked about doing something we rarely do for someone who isn't a full-time client.
We agreed to create ads for a one-time event.
Two lovely people who work at the chamber gave us the bird's eye lowdown.
This was the biggest of the chamber's annual events.
The entire community was invited.
Lots of local businesses would be there with booths.
This event is a big deal and everyone wanted it to be a success.
So, we did what we always do with a client.
WE BEGAN ASKING WAY TOO MANY QUESTIONS
One of my personal favorites is this: how will we know success when we see it?
In this case: a 20% increase in attendance over last year's event would be great.
Another question, and one of my favorites, came from the idea that the entire community is invited.
This is a fun and exciting event for one and all!
No need to be a chamber member! Bring your friends! Bring all the wives!
And that question was: can we change the name of the event?
Feel free to call me crazy.
But you want your event to sound like fun.
You want me to bring my spouse and my peeps.
You can't have a name that's working against you.
A name like...
"THE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES EXPO!"
Which is what they were calling this event.
And the name is understandable.
Local service providers rent tables and set up displays and tell attendees what services they offer that can improve their lives.
But does a "Professional Services Expo" sound like fun to you?
Probably not.
But this event IS fun.
A lot of these folks make it fun.
The vendors have games of chance.
They give away prizes.
They offer you piles of candy you'll pretend you're taking home to the kids but you are, in reality, scarfing down behind the next moveable partition.
We know this because, in a perfect scenario for advertising such an event...
"WE AREN'T JUST MEMBERS OF THE HAIR CLUB FOR MEN, WE'RE ALSO THE PRESIDENTS!"
Well, OK. Nothing that close.
But we were talking about advertising an event which we'd previously attended.
We'd been to last year's Professional Services Expo.
We went and hung around.
We talked to old friends.
We met new ones.
We had drinks from the cash bar.
We had snacks from the free buffet.
We had such a good time that when it all shut down, we moved the party out of the hotel ballroom and up to the Mountaintop Marketing Fortress.
Yes indeed, this is a good time if you know how to have a good time.
However, we also had no idea that a good time had been the intent. We had merely shown up because it was a chamber event with free food.
So, we asked if we could change the name from the covertly ebullient "Professional Services Expo" to something else.
In a moment of dream-client delight, without any hesitation, our host said, "Sure!"
WE ASKED MANY MORE QUESTIONS, THEN DID WHAT WE ALWAYS DO
We thanked our hosts for the delicious K-cup coffee, walked out the door, and immediately started solving the problem in the car on the way home.
As we saw it, the key challenge was this: the name of event didn't really sound like fun.
The previous advertising had actually made an effort to convey an idea of fun.
But the name of the event sounded like it had come from the Department of Party Prevention.
Who goes to a Professional Services Expo to have fun?
The people who would go are the people who (a) always go to these events or (b) knew it was time to finally go to one of these events.
Ultimately, our job was simple.
We had to re-brand the event.
We had to create a micro-brand for this three-hour local services wing ding.
WE HAD TO MAKE PEOPLE WHO NEVER GO TO THESE EVENTS WANT TO GO TO THIS ONE
It had to actually sound like fun.
And it was necessary to get the prospect's attention in a crowded, over-communicated media environment.
As with any branding effort, the first step is to think about the core customer.
The core customer here is a Parkite--the adult resident of Park City or Park City Adjacent who does business with local service providers.
And what's one of the big common denominators among all Parkites?
Dogs!
Parkites love dogs.
Even if a Parkite doesn't have a dog, he or she has an appreciation for dogs.
This community has an annual dog parade. There's an event called Bark In The Park. There are dog accessory boutiques. Dog nannies. Doggy day care. Dog-friendly hiking trails. There are probably more professional dog walkers per capita in Park City than any other town in North America.
So, forgetting the nature of the event for just a moment--which really has nothing on earth to do with dogs--can we harness canine power to engage the uninvolved Parkite?
Is it possible to use the canine smile to draw the unsuspecting local into our lair of free food and professional service providers?
The next thing I know....
THE FABULOUS HONEY PARKER HAS OUR DOG HOOK
She went to our favorite low-budget, royalty-free stock photo library.
I'm going to guess she used the obvious search terms "dog" and "party."
Because here's what we suddenly had: a headline that says, "NEVER PARTY ALONE!"
And a stock photo of a bummed out dog in a party hat.
It scared me, which is good.
The headline evolved into a public service announcement: "The Park City Chamber/Bureau reminds you, NEVER PARTY ALONE!"
Then, there came a fun message exhorts the reader to come to this event.
It mentioned things like "Free food!" "Cash bar!" "Swag!" "Prizes!" "More free food!"
However, the event still needed a name.
Here's where we went back to something interesting the client had said in the meeting.
The event has a cash bar, and the client said that in his experience, event attendees seem to have no problem with a cash bar if there's free food.
Free food is always a big draw (not just in radio stations), and it seems that chamber events are no exception.
BUT FREE FOOD ASIDE, WHAT DO WE CALL IT?
Well, the event is very social.
You meet your old friends there.
You meet new friends there.
You meet professional service providers there.
And you get to eat free food.
What could be simpler?
Oh, look! It's "The Locals & Pros Meet & Eat Expo!"
