How to write an excellent event planning and implementation plan?

If the product is from 0 to 1, then marketing is from 1 to 100. As a form of marketing activity, the purpose of a press conference is to better promote existing products to the market.

About the press conference

A press conference is an event with a strong sense of ceremony. It is an important stage for enterprises to export their brand value and latest achievements. It is also the most direct window for the outside world to interact with enterprises. It is not an exaggeration to understand it as the beating pulse of the industry.

If the product is from 0 to 1, then marketing is from 1 to 100. As a form of marketing activity, the purpose of a press conference is to better promote existing products to the market.

Then let’s get to know the press conference first~

1. Types of press conferences from a micro perspective:

Differentiate by business type:

(1) For 2C companies, a press conference is a carnival for the company and its users, occupying the minds of users.

(2) For 2B companies, press conferences are used to promote products, explore collaboration, and achieve business opportunity conversion.

But I think all 2Bs are actually 2Cs because every 2B company actually has key decision makers.

According to the purpose of the press conference:

(1) New product launch: A launch conference held by a company to promote its new products. Everyone should be very familiar with the press conferences in the mobile phone industry, including OPPO, Huawei, Apple, Xiaomi, and Hammer. The Fourth Paradigm press conference was also of this type. We wanted to release an all-in-one artificial intelligence product at that time.

(2) Strategic Upgrade Conference: A conference where there are major upgrades in a company’s strategic layout, product direction or brand image that needs to be announced to the outside world. Eg: Against the backdrop of new infrastructure, TCL is about to hold an online press conference with the theme of "Screens Connecting Everything, Intelligent Display of the Future". It is to announce their strategic layout and a series of products in the field of smart commercial displays.

(3) Strategic cooperation press conference: generally refers to a press conference where two or more companies announce that they have reached a consensus on cooperation. Eg: Beijing Unicom and Huawei held a 5G Capital joint innovation conference and signed a memorandum of cooperation, jointly releasing the content of the 5G Capital joint innovation project, opening a new chapter of "using innovation to create the era and building the future with heart".

(4) Industry conferences: conferences usually held to promote industry exchanges, such as the CES conference in the consumer electronics field and the MWC World Mobile Communications Conference.

2. Positioning of the press conference from a macro perspective:

A press conference is one form of activity, and there are four types of activities:
(1) Relationship activities : These activities are aimed at establishing connections and communication and are usually held behind closed doors. Eg: From small things like inviting the media for coffee to big things like media appreciation parties, company mobilization meetings, supplier conferences, channel partner meetings, etc. (2) Content-based activities : aimed at delivering content. Eg: ×× conference, ×× forum, ×× summit or ×× communication meeting and xx press conference.
(3) Experiential activities : These activities are designed to interact with participants and are usually offline, physical experiences. Eg: xx tasting session, xx carnival, xx creation festival, etc. What impressed me most was 36kr's Unexpected Amusement Park.
(4) Event-based activities : aiming to “create news events” and are mainly designed around a certain product or event. Eg: xx product launch conference, xx company strategic signing conference, xx white paper release, etc.
From: "Becoming a PR Expert: A Summary of My 15 Years of PR Experience at Ogilvy, Lenovo, and Meituan" - Wu Jialu

Press conferences are generally classified as event-type activities, but because activity types can overlap and include each other, a press conference often has the characteristics of several other types of activities.

Part 2: Pre-Planning of the Conference - 8P Model

Now that you know the types of press conferences, I created an 8P model based on the elements of the press conference plan that is easy for everyone to remember and understand. Then I will talk to you about the various links in each P, the preparation process, the required materials, the overall management and control methods, and various tips to teach you how to avoid pitfalls~

P1: Point (information point)

1. Determine the product to be promoted

The extraction of information points must first start with the product. The product here can be physical or virtual. After confirming the product to be released, it is necessary to communicate with the PM about the highlights and selling points of the product to be released this time to strive to achieve differentiation.

2. Determine the activity goal and output the activity theme to solve the problem of who to talk to

(1) Target group: First, clarify which groups this event is mainly aimed at. Consumers, fans, media, key decision makers of the company, company purchasers, upstream and downstream suppliers or industry professionals? Then "feed content" reasonably according to the expectations of the target audience.

