Successful Meetings - January 2009 - (Page 38)

Current and prospective Ford customers get the chance to interact with products during the SYNC tour, an experiential marketing campaign that hit 28 cities around the country space, with the displays and signage? How do we draw people in, who are not there to shop Ford but to have a good time? How do we get them to opt in for more contact with our clients?” According to Senatore, Ford had a three-fold mission with the SYNC tour. The goals were to: 1. Show off the products—the Ford cars and trucks that feature SYNC. 2. Highlight the Microsoft alliance. How do we get [attendees] to opt in for more contact with our clients? — John Jones, managing partner, Xperience to reach people who were not ready to be “sold to,” at state fairs, NASCAR races, and other events. “We wanted to show consumers how SYNC helps you control your in-vehicle communications, your calls, texting, and finding songs, all while you keep your eyes on the road,” says Gabrielle Senatore, cross-brand events manager at Ford Motor Company. That’s why she turned to Xperience Communications. “The intent of an experiential agency is to engage the audience in some way, to get them from being passive to being active, and delivering messages that stick,” says John Jones, managing partner of Xperience Communications. What is experiential communications? “It’s a one-on-one experience for clients looking to connect with their customers where they work, shop, play, and learn,” says Jones. This takes “a blend of marketing, theater, and technology. We have to have people who understand their clients’ business. Second, we have to 38 I SM I January 2009 I SuccessfulMeetings.com “ “ understand how humans learn. And our people have to understand technology and production.” “The difference between us and trade show marketing is that with trade shows, at least you have a peer audience. In consumer event marketing, the consumer typically arrives at the event without thinking of your client at all.” The Sync Tour A key early step for Ford and Xperience was to research the events and the venues, how many people were attending, if other Ford tours had done well, and if the team thought consumers at a particular show would want to learn more. Jones says, “As part of the process, we discuss where to go—what are the venues, what are the events? Once we get there, how do we attract people to our 3. Demonstrate Ford innovative technologies to consumers and show off the hands-free capability of SYNC. The tour, which kicked off at the 2008 Super Bowl, was to hit 28 cities around the country. Target consumers were what she calls “early adopters. We want to go to markets where people don’t know about Ford but are tech-savvy.” “We wanted to engage our consumers and potential ‘conquest’ (non-Ford owners) consumers,” says Senatore. The key was to “take this technology, make it fun—and deliver an engaging brand experience that they remember.” Rather than traditional auto shows, the team hit lifestyle events like air http://www.SuccessfulMeetings.com

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