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 Thu, Feb 04, 2010
65' Truck and Gooseneck Trailer Combo
This edition of "Which Mobile Tour Transport is Right for You?" concentrates on other transports beside the traditional 53'. The photo above is a great example of a gooseneck trailer, as the trailer attaches to the tractor through a single pivot point or a "gooseneck". Goosenecks allow for greater mobility and portability onsite as the tractor can be quickly detached. Also, they have a low floor height so greater ceiling height can be maintained. Weight can sometimes be an issue for goosenecks as opposed to traditional 53' transports if the tour has excessive weight requirements. Goosenecks come in any number of lengths from 16' up past 53' and have great customization potential. You might see these vehicles typically used for hauling race cars and horses.
Class "A" Recreational Vehicle
The next vehicle is one that is instantly recognizable: the motorhome. Long the province of John Madden and touring country western singers, these vehicles can serve well for a mobile tour. The Class "A" is the largest of the bunch, usually at 39' but up to 45' in length. They have plenty of opportunities for slideouts and customization so they can get roomy, but nowhere near the amount of room with a 53' transport. This is because so much of the overall length and height of the transport is taken up with the mechanics of the transport: engine, transmission, etc. Also, these are not designed with the long-haul in mind as maintenance and upkeep can become an issue. But, one interesting thing about these vehicles: they can be operated without a Commercial Driver's License, a great option for local and smaller tours.
30' Box Truck
Next on our list of vehicles is the box truck. These vehicles are the workhorses of the industry: they will go practically anywhere, run virtually forever and lend themselves to full customization for small tours or can serve as a chaser or secondary storage for a large tour. This unit does exactly that as part of a much larger tour. The same is true for the photo below. This tour used a 20' trailer towed by a Class "A" motorhome to follow a 53' custom double drop transport. Now THAT'S a mobile tour.
In our next chapter of "Which Mobile Tour Transport is Right for You?" we'll talk about the different ways that these vehicles can be customized to specifically meet the needs of your tour as you Drive Your Brand Experience.
Davenport Fire Department Photo by our friends at Featherlite
All other cool photos by Promotional Management Group