"Locals" because everyone's invited. "Pros" because pros will be there, pros are desirable attendees, and this is a town loaded with pro athletes. The word covers a lot of territory in Park City. And, you get to meet and eat. Free!
So, we have a goofy name for the event.
We have a silly public service announcement.
We have a bummed out dog in a party hat.
In other words...
WE HAVE EVERYTHING YOU WOULD EXPECT A SERIOUS CLIENT TO REJECT
After all, this is the Chamber Of Commerce. This is serious business.
We immediately scheduled a meeting to show the work.
They would have time to see it, freak out reject it, and tell us to design another campaign.
We presented. We held our breath.
There was a long, stony silence, finally punctuated by, "Well, this is brave."
And...
They bought it.
Not without some hesitation, of course.
After all, this was way outside their comfort zone.
It required some realignment of their thinking.
But that realignment was accomplished very quickly, and the work went to the CEO.
The CEO who, according to our sources, tends to be very conservative. (And let's face it: he has to be. He's the CEO of a chamber of commerce and a visitors & convention bureau.)
So, they said they'd be presenting it the next morning.
And...
The CEO approved it!
Ding! Ding! Ding!
THEN CAME THE EMAIL THAT SAID: "WE HAVE A FLY IN THE OINTMENT"
It's the email you always fear after presenting even a remotely edgy campaign.
Someone at the top immediately loves the edgy nature of it, but now wants to know if you can just make it a little less edgy.
What were they going to change that would make the Jenga tower of this advertising collapse into a pile of promotional kindling?
"The CEO wants to know if we can use his dogs in the ads."
What?
That's it?
When we presented the campaign, it was met with degree of low-level consternation.
Since it didn't conform to their expectations, they weren't exactly sure what to make of it.
That passed quickly and they loved it.
Now, the veracity of the idea was being proven by the CEO's desire to play the game.
IT WAS EXACTLY THE KIND OF FLY IN THE OINTMENT WE WERE HAPPY TO HAVE
We were creating a postcard, a poster, an email blast, Facebook promoted posts and a video.
There was ample opportunity for various dogs.
You have no idea how many stock photos there are of bummed out dogs in party hats.
And our Photoshop Queen could easily enhance the dog snapshots supplied by the CEO, give them party hats, and we'd be good to go.
So, we had a greenlit campaign.
But we still had a big question.
Would it work?
Would this silly dog campaign draw at least 20% more attendees than last year?
ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE SUGGESTED...MAYBE
Early on, people who had no idea it was our work were telling us they had put the postcard on the refrigerator door.
So, the postcards were fridge worthy.
And when the video arrived in the hands of the chamber's social media manager, the reported response was, "This is so cool!"
We were also told that, based purely on their enthusiasm for the adertising, the chamber was increasing the food budget by 20%.
But as we all know, people loving an ad doesn't always translate into people buying the product.
You can think you have genius and instead you have Jell-O.
WOULD THE SILLY DOG CAMPAIGN BE ENOUGH TO ATTRACT PEOPLE TO THE EVENT?
Long story short:
The best food in the buffet ran out early.
The local vendors who paid to be there were very thrilled with the quality of the attendees.
The bartender running the cash bar said he had the postcard on his own fridge--interesting, as he obviously already had plans to be there.
And the attendance was estimated at 50% higher than the previous year.
The advertising more than doubled the client's desired result.
We will accept the notion of a raging success.
SO, WHAT HAPPENED HERE?
It all started by NOT saying what so many people could have said: "What will the chamber of commerce accept when it comes to being creative?"
Which is a very easy place to start. We see it all the time, especially in places like radio stations.
And pre-qualifying anyone in a sales process is dangerous. You always run the risk of underestimating or even losing a customer.
And the client is still a customer that needs to be sold. The first one, in fact.
Instead, it started by creating a micobrand for the event. it started by saying, "What's the one way we want our prospect to feel about this event?"
And that was simple: they should feel like we understand him, we understand what's important to him, and that despite the professional nature of this event, we want him to have fun.
And a good way to do this?
Pandering to the prospect's self interest in a fun and surprising way.
Make them really feel: Wow, that sounds like fun!
Then, don't second guess the creative. Do what seems right, even if it feels dangerous.
And it did feel dangerous. Local political organizations are very concerned about their images, and this could have been perceived as the dog-doo in the punch bowl.
BUT WE FELT THE DANGER AND DID IT ANYWAY
And the people we were working with were smart enough to not say, "We didn't expect that. No way. Forget it."
Instead, in the meeting, there was a lot of silence, eventually followed by the client saying, "We'll, this is brave."
And then, opinions from some key employees were solicited, resulting in, "I love it!"
Nobody in this equation did what so many people could do, namely: be afraid and say what was politically safe, or freak out and say "No!"
Everyone felt the risk and was willing to take it to the top.
And the result was a raging success.
In this overcommunicated culture, taking smart chances is more vitally important than ever.
Being unexpected and running the risk of insulting someone is absolutely necessary.
But it has to be done in a smart way, not just in a way that fires for effect.
This is one of the ways that, for a different client using Facebook ads, we've generated a click-through rate of 30% in an environment where 3% is considered a success.
Yes, one must be relevant.
But one must say things that matter and are surprising.
It's how you end up not partying alone.
If you'd like to see the Facebook video that promoted the chamber event--and which contains many of the dogs, including the CEO's, click here or go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r58WtSLeD_E
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