Conrad Siegel Ups Their Live Stream Game With Final Focus
- Steve Kownacki
- Category: Virtual
Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: a company with a rich history of sponsoring live events runs right into COVID and suddenly finds itself with a wide-open marketing calendar.
This was the situation Conrad Siegel, an employee benefit and investment advisory firm headquartered in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, found themselves in just a couple of years ago.
Zack Klien, Marketing Director for Conrad Siegel explained the impact:
“We have more than 1,200 clients. Historically, live events have been tremendously successful as a way for us to network and grow the brand. When those events disappeared, we knew we’d need to pivot quickly to maintain that brand equity.”
Realizing it could be some time before live events returned, Conrad Siegel pivoted to produce live streams produced on Zoom. Klien joked that he wasn’t 100% sure he even had a Zoom account before COVID, but it quickly became an essential part of business for him and the firm.
But after producing some live streams with an in-house team, Conrad Siegel quickly determined the quality wasn’t up to their standards. Klien explained the challenge.
“One of the hallmarks of Conrad Siegel is that once we’ve made the decision to sponsor or promote an event, we go all- in to maximize the effectiveness of that investment. This goes all the way back to the philosophy of our founder. If our name is on an event, we want to be confident in the attendee experience. And we quickly determined that the events we were producing lacked the presentation quality we felt our audience deserved.”
When Klien looked at why he and others were unsatisfied, the reasons were obvious.
“We’re an advisory firm, not an event production company. We were leaning too heavily on our IT team for something they haven’t been trained to do. And while they were great with making sure Zoom was operational, their expertise certainly didn’t include lighting, presentation, or any of the aspects that make the show a great viewing experience. Essentially, we knew enough to pull off an event, but not enough to pull it off, well.”
If Conrad Siegel’s legacy of excellence in events were to be protected, a change was in order. Fortunately, Klien had a name in mind.
“We maintain relationships with many of the top accounting firms in Central Pennsylvania, and I pay attention to how they approach their marketing. One of those firms is Brown, Schultz, Sheridan & Fritz (now Brown Plus). They had worked with Final Focus Productions, and I had seen some of their work and been impressed with the quality.”
Klien also noted, “At one point, Steve had office space in their building, and during a Brown Shultz mini-golf event, he had allowed one hole to go right through his office. Obviously, anyone comfortable with that is someone that’s going to be able to keep their cool during a virtual event!”
IMAGES: greenscreen golfing
FFP set up a camera on the greenscreen to allow the golfers to see themselves on different backgrounds in real-time. Great photo op!
With an introduction in place, Final Focus was hired for the first of many live streams. To execute, Klien explained the quality they were seeking, and Steve hopped in. And not unlike other Final Focus customers, Klien noticed an immediate difference.
Instead of starting with a technical list of requirements, Final Focus instead started its involvement by seeking a clear understanding of the outcomes required for a successful event. In this case, that meant addressing the scripts, first. Though Klien acknowledges that tightly scripted events detract from spontaneity, his team insisted on using them.
“Wealth management, for good reason, is a tightly regulated industry. Compliance requirements are stringent,” says Klien. “So for this team, scripts were mandatory.” And because scripts were required, Steve was asked to utilize technology that maximized their effectiveness.
The introduction of a teleprompter would help allay compliance concerns. Still, Conrad Siegel presenters were wealth managers, after all; not television anchors. Fortunately, Final Focus has years of talent management under its belt.
Camera tally lights were introduced, so talent knew where to look. Customized talent monitors with scripts, slides, and Q&A polls and results were provided to further enhance the presentation. As important to Klien was Steve’s training of the talent on how to use the tools.
“Steve was amazing at helping our team prepare,” Klein said. “He coached them on where to look and how to talk. He dropped subtle tips that made a huge difference. And given his role and experience, our team was eager to listen.”
Even with extensive prep, Klien expressed a little nervousness when the day arrived to produce the first live stream.
“All marketers feel that knot in their belly on event day,” he said. “And honestly, when Steve and his team showed up with all of the equipment, it felt a little overwhelming. But then they goes to work, and you realize he knows exactly where and how everything would be used. That went a long way to giving me the confidence that we were in good hands.”
After the first event, Klien reviewed the recording with the head of Conrad Siegel’s Wealth Advisory division and compared them to their previous production quality.
“Well,” the executive quipped. “We’ll never be able to go back to the old way now!” Since that day, the Wealth Management division of Conrad Siegel hasn’t. Throughout COVID, Final Focus produced six live streams for Conrad Siegel. But even with the return events, virtual live streams have now been established as another viable channel for marketing.
“Obviously, we’re thrilled to be back to live events and being able to collaborate in person,” said Klien. “But live streams allow us to reach people at their desktops during the business day and connect with them differently. And with Final Focus’ help, we believe that we’re providing the type of experience Conrad Siegel, himself, would be proud of.”
To join Conrad Siegel's next web event, check their website https://conradsiegel.com/events/