In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the promotional staffing industry has witnessed significant changes. As traditional methods of finding work have become challenging, promotional staff have turned to digital platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook groups to search for opportunities. However, a growing concern has emerged among these individuals – the fear that work is drying up due to agencies prioritising their loyal registered staff. In this article, we will explore why promotional staff should consider loyalty to the agencies they are registered with, and how the industry dynamics have shifted during these unprecedented times.
The Rise of WhatsApp and Facebook Groups:
during the pandemic, with restrictions on public gatherings and events, promotional staffing agencies have faced an uphill battle in finding work for their staff. In response to this, promotional staff have taken to social media platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook groups to connect with each other and share potential job opportunities. These groups provide a space for staff to network, exchange information, and secure gigs outside of traditional agency channels.
The Importance of Loyalty:
Promotional staffing agencies heavily rely on their pool of loyal staff to ensure successful campaigns for their clients. Loyal staff members have established trust, understanding, and familiarity with the agency’s operations. They are trained and equipped with the necessary skills to represent various brands and execute promotional activities effectively.
By being loyal to an agency, promotional staff gain several advantages. Agencies invest time and resources into training, which helps staff enhance their skills, expand their network, and build a solid reputation within the industry. Loyal staff often enjoy consistent work opportunities, higher rates, and a sense of stability.
Understanding Agency Priorities:
During the pandemic, agencies have faced their fair share of challenges. Many have experienced a decline in clients and events, resulting in reduced work opportunities. In such circumstances, agencies prioritise their loyal staff, as these individuals have already proven their competence and reliability. This approach allows agencies to ensure the success of their projects while managing limited resources effectively.
The Role of WhatsApp and Facebook Groups:
While WhatsApp and Facebook groups have provided promotional staff with alternative avenues to find work, it is essential to acknowledge that agencies primarily rely on their internal databases first. These groups typically come into play only when the agency’s usual pool of staff has been exhausted or when the scope of the project exceeds their internal resources. Therefore, promotional staff relying solely on these groups might find it challenging to secure consistent work, especially during times when agencies’ resources are already stretched thin.
Finding a Balance:
Promotional staff seeking regular work opportunities should strike a balance between utilising WhatsApp or Facebook groups and maintaining loyalty to their registered agencies. By actively engaging in agency assignments and demonstrating reliability, they can establish themselves as trusted resources. Simultaneously, participating in digital platforms can serve as a backup option, ensuring they don’t miss out on potential opportunities when agencies’ resources are limited.
Conclusion:
As the promotional staffing industry adapts to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, promotional staff must understand the dynamics at play. While WhatsApp and Facebook groups offer additional channels to find work, relying solely on them may not guarantee consistent opportunities. By prioritising loyalty to their registered agencies and maintaining a balance between agency assignments and digital platforms, promotional staff can increase their chances of securing regular work and building a strong foundation within the industry. Ultimately, a symbiotic relationship between promotional staff and agencies will lead to a thriving industry and a brighter future for all involved.
We cannot believe everything we read, or are told! So it’s not surprising that Brand Experience is the only authentic way of gaining customers trust. Brand Experience covers every interaction a customer has with your brand, but experiencing your brand through a physical environment wins customers and gains authenticity.
The way consumers interact with your brand directly, such as using your product or service, that’s a real brand experience! Essentially, first-hand interactions with your product or service that isn’t through a media channel, that’s a brand experience.
PWC stated it perfectly – Give customers a great experience, and they’ll buy more, be more loyal and share their experience with friends.
That’s why using the latest technologies or snappy designs are not the way to win meaningful customer relationships. Customers are looking for:-
Speed
Convenience
Consistency
Friendliness
So if you are using technology to improve the customer experience, make sure it feels human and creates better customer experiences rather than a conduit for getting messages to customers.
IS BRAND EXPERIENCE ONLY FOR B2C BRANDS?
It probably appears that brand experiences are more appropriate for B2C brands than B2B. This is because many experiences take place in public forums, and as such require the brand in question to be seeking a relationship with the general public.
