Posted by Todd Buckton on Wed, Aug 18, 2010
Photo by: Robert Anderson
Covidien, a leading global provider of healthcare products, recently launched the Innovation: Delivered tour, a mobile program that introduced surgeons, residents, nurses and hospital administrators around the country to the SILS(TM) Port Multiple Instrument Access Device.
The SILS Port is an advanced, single-incision laparoscopic device that reduces the four, ½-inch or smaller incisions normally associated with traditional laparoscopic surgery to just one incision in the belly button. The SILS Port is used in gynecologic, bariatric and urologic surgeries, among other specialties.
Photos by: Michael Miller
The Innovation: Delivered tour features a state-of-the-art operating room-style facility housed in an 85-foot, nearly 80,000-pound tractor-trailer that travels around the country to bring these advanced laparoscopic surgery tools directly to surgeons and hospitals. When parked, the truck expands to a 1,200-square-foot facility with a conference room, clinical training area with advanced audio-visual tools and five operating room stations that will accommodate 10 surgeons simultaneously.
"The demand for single-incision laparoscopic surgery, an exciting and innovative technique, is increasing rapidly," said Kevin Stepp, M.D., Director of Gynecologic Surgical Education, MetroHealth/Cleveland Clinic Obstetrics and Gynecology residency program. "Medically and economically favorable, SILS procedures benefit patients and healthcare providers. I'm happy to see that the mobile facility will provide more surgeons with the opportunity to obtain the necessary training at their local hospitals in a unique and cost-effective way."
The hands-on workshops will be staffed by trained experts demonstrating the SILS Port technology and procedures. The mobile facility is fully equipped with the latest technology and resources, enabling surgeons to explore the new surgical advancements on tissue and torso trainers and to provide better patient outcomes, including less pain and improved cosmesis following surgery.
"Through innovation, collaboration and dedication, Covidien continues to lead the industry in minimally invasive surgery," said Scott Flora, President, Surgical Devices, Covidien. "We understand the demands of surgeons' schedules and the need for easy access to the latest instruments and procedures. The Innovation: Delivered tour brings these crucial tools and opportunities directly to surgeons."
Promotional Management Group is proud to be the provider that is bringing this exciting mobile experience to surgeons, residents, nurses and hospital administrators around the country.
Posted by Todd Buckton on Tue, Feb 23, 2010
Today's View from the Cab is from PMG Master Driver Dave who just finished a trip from California to Denver for the next leg of a mobile tour for a valued healthcare client. The photos he took are just west of the Vail pass. Dave said he just missed a huge storm that dumped lots of snow on Denver and the local ski areas.
Not only are these beautiful photos but they are a perfect way to show why mobile tours are a great way to get your product in front of people who want to buy. Multiple large scale gatherings like trade shows continue to fade in importance in the minds of decision makers. Decisions like increased travel costs, better online communication technology, inconvenience to attendees and a general desire to stay closer to home looms large with your core audience. That's why mobile tours are such a great way to break through the clutter. Take your product to where the decision makers are and make it easy for them to be bowled over by your incredible product. Make it easy for them to experience your product and you make it easy for them to buy your product.
Dave left Denver and is now in beautiful Minot, ND showcasing our client's product to prospects and customers who don't have to go far to be impressed by their offering. And at less than 100 miles to the Canadian border, the weather is lots worse in Minot than it is in Denver this time of year, but our client has made it easy for their prospects to experience an excellent product. We battled the elements. We brought it to them. Another great reason to use mobile tours to Drive The Brand Experience.
All photos by PMG Driver Dave Christenson
Posted by Todd Buckton on Fri, Feb 12, 2010
We've looked at the types of vehicles that are available for your mobile tour, now let's look at how these can transform into unique marketing spaces.
If we say that "you are only limited to your imagination" when it comes to customization, you might think that's an overused, hackneyed phrase. But when it comes to mobile event marketing, it's completely true. Once the transport is safely parked at the venue of your choice near your prospects and customers, that's when the fun begins. Set up for a transport can be anywhere from a couple of hours to a couple of days and these transports can become anything. Here's how they might start:
53' Single Slide Transport
This is referred to as a "single slide" transport. It's indicated as having stairs at the front and the rear of the slide out, but that choice is all yours. The doors can be put on the opposite side, the front, back, wherever it's right for the specific application. The slide allows the transport to get down the road and then opens up onsite to become a roomy, luxurious selling environment. Here's an example of a single slide:
A variation of this transport is the double slide:
53' Double Slide Transport
This transport will allow you to more than double the floor space of a straight 53' transport and give your product or service more than ample room to adequately market your product in a singular environment.
Another variation is a stage area instead of a slide. This makes the 53' transport a natural for live presentations to large audiences.
53' Single Slide/Single Stage Transport
Here's a couple of variations of that same stage concept. One is a retail operation:
This application allowed the manufacturer to sell high-margin accessories while showcasing their latest product offerings.
Here's another variation of the same type of transport. This time, the side opens up to reveal the full-size business jet fuselage. This display was used to presell a new business jet that was being developed and built. Incredibly effective, highly targeted and amazing ROI.
Now we have an idea of what is possible with custom transports. As we said up front, if you can imagine it you can have it. And just to prove our point, we'll leave you with a custom transport built in Australia that turns into...well you just have to see it to believe it. Brilliant. Expect to see the same concept soon here in the states.
Incredible perspective views of custom transports by Derrick Johnson
Sweet Australian Mobile Pub by Truckmania
All other cool photos by Promotional Management Group
Posted by Todd Buckton on Fri, Jan 22, 2010
This entry into the RoadBlog Mobile Event Hall of Fame looks good, smells good and serves up great-tasting brats. That in itself is cause for admission into this Hall of Fame (see previous Hall of Fame entry), but the Johnsonville Big Taste Grill is an experiential delight.
