Synergy Events Blog

Synergy Events Seeks Event Marketing Professional

Synergy Events, an award-winning experiential marketing agency that specializes in mobile marketing tours, PR Events, PR Stunts, Product Launches and Sponsorship Activation Programs, is seeking an event marketing professional to work at the company's headquarters in Ocean, NJ.

The company's clients include industry leading brands, PR agencies, Fortune 100 companies, and professional sports leagues and governing bodies.

The event marketing professional will ideally have entry to mid-level promotional and marketing experience and will provide logistical support to the company's Account Management Team on various projects.

 

Specifically, the candiate will:

• Provide support to develop and implement key accounts including including staffing, permitting, signage and event design/production.
• Correspond with clients, manage logistics and participate in brainstorms.
• Assist with on-site and in-market execution of events and promotions.
• Recruit staff, conduct research and provide administrative support.
• Manage program budgets.

 

The candidate will gain experience and skills in:

• Developing and executing event/promotion logistics and operations.
• Communicating with clients on conference calls, in writing and in-person.
• Managing accounts, projects, staff and time.
• Hiring staff.
• Generating concepts and proposals for new business development.

 

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in marketing, communications, business or related field.
• 1-2 years event marketing/planning experience.
• Highly organized.
• Solution and detail oriented.
• Positive and energetic attitude.
• Team player.
• Customer/client service focused.
• Willing to travel.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Committed to a stellar performance in the office and at events.
• Keen sense of urgency to complete responsibilities in a timely manner.

This is a full-time position that offers excellent benefits, a competitive salary and the opportunity to be part of a dynamic company that is a respected leader in the event marketing field.

 

Qualified candidates should submit their resume, cover letter, and references via email to:

 

Synergy Events

Attn:  Human Resources

email: infoATsynergyevents.com

NO phone calls please!

 

Synergy Events VP Part of Experiential Marketing Workshop at MoMA on Thursday, March 4

 

 

A PRSA-NY workshop on Experiential Marketing is set for Thursday, March 4 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and Synergy Events is honored to be part of the panel.

 

The evening program, "Leveraging Experiential Marketing to Drive PR: Planning and Executing Buzz-Worthy Events in New York City" will offer a guide to planning and executing experiential marketing events in New York City and beyond, whether it's product launch at the Museum of Modern Art, a PR stunt in Times Square, a guerrilla marketing event on the streets, or a mobile marketing tour with dozens of stops throughout the country. 

 

The workshop, which will run from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and include admission to the Museum at the conclusion of the program, will also cover tips on staffing, site selection, logistics, permitting and budgets.  A top 10 list of successful event tactics will also be discussed.

 

• Keith Green, Vice President of Marketing & Communications, Synergy Events
• Kim Mitchell, Chief Communications Officer, Museum of Modern Art
• Nicholas Apps, Director of Special Programming and Events, Museum of Modern Art

Mary Buhay, Senior Director of Marketing for Gibbs & Soell Public Relations and Vice-President of Programming for PRSA-NY, will moderate the panel.

 

PRSA-NY members, ($55) non-members ($75) and students ($25) can register online here or download a registration form. Students are required to show I.D. upon arrival.

 

Throughout our 17 years, Synergy Events has planned and executed 9,000+ events in more than 150 markets and won dozens of industry awards. We work with Fortune 100 companies, global brands, top PR agencies and professional sports sanctioning bodies to create mobile marketing tours, PR events/stunts, product launches and sports sponsorship activation programs.  

 

 

Photo credit: Timothy Hursley, copyright 2010.

 

 

The 2010 got milk? Milk Mustache Mobile Tour

 

Today was the (very unofficial) kickoff to the 2010 got milk? Milk Mustache Mobile Tour, as our six travel managers that will run the iconic program from the road met at Synergy's headquarters in Ocean, NJ.

 

It was fun to watch the group get to know each other, as today marked the first day of the group's two week training program before they hit the road later this month to take the got milk? message to more than 75 markets.

 

Part of the day's activities included team building exercises to build trust within each two-man travel team, since each group will be together literally every day for more than six months.  

 

Pictured above are Sean (second from left) and Willis who will make up the west team, as they go through a team building exercise. No doubt, they are looking forward to spreading the message in the warmer western climate about the health benefits of milk!

 

Congratulations as well to Justin and Isaiah (east region) and Jon and Brent (central region) who will make up the other two travel teams.  It's great to have all of you as part of the 2010 tour, so welcome aboard!