While it’s true that B2B brands are less likely to activate a stunt in a city square or to open a pop-up shop, that doesn’t mean that brand experience isn’t for them. In fact, in some cases it can be far more effective than it can be for B2C brands.
B2B brands, since they normally have a narrower customer base, can generally do far more targeted experiences, like small scale events and conferences. They can also get more creative, which carries an extra premium and impact in industries where brand experience is more unusual.
Here are tips on how to do experiential – properly:-
1. Make it personal
2. Show that you care about the environment and Sustainability
3. Create memories
4. Augmented Reality
5. Pop-up
6. Stream big
7. Act authentically
Ensure you have cutting edge creative, strong strategic direction and quality metrics. Then, experiential connects as an essential part of your marketing mix.”
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the promotional staffing industry has witnessed significant changes. As traditional methods of finding work have become challenging, promotional staff have turned to digital platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook groups to search...
We cannot believe everything we read, or are told! So it's not surprising that Brand Experience is the only authentic way of gaining customers trust. Brand Experience covers every interaction a customer has with your brand, but experiencing your brand through a...
We are increasingly being asked to supply mystery shopping staff to brands and retailers!Initially we have three Quality assurance managers that travel the breadth and depth of the UK visiting our promotions and reporting back to us, it was initially very easy for us...
Stand out with an engaging exhibition stand! Designing an exhibition stand that is an experience for guests as well as using engaging exhibition staff is important to achieve cut-through . Your exhibition stand needs to stand out from others in what can seem like a...
As we make our way into 2020, it is time to reflect on past achievements and share with you all, what an amazing year we have had!In 2019 we have accomplished a lot:Completed over 150 projectsChanged our online staffing database from Watu to LiveforceDistributed over...
Small Breasts Need Not Apply! A Racetrack In Spain is in trouble as they have advertised for large breasted promotional staff at a speed circuit in Spain. The advert recently required Grid girls and stipulated that they must have "a size 95 or 100 chest," which...
Attending an Exhibition requires alot of planning. When you are spending large amounts on attending, thought needs to focus on what you get out of attending. With Grand Designs Live coming up Ngage can help! As the preferred promotional staffing supplier to Grand...
It’s always interesting to keep track of what are the growing trends in brand experience and who is embracing these concepts. A recent Marketing Week article suggested that “live shows” are the “ultimate brand experience”.These live shows are aimed at giving consumers...
Can you smell a good marketing strategy? Will consumers like the sound of a new promotional activity? Well, according to the experts, all marketers should pay attention to more senses than simply sight when creating and delivering a marketing campaign or brand...
We like to think that there are three types of promotional marketing agencies. There are those that call themselves “promotional staffing” agencies. There are others that call themselves “brand experience” agencies. And then there’s Ngage. We call ourselves a “brand...
Who are the they?There are many names for promotional staff, such as Promotional Models, Event Staff, Field Marketing staff, Sales Staff, Exhibition Staff, Models, Leafleting Staff, Festival Staff, Grid Girls, Hospitality Staff, Roadshow Staff and Hit Squads. A good...
To fulfill the complete promotional marketing needs of our clients we aim to deliver a host of expert services. These include:- Promotional staff- Operational staff- Specialist performers- Event Managers- Team...
At Activ8 we have had the busiest December in history! Not only has this been due to a high demand from our current clients but unfortunately there are a number of promotional staffing agencies who accept work that they are not able to deliver. As an industry, it is...
It's rare to find well thought out integrated experiential campaigns. This campaign conceived by JWT London is a brilliant example of how to ensure the various disciplines of any marketing activity are delivered.Mr. Kipling devised an edible billboard in London, not...
We’ve come up with 8 of the best Apps for busy promotional staff and event managers: -1) London tube map: It’s vital that you turn up for clients or events on time but London is a busy place and it’s not always the easiest to navigate. So make sure you’re not late...
