Inside Marketing with MarketSurge

Welcome to Inside Marketing
With Market Surge.

Your front row seat to the
boldest ideas and smartest

strategies in the marketing game.

Your host is Reed Hansen, chief
Growth Officer at Market Surge.

Reed: Hello and welcome to Inside
Marketing With Market Surge.

I'm Reid Hansen.

I am the Chief Growth Officer at Market
Surge and the owner, and delighted to

have some special guests with me today.

Now we mostly talk about digital
marketing on our podcast,

mostly because that's what I do.

But, uh, and, and many of my friends,
uh, come from that and clients.

But today I am really excited to do
something a little bit different.

And have Al and Heather join me from
Polaris Brand Promotions to talk about,

in-person marketing and their company
and what they do to help brands promote

great experiences and use those for,
uh, marketing experience Now, um, I

would like to give, uh, Heather and
then Al a quick chance to introduce

themselves and their company, and
then we can jump into our discussion.

Welcome to the podcast by the way.

Al Schuster: Thank you.

Heather Johnson: Thank you.

Reed: So, Heather, why don't you start?

Heather Johnson: Hi.

Uh, so I'm Heather.

I'm the business Development Coordinator
for Polaris Brand Promotions.

I've been with the company for about three
years, and I do a lot of hands-on with

the marketing, whether it is design work,
or going to trade shows and representing

our company across different avenues.

Reed: Fantastic.

And then Al.

Al Schuster: Hi, uh, I'm Al Schuster.

I'm the president, founder, and
owner of Polaris Brand Promotions.

Reed: Great.

So, um, Al I understand this, uh, Polaris
brand promotions was founded in, uh, 2016.

Is that right?

I think I pulled that from

Al Schuster: 10 years now.

Reed: Wow.

Wow.

Congratulations.

Is it, so do you have like an anniversary
blowout planned, A big in-person event or?

Al Schuster: I was thinking about
that, but you know, I actually have to

find out the exact date I committed.

It was, you know, I was thinking to
myself like, what's the official date?

Was it when I incorporated, when I, we
got our first client when I built the

website, so I have to been an actual date.

But I have been thinking, I haven't
even shared this with my team of,

of doing some little happy hour get
together because we're all, our entire

corporate team is right around the.

Philadelphia area.

We all work remote, but I definitely wanna
do something to celebrate our anniversary.

Reed: Awesome.

Well, well, we'll keep our eyes out
for that Now, um, you, you know, you

launched 10 years ago and you, um,
according to the website again, you

staffed over 4,000 brand experiences
nationwide, which is pretty remarkable.

Hard to imagine doing 4,000 of anything.

Um, but so what inspired you to start
the company and what would you say are

some of the bigger inflection points or
milestones, uh, in the, the past years?

Al Schuster: Uh, in terms of starting
the agency, uh, I had worked part-time

for someone else who had been involved.

In the promotional staffing space in the
alcoholic beverage category specifically.

And after working there for a short while,
I, I kind of realized that not only could

I expand this into a nationwide agency,
uh, through really good logistics very

quickly, but also I could do it better.

And so I decided, you know what?

gonna, you know, start my own agency.

I started in 2016.

Uh, really got our first clients around
early to mid 2017, I think it was.

And I didn't actually leave my day job
because my background's in accounting

and finance until around June of 2019.

Of course, nine months later
we have a, a global pandemic.

So absolutely perfect timing on my end.

Um, but yeah, so, um.

You know, that was really, you know,
the history of the agency in a nutshell.

And, um, big inflection points,
um, I'd have to say has been our

staff, uh, you know, right after
the pandemic, you know, a lot of

agencies shut down a lot of agencies.

Uh, you know, came up.

They, they, they launched a post pandemic,
uh, I know right after the pandemic.

I, I was really, when I got to
know Stephanie Crawford, our VP of

operations and Heather and, uh, you
know, through a, a promotional program,

we're running around Philadelphia.

