Bruno Group Signature Events and the Rogers Worldwide sales and marketing team tossed around a number of ideas for a pre-show promotional campaign to coincide with Rogers’ exhibit in IAEE’s Expo! Expo! trade show in Atlanta, December 9. They ruled out postcards (not environmentally friendly) and telemarketing (over 900 prospects were listed on the pre-show attendee list). Email emerged as the best option, even though they knew the competition would be stiff for something eye catching and memorable. After some brainstorming, the Rogers Roadtrip email campaign was born.

The objectives behind the email campaign included:

• Raise awareness about Rogers Worldwide
• Provide recipients with a reason to visit the Rogers Worldwide booth
• Offer prospects a fun way to interact with the company
• Apply the “share, don’t sell” philosophy

The email campaign, depicting the skylines of Atlanta (the site of the meeting) and Chicago (Rogers headquarters and the start of the virtual roadtrip), consisted of a series of three trivia questions revolving around destinations where Rogers Worldwide has offices. Two cities, Chicago and Hong Kong, plus the country of India provided a backdrop for the following three questions:

1. What was the real name of the Chicago establishment referred to as the “Olympia Restaurant” in the Saturday Night Live skit that immortalized the phrase, “cheezburger,  cheezburger, pepsi, chip?” Answer:  Billy Goat Tavern
2. What is the name of the bar and restaurant, located in the urban district at the tip of Hong Kong’s Kowloon peninsula, named after a famous “down under” outlaw? Hint:  The outlaw is sometimes referred to as the first “Crocodile Dundee.” Answer:  Ned Kelly’s Last Stand
3. In the academy-award winning movie, Slumdog Millionaire, about an orphan from the slums of India who wins 20 million rupees on India’s TV version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, what is the answer to the final question: “Who was the third musketeer?  Answer:  Aramis

Recipients were invited to answer the trivia questions (emailed three consecutive weeks before Expo! Expo!) via return email in exchange for a variety of gifts including a road atlas, luggage tags, subscription to Condé Nast Traveler magazine, travel alarm, Chinese cookbook, electrical converter or a copy of the DVD “Slumdog Millionaire.” Winners were directed to claim their prizes at the Rogers booth. Each correct answer also entitled the game participant to be entered into a drawing for a grand prize of a night on the town ($400 value).

The Rogers Roadtrip email campaign generated 69 unique leads. Many of the respondents answered multiple times in the series and received several gifts. The grand prizewinner of a night on the town was Mariella Ley of IDG World. “I was extremely pleased and very surprised by the number and quality of the responses we received. It was the most successful campaign we have ever run for the Expo! Expo! show,” says Jeanette Mucha, director national sales for Rogers Worldwide.