Launch started life as a consumer brands project PR agency in 2001.  We were one of PR Week’s best new agencies of the year, attracting great people and great clients alike.

In 2005, our offer began to integrate media relations, digital and events.  We launched our corporate team around this time too.

And now, towards the end of 2011, we’re talking to people about our all-channel PR offer.

Innovation is good in business.  In fact, if you don’t innovate, your business quickly loses its shine and appeal.

All-channel PR?

It’s logical – whatever you have to communicate, to whichever audiences, we consult around the key PR channels-to-market to do it.  And we have all the capability in-house.

Clients should be guided, clients should be advised, and they shouldn’t feel hampered by one dimensional offers.  There’s too much at stake in the real / virtual / consumer / corporate inter-connected world and the relationship between experience / content / digital and media needs to be well explained – and bought in part (if that’s the need against the audience), or in whole.

Some clients come to us and say – ‘we’d love a bit of that.’  And that’s great.  Others come saying ‘we’re not sure, you tell us’.  And that’s equally, if not more exciting.

One size doesn’t fit all.  Having all the channels open and available has to be in a client’s best interest.

Add amazing people, brilliant thinking, collective culture and nice coffee and you’re probably on to something.

Recently I’ve found myself watching hundreds of videos by brands from all over the world – this might have something to do my new obsession with Twitter – but it’s got me thinking…

I’ve noticed a pattern emerging which goes against what traditionally experience / events are measured on.  Before the explosion of the digital age, brands focused on how many people they could get to physically engage with their brand experience – the more the better.  Yes there are numerous variables, but the fundamental goal was volume of engagement.  Direct brand experiences for the masses is still a core component to the experiential marketers toolbox, but now we have new exciting shiny social medial tools to play with.

These new online tools allow us to turn the engagement theory on its head.  No longer do we need thousands of willing consumers to interact with a brand for it to be a success. All we need is a few willing participants to have an amazing experience which they’ll want to share.  You then capture this experience and stick it online for people like me to OOO and ahhh over.

BUT…  Is it really that simple?  And do massive consumer engagement experiences have a shelf life?
The answer, surely, is to combine the two, but if you haven’t got the budget to engage large numbers then the second option isn’t a bad one.

Give them a great experience.

Capture it in a compelling way.

Share it.

More to come from the Launch XP and Digital teams soon.

That time of year has come when the nights get darker and the days colder, and that means the slowing down of events season. Well, until the Experiential team start planning all over again for 2011!

However, in true Launch style we like to go out with a bang, so we were very excited to hold our most recent event at the Kensington Roof Gardens for our new client DBM.

This was my first opportunity to get my hands dirty and work through every step of the event planning journey alongside the client – from budget formulation, design consultation on the event website and collateral, to helping to run the event on the day – right from the moment the first guest arrived through to when the review process was completed. 

Normally, when the words ‘corporate event’ are uttered, the first thing that comes to mind is ‘boring’ – but not when Launch are in charge!  I’m pleased to say that ‘boring’ was the last thing on our guests’ and clients’ minds. 80 guests from the UK, Brazil, Spain and America attended, giving the event a truly global feel.  In fact, our Google Analytics analysis of the event website revealed that we had interest from 25 different countries.

Because of the importance of the event we needed to choose a venue that would excite all delegates. After much deliberation we settled on the Kensington Roof Gardens, an iconic space in the heart of London with world renowned gardens, not to mention four resident flamingos. 

And to compliment such a great venue we needed an equally inspiring keynote speaker – and being in the right place at the right time definitely was the force behind our choice…It’s not every day you end up sitting opposite Sir Clive Woodward on the tube. I know the law on the underground is not to speak to strangers, but on this occasion I am very glad that my colleague threw caution to the wind and struck up a conversation with Sir Clive – so well done Rebecca!  The client loved our recommendation, and by judging from the reaction of the audience, we made a few delegates sporting dreams come true!

Thanks to a brilliant Launch team effort, everything ran smoothly and the feedback from guests speaks for itself:

“It’s been a really fantastic event, very impressed with the whole day”

Simon Lloyd, Santander

“I was very impressed with the event, particularly Sir Clive’s talk.  It’s great to hear from an established and interesting speaker”

HR Director, Olympic Delivery Authority

Now it’s back to it – there’s 2011 planning to do!

When I was asked to write a blog about all things experiential I have to admit I had a moment of panic!  How do I communicate through the art form they call the written word, isn’t that what the PR people are paid to do?!  Why can’t I just upload a funky video of me running around at an event like a man possessed?

Mmm… here we go…

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