 

Experiential Marketing Tip Number Four

Today Today is the fourth entry of our "Seven Principles of Success for Experiential Marketing," so we're almost there!  Here are our Seven Principles, including's today's post: 1. Integrate your events 2.  Knowing Your Audience 3. Make it Stick! 4. Leverage Technology.5. Be authentic to your brand 6. Select the right spokesperson 7. Pick the right location

Technology is your friend!

 

When planning an experiential marketing event, remember that technology can be your friend and help your clients achieve their goals in an efficient manner.

 

Here are some practical tips on how to incorporate technology into your experiential marketing event. Let's review a few hypothetical goals that a client might have for an event and how some cool technology can help achieve them:

 

1. Make it Viral. Most consumers love having their picture taken at an event. There is some fantastic technology that instantly makes event photos viral and available for download and sharing. No more Polaroid photos and no waiting 24-48 hours for your picture to be available. If the client wants data capture in addition to the photo component, a simple form can be added.
2. Capture Legitimate Data. If just data capture is a priority, there are some excellent tools that can read the information off of a driver's license. This eliminates the possibility of receiving false information being passed along on a paper form.
3. Project It! Some of the coolest technology we've seen is projecting moving images onto buildings at night.  Our brilliant friends Pier and Ricardo at Klip Collective can literally make pigs fly.
4. Make My Event "Go Green." The eco-friendly wedding pictured above used a giant solar panel to power the band and other elements for this outdoor New York City event. It doesn't stop at solar panels, either. You can print on biodegradable signage, use eco-friendly inks and of course, use recyclable cups and plates if you are serving food or beverages.
5. Show it to ‘Em: Some of the technology that is out there for LED (light-emitting diode) displays is cutting edge. They are now making thin, lightweight flexible panels that can bend to almost any shape and size for LED video and graphic applications.
6. Make it "Larger than Life," but make it look Good: Believe it or not, inflatables are terrific options for huge events. Why? Digital printing and large format printers have made the awful-looking inflatable a thing of the past. The Crown Royal inflatable used for the "Your Name Here 400" reveal at the Daytona 500 last year was so realistic, people thought it was a giant bottle of the iconic beverage. [Insert small picture]

 

The goal of any event should be to extend the conversation long after it is over. (Studies show that 78% of event attendees will tell at least one person). Leverage technology to give your event more sizzle to so that number is closer to 100%!

 

The Third Principle of Success for Experiential Marketing

OK, we're back on track today with my third Principle of Success for Experiential Marketing. We've noticed our blog viewership going up, so thanks for visiting...and please comment if you have some thoughts on our topics!

For the past two years, a team from Synergy Events has attended the PRSA International Conference to connect with public relations professionals about how our experiential marketing events drive PR for our clients. At one of the workshops in San Diego in November, Daryl McCullough from Paine PR presented his Seven Principles of Success during his terrific "Best in Buzz" workshop. This list was inspired by Daryl's talk.

Here are the first two principles we reviewed last week:

1. Integrate your events. Click here for the full post.

2. Last week, we chatted about the second principle, Knowing Your Audience.

Today's topic, "Making it Stick" refers to making your event unique or "sticky."

One of my goals in my former life as the Director of Public Relations at Richmond International Raceway was to create press events that had a hook and would be fun for the media to cover. This concept is no different when putting on an event: try to create something that's never been done before or if the concept isn't unique, find a compelling angle for your target, whether it is the media or the consumer. Even if your idea isn't worthy for the 6:00 p.m. news or the New York Times, equip your team with its own tools (invest a couple hundred bucks in a Flip Camera or a decent digital camera) to make your event viral. Times have changed so rapidly that your idea can be so cool that it still works (or can work better) if it doesn't make the 6:00 p.m. news.

 

One of the questions we get asked often at Synergy is "Who comes up with the ideas for your events?" Often the idea originates with the brand, but sometimes it's the agency or our internal team at Synergy that comes up with the concept. Coming up with that winning idea isn't always easy, so here Seven of Synergy's (many) brainstorming rules to help your idea "Stick":

 

1. Invite as many people as possible. Sure, it's tough to coordinate schedules on short notice or jam more than 20 people in a conference room, but we subscribe to the theory that the more creative brains, the better.

2. Don't forget the smart college kids. From the interns to the C-Suite, invite a wide range of people on your staff, you never know who is going to come up with a brilliant idea.

3. Special Interest. If you have a proposal that is fitness related, go find the yoga instructor or muscle head in your office and get them involved.

4. Secretary of State. Assign a note taker. The person running the brainstorm shouldn't be the same person taking the notes. It's too distracting and can cause the entire brainstorm to be unfocused and unorganized.

5. Location, location, location. If possible, change the location of your brainstorms every once in a while. Move it to the hallway if you must. A different environment keeps the mind from wandering.