Uh, Steph came on board as really our
first full-time employee, uh, about

four years ago, and then a year later
Heather had been working with us.

She came on board and we recently
hired a salesperson, uh, Colin, who

came on board about four months ago.

So really, I, I love to look at those as
like kind of the major milestones because

they, not only are they integral to the
success of our agency, um, but they really

show the growth that we've had and our
ability to add, to add onto our staff.

Reed: Wonderful.

Well, that's, that's, uh, an interesting
journey and, you know, you've

survived the Pandemic, probably one
of the, uh, areas of our marketing

industry that was hardest hit.

Um, I mean, did you.

Actually have to pause or did
you have to, um, I mean, did you

retool or what, what did, how did
you keep busy during those years?

Al Schuster: a, a pause than a retool.

Reed: Okay.

Al Schuster: had been involved in real
estate, so I had a, a separate side

entity going on that, that kept me busy.

Um,

Reed: Okay.

Al Schuster: but, you know, we tried
to pivot or I should, I, I tried

to pivot, um, because I was before
any of the, the current employees.

Um, I tried to pivot into
like the influencer space.

Got a

Reed: Oh, okay.

Al Schuster: out of it, but not enough
to really make a, you know, a huge

difference or a kind of a permanent pivot.

Our specialty isn't really the,
um, you know, the, the social

media market or anything.

It's really having our team out there
meeting face-to-face with consumers, uh,

either in a store or at a large public
event or, or something very consumer

facing, where you have that, that person
to person experiential aspect to it.

Reed: Okay.

No, that's, that is interesting.

I, I, that hadn't occurred to me, but I
have not been, or there was definitely

like a period of my life, I just.

Didn't do any in-person events at all.

And, uh, uh, well, let me, let
me jump to Heather real quick.

So, uh, we, I understand that
you work with, uh, thousands and

thousands of promotional experts and
then you place in dozens of cities.

Now, how do you maintain.

And, you know, any semblance of a brand
or consistency when, when you're spread

across so many different regions and, and
have so many, uh, you know, promotional

experts that you're bringing in.

Maybe talk about like how, how you
obtain these profe or you recruit

them and, and how do you train them.

Heather Johnson: Yeah.

I actually love this question because
that is one of the strengths of our

com, our company, where we can run
campaigns across multi-market areas,

whether it's retail or they wanna have
a pop-up activation, whatever it is.

Our brand ambassadors
are internally trained.

And we are, we work close with them.

So before we even hire them, we interview
every single one of our brand ambassadors.

And we're up close to now 10,000, uh,
brand ambassadors in our database.

And each one has been
personally interviewed.

And then when they get hired to work
an event to be trained, we use either

the marketing materials that are
provided by the clients, or sometimes

the client wants to be involved.

And we have that open.

We're very.

Open to having the client
either be hands on or hands off.

So we can say we can handle the whole
process for you, which includes vetting.

So you know that the people who are
out there are professional and they

got the same training in California
as somebody who got on the East coast.

Everybody is on the same page
going out to these activations and

they have the same talking points.

They have the same goals in mind.

They know about the products, whether
it's different flavors or not.

They know what to say all the way up to
like what it tastes like if it's something

food or beverage or how it works.

If it's something in electronics,
we on our side make sure that

everybody gets the same treatment.

So I really like that because,
uh, the interviewing process

helps us make sure that.

Our brand ambassadors are consistent as
well as being well and knowledgeable,

as well as being personable.

So, uh, like Al said, I started as one
of those brand ambassadors who was in

those outdoor activations for Polaris
brand promotions right after the pandemic,

and that's where I met Steph as well.

And of course Al and as a brand
ambassador, and since all of us on

the company have that experience, we
know who we're looking for and we have

seen all types of different people
who are out and doing promo staffing.

So we know.

The type of person who we want to work
with and the type of person who will be

receptive to the training and to do their,
their research and prep for each event.