Focus should be on staff quality and customer engagement rather than price!All too often clients contact us, along with a handful of other agencies, to provide pricing on promotional staffing – my answer is always the same!Are you sure you would like the most cost...
We recently delivered a national sampling campaign for Wilkinsons to sample their new ranges of own brand products.Activ8 employed 50 promotional staff throughout the UK, for a single day of in-store sampling at 50 separate Wilkinsons stores. With this kind of...
We get asked very often whether in-store sampling is more effective than outdoor sampling at Tesco, Sainsburys, Waitrose, Morrisons, Asda and Lidl. Whilst we have an opinion and stats on this there are a number of items you need to consider:-ObjectivesWhat are your...
For Brands wanting to engage with their customer in the run up to Christmas you need to consider the environments that your customers will be in. There is a growing trend in the UK for shopping centre shopping! Fairly obviously, the background to this has got to do...
I have recently been asked if there is a difference in the quality of promotional staff in London compared to the rest of the UK! There is a very easy response to this question - in every city there are strong promotional staff and weak promotional staff! I know this...
There are rules around leafleting in many city centers in the UK. Gone are the days when you would run off 500 leaflets, call up a promotional staffing agency and tell them to supply you with staff to hand out the leaflets. Recently there has been a trend for inner...
We have recently managed a campaign with Homebase, which has resulted in an amazing “changing rooms” sponsorship of a children's hospice in Walsall. You may have seen the transformation of the train station on television and Homebase wants to transform all spaces into...
New dining experience "Come Fry With Me" achieved take-off last week at Box park in London's trendy Shoreditch area!Activ8 delivered a product sampling campaign to launch "Come Fry With Me" which plans on opening its first store in London in the autumn. To whet the...
We are increasingly being asked to supply mystery shopping staff who mystery shop brand experience activity! We have always used this method internally, to visit our own brand experiences and promotions, to ensure that the quality of our staff is maintained and also...
Attending an Exhibition requires alot of planning. When you are spending large amounts on attending, thought needs to focus on what you get out of attending. With Grand Designs Live coming up Ngage can help! As the preferred promotional staffing supplier to Grand...
This blog has been created to discuss and potentially help clients, as well as marketing professionals, to address specific issues and advances in promotional staffing or Brand experience.We welcome feedback from clients and potential clients, helping us to improve...
Activ8 is representing Cisco at The Gadget Show live Exhibition at the NEC Birmingham. Our promotional stand which is showcasing Cisco's Flip Video and Linksys products will focus on visitors really getting their hands on Cisco products to showcase how easy they are...
Having spent the last few days at the NEC in Birmingham, I was surprised to see the varied quality of promotional staff and to be honest, I was quite shocked at the vast majority!It was fairly evident that clients had requested promotional models to create interest in...
It can be very costly to attend an exhibition with very little help from exhibition organisers on preparation and planning for a successful show. Using promotional staff at exhibitions will always help - Let me try and help! Focus on these 4 elements and you will be...
CaféPod, creators of coffee capsules designed for use in Nespresso® machines, have appointed brand experience agency Activ8 to lead sampling activation throughout 2014 in retail environments.With previous sampling activity handled in house this is a first for the...
The biggest question we are faced with on a daily basis from clients this year is how can we secure good promotional staff over the Olympics? And the answer is simple, plan and commit. The following points are the most important for ensuring your brand is...
Activ8 – well known for its high quality promotional staff, has been asked by Sony UK to manage its recent trade-in promotion. The basis of the promotion was to offer customers the opportunity to trade in an old television, DVD player etc. For that, they would then...
You may recently have seen the new Homebase advert which includes a makeover of a children's hospice in Walsall. Well, we are extremely proud to announce that Activ8 managed the entire project and our promotional staff feature right through the advert. This is not...
Due to the volcanic eruption and the unfortunate impact this has had on international travel, Activ8 has been required to step in and run an exhibition at the London Marathon Expo for a company that is US based, who were unable to come over and use the exhibition...