6. Don't be a hater. No ideas suck and wacky, out-of-the-box thinking is encouraged. This is probably the number one brainstorm rule, but I see it broken all the time. We even encourage our team to build on ideas they don't like, since it can spur another thought from someone else.

7. Provide and Prepare. Give everybody a brief on the opportunity before the brainstorm and make sure all participants have ample time to review the info so they can come to the brainstorm with at least two ideas.

The 2nd Principle of Success for Experiential Marketing

 

 

Today is the second entry of our Seven Principles of Success for Experiential Marketing. For the past two years, a team from Synergy Events has attended the PRSA International Conference to connect with public relations professionals about how our experiential marketing events drive PR for our clients. At one of the workshops in San Diego in November, Daryl McCullough from Paine PR presented his Seven Principles of Success during his terrific "Best in Buzz" workshop. This list was inspired by Daryl's talk.

 

1. Integrate your events. Click here for the full post.

 

2. Today I want to talk about the second principle, Knowing Your Audience.

 

Here are 3 steps:

 

Focus on Your Core - This may sound incredibly simple, but it's important to remember who your primary target is when planning an event. Obviously, it's fine to have more than one target group (e.g. media, mom's between 28-40, tweens, etc.) but that's often where the problems start. For example, if a brand is launching a new beverage aimed at young professionals, but has a primary goal of driving media impressions through an event, then a straight sampling program at Bryant Park isn't going to work.  

 

Timing is Everything - Another factor in knowing your audience is when to do the event. Again, if you want a media focused event in New York City for example, check potential conflicts and pick a convenient time for the media to cover the event. If the budget allows, hire a freelance B-roll shooter and still photographer so you have a backup plan to service the press in case a breaking story or other unforeseen factors lead to a light press turnout.

 

Key to Engagement - Be sure to factor what will make your audience stop and take notice. If you're executing a press-driven event like the Crown Royal contest reveal above, (a sports activation prior to the 2009 Daytona 500) make sure the idea is unique and newsworthy (we'll talk more about this on Thursday). If you are conducting a product launch and want to sample, make the extra spend to have your teams in branded uniforms.  And be sure the Brand Ambassadors have the personality and persistence to engage the target.  

 

Stay tuned for the remaining principles of success in the coming weeks:

 

3. Make it Stick! (January 28)

 

4. Leverage Technology. (February 2)

 

5. Be authentic to your brand. (February 4)

 

6. Select the right spokesperson. (February 9)

 

7. Pick the right location. (February 11)

 

Seven Principles of Success for Experiential Marketing

For the past two years, a team from Synergy Events has attended the PRSA International Conference to connect with public relations professionals about how our experiential marketing events drive PR for our clients.

 

At one of the workshops in San Diego in November, Daryl McCullough from Paine PR presented his Seven Principles of Success during his terrific "Best in Buzz" workshop.

 

Inspired by Daryl's talk, I have put together a list of Seven Principles of Success for Experiential Marketing. While all seven of the principles are listed, each of the next blogs on this topic will offer more detail on one of the Seven Principles, including some cool event marketing programs we've either executed or seen in the field.

 

1. Integrate your events. Events should not occur in a silo. Whenever possible, events should incorporate as many marketing disciplines as possible including advertising, grassroots, PR, social media and sponsorship initiatives.

 

An experiential marketing event by Snickers and David Arquette this past summer is a great example of taking an integrated approach. Arquette lived in a lounge on top of the Madison Square Garden marquee for part of two days to draw attention to the brand's "Bar Hunger" campaign and Feeding America, the nation's leading domestic hunger organization.

 

As you can see in this video, the event was fully integrated. Advertising, PR, grass roots, social media and retail tactics were used to help make the event a smash hit for Snickers.

• Advertising: Note the giant Snickers ad on the billboard behind the lounge on top of the MSG Marquee.
• PR: David Arquette, chairman of the entertainment council for Feeding America, was obviously the media hook. The story was everywhere, from the Today Show to Howard Stern to the newspapers on the west coast. The event component (the lounge) in a non-traditional location (on top of the Madison Square Garden Marquee) made the story even more interesting.
•  Grassroots: Snickers-branded ambassadors distributed information and collected money for the cause from people around MSG. Arquette also ventured outside of the lounge and utilized a large Snickers bullhorn to get the attentions of passersby.
• Social Media: Snickers started a Bar Hunger Facebook page to collect funds from consumers and Arquette tweeted about his experience during his two day stay.
• Retail: The Bar Hunger messaging appeared on millions of Snickers bars and on P.O.P displays at retail outlets across the country.

Is a fully integrated approach always possible? No. But remember, it doesn't necessarily take a big budget to have a fully integrated experiential marketing event that leads to a huge win for a client.