Reed: So, um, I guess just a,
a small follow up question.

Um, you know, this is
interesting and, and.

Completely foreign to me.

And so I, um, I am curious how
many, uh, like people do you have to

interview or have applied that, and
in what ratio of those do you like,

accept and, and put in the database?

Heather Johnson: Well, I will say that
a lot of the times we try to work with

repeat people, so we have a strong core
team in many different cities that we will

go back to and want to hire them again,
because we know what they do, we know the

results that they get, and especially if
it's for the same client and we're doing

like every month or something like that.

We try to maintain and retain
the same people when we need

to break into a new market.

When it gets time to be recruiting,
we will make sure that first we look

maybe if they submit a resume, um,
before we get to the interview process.

And then we have a set of
questions that go forward.

Um, and, and it's to make the
determination as is maybe based

off of what the brand is as well.

Plus, sometimes their background
experience could come into it.

So if we have something
that is sports related.

Or if like the person who is hiring us
would like somebody to be bilingual, we

become more, uh, customized in that area.

Reed: Got it.

Got it.

Okay.

No, that's, that's helpful then.

Really interesting.

so we'll jump back over to Al.

now I understand that many agencies
simply book models for shifts, Polaris

emphasizes hiring ambassadors who
take the time to learn the product.

Um, now what would you say is this
onboarding process like, and, and

Heather, feel free to chime in, but to
like really ensure that the ambassadors.

Embody the brand.

Al Schuster: So the first thing
our operations team does when they

interview brand ambassadors who
are interested in working for us.

Ask them, tell me to tell 'em
about us, about themselves.

Uh, the reason is that, you know, we
really want that mix of that personality

and that experience, uh, because if
our brand ambassadors aren't going

to engage with us and be friendly
and outgoing and, and, you know, ask

questions and they aren't going to be.

Receptive to doing that to the consumer
when they're on their own in a store.

so in terms of training, uh, we can
provide whatever resources our clients

see fit everything from a one page
sell sheet, uh, or we can send them a

quiz or we can have them watch a video
that our client produces about the, you

know, about the brand or the demo table.

They can set up a mock demo table
and kind of present everything.

Um, we can do everything from that.

all the way up to like video conferences
we can do, uh, like in-person training.

Really, we try to customize our training
for our brands, um, to, you know, make

sure that, um, you know, we can do
it how whatever works best for them.

Uh, so what we're really looking for in
our brain ambassadors is mostly that.

Uh, that enthusiasm, that outgoing
personality, uh, and understanding

what in their skills and background
would make them a good fit.

Uh, we, if we don't have someone who
has worked with us in terms of, or has

worked in terms of like brain ambassador
experience directly, a lot of times

our applicants have 5, 10, 15 or more
years of doing brand ambassador work.

You know, we kind of make sure they have.

Complimentary skills, uh, that
might make them a good fit?

Uh, we love

Reed: Okay.

Al Schuster: we like to say, because, you
know, not only are they usually available

nights and weekends, especially during

Reed: Mm-hmm.

Al Schuster: but they're used to

Reed: Yeah.

Al Schuster: with people
on a day-to-day basis.

For instance, we like, uh, bartenders for
our alcoholic beverage gigs because not

only are they used to talking with people,
but they're more likely to understand

any type of alcoholic beverages.

Uh, that they may be
presenting to consumers.

They might understand the way the
different brands are, you know,

the different types of tequila,
the different types of whiskey.

Um, so it's really is
on a case by case basis.

Uh, but

Reed: Hmm.

Al Schuster: agency, we do have kind
of the, a a lot of the experience

to kind of ask the right questions,
uh, to make sure that our brand

ambassadors are a right fit.

Reed: Okay.

No, that's great.

And, you know, and, and of course
comes to mind like potential, uh,

you know, performers or, or people
in the theatrical fields, you know,

I would probably do really well, uh,
you know, just because, you know, and

maybe their schedule would even allow
some flexibility for certain roles.

