Sustaining the ENVIRONMENT

Events, meetings and grand festivals are and integral part of raising economy of a locality. Large groups of people travel for these functions or also known as MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) comprises a large section of travelers which in turn create a large carbon foot print as well as exhaust the resources of the locality. (Mice Report, 2013). This increase of carbon emissions directly affects climate change which in-turn leads to a catastrophic phenomenon more popularly known as global warming.

Global warming is a highly debatable topic with some still not believing in its existence. "They say its global warming, but it was so cold yesterday" said the President of U.S.A., Donald Trump (2016). Now what is global warming? Global warming is a phenomenon which is caused by the increase number of green house gasses (CO2, methane) in the atmosphere creating a blanket and trapping the atmosphere. One important factor to remember is understand that many species of plants and animals may not be able to adapt to the rapid climate change and may already be on the path of extinction. (Mice Report, 2013)  

Shaw Conference Center is the first of its kind in Canada to receive a green key level 5 status (Green Key Global, a leading international environmental certification body evaluating sustainable venue operations) and are also BOMA Best certified. They have come up with a standard Sustainable toolkit which covers steps to be taken before, during and after the event. The steps are not very elaborate and are still not followed by companies. Some steps include promoting travel with low environmental impacts to and from your event. Send out invitations and event information electronically, instead of using paper and incase use of paper is required using recycled paper is a must. When selecting locations one must keep in mind that the property selected is also eco-friendly and have equal importance of sustainability. (Hix House in Peurto Rico is an ideal example as it does not have any air conditioners but is constructed in a way that amplifies cross ventilation. If possible, marketing products like banners and advertisement boards must be of recycled products. While choosing a menu, opting for local vendors is imperative as it boosts local economy and also controls carbon emissions that occurs when one orders from an international vendor. Even alcohol wise, contacting local brewers and distilleries would result in fresher products and in-turn promote a local brand. 

There are several online guideline similar to Shaw Conference Center that provide guidelines as to how one can be more environmentally sustainable. Even carbon emission tracker like TeraPass provides you with an online carbon footprint calculator. It is advisable to understand the needs of these reports and calculators that you cannot manage what you do not measure.

1.   What other elaborate strategies you can take up to make your event sustainable?

For example, promoting bi-cycles to travel locally (The whole of Denmark has 60%of its population riding bi-cycles)

2.   How low can the carbon footprints and waste disposal reach? Is it possible for properties to reach a 0 status level?

The need of engaging your customers

What is Customer Engagement Marketing
Customer engagement is about encouraging your customers to interact and share in the experiences you create for them as a business and a brand. When executed well, a strong customer engagement strategy will foster brand growth and loyalty.
 

Know what attracts your customers
First and foremost, understand what customers wants. it is important to know that every customer has certain needs that wants to be understood and that they can relate to your brand. For business to consumer brands like Nike and Adidas it is easier for them to relate as compared to business to business companies. However, they to can humanize their products and not confining themselves on being too corporate.

For example, find a personality within in your organization who is passionate about your brand and a natural communicator,  you can grow them into a thought leader and give them a voice to humanize your brand and engage your audience.

Create opportunities for them to build their presence and promote your brand – they can regularly blog on your own site and guest blog on others, be used in video content, engage in speaking opportunities, present webinars and publish white papers and e-books – all ways to establish your brand’s voice with a trusted face.

 

The Worlds Best Poster, Carlsberg
 

 

Digital era: Surprise and Delight Your Audience

Technology has been advancing at a rapid pace and social media is no longer a trend but a part of everyday lives. To that end, any good marketer should see this as an opportunity to engage her audience and build a community. However, it’s just not enough to simply post status updates and photos on social media. To keep your audience connected, it’s about valuable content and creating a shared experience that keeps them interacting with you.

Drinkable Poster by coke Zero

 

Your Business Strives on Happy customers

As Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, will tell you, pampering your customers is the key. It starts with your company culture and ensuring your customer support team, the frontline of your business, is empowered by and shares your focus on providing an amazing customer experience. For example,  Zappos, the leading online shoe retailer renowned for their customer service, doesn’t enforce call time tracking because they believe their reps should spend that little extra time with customers rather than be focused on getting through each call.

Think about your business model and how you can best service your customers. When do your customers need you? What hours do you need to be available to them? Seamless, the online food ordering service and one of my favourite companies (not least because I love to eat at all hours!), services customers in different time zones across the US. Not only are they  fantastic at providing customer service around the clock but  they’re stellar at  timely, relevant offers like snow day discounts and  engaging you with fun food facts across their twitter and email channels.

The customer experience you provide is key because it gives marketers and business owners a way to increase satisfaction, loyalty and advocacy.  A study by White House Office of Consumer Affairs found that 80% of U.S. consumers would pay more for a product or service to ensure a superior customer experience. Isn’t that telling?

It’s about looking at all of your customers and delivering them exceptional service no matter if they are worth $1 or $1M to your business. Remember, in the long run, your customers will determine your revenue.

 

Nescafe's Instant Connections

 

 

(Note to readers: The blog has be created by Kinshuk Midha and Arnold Pacheco)

 

What could be other methods to engage your customers in your marketing campaign.(*videos Appreciated.)