Posted by Todd Buckton on Fri, Aug 27, 2010
The best mobile tour becomes an experience. It provides the participant with a rich, sensory brew that helps to cement that particular experience in the mind of the viewer.
Frito Lay took a mobile greenhouse into six large cities this summer with six of the many farmers who grow the potatoes that make Lay's Potato Chips.
By doing an excellent job of providing a local and human element to what could be considered a homogenous global product, Frito Lay used the farmers to place a face on the production of their product. That, coupled with the mobile environment full of live plants and black, loamy soil gave this tour everything it needed to be a successful experiential tour.
Here at Road Blog, we know how important experiences are for our clients. Well-designed traveling brand experiences are the "secret sauce" that make mobile tours so successful and allows us to provide our clients with rapid, positive ROI.
Frito Lay asked their audiences to leave the world they know for a short time and become immersed in another environment. One where the men and women tend to the fields and nurture the food that we eat on a daily basis. That immersion quickly invaded the senses of the participant and created a positive experience that the company was intending.
How would you portray your brand if you could put it on a tour and take it across the country?
Posted by Todd Buckton on Wed, Aug 25, 2010
53' Double Drop Trailer ready for customization
40' Class "A" Motorhome
Many times we get asked: "Can I use a Class A motorhome for my mobile tour?" And of course, the answer is a definitive...maybe.
Class “A” motorhomes have many advantages over a 53' mobile environment. Since they are self-contained, they are smaller and more nimble; they can park in many places a larger tour might not fit. They can be highly customized and offer surprisingly roomy interior enlargement with slides. They can be less expensive, especially in the short run to operate. And, most importantly it seems, a commercial driver’s license is not necessary to operate a motorhome.
But there are myriad reasons why a 53’ custom environment can be a better fit for your needs.
A 53’ tractor-trailer combination is designed and built for long-haul running. It’s nothing for a 53’ mobile tour to cross from coast to coast over a several day period. If a breakdown occurs, a replacement tractor can be easily introduced; motorhomes with internalized engine and drivetrains are out of action. And those same mechanical components take up valuable selling space onboard the tour. Not so with the 53’ custom transport. All space in the customized transport is devoted to enhancing your brand. Even components like HVAC and restroom facilities are built to withstand more use and strain. A 53’ custom transport with the right AC can sit in the Mojave desert and keep it’s occupants icy cold. The cost to run a 53’ tour in the long run are typically less when all factors of upkeep, maintenance and operation are accounted for. Yes, a professional driver is needed. But isn’t that what your tour and your brand deserves?
So, depending on the application, a Class “A” motorhome might make perfect sense. Used within a short radius, local application like a bookmobile or blood donation vehicle, these can be ideal. If ingress/egress is not an issue - especially ADA compliance - and numbers of visitors is not critical, this can be a perfect solution.
Yes, we do get asked: "Can I use a Class "A" motorhome for my mobile tour?"
But we also often get asked: “Can I retire my Class “A” motorhome and upgrade to a tour that will be less headaches for me?”
To determine which application is right for you, download the PMG eBook below for more information on the best way to Drive Your Brand Experience.
Posted by Todd Buckton on Mon, Aug 23, 2010
Today's View from the Cab highlights what some of the PMG mobile tour drivers have been doing on their summer vacations. After helping our clients Drive Their Brand Experience in the best ways possible, these guys need to get the batteries recharged.
First we hear from Driver Tom who's checking in from the Kentucky State Fair. The State Fair is a wonderful tradition in the USA, featuring the best each state has to offer in agriculture, commerce, livestock, entertainment and...fried food. Here at RoadBlog we've been to many State Fairs and we've eaten everything from deep fried cauliflower to deep fried Twinkies. But the Kentucky State Fair has something we've never, ever seen: Donut Burgers.
That's right. A fresh - never frozen - juicy burger, fresh off the grill with all the trimmings, and instead of a bun? Oh yeah, slap that puppy between two donuts. In any other venue a donut burger would be looked upon with shock, wonder, perhaps even disgust. At a State Fair? It's downright brilliant. Thanks to Driver Tom for sharing this bit of Americana, even though we never heard if he actually tried a donut burger.