We are increasingly being asked to supply mystery shopping staff to brands and retailers!
Initially we have three Quality assurance managers that travel the breadth and depth of the UK visiting our promotions and reporting back to us, it was initially very easy for us to get our quality assurance managers to visit retailers and events to report back to brands and agencies, but we have had so much interest in creating these mystery shoppers that we have now trained mystery shoppers in every major metropolitan area in the UK, to allow us to quickly conduct mystery shops on both a tactical and an ongoing basis.
We have since developed our expertise in constructing questionnaires and reports to offer a full mystery shopping service including:-
Store audits
Mystery shopping
Competitor analysis
Supply chain audits
Product and campaign launched
Pricing audits
Merchandising
We are now able to digitize these mystery shops into real time reporting, allowing brand managers to make instant changes. Let us know if you would like to discuss your needs in more detail
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the promotional staffing industry has witnessed significant changes. As traditional methods of finding work have become challenging, promotional staff have turned to digital platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook groups to search...
We cannot believe everything we read, or are told! So it's not surprising that Brand Experience is the only authentic way of gaining customers trust. Brand Experience covers every interaction a customer has with your brand, but experiencing your brand through a...
We are increasingly being asked to supply mystery shopping staff to brands and retailers!Initially we have three Quality assurance managers that travel the breadth and depth of the UK visiting our promotions and reporting back to us, it was initially very easy for us...
Stand out with an engaging exhibition stand! Designing an exhibition stand that is an experience for guests as well as using engaging exhibition staff is important to achieve cut-through . Your exhibition stand needs to stand out from others in what can seem like a...
As we make our way into 2020, it is time to reflect on past achievements and share with you all, what an amazing year we have had!In 2019 we have accomplished a lot:Completed over 150 projectsChanged our online staffing database from Watu to LiveforceDistributed over...
Small Breasts Need Not Apply! A Racetrack In Spain is in trouble as they have advertised for large breasted promotional staff at a speed circuit in Spain. The advert recently required Grid girls and stipulated that they must have "a size 95 or 100 chest," which...
Attending an Exhibition requires alot of planning. When you are spending large amounts on attending, thought needs to focus on what you get out of attending. With Grand Designs Live coming up Ngage can help! As the preferred promotional staffing supplier to Grand...
It’s always interesting to keep track of what are the growing trends in brand experience and who is embracing these concepts. A recent Marketing Week article suggested that “live shows” are the “ultimate brand experience”.These live shows are aimed at giving consumers...
Can you smell a good marketing strategy? Will consumers like the sound of a new promotional activity? Well, according to the experts, all marketers should pay attention to more senses than simply sight when creating and delivering a marketing campaign or brand...
We like to think that there are three types of promotional marketing agencies. There are those that call themselves “promotional staffing” agencies. There are others that call themselves “brand experience” agencies. And then there’s Ngage. We call ourselves a “brand...
Who are the they?There are many names for promotional staff, such as Promotional Models, Event Staff, Field Marketing staff, Sales Staff, Exhibition Staff, Models, Leafleting Staff, Festival Staff, Grid Girls, Hospitality Staff, Roadshow Staff and Hit Squads. A good...
To fulfill the complete promotional marketing needs of our clients we aim to deliver a host of expert services. These include:- Promotional staff- Operational staff- Specialist performers- Event Managers- Team...
At Activ8 we have had the busiest December in history! Not only has this been due to a high demand from our current clients but unfortunately there are a number of promotional staffing agencies who accept work that they are not able to deliver. As an industry, it is...
It's rare to find well thought out integrated experiential campaigns. This campaign conceived by JWT London is a brilliant example of how to ensure the various disciplines of any marketing activity are delivered.Mr. Kipling devised an edible billboard in London, not...
We’ve come up with 8 of the best Apps for busy promotional staff and event managers: -1) London tube map: It’s vital that you turn up for clients or events on time but London is a busy place and it’s not always the easiest to navigate. So make sure you’re not late...