Here's a schedule of our upcoming posts on the Seven Principles of Success for Experiential Marketing:

2. Know your audience. (January 26)

3. Make it Stick! (January 28)

4. Leverage Technology. (February 2)

5. Be authentic to your brand. (February 11)

6. Select the right spokesperson. (February 16)

7. Pick the right location. (February 18)

 

If you are interested in subscribing to Synergy101 click here.

 

Synergy Events is an independent, experiential marketing agency that works as a silent "behind the scenes" partner for top brands, PR agencies and sports leagues.  For more than 17 years, Synergy has connected brands to consumers via mobile marketing tours, PR stunts, product launches and sponsorship activation programs. If you are planning such an event or may have the need in near future, contact Stan Phelps via sphelps@synergyevents.com.

Synergy Events and the got milk? Great Gallon Give

 

got milk?

 

Some lucky consumers got free milk at Times Square in New York City yesterday as Synergy Events teamed up with Weber Shandwick and the Milk Processor Education Program to launch "The Great Gallon Give."

 

The event was featured on Good Morning America.

 

The new program-part of the National Milk Mustache ‘got milk?' Campaign-will give away hundreds of thousands of gallons of milk (the equivalent of more than three million servings) to help raise awareness of the important role milk plays in building strong families.  Synergy is executing these 20 experiential events from from coast-to-coast to give out the free gallons. Families can also register to win a year's free supply of milk and find out if the "Great Gallon Give" is coming to their city at www.whymilk.com.

 

The "Great Gallon Give" will also make it possible to help families in need by passing a virtual gallon of milk to friends on Facebook www.Facebook.com/MilkMustache.  For every virtual gallon passed, $1 will go to Feeding America, up to $100,000. Feeding America is the country's largest network of food banks that serves more than 25 million people facing hunger in this country.  In addition, milk processors will be donating thousands of real gallons of milk to local food banks in the Feeding America network.

 

Synergy Events also plans and executes the annual got milk? Milk Mustache Mobile Tour that visits more than 75 cities annually. That tour kicks off in the spring and continues throughout the summer.

SYNERGY EVENTS US OPEN ACTIVATION RECAP...AND A MISS USA SIGHTING!

For the past 17 years, Synergy Events has created hundreds of tennis activation events surrounding the US Open, either on the grounds at Flushing Meadows or throughout Manhattan.

Executed on behalf of official US Open partners or for friends of the tennis industry, these events have showcased the game of tennis. Over the years, Synergy has shut down Times Square for a Federer-Nadal match, created tennis interactives for Nike for the opening of Arthur Ashe Stadium and executed dozens of celebrity and consumer events at Grand Central Terminal.

The 2009 US Open was no different, as brand leaders called on Synergy to execute their integrated, experiential tennis events.

As you know if you are a regular reader of Synergy101, the USTA retained Synergy Events to create and execute SmashZone, the premiere fan interactive in tennis. Thousands of fans of all ages enjoyed state-of-the-art tennis activities each day of the tournament at the US Open.

To promote the US Open, the tennis industry and its partners, Synergy also rolled out custom tennis courts for American Express, Fox News, Tennis Channel and Longines for their events at the tournament or in New York City.

Also, our president Peter Hurley serves on the International Tennis Hall of Fame Board and is the Auction Chair for the annual Legends Ball, billed as the Social Event of the US Open. Several Synergy staffers volunteered their time on September 11 to make the event a huge success, as more than $160,000 was raised for the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Part of what we're sure was a rough assignment for Peter before and during the the star-studded event was hosting Miss USA Kristen Dalton, who was a special guest at the US Open and the Legends Ball.

At the tournament, Peter is enjoying a moment with his wife Paula (far right), Miss USA and Lucy S. Garvin, Chairman of the Board and President of the USTA.

TENNIS FANS PACK SMASHZONE AT ARTHUR ASHE KIDS' DAY AT THE US OPEN

Thousands of tennis fans of all ages packed SmashZone at Arthur Ashe Kids Day on Saturday at the new Indoor Tennis Center at the US Open.

SmashZone is a state-of-the-art, 20,000 square foot interactive tennis experience that will be open every day of the US Open starting Monday through the Men's Singles Final on Sunday, September 13. Synergy Events is executing SmashZone for the USTA.

Among other activities, fans will have the opportunity to play tennis, measure how fast they serve, announce a US Open highlight, receive a souvenir photo and test their footwork and hand-eye coordination.

SmashZone hours of operation will vary depending upon daily match schedules. For more information, visit www.usta.com.

Be sure to check back to Synergy 101 throughout the tournament for SmashZone updates, photos and video!