(2) Activity objectives: attract new customers, promote activation, retain existing customers, or convert existing customers? Is it to enhance brand awareness or promote cooperation within the industry? The goal setting here should comply with the SMART goal setting principles, setting an activity goal that is specific, measurable, achievable, work-related, and has time requirements. After the goal is determined, we must also ensure that resources such as "people, money, materials, affairs and power" are in place before we can move forward smoothly.

Eg: The new product launch conference held on May 30th should have 1,000 business personnel from small and medium-sized enterprises in the industry participating, achieving a 4% business opportunity conversion rate.

Ideal goal is decided: company leaders have clear goals - marketing and public relations departments work together to produce activity planning

Realistic goal decision: Marketing and PR communicate the output activity target theme and core information - several reports to finally determine the management's needs (because they don't know what they want either)

(3) Activity theme : After having specific activity goals, package them into a brief activity theme that is simple, easy to understand and remember.

Eg: Empower Your AI Transformation 2019

Fourth Paradigm AI’s new product launch conference witnessed a new moment in AI transformation.

3. Determine the core message of the activity to design the core creativity and solve the problems of what to say, who to say it and how to say it

say what? Core Information

How to determine? Tool: Core Information Architecture Diagram

Who says? Host, spokesperson, spokesman, media person

How to say it? Tonality and form, how to tell a good story?

Next, let me talk about this core information architecture diagram:

The 3 layers of the architecture diagram:

(1) Concept and vision layer: The company’s long-term and stable core value proposition, which can be corporate vision, brand value, product value, etc.

(2) Deductive and inductive layer: The content blocks are arranged according to logic, which can be parallel or progressive logical relationships. Each item needs to be independent of each other according to the MECE principle.

(3) Proof summary layer: The bottom box is the summary or supplementary content, including facts and proof items, such as customer testimonials, product selling points, etc.

In fact, this architecture diagram is like building blocks. You can combine different content logics according to the big framework.

After drawing up the core message to be conveyed by the entire press conference, different information points should be distributed through different channels in different time periods. However, key information points must be repeatedly reinforced, and specific words should be spoken to specific people.

P2: Period

1. Conference time:

First, remember two principles. The time of the conference should be chosen based on the leader's availability first and the suitable schedule for the venue secondly.

Avoid special time periods. For example, the Two Sessions, the Spring Festival, the World Cup, etc. Secondly, we must avoid similar events from overlapping in time, which will affect the attendance rate of the media and guests.

Find the right time to take advantage of the situation. For example, as soon as the country elevated artificial intelligence to a national strategy, AI-related conferences began to have new moves and were more likely to attract media attention and coverage.

2. Conference duration:

The duration of each part of the press conference should not exceed 2 hours, and other activities should be interspersed in between, otherwise the audience experience and effect will be affected.

P3: Place

1. Selection of conference venue

Common event venues: Generally, indoor venues include hotels, conference centers, theaters, gymnasiums, cinema screening rooms, etc. There are theme parks, playgrounds, etc. outdoors.

Factors to consider when choosing a venue: venue schedule, grade standard, number of people, transportation conditions, overall price, supporting facilities (power supply, network bandwidth, projection, stage equipment, number of tables and chairs), catering and accommodation, weather, etc. Choose the most suitable venue based on your needs.

TIPS:

Generally, venues need to be booked two months in advance, and popular venues need to be booked half a year or more in advance. If the number of participants in the event exceeds 500, a record should be filed with the police station to avoid accidents. (Generally speaking, if the budget is sufficient, it would be relatively worry-free to entrust the selection, division and layout of the venue to the vendor.)

2. Division of conference venue areas

Generally, a press conference can be divided into check-in area, interactive area, main venue, sub-venues, tea break area, dining area, passage area, VIP lounge, staff rest area and material area. Depending on the time period and the crowd, areas can be shared or merged. For example, the media interview area can be arranged in the leadership lounge.

(1) Sign-in area : The sign-in area is the face of a conference and the first impression, but it is also the place most likely to cause congestion and chaos, so it is important to do a good job in sign-in design and personnel management.

① The general ways of signing in include: paper sign-in, staff electronic form sign-in, QR code scanning sign-in, large-screen interactive sign-in, face recognition sign-in, etc. Choose the appropriate method based on the crowd, number of people and budget.

② The hotel lobby must have multimedia guidance or staff guidance to enter the check-in area.

(2) Interactive area : product experience area; product demo, mascot and other peripheral display areas; photo interaction area; lucky draw entertainment area.

