Product category:
Conferences, meetings, seminars
News Release from: Mirage Events | Subject: Sales conference
Edited by the Marketingservicestalk Editorial
Team on 03 May 2007
Pharmaceutical firm enjoys team-building
event
Mirage Events developed "The Great Smoothie Challenge", a fun, dynamic and unique activity day, as part of a two-day sales conference for a leading pharmaceutical company.
A leading pharmaceutical company had some very clear objectives when they briefed Mirage on their annual conference They also faced some major challenges as the conference was scheduled to take place just after the company had been acquired
This article was originally published on Marketingservicestalk on 16 Nov 2007 at 8.00am (UK)
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"It was important that business continued as usual and staff remained focused and motivated," said Christian Marryat, MD of Mirage.
"Our client wanted to build on previous conferences and continue to push the boundaries.
"They needed a unique and special framework completely tailored to their delegates and specific objectives".
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In line with an existing initiative, the overall theme of the conference was "The Power to Perform".
Day One consisted of a keynote session and separate divisional workshops.
For Day Two, Mirage was asked to create a totally bespoke activity.
The event culminated in a stunning gala dinner and award ceremony.
Management knew exactly what they wanted to achieve.
They needed the 80 UK field sales staff to better understand the processes and elements crucial to successfully bringing a product to market.
They also wanted the day to incorporate team building, leadership and personal development in an entertaining and relevant way.
The overall objectives were to further empower the sales team, encourage each of them to think outside the box and develop their skills and confidence.
Mirage created a contemporary Apprentice-style challenge to fit within "The Power to Perform" initiative.
Dan Germaine, famous for the launch and incredible growth of Innocent Drinks, was booked to kick-off the session with a motivational speech, act as lead judge and ensure the day was dynamic, professional, innovative and fun.
Throughout the day, Dan and senior managers monitored and advised the teams.
Success was based on a variety of factors: Did they understand and follow the brief? (In case one team put on the best presentation but did not stick to the brief.) Did they set 'SMART' objectives for the project? Did they set realistic goals and then plan for each part of the project? Was everyone in the team actively involved or were there 'passengers' who did not contribute and left it all to the others? Did they make the best use of resources, time and skills? Delegates were split into teams and given rigorous deadlines to complete the following challenges: Invent the perfect smoothie.
Create a business plan.
Present and sell the concept.
The first exercise encouraged delegates to think about target audiences and a typical product development life cycle.
Mirage provided an innovation centre equipped with blenders and a variety of fruit, vegetables and other ingredients to allow delegates to try their creativity.
'Members of the public' were on hand to act as tasters and give feedback.
Once teams had agreed on their winning smoothie they were tasked with getting it to market.
Mirage created a resource area including PCs, internet access for research, a studio to produce voxpops, graphic designers and marketing advisors to help them create their final presentations.
The day culminated in presentations.
Each team had the challenge of wowing the judges, consisting of Dan Germain and two top managers.
Not only was their success judged on the taste of the smoothie and the excellence of their plan but also on their creativity, entrepreneurial abilities, innovation, sales skills and how well they had operated as teams.
Everyone agreed the day had been energising and thought provoking.
The sales teams could understand the challenges and difficulties faced by other departments and could see how they, as sales people, meshed with the rest of the organisation.
The challenge helped them develop their personal skills and showed them the importance of initiative, planning, preparation, time management, teamwork and delegation.
It also encouraged them to be proactive and highlighted skills they never knew they possessed.
The client commented: "The technical and creative support were first rate and resulted in a very successful meeting on all counts - I especially appreciate the process you took us through to achieve the finished product as well as the tight coordination during the meeting.
"I heard nothing but positive comments throughout (which is amazing in itself) and everyone I spoke to said how much they enjoyed it".
Were objectives met? Some comments from the delegates: "The challenge was a great opportunity to try something different and to work with colleagues from other areas." "Excellent conference - worked hard had fun." "Very positive, motivating and fun." "Excellent organisation and execution." "Perfect Gala dinner - beautiful and scenic." "One of the best business meetings/conferences that I have attended and I am happy and delighted to be associated with our company." "Thought the whole conference was fantastically organised." "First conference - Very useful, enjoyable and informative." "Closing speech about our products helping people lead better lives was very motivating." "Brilliant." "Perfect." "Inspiring." "Fantastic." "Mirage were brilliant".
Mirage were involved with every aspect of the conference: this included refining the brief, venue selection and management, creative, theming, logistics, technical, staging, lighting and AV.
Mirage also designed and produced all collateral, managed the content development, provided script writing and speaker support, created and ran the "Great Smoothie Challenge" and organised a bespoke Gala Dinner.
Feedback and measurement were built into the event to ensure pre-determined objectives were met.
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