Shift Gears: The 2017 Bridgestone Dealers’ Conference

On March 17, 2017, Bridgestone Philippines held their annual dealers’ conference, this time quite different with their usual sit-through-the-morning-conventions. Stratminds Inc. added a little this and that to their conventional formula, creating a tailor-fit plan to spice up this one day conference at the Legaspi Ballroom, Makati Diamond Residences.

It all started with the desire to get across the Bridgestone message wholly to the dealers divided by regions. With all the technological advancements and apps that are sure entertainers but attention span cutter, the main challenge now is to get their undivided attention, keep them entertained, and on top of that make sure they get the takeaway message of the conference.

Thus, we created a simple, uncomplicated, and flawless plan for this conference.

Since the conference was set at a very early time, we needed more than coffee to boost our dealers and wake them up. We started the easy-breezy experience at the registration with the use of android tablets. With just a tap, we have monitored the flow of guests already and avoided the dreaded long queues. The conference opened with a video presentation featuring Bridgestone’s past programs and ended with a play of lights and sounds as the event theme is revealed. Every detail in the event was designed to highlight the goal for the year and the message of standing as one. Even the battle cry is composed with three simple words for easy recall. 1by17. A no-brainer, but managed to tackle the aim for the year.

Probably one of the biggest upgrades for this year’s conference was the invitation of a motivational speaker. It is hard to battle for the dealers’ focus, and Jayson Lo’s wit and humor was the perfect weapon. There’s no question his charm and storytelling won the crowd. We wanted to hear the guests’ immediate feedback for us to assess the areas we could improve, and with the digital post-event survey, we made it possible. All these were done for one purpose, to get the dealers hooked into the presentation and see through the message.

In this techy and instant times, we have proven that when in doubt, it won’t harm if you go back to basics. For after all, with these simple, uncomplex methods that elicited interaction we have sent the message.