Listening to Customers

I recently had the chance to hear Kip Knight, Vice President of North American Marketing for eBay speak as a guest of the Cincinnati Chapter of the American Marketing Association. Kip is contemplating writing a book he would entitle The Power of All of Us exploring how individuals in communities matter in the online world. This will be the first of two entries on Kip's talk--it was so rich with good content. He referred to the three V's eBay uses in hearing from their customers:

Voices- the company brings users to U.S. Headquarters in California and places them in focus groups to hear their views;

Visits- eBay actually visits (with permission) users homes to see the steps they take to sell items;

Views-on a quarterly basis, focus groups of users are polled on industry-related questions such as security.

Perhaps the methods described above by Kip will help you to gain meaningful information from your customers or stakeholders.

Happening Vegas Branding Campaign Has Staying Power Story For Meeting Planners

You don't have to be promoting an iconic destination such as Las Vegas to drive traffic to your next convention or special event. So says Reno, NV advertising executive Randy Snow of R&R Partners. Snow, who serves as Creative Director for the firm, is best known as the man behind branding campaign, What Happens Here, Stays Here.

R&R Partners - The Work

I met Snow today after he spoke to the Cincinnati Advertising Club. He says about ten years ago R&R began offering business-to-business campaigns for meeting planners and C Suite executives, the audience corporate planners need to convince when making decisions on where such events are held. This was done under the financing and supervision of the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority.

Quantitative (800-1,000 surveyed) and qualitative (three to four in a focus group) research is performed (Snow says the Authority spends $7 million annually in just research). They ask the same question every time to planners, he says: What Things Drive Planners? The top two answers never change: 1. How to make things go right; and 2. How do I get recognition when things don't go wrong.

Snow says the underlying truths in each of these statements is that you have to "ask the customers what matters to them and then deliver. There are emotional connections in every destination. It's devilishly simple. Give people what they want."

Another role for planners, "Mark It Down"

A new study by Meeting News finds that marketing and customer event management are two increasing roles for meeting planners.

(http://www.mimegasite.com/mimegasite/research/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003686136)

With more than 300 planners surveyed, 16 of the 77 percent who said these tasks are part of their responsibilities stated that only recently these functions were added to their to-do lists. This comes as no surprise to me in my work. One of my significant roles as Communications Director of the Northern Kentucky Convention & Visitors Bureau, is to provide complimentary media relations services to planners. With increasing time pressures, planners are yearning for any kind of assistance they can receive to balance the needs of roles they already need to balance. This finding also confirms my believe that establishing this blog offering helpful marketing tips to planners is something that is an underserved if not an unmet need in the meetings industry.

Career Talk: It must be that time of year again

Without fail, this is the time of the year you see articles about what employees can do to differentiate themselves in the workplace. I surmise it has something to do with professionals evaluating their careers as another year ends and a new one begins. I find it rather humorous that while the articles use different words they essentially say the same thing.

For instance, last week I read in a popular trade publication for meeting planners that communication skills are important in that line of work

In another excellent magazine that caters to marketing and sales professionals the words cooperation and goodwill, savvy and sociability were used in a study by a non-profit organization providing assessment in education and workforce development. They were labeled 15 Personal Skills You Need on the Job.

Back to the first article, flexibility is another characteristic valued. The second article..savvy and sociability.

Ping, working with numbers. Pong, carefulness, order.

Finally, leveraging partnerships as opposed to influence.


These are all good characteristics to develop as we enter 2008.

A How-To For Theming Meetings

Meeting planners might want to look to the entertainment industry when they are looking for a cutting edge theme to their next conference, as evidenced by this brief in the September issue of Fast Company Magazine.

Road Games
RoadShow HollywoodSeptember 18-20Hollywood, California
"The entertainment industry is one way to predict what the trends are going to be," says Mitch Litvak, RoadShow founder. At this conference, entertainment execs premiere the next 6 to 18 months' worth of movies, TV, music, and gaming products so brand marketers can hunt for opportunities to develop Happy Meals and other tie-ins. Last year, New Line Cinema pitched its movie adaptation of the Broadway musical Hairspray. It ultimately led to Carnival Cruise Lines creating "the Hairspray experience." "We have karaoke nights, and dance instructors teach moves from the film," says Lance Still, an executive VP at New Line. Nickelodeon, Universal Music, and Warner Bros. are among this year's presenters. "We'll be highlighting Speed Racer, Steve Carell's Get Smart remake, and Where the Wild Things Are," says Warner senior VP of domestic promotions Mimi Slavin. --Aimee Rawlins