The Big Connection

It’s all about getting consumers—or attendees—to engage. But upping the interactivity element of your event programs and trade shows isn’t as easy as simply integrating a photo-op, a gee-whiz high-tech experience, or a high-energy presentation into the event. The best experiences strike the balance between high engagement and solid, on-target messaging.

“You can do things that are really interactive and that engage people, but it might have very loose ties to your message,” says Stephanie Copeland, Qwest Communications’ vp-business marketing. “That’s an ineffective use of funds and a waste of people’s of time.”
Three brands that are engaging their core audience while keeping the focus on the product:

MOTOROLA

For Super Bowl XLI in Miami this year, Motorola took over the city’s trendy South Beach area. The brand put the focus on entertaining and interacting with fans by creating a large field where consumers could test their football skills with passing, field goal kicking and receiving challenges, as well as an obstacle course. The company tapped pro football players—including Washington Redskins running back Clinton Portis—to lead kids through football skills clinics at Motorola Field.

The activation was obviously focused on highlighting Motorola’s NFL ties, but the products were in the spotlight as well. As consumers walked through the space, they could check out different product displays and chat with Motorola reps.
“They were able to see, feel, touch and use the products,” says Sharon Brown, senior sports marketing for the brand. “It was a different way of getting them to see the product without being totally in their face.”

QWEST

At the Interop show in May in Las Vegas, Qwest was targeting high-level IT decision makers. From the research the company had done, they knew that those decision makers were not only interested in the use of technology in general, but in gadgets and gaming as well.

The company partnered with videogame company Valve Software, and attendees could come in and play the games—and it was all powered by Qwest’s services.
“It was a great way to showcase what our network could enable,” Copeland says. “We showed them the differences in network performance that would impact a virtual gamer’s ability to progress and win.”
The result? Approximately 18,000 attendees checked out Qwest’s booth. “We found that people in the booth were staying there longer and they were listening to the message,” Copeland says. “We probably produced more leads there than we have at a trade show of that size in the past two years.”

PANASONIC

To inject a dose of interaction into its events, Panasonic often employs touch-screen technology. The flat screens—which respond to touch—allow event attendees to do everything from playing video games to navigating through product catalogs. And the highly customizable medium makes it easy it to incorporate as much—or as little—branding into the experience as you want.

One example? The brand has targeted young consumers with touch-screen games for its sponsorship activation at the Dew Action Sports Tour. One such game had consumers using their finger as a cursor to send a wheel flying across the screen. Depending on where the wheel landed, consumers would get to take home a prize. As an added bonus, the technology allowed the brand to use its plasma TVs for the screens.