We know many of you may be thinking, “these experiential marketing ideas sound good in the planning stages but they seem to take a lot of work getting them across the line — is it really worth it?”
It is always helpful to learn form others who have tried new things and been there, done that.
This week we hear from Eve Williams, Sector Lead - Marketing at Primary ITO to hear how their GIANT BURGER experiential marketing campaign satisfied their need to to amplify their brand and messaging at field days events around the country.
SO, FIRST THINGS FIRST, HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THE IDEA OF A GIANT BURGER?
Last year at Mystery Creek Fieldays (where Primary ITO and NZ Young Farmers share a site) we co-developed the concept of a burger which represents all the different careers in the world of the primary industries- meat, horticulture, eggs, dairy processing, marketing, tractors, grains - the list goes on!
For the 2019 regional and national field days this year I had the idea of expanding on this by getting something people had something to physically engage with - like a giant burger. But what do you do with a 1.3 burger?
You can’t just have it sit there, so we decided that the purpose of field days for us is to raise awareness of careers in the primary industries and how Primary ITO can help build capability for the industry. We set up a simple social media-based campaign to encourage people to take a photo with the burger and share it to social media – snap it tag it win it – hashtagging #knowledgetogrow which is Primary ITO’s tagline, and tagging us in.
WHAT WERE SOME OF YOUR LESSONS YOU LEARNED ALONG THE WAY AND DID IT WORK?
For Central District Fieldays the take up was a bit slower, as we had the burger sitting up on a table. So for South Island Agriculture Field Days we put it on the floor to encourage people to interact with it– get inside it, hold it, or whatever they wanted. We had really good uptake and feedback – it’s certainly eye-catching and good at drawing attention to our stand, so our field team can have a chat about Primary ITO.
We were stoked with how many people got involved - and it was a nice straightforward campaign to run from head office here in Wellington, which meant that the field team on the stand were freed up to talk about the awesome work that Primary ITO does. It’s also an all-ages activity – it was awesome to see photos of parents and kids, as well as school age kids and older getting involved.
WHAT WOULD YOU DO DIFFERENTLY IN THE FUTURE?
If we were going to do things differently, I might have got the burger made a bit smaller, because freighting a 1.3m burger around the country is not easy. Also some people did struggle with the social media element – how to post how to tag, etc – so a photobooth or similar which posts directly to social media, and emails the photos out, could be an option
Eve, thank you so much for taking the time to share how you came up with the clever burger idea, what you learned, how you pivoted when things didn’t work like you expected and what you would change for the future. It was a great invitation to start a conversation within your space.
Eve, thank you so much for taking the time to share how you came up with the clever burger idea, what you learned, how you pivoted when things didn’t work like you expected and what you would change for the future. It was a great invitation to start a conversation within your space.
Be sure to give them a like on Facebook and Instagram @primaryito
BOSS LADY TIP: THE NEXT STEP FROM HERE WOULD BE TO ASK “HOW CAN WE BUILD ON THIS ATTENTION AND RELATIONSHIPS AFTER THE EVENT?”
What would you do?
Do you have an idea but not sure how to really make it amplify your messaging or brand? Chelsea would love to meet with you in person to help flesh out your idea (or even come up with one!) and find ways to use social media to help you be a little more memorable at your next event.
Trista Burn is an American-born-Kiwi-by-marriage communications specialist. A dairy farmer’s daughter, and a legacy deeply rooted in ag, Trista firmly believes in the value of agvocating and sharing stories. In other words - the heartbeat of GRM.
Home made Apple Pie, Mexican food, soft chocolate chip cookies and coffee are the way to Trista's heart. She can easily devour a good book in a day although she is recently mostly surrounded by children’s books and Thomas The Train sets as she is neck deep in the world of toddler parenting and loving it.