Focus should be on staff quality and customer engagement rather than price!All too often clients contact us, along with a handful of other agencies, to provide pricing on promotional staffing – my answer is always the same!Are you sure you would like the most cost...
We recently delivered a national sampling campaign for Wilkinsons to sample their new ranges of own brand products.Activ8 employed 50 promotional staff throughout the UK, for a single day of in-store sampling at 50 separate Wilkinsons stores. With this kind of...
We get asked very often whether in-store sampling is more effective than outdoor sampling at Tesco, Sainsburys, Waitrose, Morrisons, Asda and Lidl. Whilst we have an opinion and stats on this there are a number of items you need to consider:-ObjectivesWhat are your...
For Brands wanting to engage with their customer in the run up to Christmas you need to consider the environments that your customers will be in. There is a growing trend in the UK for shopping centre shopping! Fairly obviously, the background to this has got to do...
I have recently been asked if there is a difference in the quality of promotional staff in London compared to the rest of the UK! There is a very easy response to this question - in every city there are strong promotional staff and weak promotional staff! I know this...
There are rules around leafleting in many city centers in the UK. Gone are the days when you would run off 500 leaflets, call up a promotional staffing agency and tell them to supply you with staff to hand out the leaflets. Recently there has been a trend for inner...
We have recently managed a campaign with Homebase, which has resulted in an amazing “changing rooms” sponsorship of a children's hospice in Walsall. You may have seen the transformation of the train station on television and Homebase wants to transform all spaces into...
New dining experience "Come Fry With Me" achieved take-off last week at Box park in London's trendy Shoreditch area!Activ8 delivered a product sampling campaign to launch "Come Fry With Me" which plans on opening its first store in London in the autumn. To whet the...
We are increasingly being asked to supply mystery shopping staff who mystery shop brand experience activity! We have always used this method internally, to visit our own brand experiences and promotions, to ensure that the quality of our staff is maintained and also...
Attending an Exhibition requires alot of planning. When you are spending large amounts on attending, thought needs to focus on what you get out of attending. With Grand Designs Live coming up Ngage can help! As the preferred promotional staffing supplier to Grand...
This blog has been created to discuss and potentially help clients, as well as marketing professionals, to address specific issues and advances in promotional staffing or Brand experience.We welcome feedback from clients and potential clients, helping us to improve...
Activ8 is representing Cisco at The Gadget Show live Exhibition at the NEC Birmingham. Our promotional stand which is showcasing Cisco's Flip Video and Linksys products will focus on visitors really getting their hands on Cisco products to showcase how easy they are...
Having spent the last few days at the NEC in Birmingham, I was surprised to see the varied quality of promotional staff and to be honest, I was quite shocked at the vast majority!It was fairly evident that clients had requested promotional models to create interest in...
It can be very costly to attend an exhibition with very little help from exhibition organisers on preparation and planning for a successful show. Using promotional staff at exhibitions will always help - Let me try and help! Focus on these 4 elements and you will be...
CaféPod, creators of coffee capsules designed for use in Nespresso® machines, have appointed brand experience agency Activ8 to lead sampling activation throughout 2014 in retail environments.With previous sampling activity handled in house this is a first for the...
The biggest question we are faced with on a daily basis from clients this year is how can we secure good promotional staff over the Olympics? And the answer is simple, plan and commit. The following points are the most important for ensuring your brand is...
Activ8 – well known for its high quality promotional staff, has been asked by Sony UK to manage its recent trade-in promotion. The basis of the promotion was to offer customers the opportunity to trade in an old television, DVD player etc. For that, they would then...
You may recently have seen the new Homebase advert which includes a makeover of a children's hospice in Walsall. Well, we are extremely proud to announce that Activ8 managed the entire project and our promotional staff feature right through the advert. This is not...
Due to the volcanic eruption and the unfortunate impact this has had on international travel, Activ8 has been required to step in and run an exhibition at the London Marathon Expo for a company that is US based, who were unable to come over and use the exhibition...
