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Business to All

In a recently published report to Government entitled “Engaging for success: enhancing performance through employee engagement” The Rt Hon Lord Mandelson, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills said “Only organisations that truly engage and inspire their employees produce world class levels of innovation, productivity and performance.”

The report takes an in-depth look at employee engagement and reports on its potential benefits for companies, organisations and individual employees. It goes on to say that business and organisations function best when they make their employees’ commitment, potential, creativity and capability central to their operation. Clearly, having enough cash, and a sensible strategy, are vital. But how people behave at work can make the crucial difference between business and operational success or failure.

Gallup in 2006 examined 23,910 business units and compared top quartile and bottom quartile financial performance with engagement scores. They found that: Those with engagement scores in the bottom quartile averaged 31 – 51 per cent more employee turnover, 51 per cent more inventory shrinkage and 62 per cent more accidents. Those with engagement scores in the top quartile averaged 12 per cent higher customer advocacy, 18 per cent higher productivity and 12 per cent higher profitability.

Engagement is two way: organisations must work to engage the employee, who in turn has a choice about the level of engagement to offer the employer. Each reinforces the other.

There are so many new and innovative ways to inspire and engage the internal audience, from social media to experiential marketing. Developments in areas such as digital theatre and content sharing are creating a revolution in the B2C market that producers of internal events simply cannot ignore.

These new methods of engagement are not just for consumers; it's high time that corporate companies started treating their internal and business audiences as consumers, and building more immersive and engaging 'business brand experiences'.

The recent credit crunch has acted as a catalyst for change across all sectors and now is the perfect time for businesses to readdress the way they communicate with their internal and external audiences. Lord Mandelson confirms this: “ A recession might seem an unusual time for such reflection – in fact, the opposite is the case. Because Britain’s economic recovery and its competitive strengths in a global economy will be built on strong, innovative companies and confident employees, there has never been a more important time to think about employee engagement in Britain.”

Businesses have a duty now more than ever to demonstrate how their business values match those of their prospects, in addition to reassuring their existing clients and employees. We are seeing more and more brands embracing the use of social media and digital platforms to share, measure, and amplify their events and marketing strategy. There is such a wealth of technology available that empowers businesses with the tools to create memorable experiences - for clients, prospects and staff alike.

Experiential techniques, once the exclusive property of the B2C marketing department, are now transcending into the corporate world and are being used to engage prospects and staff. The economic climate has forced a move away from big budget spending on one medium; as a result businesses are looking for new ways to interact with their target demographic.

Businesses are under pressure to engage prospects and sustain a healthy bottom line, and it is difficult to generate stand out and cut through in an increasingly cluttered and saturated market place. And with reports that distrust in big companies, whether as supplier, client or employee, is at an all time low, it is more important than ever for corporates to try and engage on a more personal level. It is high time that brands and institutions started to treat their internal audiences as consumers in their own right and look to turn these people into fans of the brand.

When awareness goes bad…

Everyone knows that I am one of the biggest and most outspoken advocates of the use of digital and social media to inform, share content and generally amplify live events and experiential campaigns.

But those looking to support their event campaigns with social media should not go into it blind. You should ensure that your approach is strategically aligned to your objectives, that you are using the right platforms and that you are managing the level of engagement and response from your target audience - especially when you are using channels to drive the attendance of an event.

There is no event that that can afford a mass attendance beyond their maximum capacity. Think of the past mistakes such as Fat Boy Slim on the beach in Brighton where no one expected such an overwhelming number of revelers to turn up, and another more recent example of American Apparels “Rummage Sale”.

An American Apparel rummage sale held in London in April turned ugly, when nearly 3,000 people showed up to get their share of the retailer's goods.

The “Fame” influenced apparel brand hired more than 22,000 square foot of space in the East End’s trendy Brick Lane for the rummage sale. The event was announced through various social media channels and almost 30,000 people signed up to a Facebook group to say they were planning to attend the sale.

Still no alarm bells ringing for the organisers…

Past experience should have indicated something was about to go wrong - similar events in cities including Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, San Diego, Miami, Berlin and Austin had also attracted thousands of people in the days preceding this event with adverse reactions.

But still no alarm bells ringing for the organisers…

So the morning of the event arrived and 3,000 people were queuing when a small issue at the door occurs… “At 10am there was a burst of people coming to the front door. We couldn’t control that.”

“We knew it was going to be big but not this big” said a representative. Conflict in the line turned into a riot, in which ten police officers were hurt and three people arrested. The sale was shut down that day, but rescheduled to run through the next week with extra security.

The sale's organisers then tapped into social media once more and apologised via Facebook, saying they'd "never witnessed anything like it." That it was "overwhelming and humbling," and that they had "never witnessed anything like it and are disappointed and sorry that it happened."

The “riot” marks another strike against the company, which has fallen on hard times. This damage to the companies profile has been amplified through every social media platform known to man. Today’s Youtube culture has paid homage to the event with many, many uploaded videos of the incident.

How did they get it so wrong, was it desperation to get the numbers and make the sales? Was it poor digital strategy? Or was it just naivety? Either way, it was hugely damaging to the brand and its reputation.

Take heed, plan, plan, plan for every eventuality.

If you are using social media to amplify an event the sky can be the limit in terms of those that will register. You should also bear in mind that those that do register may also pass on the information to others - statistics show that you are eight or nine times more likely to engage with an offer if a friend or family member has passed on the information to you. To avoid things escalating out of your control, ensure that there is a cut off point. You must ensure that you are not running the risk of over attendance or over subscription.

This is were the value of charging for an event in advance works. This will not only give your event a perceived value, it will afford you the opportunity to create a definitive attendance structure. You can charge and the cost of attendance goes to charity.

You could also add into this a mechanic that allows you two way communication with your audience that also ensures you are managing the numbers – some of you may remember the M25 raves of the early 90’s - the location can be kept secret and then shared at the last minute with those that have registered.

The most important thing with public events is public safety, being able to pre determine all of the H&S factors makes the difference between success and failure. The team at RPM Corporate are well rehearsed in such matters having created and managed some very famous public events in the past - including the innocent village fete and Nick Jnr’s Jump Up children’s event.

The use of social media and digital amplification also helps to offset one of the most difficult and costly areas of event organizing - marketing it to your audience. Remember, we are currently in an event boom and events of all kinds are becoming very attractive income streams and the use of social and digital media will always enhance the experience – when properly executed.