So, um, that, that, that, um.

That is really interesting to me.

And so, so thanks for indulging that
specific little, uh, rabbit hole.

Um, now, I, I did wanna ask, so
going back, going to the numbers

now and, and, um, we'll start with
Heather and, and Al, feel free to

chime in if you have anything to add.

So.

Experiential marketing is a, can be I
guess, at least in my mind, a little bit

nebulous, like the return on investment.

And, um, so instance, like with
digital ads, you, you have a dashboard

where you can see exactly how much
you spend and how many leads came

in and or how many clicks you got.

And you know, it's like a
hard number and you can.

Just divide the two.

And you've got a cost per
click or a cost per, per lead.

Now, experiential marketing, on
the other hand, is a touchpoint.

It's a very warm touchpoint,
very human touchpoint.

Um, what, how do you help?

Or, uh, have you seen frequently
used KPIs in this kind of

experiential marketing to measure
the success of your, your services?

Um, you know, how do, how are
they determining ROI for this

kind of marketing effort?

Heather Johnson: Yeah, I'm gonna
jump in a little bit to one of the

platforms that we use for our recap
reporting, uh, which is pinata.

It has a survey that provides
a full detailed recap report

after every activation.

Um, and so some of the KPIs we look
for are how many were sold, maybe

how many were already on the shelf
to begin with, how many samples were

given out, uh, how many interactions.

Um.

Also, how many people are in the store
if it's in a store overall, and then the

percentage of people who are interested
included in that is the you're, you're

right about the warm touchpoint because
we get the personalized interactions and

the actual feedback from the customer.

So sometimes they will make comments about
like, oh, you know, they'll ask questions

that we then provide to the company
so that they can maybe update what.

People are actually looking for whether
if it is a vegan product or what the

price touch point is, if they decide
to run a coupon during the demo, how

many people will buy more than normal?

Um, what's the store traffic of the.

Of the, during the time range
and a bunch of different things

about the audience in general.

So we like to hit the target audience.

They get feedback on gender, if
that's applicable, age groups,

um, and then actual feedback from
the customers as well as how many

sold during that particular time.

And then once you put all of those recaps
together, it gives a wider picture of what

the demos are doing to increase traffic
to the shelf for this particular product.

Al Schuster: And one

Reed: great.

And.

Al Schuster: add on real quick is
we always try to, thanks Heather.

Uh, we always try to, you know, encourage
our clients to look at the big picture.

You know, the main number they're
always looking at is how many units

were sold, which means how many, you
know, it wasn't first of all profitable

for that individual demo event.

Was it worthwhile for the
number of units that were sold?

But also we tell our clients
to look at the sales.

A week, two weeks, a month, two month
after the demo event to see if you

saw a noticeable increase in traffic.

'cause we're not just doing
this to get immediate sales.

We want to build long-term customer
relationships with consumers.

Reed: Yeah.

Yeah.

And I was gonna ask because,

even in digital, you know, we, we try to
think it's, it's hard to track at times,

but it, we, we try to think in terms of, a
lot of people need seven plus touch points

with a brand before they make a purchase.

And, um, you know, and I think as
I've kind of envisioned my, um.

Interactions with experiential marketing.

Um, say I was in a store and there
was a stand in the professional was,

uh, or an ambassador was giving out
samples or doing a demonstration.

Um, I think just by personality, I
usually just kind of like, look, look

at the side of my eye and walk past.

I don't, mean, personality wise, I
don't necessarily just wanna like,

make a new friend, but, but, um.

But I do remember, and I do like, record
that interaction and it does like, prompt,

uh, it, it, it does prompt me to think
about it, um, for definitely a longer,

and it's a more tangible interaction
than just seeing it on the shelf.

So, um, yeah, and, and I, I assume
that like a trailing sales measurement

would be a, a helpful way to, to,
uh, to, to measure that impact.

