Tips from O Hello Media: HOW TO ENSURE YOUR EVENT STAYS TRUE TO BRAND
Last Month,
We reached out to some industry pros to share their expert opinions on the best tactics for creating a marketing event that is consistent and on-brand. As THE event marketer, you spend countless hours preparing, planning for and executing your event, and that lengthy process can often result in a final activation that is far from your original intention and strategy.
Each of our experts contributed a different take on how to avoid this potential pitfall, however, there exists a clear common thread:
CREATE A PROCESS AS YOU MANAGE YOUR PROJECT WITH CHECKPOINTS THROUGHOUT TO ENSURE THAT EACH LAYER OF THE ACTIVATION MATCHES BACK TO YOUR MARKETING STRATEGY.
These checkpoints can be simple yes or no questions: Does this [INSERT: sponsorship, brand ambassador, premium item, consumer touchpoint, etc.] align with the brand’s:
CORE VALUES?
TARGET DEMOGRAPHIC?
PURPOSE FOR THE ACTIVATION?
MEASURE OF SUCCESS?
This system of checks & balances is crucial from an overarching strategic perspective, and so once you have that element solidified, the next step is to get more granular and focus on execution because your outcome will only be as good as your project management.
ARE YOU READY TO EXECUTE? TAKE A LOOK AT O HELLO MEDIA’S CONTENT CAPTURE & PROJECT MANAGEMENT CHECKLIST
PROJECT MANAGEMENT SUCCESS VS. FAILURE
“Effective project management, therefore, is another imperative layer to ensure you produce an experiential activation that stays true to brand & aligns with the original intention of the event”
A Price Waterhouse Cooper study of over 10,640 projects found that Only 2.5% of companies complete their projects 100% successfully. The rest either failed to meet some of their original targets, missed the original budget or deadlines.
As fellow “Type A” personalities, we both know that your activations succeed with thorough planning & preparation. Effective project management, therefore, is another imperative layer to ensure that you produce an experiential activation that stays true to brand and aligns with the original intention of the event.
THE DIFFERENTIATING FACTOR
This same strategy trickles down to the the photography & videography element to your brand activation and we are willing to bet the same for whatever piece of the brand activation you are involved in; whether overseeing the whole event or playing a supportive role as collaborative partner like O Hello Media. Ultimately, for us, a successful shoot means that along with our network of skilled photographers & videographers, the project management process we implement yields visual content that is consistent and on-brand.
WHY DOES IT MATTER?
If you’re a type A personality like most event producers and marketers are, failure is not an option and staying organized is the most crucial element to success. Identify your goals first, then find a strategy that will yield your desired results. From there, the next step is organized implementation through effective project management to stay true to the strategy. Lastly, none of it matters without a measure for success.
THE NEXT STEP
While it may seem like a daunting task, outlining your project management process is an important place to start. Lucky for you, the team here at O Hello Media has created a checklist that outlines important milestones for project management as it relates to photography & videography inclusive of industry specific checks & balances based on our expertise. You can either use this list as a model to create your own, or to manage the photography & videography element of your brand activation:
OUR MILESTONES WILL HELP YOU TO:
MANAGE YOUR TIME
STAY ORGANIZED
MEET PROJECT DEADLINES
ENSURE FULL COVERAGE OF ALL PROGRAM ELEMENTS
The Content Capture & Project Management Checklist will enable you to elevate good content to great content.
