Employ Strategic Entertainment to Gain Competitive Advantage
By Jon Stetson
In today’s corporate structure, everyone is trying to get an “edge.”
Companies want to wow their customers, their stakeholders and even
their employees so their brand and their message stay relevant and
meaningful in the current marketplace. How can companies get that
edge? By using live communication and entertainment tools in a
strategic way, by taking calculated risks and by putting the human
element back into every experience the company promotes.
Realize that bombarding people with fact after fact – whether at an
annual convention, at the weekly sales meeting or in an advertising
campaign – numbs people’s brains. Today’s audiences need to feel,
need to laugh, need to applaud, and need an “ah-ha” experience. For
example, look at this year’s commercials during the Super Bowl,
which is a traditional advertising venue. Ads today are more human
and humor-based than ever before. Why? Because the messaging and the
way the message is delivered is what’s important to audiences. This
concept applies whether you’re a small business with less than ten
employees or a multi-national corporation.
As a result of this trend, businesses are
scrambling to capture both the mind-share and heart-share of their
audiences. This is important, because mind-share plus heart-share
equals productivity-share. If you can use strategic entertainment to
open up the hearts and minds of your intended audience, chances are
they’re going to do more for you because they get your message, they
like it and they experience it. So whether you’re trying to motivate
your sales team at the weekly meeting, engage your customers with a
thoughtful marketing campaign or reach people from the podium with
an awe-inspiring speaker, you want your audience to open up and
embrace the experience you’re providing. In the end, the
audience’s experience, their reactions and their subsequent actions
– what they think and do as a result of their experience – are
critical measurement tools for your message’s Return on Investment
(ROI) and Return on Objectives (ROO), and for your future event and
messaging strategy.
Using strategic entertainment and live communication tools can be
extremely effective, yet it takes confidence, and unfortunately,
many companies are leery of trying something new. But realize that
the people and companies that get results are the ones willing to
stick their necks out and try new things. Remember, too, that
building a brand that sticks or crafting a message that triggers
action isn’t easy. Today’s new brand may be tomorrow’s old news.
That’s why you need to constantly communicate to your audience in a
way that engages them and captures their hearts and minds.
In order
for your company to use strategic entertainment in a way that
advances your message, consider the following points.
Take
the traditional blinders off: You need to be creative and stick
your neck out to get ahead. The first step to doing that is to
become a student of the strategic entertainment process. Talk to a
creative advisor about your company’s objectives for your next sales
meeting, adverting campaign, convention, etc., and allow the
discovery process to occur. If you’re willing to put yourself back
into the classroom, so to speak, and be open to learning about new
ideas and concepts, then over time you can develop the confidence to
try something new. In the long run, whether you embark on a new
direction by using strategic entertainment or continue the company’s
existing direction, your decision and selection process will be
better, thus causing your results to be better, simply because you
were willing explore a new concept rather than keep a closed mind.
Have
a clear picture of the meeting, event or marketing message:
Often, people planning a meeting, event or branding initiative don’t
have enough information to make an informed decision. For example, a
meeting planner who is in charge of finding a speaker for the
company’s annual convention will call a speaker’s bureau and say,
“We need a motivational speaker.” But there are over twenty
different definitions of a motivational speaker. It could be a rock
climber, someone who lived through a catastrophic experience, or a
rags to riches story, just to name a few. In other words, people are
overwhelmed with options. That’s why you have to set some time aside
and think the meeting, event, or message through, even if you’re
only going to be communicating with a small group of in-house
employees. Don’t just say that you want to inspire your salespeople
or that you want your customers to buy your products. Who is your
intended audience? What pains or stresses do they have? What is the
theme of your meeting, event or branding initiative? How are your
company’s products doing in the marketplace? All this information is
critical for you to be able to communicate effectively with your
audience.
Focus
on creative concepts and ideas: Most people have an idea for
their meeting, event or branding message and think that one idea is
the only option. But planning one that uses strategic entertainment
is much like writing—usually the first thing you write down is not
the final product you print. Sure, you need to have a talking point
or a starting point in terms of what you think you want, but then
you have to go deeper and share ideas with others. Throw some
concepts on the table, create a storyboard of ideas, and then see if
the original idea has stayed the same. It’s all about keeping an
open mind. You need to get input from others and be receptive to new
ideas because someone else may come up with an innovative concept
you never thought of. You need someone to challenge you and what you
want in terms of the message and the event. Only then will your
final product have impact and meaning on your audience.
Clearly communicate your needs, concerns and feelings to those
responsible for the meeting, event or message: Unfortunately,
the human aspect is missing in corporate America today. Technology
has replaced many human interactions and conversations. While e-mail
and instant messenger are great for relaying information to others,
you’ll get much better results when you actually interact with
someone, whether on the phone or face-to-face. During these
interactions, involve and engage people by talking about the needs,
concerns and feelings you have about your meeting, event, or
message. If those who are responsible for creating a strategic
entertainment experience for your audience don’t know upfront what
the marching orders are, they could be going off on a tangent that’s
light years away from what you want simply because you’re not
clearly communicating from the start.
Get the Return You Want –
Strategically:
Being able to connect
with your audience is paramount in today’s corporate environment. To
stay ahead of your competition, you must be innovative and
constantly trying to reach forward—trying to do better than last
year. That’s where strategic entertainment will give you the edge.
So whether you’re writing the agenda for your weekly sales meeting,
creating your company’s next marketing campaign or planning the
speaker for your next convention, remember that audiences want an
experience, not just a fact-filled message. The more you give your
audience what they want, the more apt they’ll be to give you the
return you want, which will lead to greater bottom-line results for
everyone involved.
Read other articles and learn more
about
Jon Stetson.
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