There is no single person to point the finger at, but clearly many people and agencies were at fault for merely not paying attention or caring. No company let alone a alcohol company is going to be okay with placing their brand front and center in a situation where people could be hurt by it’s use. Compound that with the fact that this was an A-list film crew with endless amounts of experience with product placement that should know better. From a product placement agency to the prop master and studio personnel who watched the dailies, it’s impossible this placement slipped by that many smart people.

Product placement is a tricky marketing tactic depending on the agency you hire. There are very few agencies that will become a brand’s “partner”. Most will look to add you to its roster of available clients, then ship out a bunch of your product whether its a fit or not and then move onto the next project. Making it seem that they are getting you many opportunities but only a few will be real. These agencies are about quantity, not quality and they are taking a daily risk when it comes to your brand’s image and integrity. A real agency partner should be aware of how your brand is being used and is there to protect you from these kinds of instances, which can turn into a PR nightmare for your company

At Exposure Agents, we work with a handful of clients that are as selective about their placements as we are in seeking the most appropriate opportunities. We identify placements and characters that align with the brand’s messaging and track the placement from production through release.  “Flight” is an example of carelessness. Partnering with the right agency will place your brand in the hands of a company that cares…in other words, pick a partner that’s smart enough not to put alcoholic beverages in the hands of alcoholic pilots!

www.claylundquist.com

This past week I spent time at the national convention of one of our clients. This is an event that everyone connected to the company looks forward to. It’s a chance to see new things, try new products, meet new people, and reconnect with friends and colleagues. This year, as always, the convention was very large with lots to see. Just walking the floor took at a day, if not two.

As with all convention centers, many vendors and suppliers were onsite showing off their wares. Some had huge areas while others had small, basic setups. Many times this depends on your financial situation. Exhibits and convention center fees are notoriously expensive, but one thing I noticed this time was that even some of the biggest companies in attendance opted to go somewhat smaller. This has been a trend I have noticed recently not only at conventions, but with all types of events. For years bigger was better. First it started with huge tents, then expandable trailers, and then just one wasn’t enough and brands started creating huge areas with multiple assets to display. The problem was that most of these areas didn’t really show us much. I can’t tell you how many $100,000-plus trailers I’ve walked into that have a video game system and a few monitors or graphics. Now this isn’t to say that there aren’t some great examples out there, but the bad seem to outweigh the good.

Whether it’s due to budget or just a realization that less is more, some brands have been contracting their footprints resulting in a cleaner, more patron-friendly environment. Do you really need a 52-foot trailer to get your point across, or can you do it in a 20×20 area? Unless you are telling the timeline of your 100-year-old company or focusing on several products, I’m betting the latter will work out just fine. This also allows you to be more focused in the messaging. For me, I don’t like to put out more than a couple of different messages in a single activation area. If your primary focus is name generation, you may want a fun activity to go along with it so you don’t look too stuffy and that you only want to take something from consumers. If your primary focus is sampling, then possibly you have some other brand messaging or takeaway information so consumers have a something to look at long after the sample is gone. Best of all, this can be done in small areas and for a more minimal investment. Lastly, remember your staff is the most important part of your activation. Having the right staff can have way more of an impact that the biggest most baddass marketing vehicle or setup.

So if you take this advice and do decide to activate at either the Cactus or Grapefruit League next year keep it simple and fun, just like Spring Training baseball.

I recently spent the better part of a week in New Orleans at a business conference. While I learned a lot about business and marketing at the conference New Orleans had some other lessons to teach and surprisingly this was taught while carrying a hurricane down Bourbon Street. Now one of my favorite things to do is to just people watch. I do it in airports, baseball games and at events. Well as you can imagine watching the freak show that was occupying Bourbon Street every night was like hitting the jackpot. Whether we were at a bar patio or just sitting on a stoop there was plenty to look at. But being an event guy who according to my wife, “can’t stop working”, I of course noticed something that was event related. Outside every bar, pizza parlor, music venue and gentlemen club there was at least one person hawking the services of their establishment. No matter how generic the product or service they had to offer, and no kidding, there were a few that can show an event brand ambassador a thing or two about how to engage with people. These men and women are out in at these venues every night putting in a shift with a smile on their face and they are more than willing to tell you about what they have going on at their establishment. Now many of these people probably wouldn’t be your most ideal BA or Emcee for an event but the energy they gave was inspirational. If they can push hurricanes and crappy cover bands for 8 straight hours to people who have partied a little too hard and are either belligerent or just plain sloppy with that kind of energy, there is definitely something to be learned.