Um,

Heather Johnson: That's true.

And to jump onto that point, uh,
sometimes the client will like to have

brochures that are out on the table.

We'll have people who stop by and they're
like, oh, I'm not gonna buy it now.

I'm gonna remember it for
later and take a photo.

You would never know that unless the re
or the, it's put in the recap report.

And so those are like fun
little interactions as well.

And then sometimes the client also can.

Speaking digitally, if there's some
sort of key, uh, call to action like

follow on Instagram for the coupon
or, you know, fill out this, this.

Newsletter to get more
deals in the future.

That's another way to sort of
track how many people are coming

across, uh, along with that.

But you're right, it's
a lot of touch points.

It's the long game, but people like
it when they can interact as well.

Ask personal questions, um, maybe
try a sample or just see that they're

doing a promotion and then the next
time it's on the shelf in front of

them, they might be like, you know
what, I, I actually remember this.

I remember somebody talking
about it in the grocery store.

People, I saw a little people at the
table and they all seemed to be liking it.

Um, one thing about the training that
we do is that we're not, our team is out

there speaking almost the whole time.

Like, we're gonna say hi to the people
walking by, you might not be interested,

but we're gonna say hi, um, and, and
offer a sample or offer information.

And then while we're handing out the
sample or distributing information,

we're speaking a little loudly so
that people walking by can also hear.

So, yes, it is always, it's, it's, for
some people, it is a personal, actual

one-to-one interaction and some people
are gleaning the information peripherally.

Reed: Yeah, no, that, that, that's good.

That's good for introverts,
like, like me, um,

Heather Johnson: Yeah.

Reed: that like the projection,
you know, it's like I'd rather

just like listen and not have

Heather Johnson: Mm-hmm.

Reed: And so that's, um.

That's a good practice.

Um, now can I ask, you know, it sounds
like you do a lot of work with products.

Um, I work with both product
companies and service companies.

And, and it's okay if the answer
is no, but have you done many

examples of experiential marketing
with service type businesses?

again, totally.

Okay.

If the answer is no, I'm just kind of
curious if that, if that would apply.

Heather Johnson: I will let
Al take this, but I will say

my, one of my first Interac.

Was for a casino,

Reed: Okay,

Heather Johnson: so less, less a
product and more like a service

and, and different things like that.

Reed: Yeah, absolutely.

Al Schuster: and I'd have to say,
yeah, it's definitely a lot more.

Products and services.

Reed: Mm-hmm.

Al Schuster: I know my personal favorite
activation, I think the one where,

um, you know, it wasn't unexpected
or record breaking or anything, but

the one that I think would be one of
our largest and most successful is

we work with Safeway, which is a, uh,
grocery store chain, kind of in the

Mid-Atlantic region, um, where we staff.

All the Baltimore Ravens home games,
an area called Ravens Walk, where we

have two, uh, tents that are like,
they make up a 10 foot by 20 foot

footprint where we have a spin wheel
or a Plinko board, and we have, you

know, branded merch and giveaway items.

And it's, it's awesome, especially
with the kids 'cause it's really cool.

You know, we have like, you know,
hats and, you know, coozies, hand

sanitizers, like little necklaces
that the kids really enjoy.

Um, but it's really fun because we really.

Get to engage.

Now obviously Safeway sells products,
but they kind of provide a service in

being a retail location like Heather
was mentioning with the casino.

but yeah, I would have to say that,
you know, that's one area where we

have assisted, uh, our clients who
might more of a service than just a, a

straightforward, you know, product sale.

Reed: Okay.

Okay.

No, that's, that's really helpful.

And, and now I assume you would
offer a service to help brainstorm

with if they approached you and say
like, you know what, what could we.

Do to make this experience most
sticky or um, or memorable?

Um, is that you typically
part of the process?

Al Schuster: It can be.