Our next stop on the PMG Drivers summer vacation tour takes us to Tennessee, where driver Dave has just landed a lunker catfish and sent us a photo. He wouldn't tell us where the fishing hole is, just that it's in Tennessee. He also wouldn't tell us what he caught it on, so the catfish in Tennessee are probably safe from many of us...but not from Dave.
What did you do this summer to get away from it all?
Posted by Todd Buckton on Fri, Aug 20, 2010
Photo by Jeremy van Bedijk
We read with interest Steve Mills’ recent article in the Chicago Tribune about the increased interest in mobile butchering operations. Usually built on a flatbed truck, these operations travel to individual farms and butcher on site, allowing producers to keep closer control of their end product and supply it to a consumer who can be assured of the quality and safety they are getting. Not only confined to pigs and cattle, these operations are also being utilized for poultry, shrimp and fish.
Large-scale operations process animals at incredible speeds, and sometimes the end result is less than optimal, as noted by the increasing numbers of meat recalls that have occurred in the last 18 months.
Everybody appears to win with mobile processing: the producer makes more money with a custom-cut product to sell, and eliminates travel to and from the large scale processor. The consumer stays much closer to the producer and knows what he or she is putting on the table. Chefs could go to their favorite meat purveyor and have a specific animal processed to their liking. Inspection is identical to that of larger processors so a quality product is assured.
So what does this have to do with custom tours? Everything in our opinion. Custom experiential tours take your product or service directly to prospects who are interested in buying, instead of going to a trade show with a dilution of interest from attendees; this also makes them a much more efficient way to promote your brand. Custom tours promote brand advocacy with experiences that can’t be had in larger venues. It's a win-win.
Are you getting your brand closer to the people who can benefit from it the most? Are you letting them touch and feel it in an experiential way that benefits them and you? Are you creating brand advocates with the ways you promote your product right now?
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Posted by Todd Buckton on Fri, Mar 12, 2010
Interior, Double slide 53' transport for IT outsourcing provider
Here's where it gets fun: Take a plain white transport shell and turn it into a perfect environment to make your product or service stand out from the pack. Let the creatives at it and you'll see that truly your imagination is all that stands between your product and a custom space made to sell your product.
Interior, double slide 53' custom transport for country music entertainer tour
Exterior, Double slide 53' transport for athletic hall of fame
Interior, Double slide 53' transport for manned space travel
Exterior, Double slide 53' transport with attached inflatable dome to seat 100+ for political campaign
Interior, Double slide 53' transport for IT outsourcing provider
As you can see, if it can be imagined, it can be incorporated into a custom mobile environment. But it can also be produced and that's where the professionals come in: taking the designer's vision and bringing it to life. And that is not a job for the faint-hearted. Once these custom transports are built, they need to travel hundreds of thousands of miles each year, bringing your product directly to the people who want to buy. Like a rock concert, these environments get set up and struck scores of times over a 12 month period. So they have to be designed, built and run with longevity and durability in mind.
Here is an example of a mobile classroom that served to train both sales reps and to market to surgeons as well:
This execution has been particularly effective to introduce this revolutionary product into an anticipatory market.
Here is an example of another demo lab that teaches cardiac catheter techniques to surgical staff easily and effectively:
How about an aviation solution that creates the interior of a business-class jet for presale to the buying audience. This mobile environment traveled hundreds of thousands of miles and sold scores of these aircraft providing pre-sale interest and income before manufacture:
Finally, here's a retail environment that attracted tens of thousands of motorcycle enthusiasts. They became willing brand advocates while they took test rides leading to sales and bought cool brand swag.
So there you have it. With the right vehicle for your product or service, customized to attract your target audience, bringing it to them can sell more product for you. That's how PMG helps you Drive Your Brand Experience.
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 Fri, Jan 08, 2010
One of the reasons that clients stay with Promotional Management Group long-term is that we give them the tools they need to keep apprised of tour status. The PMG Event Management System™ (EMS™) provides complete control over all of our tours. From any web-enabled browser, approved users can see at a glance what is happening with their tours. Depending on the level of authority, users can add or delete events, verify/change the address of the venue, identify who the local contact is, what time the load-in is and when the event begins. We developed this proprietary application for our valued clients to make their lives easier, and give them peace of mind when juggling multiple events.
We think you’ll find that the EMS™ is the perfect tool to keep you informed and in touch with your coworkers, your customers and your brand. At PMG we know the EMS™ is just one more reason that we help you Drive Your Brand Experience.