(3) Tea break area : It is recommended that the choice of afternoon tea should be consistent with the brand’s tone and at the same time expose brand information.

(4) Main venue : Make the stage and the seats in the audience (seats for leaders and guests, seats for media reporters, and seats for ordinary audiences). The seating arrangement here and the seating arrangement in the VIP restaurant are a big deal and I will not discuss them in detail here.

(5) Sub-venue : The venue for holding sub-forums of the conference.

(6) Dining area : Generally a supporting facility of the hotel, available in both closed and open types. The closed round table/long table is usually a place to receive VIPs and discuss business, while the open buffet restaurant is where the audience and the media eat lunch and chat. Some hotels also have a small bar area with drinks at their own expense, where visitors can choose.

(7) Passage area : The passage area should be equipped with action line signs and time reminders.

(8) VIP lounge : a place for leaders and distinguished guests to rest and prepare for speeches.

(9) Staff rest area : a place for etiquette, hosts and other staff to put on makeup and rest.

(10) Material area : storage room for promotional materials and spare items. Communicate logistics matters in advance.

After dividing the venue, you should ask the rental place for the floor plans of each area, understand the available equipment in each area (LED screen, tables and chairs, page turners, speakers, etc.), and measure the size of the material design to produce promotional materials. If the budget is sufficient, you can also make an indoor navigation route map.

TIPS: The floor plan must clearly indicate the bathroom and emergency passage.

3. Management of activity flow lines

Whether it is the movement routes of the audience, media or important guests, they all need to be traced on site, and if reasonable, they should be retained; if unreasonable, they should be optimized.

(1) Audience movement: generally parking lot (parking ticket)/hotel lobby, elevator, check-in area (conference badge), interactive area, main venue auditorium, passage area, dining area (dining ticket), toilet, coffee break area, branch venue, elevator

(2) Media movement: Similar to the audience movement route, but with an additional interview area. Parking lot (parking ticket)/hotel lobby, elevator, check-in area (conference badge), media interview area, interactive area, main venue media seats, passage area, dining area (dining ticket), toilet, coffee break area, branch venue, elevator

(3) Guest movement: parking lot (parking ticket)/hotel accommodation, elevator, check-in area (staff docking, conference badge), lounge, interactive area, main venue guest seats, passage area, enclosed dining area (dining ticket), toilet, tea break area, branch venue, hotel accommodation/elevator

TIPS: Details, details, details! !

P4: Person (personnel invitation and personnel arrangement)

1. Personnel invitation:

The invitations to the press conference mainly fall into the following categories: guests, audiences, and media.

(1) Guests : company leaders, industry leaders, government officials, investors, spokespersons, hosts, etc.

① Company leaders: Usually the CEO speaks and the product manager talks about each module; of course, the CEO can also control the whole situation.

②Industry leaders: Make sure the image and connotation of the guest are in line with the overall layout of the conference. Secondly, prepare Plan B and invite a few alternative guests. When planning the core information, you should have a shortlist of guests to start inviting, and assign someone to follow up on the schedule and dynamics of the guests. Industry leaders can add depth and value to your event.

③Spokesperson: Choose a spokesperson who is consistent with the company’s tone to bring traffic and popularity to the press conference. However, Internet product launches rarely invite celebrities to endorse products, and the company’s own CEO is the highlight.

④Host: I put the host under the participating guests because the host is the person in control of the entire event and is very important. Generally, the host can be hired from outside, such as a famous TV host, or can be the company's leaders or employees. Before the event begins, the host and guests must conduct coordination drills and rehearsals.

How to invite?

When writing an invitation letter to a guest, be sure to use the correct address, then briefly introduce that xx company will hold an xx event at xx time and place, then express your recognition of the inviter and the reason for the invitation, then write about the aspects he needs to participate in and the gains he will gain in this event, and finally write the name and contact information of the company contact person. The attachments must include the invitation letter (preferably with the CEO's handwritten signature) and the event plan/review of previous events. If the invitation is successful, you should continue to follow up to ensure attendance.

TIPS: The special needs of the guests in terms of food, clothing, housing and transportation need to be understood in advance (religious beliefs, vegetarianism, etc.)

(2) Audience : professional audiences, the general public, and fans.

For professional audiences, they are often practitioners in this field or purchasing decision makers of a company. They are more concerned about how the product is implemented and need to focus on retaining user information and making timely return visits.