Um, we have had clients who, you know,
they've come to us and said, you know,

Hey, we, we know we have an activation.

What can you recommend for us?

And we have strategic partners
who are fabricators, like trade

show booths, uh, you know.

Digital signage, social media
influencers that we've developed

relationships with over the years.

So we can act as their full service,
experiential partner, uh, through other,

you know, uh, supplier partners and
strategic partners that we work with.

Um, but yeah, we, we always love
brainstorming with our clients

and especially when they're
looking to launch a program.

It's a matter of.

If they've never done this before,
we really like to provide guidance.

You know, what's

Reed: Hmm.

Al Schuster: best promotion of materials
and how do we give them out more?

Doesn't necessarily always
equal better or more, doesn't

always generate higher sales.

Um, so any advice we can we'll give
to our clients during the onboarding

process, and we'd love to give feedback.

As the program is going on,
because our brand ambassadors

get a ton of great feedback from,
uh, you know, from consumers.

They, the brand ambassadors pass on to us
and, and we share that with the clients.

Reed: Okay.

No, that's, that's great.

Now, um, you know, technology is ever
present and, and, you know, the world,

you know, changes, I guess is a constant
no matter what, what field we're in.

Um, but could you maybe comment
on, uh, trends that you're seeing

for coming seasons and years?

That, that might be applicable
for experiential marketing.

Um, I, you know, probably a good
question for Heather are, you know,

are there any things you're looking
forward to, any different kind of

settings for this experiential marketing?

Um, you know, are, are con, are sorry,
conferences still like a very viable,

Heather Johnson: Yeah.

Reed: field?

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Heather Johnson: Yes, actually.

Um, so there's a bunch of
different things that we offer.

Of course, we do the in-store demos and
we do tree shows and convention staffing,

but we also do pop-up activations.

Uh, so maybe that's a food
truck that is traveling.

Uh, tours that are cross country would be
something really cool, uh, to engage with.

And then there are aspects of this
where technology is being used more

and more so like VR headsets, and
then the brand ambassador is like

walking you through the experience.

Reed: Okay.

Heather Johnson: There are so
many more experiences that are

out there and we can be assisting.

So even if we're not sampling, we could
be, you know, helping to make sure

that the activation is still going well
and that the experience is happening.

Reed: Interesting.

Heather Johnson: that's definitely
one area that I like because we get

to then also experience it as well.

Reed: Yeah.

Very interesting.

You know, and I've thought about, um, you
know, AI is just such a big topic for,

um, you know, marketing in general and.

It does make like a lot of the physical
interactions a lot more novel and maybe

even more poignant than they used to be.

So, um, it's almost like AI may,
may open up some more opportunity

for experiential marketing.

So, so Al, you know, you mentioned,
uh, you know, you do review and you

do, uh, like information gathering
and sharing with your clients.

Um, how, how is there, do you have
a, a refined process to collect that

feedback and to, um, like synthesize
it and, and make what you do better?

Um, do you have a good process
for that, that you like?

Al Schuster: you know, every client
is different and unique, um, as I, as

Heather mentioned with, uh, pinata.

With the recap reporting, you know,
it'll have all the metrics that our brand

ambassadors are expected to fill in.

They do have an area where they
can provide consumer or, you know,

feedback like they thought it was
too sweet, they thought it was too

dry, or they would've preferred it
with a mixer or something like that.

And you know, our clients do have
the opportunity to read them.

Um.

Our operations department and myself
review all the recap reports once a week

before the client can, can view them.

Uh, just because of a, for instance, if a
brand ambassador says, oh, the event was

amazing and they didn't sell any product
in three hours, we kind of bounce it back.

It's like, can you give a little more
feedback as to maybe why anyone didn't

buy anything if it was such a great event?

Again, you know, it's not only
the, the sales, but also the brand

awareness that we're raising too.

So that being said, you know, we
have had clients who, you know, we

have tweaked things as we've gone on.

