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December 2017

blizzcon westamerica

Why it’s important to “Get a seat at the table”

By Blog

We’ve all heard that it’s important for a sales rep to develop a relationship with a client. We’ve been told that our goal should be to “get a seat at the table” while the client is in the process of developing their marketing plan. This advice was demonstrated to me during a recent conversation with Dan Plomin, General Manager, VCG Division here at Westamerica Communications.

One of Dan’s recent projects is a perfect example of how moving beyond sales and into project management is beneficial for both the client and your company.

As I walked with Dan through the Anaheim Convention Center the day before the opening of BlizzCon, I was blown away. There on the walls, hanging from the ceiling, standing in the walkways, behind the stages, and all around the arena was the culmination of weeks of production activities that had taken place at Westamerica.

What is BlizzCon?

For the uninitiated, here’s a brief intro to BlizzCon. Imagine a convention center and arena filled with video game fans. The convention is held by Blizzard Entertainment to promote its major franchises likeOverwatch, which, in a little over a year, surpassed $1 billion in revenue to make it the fastest growing franchise in Blizzard history.

In addition, among the 35,000+ fans, are cosplay actors dressed as their favorite video game characters. There’s also an e-sports event that rivals any major sporting event. The 2017 Overwatch World Cupcompetition was played in the arena at the Anaheim Convention center. Teams from around the world including Australia, Canada, China, France, South Korea, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States were there to compete for over $280,000 in prize money.

Now add to this all the fans of video games like World of WarcraftStarCraftDiabloHearthstone, and dozens of other games and you can imagine what it was like when Dan and I walked through the convention center.

 

A Seat at the Table

While Dan was working with the event marketers at Blizzard Entertainment they mentioned they wanted to create an immersive environment for the attendees. One of their ideas centered on creating an environment from their StarCraft franchise.

Joeyray’s Bar is featured in the StarCraft game and the team wanted to find a way to recreate the bar at the convention center. In the image of the game (refer to photo) you can see that the bar and the walls are made of wood. Dan suggested using real wood to create the right feel for the environment.

Using one of the wide format printers that we have at Westamerica, Dan and our team of technicians printed four-foot by eight-foot sheets of balsa wood with the graphics provided by Blizzard. Once the wood panels were installed, some creative lighting was added, along with a few bottles of alcohol and the next thing you know StarCraft fans were able to enjoy a drink at Joeyray’s Bar.

Welcome to Overwatch

The corridor leading from the Anaheim Convention Center to the arena, where the Overwatch World Cup was to be played, provided another way to add to the immersive experience of the event. Westamerica created orange accent pieces on the walls of the corridor. We created canvas gallery wrapped prints and 3-D logos out of PVC that hung on the walls. These elements created such an ambiance and immersive feel that many of the attendees, instead of simply walking through the corridor, actually hung out in the area.

Develop a Relationship with the Client

Dan’s longstanding relationship with the team at Blizzard is based on partnership, service, and dependability. For example, just days, and sometimes hours, before the opening of the convention, the event director can count on Dan and the team at Westamerica to create a needed piece. It’s not unusual for Dan to receive last-minute phone calls asking for changes in a particular piece due to a stage configuration change or the need to decorate a VIP room. Whatever they need Dan, with the help of the talented team back at Westamerica, is able to provide the product.

Another extremely important part of the relationship developed between Dan and Blizzard is the understanding that many of these projects contain sensitive information. Whether signs, posters, set pieces, wall accents, or 3-D logos they must be secure. The announcement of new games and products must be kept under wraps until the day of the event.

To be a successful sales executive, it’s imperative that you develop a good relationship with the client. Dan didn’t simply quote the cost of printing 10,000 posters. His relationship with Blizzard Entertainment allowed him to offer suggestions and provide valuable input on their projects. This relationship has developed over time. And it has been nourished through his knowledge of the printing industry, the equipment available to him through Westamerica, and the new and innovative products available from our strategic partners.

I’m very proud of the work that Dan and the team at Westamerica provide to clients like Blizzard Entertainment.

group meeting discussion

Just because you can…should you?

By Blog

The CMO should put their energies against the key strategic efforts of the company and eliminate tactical distractions.

Earlier this year the Coca Cola’s CMO retired. What happened next was unexpected. The company decided NOT to hire a new one!

Imagine a company like Coca-Cola not having a CMO. Really? What is driving this thinking and the elimination of this (seemingly) important position?

The company has decided to move all of the marketing functions under a new position entitled “Chief Growth Officer”. This new CGO is responsible for global marketing, customer and commercial leadership and Strategy.

Is Marketing losing credibility in the C-suite?

The pace of change has increased pressures in the marketing space, and for all those managing marketing departments. And CEOs are noticing.

A recent article published by Harvard Business Review claimed that four out of five (80%) CEOs are “unimpressed” with their CMO.

The CMO role has always been a high turnover position. But 80%?!

The new focus? Customer Experience

The Financial Brand highlighted a Forrester Research report in their recent posting which concludes that CMOs must redirect their budgets and focus from traditional advertising spending into the following areas of focus:

  • Driving consumer affinity and eliminating attrition
  • Aligning the institution’s loyalty programs with consumer expectations
  • Decoding analytics and digital platforms to create scalable consumer experiences
  • Updating marketing technology to enable the company to deliver more personalized consumer experiences

Clearly, the role of marketing is being redefined. How can you get it all done? How can you scale along with the increased areas of focus and importance?

Forrester says, “Outsource execution, but keep strategy in-house”

It’s no secret there has been a growth of in-house marketing support over the past 10 years. Many departments look like an agency with full creative teams. In many cases, this has moved the marketing function in some organizations from a strategic role to an increasingly tactical role. According to the article, this is the opposite of where marketing’s focus should be directed.

Why? Because today a good deal of marketing’s time and attention is focused on managing activities that can be completed by others.

Forrester says that these activities should be outsourced so time and attention can be spent on the big picture and developing integrated cross-channel strategies.

Just because you can do the job yourself, does it mean you should?

With 2018 just weeks away it’s a good time to think about things you want to start doing as well as some of the things you want to stop doing. Which things can you rely on others to do for you? There are a lot of things in life that you should leave to others. Like changing your own oil.

Outsourcing some of your marketing execution just makes sense, leaving you to conduct the strategic activities that only you can complete.

Are you changing your own oil?

Years ago, many of us used to faithfully perform a ritual every time our car traveled another 3,000 miles. We’d change our car’s oil.

On a good day, changing your oil was a minimum of a couple of hours of your time. Who does this anymore?

Details are messy…and time-consuming

Even those of us who know how to change our car’s oil, don’t!

Why? Because we can take the car to any of a number of oil change centers located within a couple miles of our house and have the whole thing finished in 20 minutes. They have the equipment and know how. And, they do it for about the same price that it would cost you to do the job yourself…not including the value of your time.

In this new reality, it’s time to reconsider which items you should be spending your time on, and which ones no longer really matter.

Stop doing some things. Start doing others.

Now is the time to refocus the energies of your marketing team. Are you spending time and money on the things that leverage the company’s opportunities? When you look at your budget, how much of it is spent against the consumer versus on in-house production expenses?

Where are those dollars (both expenditures in programs and human capital) going to do the most good?

How you assess these activities and their respective budgetary implications will influence the role that marketing will play today and in the future of your organization.