Everything is in place. Permits. Vendors. Location. Spectacular
pre-buzz canvassing. The branded vehicle is anchored in a high
visibility area, turning more heads than a Brangelina sighting. At this
moment, anyone within a mile radius wants to engage with your client's
brand. That feeling of hard fought accomplishment falls over your
event marketing agency.
Then it happens.
Your event marketing staff starts chewing gum. They then begin texting and
spouting some kind of unscripted psychobabble. In one devastating
motion, your talent has managed to send the wrong message to every
consumer at the event. They’ve also inadvertently sabotaged your
award-winning brand experience, your team’s collective expertise and
the client’s trust in your agency.
Call them what you want: Brand ambassadors, spokesmodels, promotional staff, event talent, etc. Their title is not important, but their presence
is CRUCIAL to your program’s success. Don't underestimate the
“people-part” of your experience. They’re the connectors responsible
for the friendly nudging and poignant messaging between your brand and
its future consumers.
Don't wait until the 13th hour to focus on the human element of your
program. All of the preparation and TLC you’ve poured into the tactics
and logistical placeholders of your program shouldn’t be gambled on a
staffing company with no track record, little experience and zero
insurance. But it happens. Often. We see it all the time: an agency
methodical in its ways when creating a complex experiential program,
only to lighten its standards and practices with hiring event marketing staff.
They have a direction and contingency for every facet of their program,
but seem to have forgotten a strategic partner suited to control the
variables of placing and maintaining discriminating talent. Omitting
what I call, the “Science of Staffing.”
Your experienced account managers prepare you to deal with the
intricacies of your program, but a discouraging trend I see more and
more these days is the lack of accountability ad and PR agencies place
in their staffing partners. It's easy to overlook, but more important
than ever these days to embrace your partnership with a strategic
talent agency. They help control the variables of staffing to create
and close out those seamless events you intend to build for your client. And because I hate seeing bad talent happen to good people, I’ve
compiled a list of important variables your staffing partner should
always be considering.
Look the Part
Talent’s look and personality MUST match those core characteristics of
the brand in order for a consumer to reciprocate with the experience.
Ask your staffing partner about the criteria they use for both
registering and placing talent. Do they require information as it
relates to a candidate’s relevant brand experience? How current are the
photos they have on file? What software is being used to assist in
their booking of talent? Ask about all of the steps used in their
process and see how they’re matching up the best talent to your unique
event. Remember, anyone can fill up virtual shoeboxes of Craigslist
photos/resumes and check names off a list. Your precious dollars and
brand’s interaction are on the line here, so don’t be afraid to take a
look under the hood.
Experience is Everything
With the exception of a few types of tradeshows (cut me some slack, you
know exactly what I’m saying), a promotional model's past brand experience will
always be useful. If they already know who the target is and are
familiar with a brand’s culture, use this to your advantage. By the
time a seasoned field rep is on site, they should be able to answer,
with confidence, basic brand-related inquiries and speak comfortably to
your consumer. Accomplished event marketing staff should speak from a place of true
experience, instead of spewing rehearsed lines from a sheet they read
hours (or sometimes, minutes) ago. Training your talent is imperative,
but having the experience occur naturally is important, too.
Give Training, Get Loyalty
Most event models will not make the necessary effort to familiarize
themselves with the brand they’re preparing to promote. Insist that
your staffing agency make brand training mandatory. Go beyond speaking
points, apparel, and program play-by-play. We’ve found client-assisted
“brand-bootcamps” benefit a talent’s connection to the event and its
success. The best talent has experience representing a bevy of brands.
Your talent must have the right amount of brand exposition to
intelligently interact with consumers and bring the utmost loyalty into
the event with them.
Back That Staff Up!
You’re dealing with people here—“life moments” are going happen. Murphy
and his destined Law will emerge sooner or later, so have a staffing
partner with a solid contingency plan in place for late-and no-showing
talent. A good rule of thumb is to have one talent backup (aka “Pocket
Shift”) for every four staff booked. No exceptions. We implement
showing, and on-call, talent for every event. All trained, prepped and
ready to flawlessly step in whenever needed.
Event talent should never be a DIY project—find a promotion agency committed to
controlling the variables. Advertising and marketing agencies provide
expert service through creativity, brand experience and tie-ins with
strategic alliances. If you hold the same standards with your staff,
you’ll be dealing with a winning situation every time.