We had a recently, uh, very recently,
we had a client, uh, in the spirit

space who decided that they wanted
to have a little bit more a.

Um, interaction with their gin products.

So they had us purchase a tonic along
with the gin at the tasting location,

and we made little mini gin and tonics
that was, you know, sample cup, half

filled with gin, half filled with tonic.

We're not all mixologists here, so
you know, something very simple.

Um, but we started to give that out and
I mean, I did one of these samplings,

myself, Heather, uh, myself, Stephanie
and Colin, the other members of our

team, uh, we all still go out and
we do demos, uh, because that's.

Reed: Okay.

Al Schuster: of us got into
this industry, and I know I

Reed: Yeah.

Al Schuster: recently for this client,
and I can tell you that hands down

when they had the offer of, you know,
would you like the gin straight up

or would you like it with a little
bit of tonic to make a gin and tonic,

most of them chose the gin and tonic.

So we will work with our, our clients
to review that feedback and to see.

You know how the customers, maybe
they asked for a lot of them, asked

for a mixer or something, and we
can tweak the program that way.

But again, every client's
unique and different.

Every product is unique and different.

So you know, we do really handle it
on a case by case basis, but we're

always actively looking to make these
programs as successful as possible

and more successful over time.

Reed: Now.

Um, so probably a question for
both of you, since you've been

doing this for many years.

What, um, experiential tactic do you
often find, uh, is a little bit overrated

or overhyped versus those that are,
um, more effective but less thought

of, um, you know, 'cause I imagine,
you know, in, in most people's business

you get a, like a lot of requests over
and over again and you're like, no,

I just, you know, I hear what you're
saying, but it's not a good idea.

Um, do, do any examples
of that come to mind?

Al Schuster: Do you want me to jump?

You

Heather Johnson: One area I
can, yeah, one area that I can.

One area that I can think of is when,
uh, a client comes, and Al sort of

hinted at this, less is more, uh, in
some cases where they want us to go

to a grocery store and set up maybe a
giant banner and have signage and have

this and that all over their table.

Which we can say, sure, yes.

But it's a little overrated because
A, you want to make sure that you

are keeping your co costs down.

Especially if this is one
of your first campaigns.

It is easy enough for us to provide
a lot of those things for you.

Keep it simple.

People really do like that interaction.

Like you said, personal touch.

AI can never replace that.

So thinking a little bit more outside of,
uh, trying to put so much in front of the

consumer space versus like letting your
product speak for itself in some cases.

Reed: No, that's a good example.

Yeah.

Anything, anything else?

Anything else come to mind?

Al Schuster: I mean, I, another really

Reed: Okay.

Al Schuster: the nail on the head.

You

Reed: Yeah.

Al Schuster: when it comes to logistics
of moving expensive supplies around.

Uh, you know, if you do have a large
banner, large setup, what we always

advise to our clients is, you know,
when we start off in a market.

And we have all of our demos set up.

Let's go through the first round
with just the basic supplies.

When we find out who our bestselling
brand ambassadors are, who the most

reliable ones are, the ones who can
work the most shifts, let's transfer

the really expensive materials to
them because you know they're gonna

be utilized maybe a little bit better.

Um, it's a lot less risk if you know, if.

brand ambassador never
works with us again.

You know, getting those materials
back from them or having them get

them to another brand ambassador
or have to ship them back.

Um, so, you know, we always like to, you
know, have the established program and

our solid, our best brand ambassadors
who we wanna give the best supplies to.

Um.

before that, it's really just,
you know, you know, simple, you

know, the product on the table, the
giveaway items, maybe like a, a small

postcard size recipe, uh, on it.

Some very simple, easy materials
that our brand ambassador can work

with to really enhance the brand
experience rather than just give

the sample, give things of value,
give information, uh, really present

the, the brand as best as possible.

Reed: That's great.

