Founder Fridays Part Three: cook-offs and KPIs
This week, we will hear from Meg on some exciting projects and experiences she’s had in the last few years and her favorite moments to experience with her clients.
A: What's one thing you always have with you on-site?
M: Chapstick and gaff tape
A: Tell me about an event you were a part of, that you created a shared experience you are particularly proud of. What was the specific moment?
M: In 2014 I worked with Airbnb to launch their first annual host conference, Airbnb Open. That year it was a 1,000 person event at Fort Mason in San Francisco with the goal of hosting Airbnb’s hosts. At the end of the event a host made her way to our production team to let us know that this event had changed her life by teaching her how she could further monetize her listing, supporting her retirement and travels... and she was crying and I was crying and everyone in the room was crying... because what we set out to do was provide an environment for these hosts to learn, to connect and to share a moment. The moments when you see how your work has paid off can really impact your life.
A: Similarly, is there a particular moment you received feedback from a client that stuck with you?
M: Last summer we did a program for Bungalow that challenged our team to help connect their residents both with each other, and within the greater resident communities that existed in San Diego and New York City. One of the events we hosted as part of a two month series was the Coast-2-Coast Cook Off Challenge, where a household in each respective city received a sponsored Blue Apron Meal Kit, and had to cook it together, while answering various trivia questions about their roommates. In order to create the bond between the company and the residents, Bungalow’s community managers were onsite cheering them on. At the end of the night one of the managers sent us a note that they felt like they had just watched the residents become friends. While that’s not a quantifiable metric, it's one that really stuck with me as the best kind of success.
A: It sounds like you have created and experienced some incredibly meaningful moments with attendees and clients, and while we know these are what makes experiential marketing special, it is also important to consider more tangible goals and metrics. Is there an event or experience you are particularly proud of on this front?
M: Absolutely! Those metrics are essential, and it’s particularly important that they align with KPIs. Different companies have dramatically different priorities at different types of events, so determining how you’re defining success from the get go is essential. For MemSQL, their sole objective was to generate sales leads through their trade show presence. To be able to triple their lead generation year over year was particularly exciting. For Airbnb in 2016, creating a culturally relevant moment with large exposure was the goal, and so producing an event with the likes of a Lady Gaga performance, an advance screening of La La Land, and most importantly, interacting with 20,000 people onsite, was how we knew we’d nailed it.
A: There are many phases of working with a client to produce an experience. What's the part of the client relationship or working experience that you get the most excited about?
M: The part where it comes together. You put in so many hours with the client, thinking and creating, ideating and being a team. To be fair I also love those moments, but seeing that plan come to life is absolutely the moment that feels the most exciting. It gives me an adrenaline rush. When I walk a client into a space that we have been dreaming about for months and get to be immersed in it, to see their face as they see their attendees interact in that space and how their brand is having an impact in real time. That’s the moment where the fireworks happen.
Interested in scheduling some time to chat with Meg about her experiences and expertise? Drop us a line.