Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Interactive Marketing Q&A w/ Exhbitgroup-Giltspur CEO John Jastrem
In the current economy, customer loyalty is vital to success,but if they can't remember your brand from the competition, you're just another face in the crowd.
Successful companies stand out, such as Exhibitgroup-Giltspur (AKA: E-G)
E-G is an international marketing agency that uses innovative methods and tools to make lasting impressions. In 2008, E-G saw its second straight year of double-digit growth.
John Jastrem, the President and CEO of Exhibitgroup-Giltspur, understands the mind of the modern customer.That's why he prioritized deeper customer connections through vivid and memorable experiences at exhibits, events and permanent installations.
You need an understanding of what makes the experience meaningful. Customers will remember how you make them feel,not everything you tell them. It comes down to making something memorable and immersing them into that type of experience.
E-G builds its brand on three dimensions:
- The audience is present.
- The products are real.
- The interactions are face-to-face.
Today, I had the chance to pick the brain of Mr. Jastrem, to learn about E-G's remarkable growth in the past two years.
Matt O'Hern: .How did you begin the process of creating the customer-centric culture that helped promote continued growth and delivered results and defied the odds in this rough economy?
John Jastrem: A good idea takes a specific and clear vision. To deliver,we needed to go through a process of a lot of change, a way to put the client at center of everything we do. We created the tag line, "Everything we do revolves around you." E-G put the principle to practice, starting with our top-100 clients. The entire executive management team really listened and learned what clients wanted, and how they wanted to be treated.
Clients really needed to see that we we're going to be a strategic marketing partner, rather than a design and build team.They wanted to be a part of the process so they could respond to their customers in way that they needed to. As a result, clients got a better level of engagement and solutions.
Matt O'Hern: What were some the barriers E-G cut out?
John Jastrem: It came down to restructuring the operation to make us a global network.
The empowerment of the folks that were close to the clients was the most important part.It's important to have an environment where things are organized, but a lot of it is putting trust in employees.
We were looking to provide talent that was consistent, and changing the name to Client Care Centers. We were balanced and wherever we needed to be to serve our clients in the right way. We used informal, town hall-like meetings to share ideas and engaged them to to talk about real-life client situations.
Matt O'Hern: Can you tell me more about E-G's competitive audits and how they maximize sales force interactions?
John Jastrem: Our clients don't have the opportunity to get into a show and experience what's going on with the competition.We realized it would be helpful if they could understand what competition was doing and how attendees were reacting.
During our formal process,we tour the exhibition, look at different competitors and figure out what they're branding with their design, and how they are engaging attendees.We put that information in a formal presentation and spend hours enlighten them on things they weren't aware of. We compare it to what they were doing, which drives us to best practices.
Matt O'Hern: Your description reminds me of a football coach, always scouting the competition and studying game film for an upcoming opponent.Can you share some of Exhibitgroup/Giltspur's current goals or projects to enhance B2C interaction?
John Jastrem: We want to stay true to our culture. We're looking to move that forward and engage clients even more. Trade shows and events are not random acts of business.
we're hearing that they want to entertain and engage audiences more. A good example is NASA. They utilized new media that allowed attendees to virtually kick dust on the surface of Mars.
That one got very positive feedback.
To do those type of tings,we need to have talent on board that understand what it means to do that. we have a Chronicles of Narnia exhibit running in Philly as part of five-year world tour and a new Harry Potter exhibition will be opening in the museum at Chicago. Those opportunities to engage consumers get at heart of what people are looking for.
Matt O'Hern: If and when the economy improves, do you think entertainment will still have as strong of a role at future trade shows?
John Jastrem: What I see as I go out there is, the attendance may not be at level of past years but folks that are there are there with attitude that they want to accomplish a lot, and they're looking for better expressions. Especially in the gaming environment. That's what folks today want to experience. Make it more realistic and more exciting. Now, they have the ability to experience it in real life and continue it into social networks.
I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Mr. Jastrem, and I expect to hear more great news about this company in the near future.
Download John-Jastrem-E-G 3-10-09.mp3
Posted By Matt O'Hern at 03:07 PM
Permanent Link: Interactive Marketing Q&A w/ Exhbitgroup-Giltspur CEO John Jastrem
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