Programming
Once the narrative arc for the story has been defined, content should be aligned with a client experience journey. Consider the client experience as a series of phases in which you can intentionally deliver a narrative through physical, digital and human touchpoints.For each phase of the journey, touchpoints must be identified and designed to maximize engagement, specifically for that audience, to effectively progress them through the experiential narrative.
Building a client experience journey
We build our client engagements across a set of key actions: provoke, educate, demonstrate, and extend. These should be woven throughout all dimensions of the event experience including: event narrative, user touchpoint, physical location, human interaction, and attendee engagement. The matrix below illustrates how each of these elements come together and their points of intersection.
Narrative
What part of the narrative is delivered at each phase of the journey?
Provocation
Provocative business challenge statements and scenarios.
Education
The subject matter and roles relevant to the target audience.
Demonstration
The demonstration of technology capabilities and solutions.
Extension
Building a path tailored to client needs and strategies.
Touchpoints
What user touchpoints will deliver the narrative within the experience?
Provocation
Provocations should be integrated in promotional event communications across mobile, web, and social platforms. They should appear in headline level messaging.
Education
Educational topics are supported with event activations, client references, theater sessions, and digital content.
Demonstration
Software and solutions should be demonstrated onsite with relevant business context and subject matter expert support.
Extension
Extend marketing leads with private meetings and tailored follow-up communication.
Locations
How does the narrative manifest across physical elements in the environment?
Provocation
Provocations should exist along the perimeter of the experience and at prominent locations to draw attention and intrigue.
Education
Educational content should appear onstage within theaters, breakout spaces, and networking zones.
Demonstration
Solution demonstrations may appear in dedicated demo zones or in online/mobile platforms.
Extension
Extend the conversation in private meeting spaces and post-event communications.
Human interactions
Face-to-face interactions create the highest value for event experiences. Who will support delivery of the experiential narrative across the attendee journey?
Provocation
Provocations should come from senior executives, thought leaders, and brand ambassadors.
Education
Subject matter experts should drive education with peers and colleagues.
Demonstration
Experienced developers and experts should lead solution or software demonstrations.
Extension
Client representatives, industry experts, and peer advocates must work together to extend leads.
Engagement modes
What attendee engagement or learning model is most appropriate for each phase of the journey?
Provocation
Provocations can be focused on a target group or via self-discovery.
Education
Education can also happen via self-discovery, but is more successful with hands-on facilitation and activation content.
Demonstration
Demonstration should be facilitated by subject matter experts with real-time interactive software.
Extension
Extension is best managed through 1-on-1 executive meetings and peer group follow-ups.
Roles and responsibilities
IBM Event Marketers
IBM Event Marketers will provide a creative brief at the onset of each project that will lead agency partners in narrative creation and recommendations for activation (touchpoints, locations, human interactions and engagement modes).
Agency Partners
Agency Partners will work from the audience insights uncovered from the creative brief to recommend the most effective use of elements for activation (touchpoints, locations, human interactions and engagement modes) of the event experience at hand.
This is an iterative, co-creative effort that requires all parties to seek content, with access to subject matter experts and additional elements to ensure the story is most effectively told.