The Situation
Following a record-breaking sales year, a blockbuster pharmaceutical brand rewarded field teams with a spring POA in paradise – sunny Cancun! It was Sunday afternoon; presentations were in the can, final rehearsals had just wrapped, and the leadership team was enjoying much-needed cocktails on the beach in anticipation of Monday morning’s opening session.
But tensions were running high.
Numbers for Q1 just hit and were lower than expected. Global leadership swiftly handed down a new mandate to reverse early trends and get back on track to meet historic projections.
A text message arrives from the SVP of Marketing: “Meet me under the last umbrella next to the jet ski rentals… bring your laptop… it’s gonna be a late night!”
The Plan
Roll up our sleeves and work overnight taking advantage of the ~12 hours before the doors open to completely reengineer the Opening Session to:
1. Pivot plenary messaging to feature a brand-new mission-critical campaign featuring updated strategic imperatives reflecting evolving market conditions and dynamics.
2. Maintain an empowering and motivating tone celebrating brand leadership while outlining a stepwise plan to incrementally win back eroded market share.
3. Invite the SVP of Sales and designated zone leaders to announce an incentive-based sales contest focused on key accounts.
4. Assemble a virtual team of artists and designers to create a fresh, evolved and revitalized sub-theme tying into the published meeting theme and graphics but focused on a new call to action.
5. Collaborate with all main stage presenters to integrate updated goals, critical success factors, messaging, metrics and meeting creative.
6. Coordinate with on-site meeting production teams to adapt and update all digital meeting graphics, multimedia, and signage.
The Results
Breakfast was served in the Grand Salon and the doors opened at 8 am. Colleagues from across the organization met, mingled and reconnected. The ballroom was packed with an eager and attentive audience, and as the curtain rose and the show unfolded, the energy and excitement were palpable. By all accounts, the meeting was heralded as one of the best and most impactful ever orchestrated. As for those sales goals? That blockbuster brand hit double blockbuster status in just three short years. One client reminisced:
“I’ll never forget redoing slides under a beach towel on the sands of the Yucatan Peninsula at the eleventh hour… one of the most epic stories of business success ever! You guys rock!”