I go to a lot of events and the Brand Ambassadors at many have lack luster attitudes and are not as outgoing as they should be. Being a brand ambassador is a great job for anyone who wants a flexible schedule and good pay, but finding a person who has all the skills needed to do the job weather it’s sampling or lead generation or just plain information distribution is at times hard. There is definitely a skill to working events and while some people have the right personality, it can also be trained.

In future blogs I will discuss what to look for in great event staff but for now I just want to applaud the folks out on Bourbon Street. You guys are brand ambassadors at their most basic. But damn if you aren’t effective.

www.claylundquist.com

There aren’t that many events that I get excited about but Sundance is definitely one of them. I go to Sundance whenever I can but having the opportunity to be a part of a large scale activation was a big deal for me. My client and I have been working to activate at this event for several years and 2012 was our year. With about a month and a half to plan we set out to create a large lounge/sampling/PR area for all attendees of the fest and slopes.

Doing this meant cutting my trip to Puerto Rico and the festivities there short but it was worth it. Along with my business partner Joe and our trusted manager Mike we worked with our McDonald’s client to create a atmosphere that was inviting and recognizable to attendees. My teams main objective was sampling and coordination of suppliers. We were tasked with sampling the McCafe line along with various other products to everyone from skiers to celebrities. While we are used to sampling at events on the West Coast the heavy snow created challenges but also opportunities to have folks try our products for the first time.

With a large client such as this and many objectives needing to be covered this event was one of the best collaborative efforts I have been a part of. While we were there to sample there was also PR, product placement and Ronald McDonald House Charity aspects to our activation. In the past I’ve noticed when you have this many people all vying to make their part stand out you have issues. But this was different and became truly collaborative. Even though there were many different roles we all had the same goal. Now this is something that you would think would be a given but many times it’s not. It comes from the culture of the brand and the willingness of the people who represent that brand to take part. And not to just take part in their specialty but in every aspect of an event to make sure it runs smooth and the patrons are well taken care of.

That collaborative effort is what we strive for in our company constantly. Every person from the owners to the brand new brand ambassadors is there to represent us and if we create the culture for our company like the one I saw with our client at Sundance we will be in good shape and have happy customers.

Last weekend I spent some time in Puerto Rico to take in the experiential marketing aspects at the San Sebastian Festival in Old San Juan. While I would have thought this would have been one of the last places that I would see marketing I was horribly wrong. In fact the event was covered with event marketing efforts. Everyone from Heinekin and At&t to Burger King were onsite promoting themselves. While some of the promotions were low key like a energy drink who was giving out bottles of their flavored water from the back of a non descript pickup truck others were larger and doing their best to blend in with the event. The thing that stuck out to me most were the groups that were parading thru the streets dancing and banging drums and blowing horns and whistles. You would have thought these were just revelers having a good time but for the most part they were branded. As they moved thru the narrow streets their groups gained attention from locals and tourists. The parades grew in numbers as they moved along. As long as the music had a good beat no one seemed to care that they were joining in marketing a brand. At the beginning of the night I looked at these activities as a bastardization of a time honored tradition at festivals like this. But as I looked at it from a brands perspective I thought about how most brands would kill to have thousands of people follow their billboards and brand ambassadors thru the streets. While they are in my opinion pushing the boundaries some of these promotions if organic and respectful of the celebration are a great opportunity to get your brand out to the community.

Center Stage is currently continuing to support the McCafé product line through sampling and distribution events in California, Nevada, Washington & Oregon. With over 100 events per year and over 1.2 million samples distributed in 4 years we’ve helped in making Southern California the leader in McCafé sales. As we continue our sampling efforts with new products we’ve extend our reach to a more diversified consumer group.

Along with sampling we also conduct events that help to create awareness of healthy options from McDonald’s. These activations strive to give consumers information about a healthy lifestyle through activities and information distributed onsite.

Center Stage teams up with McDonald’s to activate at all types of events including:  Community festivals, concerts, sporting events and charity events.

Event highlights include: The US Open of Surfing, Professional Beach Volleyball, Large Scale Concerts, MLS Soccer, Harvest Moon Festivals & the Ronald McDonald House Charities Walk for Kids.

In 2011-2012 Center Stage has continued to grow their coverage area into the Pacific Northwest and Nevada.

(McDonald’s website)