With tongue placed firmly in brat-filled cheek, Johnsonville has stirred that primordial part of every male's brain that craves meat grilled over an open fire. A tanker truck converted into a giant grill that Johnsonville provides gratis for events (you buy the brats...). It's a grill disguised as a giant brand experience.
People take their pictures in front of it. It gets lots of press and it gets smiles wherever it goes. And wherever it goes there's a brat waiting.
What's not to like?
Happy guy with Blue Shirt photos by Ed Kohler on Flickr
Posted by Todd Buckton on Fri, Jan 15, 2010
Straight Frame 53' Transport
One of the best things about mobile event marketing is the amazing number of variables available. There are so many different types of transports it's difficult to keep track of them all. But you've come to the right place here at RoadBlog, because during this series, we'll tell you about all kinds of transports and all of the variations therein. And then we'll get into customization. When we're done, you'll be better prepared to Drive Your Brand Experience. You'll see that your imagination is the only limit to what can be done with a mobile tour. So let's get started.
The most common transport for mobile tours is the 53' transport. It is also the most common transport you see on the highways and byways of America. The Coke truck above is a typical 53' transport. It's called a straight frame because it's a straight box. Notice on the Coke photo how the box is above the wheels and straight. A typical straight frame transport is 53' long, 8.5' wide and 8' high, giving you around 450 square feet of floor space and about 3600 cubic feet of display space. Keep those numbers in mind, because it just gets bigger and better.
Single Drop 53' Transport
After the straight frame comes a single drop. We included a photo of a flatbed transport here because it more easily shows how the transport drops down below the level of the wheels allowing for a taller load. What that drop means for a custom transport is more cubic footage inside the display, and a taller ceiling height for your display and your prospects making for a more comfortable experience.
Double Drop 53' Transport
Now things start to get interesting for Driving The Brand Experience. Here is a double drop 53' transport. Notice how far the floor drops down compared to the single drop. And then compare it to the Coke truck at the top. Now imagine how we can start to create some excitement with a transport this size. The double drop transport without further modification is as big as it gets. But that further modification is exactly what we'll talk about in our next chapter of Which Mobile Tour Transport is Right for You?
Straight Frame Photo via Flickr by Rick
Single Drop Photo via Flickr by alltheengineer
Double Drop Photo by our friends at Featherlite
Posted by Todd Buckton on Mon, Nov 23, 2009
Here at RoadBlog we think the best thing about traveling on the road is finding little out of the way places with incredible food. You can learn so much about a place by eating where the locals eat. A bowl of chili is completely different in Oregon than it is in Cincinnati. For that matter so is a grilled cheese. National chain restaurants are fine if everything else is closed. But you're shortchanging yourself if you don't see what America has to offer in local food. With that in mind, here's the top 5 places RoadBlog looks for guidance before (and while) hitting the road:
1. Roadfood is the online extension of Jane and Michael Stern's remarkable run as print columnists primarily for the now-defunct Gourmet magazine. The food stays true to the region and typically is diner-style, hamburgers, hot dogs and breakfast joints. The reviews are inspired, fair and almost always spot on.
2. Chowhound was a nice, homegrown national food web guide of all types of cuisines, from fast and simple to fancy to incredible. They also specialized in local ingredients or packaged foods. So if you've never been to Philadelphia, Chowhound would give you the best place to get a Philly steak, or Sushi or what the locals eat for packaged lunchtime treats (the astounding, sublime Tastykake). It was a nice little website with a clunky interface. In 2006 they were bought by CNET and got all fancified. The interface got better and the ads have managed to keep out of the way of the content. Still a great site and a great source of info.
3. Ask a local. Follow your nose. Get into town and ask somebody at the gas station. Or stop into the hardware store and see what everybody does for lunch. You'll probably meet a character who will tell you a story or two and then turn you on to something incredible. RoadBlog has found lots of great food this way, but it's not foolproof. A particularly foul fish taco in Oceanside, CA recommended by a guy who looked like Gabby Hayes made us realize we should have stuck with Rubio's. Locals are also a great way to find great food on the web:
4. Local city websites with incredible content are springing up all over the country. For example, if you ever find yourself in the Chicagoland area, just check out LTH Forum. This outstanding site was started by a bunch of local foodies who were at a restaurant in Chinatown called Three Happiness. Great dim sum, open late, no pretensions, just good food. It has 8 tables, hence the "little", and Little Three Happiness Forum was born. But LTH Forum is not just Chinese. The LTH Forum foodies have turned over every culinary stone in the city to find the best gyros, tacos, pizza, late night Mexican, Ethiopian, you name it. It's a great compendium of food in a city with an eye-popping array of amazing foods.
5. Check out the local newspaper websites. RoadBlog keeps track of lots of news pertaining to healthcare, aviation, experiential and mobile event marketing on Google Reader. But nestled in amongst the news of the business is the news of the food. Just for good reading subscribe to the food blog of the Houston Press called "Eating Our Words". Houston, TX has a huge food vocabulary and the writers for this paper have their fingers firmly on the pulse of it. Streetside BBQ, Indian, recipes for pecan pie when the pecans are in season, you eat it and they cover it. I can't wait to get back to Houston. I know right where I'll go for Vietnamese.
So there you have it. Wherever you go on the road there's somebody ready to help you find that indigenous treat that's worth going out of the way for. Bon Appetit from RoadBlog.