In this case study, I came up with an idea, that really had no true support other than comparative events, and built a 'meetup' style event called the 'Networking Mixer' into a successful inexpensive series of events which led to new opportunities.
2. The Organization – DATA Inc.
• IT Consulting Company
– Staff Augmentation
– Application Development
• Targets Fortune Financial,
Pharmaceutical,
Public Sector
3. The Challenge
Change the ‘body shop’ image
• Develop tactics that would change the
perception of the company with IT consultants
– Build brand ambassadors
– Gain competitive intelligence
– Increase retention rates of top performers
– Gain additional referrals for business and candidates
4. The Idea
A ‘meetup’ style event
• Develop the ‘Networking Mixer’ to
– Enhance the organizational brand
– Motivate the consultants
– Gain business intelligence
– Build additional opportunities
5. The Strategy
• Networking Mixer
– Targeted ‘field IT
consultants’
– Main office attendance:
• Management
• Recruiters
• Support Personnel
…to put names to faces, talk
directly to the consultants and
build trust
6. The Strategy
• Networking Mixer
– Held in key areas based
on consultant count
including:
• North / South Jersey
• New York City / Jersey City
• Baltimore, MD
• Stamford, CT
7. Event Outreach for Attendance
• Included
– Email marketing to
consultants
– Direct outreach by
• Recruiters
• Marketing
• Support personnel
8. Marketing and positioning
• Marketing material
developed to
target ‘field IT
consultants’
– Facilitated
• Blog followers
• Social media
followers
• Direct messaging
10. Lots of Social Media content!
• Attendees were
invited to Like us on
Facebook after the
event
• Showcased the
‘people’ element
11. The Results
• Motivated field consultants and a better
company image
– Facilitated better brand ambassadors
– Built better teams at client sites (i.e. field
consultants knew they were not alone)
• Resulted in referrals for both new candidates
and new business opportunities
12. The Results
• Facilitated better relationships
– Both recruiters / support and field IT consultants
built better relationships
• Resulted in increased business
– Named one of two primary vendors at a financial
services company. Reason: “there’s something
about our consultants!”
• …and of course
– More “Likes” on Facebook
14. My Role
• Charged with
developing and
executing
‘out-of-the-box ideas’
– It started with an
‘idea’
The idea was tested…
…and it worked!
There was no true ‘data’ to support this idea.
It required a test and a risk!
That is what I do!
15. About George Nikanorov
• Over 15 years of B2B and B2C Marketing
and Communications Experience
• Successful track record spanning multiple
industries and verticals
• Recognized speaker and panelist
• Educator and Volunteer