Summary:

• A five city, international product launch that would redefine Sullivan Group’s client as a technological innovator in the oil and gas industry.
• Sullivan Group coordinated everything from site selection to transportation and hotel accommodations to meeting content and entertainment.
• Challenges including strict time constraints, navigating various cultures in forming a cohesive theme and fostering excitement for the new software.

Objective:

In 2010, members of the Sullivan group team traipsed five different continents in a mere two and a half month period for the unveiling of the latest innovation for a division of a global oil and gas corporation. The company had a single objective:  Earn the attention of everyone in the oil and gas industry. The first tactic in fulfilling this objective: hire the best in event marketing and meeting management, Sullivan Group.

Production Management:

With less than ninety days to research, plan and execute the worldwide product launch, Sullivan Group began by assisting their client in the selection of five strategic cities to serve as a venue for the launch of the cutting edge software. It was quickly ascertained that the five city launch would span Stavanger, Norway; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Beijing, China; Abu Dhabi, UAE; and Houston, Texas. The client expressed the desire to maintain uniformity in content and programming from city to city, however, presentation and approach had to be custom tailored for the various, unique customs and cultures of the host cities. Sullivan Group conducted dutiful research in exploring the etiquette and social customs of Norway, Brazil, China and UAE. In the short weeks leading up to the launch, Sullivan Group created an aggressive plan, allowing the successful completion of venue selection, creation and development of meeting content, creation of graphic and video content, the acquisition of traveling entertainment and the coordination of travel and transportation arrangements for all parties. 

Challenges:

The challenges faced by Sullivan Group were many. First, the group had to identify a cohesive theme, one that could span the five continents, while maintaining enough flexibility to place in cultural touches unique to each location. Not only the overall theme, but the program content had to resonate across many unique cultures. Sullivan Group utilized art and music as two important tactics in overcoming this challenge. Next, Sullivan Group had less than ninety days to not only develop an interactive audio visual plan but also to execute in the form of filming, editing and producing across the five continents. Sullivan Group met with six international executives, children and various publics that represented the target audiences for this product. The team managed to execute an international video production plan with strategic scheduling and the use of state of the art video production equipment that enabling the
team to present top rate, high quality, interactive video programs to travel with the launch.  Finally, Sullivan Group conquered the challenge of creating a tangible sense of excitement and wonder for the new software. The team did this by avoiding detail or technical overload. Rather than riddling presentations with in depth verbal descriptions of the software, Sullivan Group used event based marketing to educate the various publics on the benefits of the cutting edge technology. The use of unique musical and visual arts with a technical drummer and technical painter brought the theme of cutting edge innovation full circle. Interactive videos and an interactive stage were also tactics which helped create a tangible excitement for the product and, in turn, the client.

Results:

The five city product launch is considered a smashing success. This success is due to the tight event marketing plan that mapped the execution of various strategies and tactics by Sullivan Group and their client. Sullivan Group met and surpassed the primary objective of creating a worldwide buzz related to the new product both in and out of the oil and gas industry. The new technology redefined the company as an innovator in the industry and the success of the launch was tangibly measured by the overwhelming sales of the product immediately following the launch. Sullivan Group was able to not only achieve an important objective for their client, but also reemerged as the premier international event marketing and meeting management firm in the United States.