Wednesday, 27 January 2010 09:49

Make your live events great by embracing unexpected twists

So what if you didn’t make a hotel reservation for that big event? Do you go anyway? Absolutely! What if you have to sleep in your car? What if this? What if that? Of course you go anyway and make things happen.

The “what if’s” are what make live events and experience marketing exciting The most memorable experiences are totally off the cuff and usually are not at all what you had in mind in the first place.

As we discovered, the city of Seattle is ripe for spontaneous adventures. Our mission here at Henry V was to successfully perform a guerrilla marketing feat – to create a huge amount of soccer interest and passion ahead of the 2009 Major League Soccer (MLS) Cup championship game for our client adidas. We wanted to drive attendance to Fan Fest and we also wanted to create a viral buzz with some staying power. With well planned tactics in hand, a miniature portable soccer field, players and improv actors for fans, we hit the streets of Seattle looking to attract attention at several busy targeted locations. We did attract big attention. People everywhere stopped to join in the fun. Even in the early stages of execution, we generated interest.

Then, it happened, the unexpected. And, thankfully it did… We got the boot!

We had targeted the popular Pike’s Place Market, a produce market and bazaar always busy with locals and tourists alike. Unfortunately for us, security at the marketplace wasn’t interested in our targeted anything, or our reasons for it. Marketing fail? No, the unexpected change of plans was a huge win.

Our producer kicked into creative high gear and morphed the experience into incredibly effective guerilla marketing in its purest form…unexpected, unconventional, interactive.

Rather than hiding our soccer matches inside the market, we took them to the street – literally in the middle of the road.

No permits are required in public intersections as long as you are not interfering with traffic. Even two horse-mounted police officers drinking coffee could do nothing but enjoy watching our crew take over the intersection of Pike and 1st Streets. With 30 seconds on the signal posts, soccer happened whether they wanted it to or not.  Every time the light changed, the referee whistle blew and we were there. The cars at the red light were literally captured and had to watch the street match!  Every corner was filled with pedestrians waiting to cross, again a captive audience; the excitement drew people from the marketplace to the street corners; we were able to hand out our go-cards and speak directly with people; passerby even played soccer; and, consumer camera phones were rolling. People were definitely excited about soccer!

Our well planned guerrilla marketing scheme didn’t go as planned.  That’s a good thing. You can benefit from a break in the plan. If you have contingencies in place and a creative spirit, you can still achieve your goals in the face of adversity. Just get out there and make things happen.