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ELECTRIC TRAINING.
How a bus tour is helping JVC educate retailers’ sales staff

Event Marketer - 10/2005—JVC has two tour buses on the road as part of a nationwide campaign to educate staff at its retailers about the company’s new Everio G camcorder and HD-ILA TV’s. The tour will hit approximately 250 stores—with each bus hitting up to four a day—before it wraps up this month [Agency: ZAG Marketing, Gillette NJ].

JVC retailers were given the opportunity to opt into the program when the tour was announced. Once on board the customized tour buses, store employees can try out the products, ask questions, and view a short video on product features. “What we wanted to be able to do was control the experience for the retailers,” says Karl Bearnarth, vp-marketing at JVC. “The best way to control that experience is to have your own presentation room to give it in. Rather than sending our some guys to talk to people inside the store, in their lunch area, this gives us an opportunity to present a totally controlled experience.”

At some stops, mostly on weekends, JVC is opening up the tour to consumers, inviting guests into a branded outdoor pavilion next to the bus. JVC brand ambassadors educate consumers on how to capture still and video images and then edit them on site. The company is deploying the consumer event high at stores with strong JVC sales volume. EM