How To Host A Marketing Party
She laced up all of her invites and sent them out to all of her friends. She asked her friends to RSVP two weeks prior to the party and followed up a phone call the day before to confirm their attendance. They were all coming. She was chuffed. On the day of her party she spent the better half of the day cleaning her house, fluffing the cushions, shampooing the dog and arranging the cutlery. Sally made sure that she had a number of suitable records lined up to play, a modest but dependable selection of beverages available and a list of topics which she wanted the party to discuss.
As instructed, her guests arrived promptly at 7pm and began mingling politely. When all her guests had arrived, Sally guided them to the dining table where she preceded to bring out a traditional three course meal which seemed to be thoroughly enjoyed. Throughout dinner Sally covered the topics of conversation which she thought would be of interest to the majority: the latest films, the holiday she is planning and of course, her secret ingredient in the choc raspberry cupcake. At 9:30PM her guests thanked her for a lovely night, gave a peck on the cheek and returned home to their families.
On the other side of town, Josie Jones bundled through the door of her apartment.
It had been a long week at work and she had no plans for her Friday night. She popped open last nights sav blanc, poured herself a glass and reached for her mobile phone. Without a second thought she sent a text to six of her closest friends: “No plans tonight. Keen for a few vinos and a bit of a play up. If free, pop round when you want, just bring your drink of choice and any interesting peeps!” Josie looked around her house, she had no food, there were dishes in the sink and her boyfriend still had motorbike parts in the lounge room. Too late now.
Her friends started calling in around 7pm. And 8pm. And 9pm. The door was open and they let themselves in. She knew some of her friends friends, she didn’t know others. But that was cool. Some mulled around the music player to queue their favorite tracks, others gathered on the balcony for a smoke and there was a group in the kitchen playing MasterBartender. As the night wore on the drinks went from shots to skulls, music went from The Black Keys to Bon Jovi and the conversations from animated to inappropriate. One friend got locked in the bathroom, another bruised her shin on a bike exhaust and the boys started a budgie smuggler modeling competition. All of these incidents resulted in hysteric fits. Josie can’t say what happened after that. The photos weren’t suitable for Facebook, she had a couple of new friends in her phonebook and on Monday the girls wanted to go out for lunch to trade party stories.
What does this have to do with marketing?
Well, as a marketer, think about the type of parties you throw. Are they like Sally’s or are they like Josie’s? How much control do you give to your guests? Is there a surprise element? Is there spontaneity? Is there a chance for greatness and a risk of failure?
Which party would you prefer to go to?
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The thing that strikes me is the control and planning that Sally felt she needed to have in order for people to have fun (or like her?). It strikes me as the approach of someone who is not comfortable … not a good approach for a company (not being comfortable with your offering).
Nath –have you got any good examples of any surprise elements at business functions?
Good analogy (and strangely enough an exact replica of the two parties I attended on Saturday night).
So when it comes to setting up a popular party – you’ve got it licked. But in demonstrating that, you’ve highlighted the inherent risk – which brands would be brave enough to risk the spontanaeity/unpredictability of Josie Jones?
Thanks for the comments guys. Oyster, as Johnny said below, this was more an analogy about the way we interact with customers rather than specific events or functions. It’s about throwing open the doors of your brand and letting your audience choose how they want to play with you.
There’s been a number of marketing examples such as Skittles home page change ot Twitter, Dorito’s create your own TVC and Fujifilm’s Every Picture Matters. In terms of products, we have seen Firefox (and the soon to be released Google Wave) as open source, Starbucks mystarbucksidea.com and Dell’s built to order service all give the consumer the control.
Not all have gone smoothly and some have gone much better than others. But they were took a risk to be give away control in order to take engagement to the next level.
Five years from now, the risk-takers will be those that stick to tradittional strategies.
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Another Advertising Wanker
Nathan Bush
Interactive Strategist, BCM
Brisbane, Australia
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