That's, um, you know, I, I, I love,
you know, I love being able to come

to a client and say, um, you know,
you can get better ROI from, uh,

you know, more efficient effort.

And, uh, it sounds, it sounds like that's,
that's the case even in person now.

Um, what's the future for, for your
company and for experiential marketing?

What, what do you see in.

2027 or 2020 or 2030.

Um, you know what, what are big goals
that you have and what do you see as,

as the future of experiential marketing?

Al Schuster: Heather, any
thoughts before I jump in?

Heather Johnson: I would say one area
that I would be looking forward to is

being able to staff a bunch of different.

Uh, tables or booths at a trade show,
maybe even being the preferred vendor

for an event where we are handling
everything because we are brand

ambassadors, but we're also support staff.

We can be greeters, we can be
instructors, we can be line

monitors, we can do almost anything.

So what would be really cool?

Is to be able to expand people's
mindset of what experiential really

is, and that having those different
interactions with professional

brand ambassadors, representing your
brands and then in person, and then

bringing that to the digital world.

We do a lot of stuff where we will
have them follow, like I said,

follow on social media, follow along.

Maybe the event is both in person and it
continues on, uh, in the digital world

is a really cool aspect that I think
would be nice for clients to jump into.

Reed: Awesome.

Al Schuster: In terms of our
industry, I would have to say

incorporating new technology,
uh, in different and unique ways.

Um, not just AI for the sake of ai,
but for instance, more augmented

reality, more ways to engage with
consumers, both at the event and after.

Event.

Uh, so incorporating those levels of
technologies, I think it's gonna be

the next big change you see in any
type of experiential activations.

Um, for our agency, uh, we are in a
very strong growth mode right now.

Uh, we are looking at adding, uh, new
services offerings to, uh, our portfolio.

Uh, we're looking at
building our client base.

We are looking at, in, you know.

Increasing our staff.

Uh, a lot is on the table
in the next five years.

A few of them are all top secret.

Uh, we've got a few exciting plans
in the works, uh, that we can't share

now because I don't wanna make any
big, big ambitious promises here.

And then all of a sudden, Hey,
I heard a podcast, you're gonna

launch this thing and you never did.

It's like, well, we gotta
revisited that idea.

And, uh, we do have a lot of
exciting things that I think are,

you know, are, are going to really.

Um, differentiate us from other agencies
beyond just the value and the quality

that we bring to our clients' programs.

I think it's a lot gonna be more
in terms of, um, you know, a lot of

new ways to engage with consumers.

And, uh, hopefully we will be back on
another episode soon to announce some,

uh, some big things to stay tuned.

Reed: Awesome.

no, that sounds, that sounds very
exciting and uh, you know, definitely

something to look forward to.

You know, technology is always,
does present some opportunities

and, and especially, uh.

You know, I, I mean, I think they're
especially interesting in person whenever

they can be applied in, in face-to-face
interactions, so that's, that's so cool.

Um, well, thank you so
much for joining me today.

Can you tell us if listeners are
interested in engaging you, whether for

advice or, or for engaging your services?

Where can they find you?

Heather Johnson: We are always
happy to answer questions,

so feel free to reach out.

Uh, our website is polaris
brand promotions.com.

There's a form you can fill out with any
questions, not just a quote request, but

maybe if you're thinking about an event
in the future and you want some feedback,

we're all ready to help you with that.

And our socials are also
Polaris brand promotion.

Reed: Well, easy enough.

Well, please reach out if you are
interested in experiential marketing, want

to do, uh, something face-to-face, and I
think this is a great team to work with.

Please, uh, please contact
Polaris Brand Promotions.

Thank you again, and we hope
to be in touch again soon.

Heather Johnson: Thank you.

Want to stay ahead of what's actually
working in marketing right now.

Head over to Market surge.io

and see how we're helping businesses
grow smarter, faster, and louder.

That's market surge.io

because your next breakthrough
shouldn't be a guess.