The general public and fans care more about new trends and novel experiences. They are important channels for the secondary dissemination of event content. Their recruitment needs to be completed during the event warm-up period, and the number of recruits should be slightly larger than the number of spectators the venue can accommodate.

How to invite?

For professional audiences, if there is a targeted invitation list, it will be distributed to the sales/customer department for targeted invitations. For the general public, event information needs to be published on appropriate media platforms, directing traffic to the unified registration link for registration.

(3) Participating media : self-media, industry media, and vertical field media.

According to POE's media classification model, media is divided into paid media, owned media and earned media.

① Own media: generally the company’s official Weibo, WeChat and Douyin, official website and employees’ social media, company product promotional materials, etc. You must make good use of the company’s own media to consolidate the brand and win traffic. At the same time, when asking employees to forward the message, don’t be lazy. It would be more considerate to write a few optional texts for them to share in their circle of friends.

② Paid media: It is divided into professional vertical media and mass media. You should choose appropriate paid media according to the tone of the event and the communication stage, and characterize the keywords of each media channel to facilitate matching of promotional content and spend money wisely. If you use paid media, you must remember to direct traffic to your own channels to complete the harvesting of traffic.

③ Earned media: It can also be said to be a free media channel, which mainly relies on the self-propagation brought about by the design and content of the event. But the difficulty lies in the fact that it is difficult to control and requires real-time public opinion monitoring. If there are false or deliberately derogatory remarks that damage the company's image and interests, a crisis team needs to be established to handle the crisis.

How to invite?

After confirming the list of paid media, you need to send an email with the company introduction, event information (important information that needs to be kept confidential cannot be leaked in advance to ensure that every colleague responsible for inviting media maintains a unified tone), the general topic of the event, the guests to be invited, etc., to understand the media's intentions. If there is an intention to continue communicating the company's needs and the media's needs, such as manuscript scheduling, the company's recommended reporting angles, the company's ability to provide the media with product experience and important guest interview opportunities (3-5 companies), issues of interest to the media, etc., finally determine the payment amount to reach a cooperation, send a formal media invitation letter, and ensure that the media arrives on time.

TIPS:
Best time for interviews: 10:00am-12:00am & 15:00pm-17:00pm

2. Personnel arrangement:

After determining the core information of the event and the invited guests, you need to decide the presenters and their process design based on the content. Personnel arrangements are mainly for staff members. They are not only responsible for the guests, audiences and media attending the conference, but also have to be clear about their own duties.

Generally speaking, the staff are divided into the following roles: host, security personnel, etiquette reception staff, makeup artist team, multimedia playback personnel, stage equipment personnel, live broadcast shooting personnel (storage card hard drive), material personnel, technical personnel, etc. It can be an external employee, or it can save costs and have internal staff take on the role part-time.

Internal staff usually wear the company's dark-colored T-shirts and carry work badges indicating their responsibilities, to ensure that someone is responsible for everything. Every staff member needs to know the rhythm of the entire press conference and ensure that everything has a response and a conclusion.

Next, let’s talk about the staff’s responsibilities for several major objects:

(1) Company leaders : Speaking of the guests at the conference, our leaders will definitely provide good service.

Before the press conference: you need to prepare a personal briefing deck for the leader, telling him what to say at the event, who to meet, how to dress, etc. according to his daily timeline; and arrange a rehearsal before the event.

On the day of the press conference: You need to provide a good reception for the leaders, so that they can see you first when they need anything.

In the speech scenario, you need to prepare speech hand cards and backup

When communicating with guests, you need to prepare the core information of the company and the basic information of the guests (name, company, position, relationship with the company) in the "30-second elevator"

When dealing with the media, it is necessary to remind them again of the purpose of the interview, introductions to the media and reporters, the direction of interview questions and suggested answers, core information of the company, industry trends and even media gossip, and provide risk warnings.

When dining with important guests: provide guidance based on the VIP lunch seating chart and remind the basic information of people at the same table.

After the press conference: Tell leaders what went well and what needs to be improved in this event.

(2) Other guests attending the conference :

Before the press conference: Communicate the theme of the event, topics involved in the forum, and the event schedule in advance, make dress requirements and travel arrangements (food, accommodation, transportation) so that guests can enjoy treatment standards consistent with their level, except for those with specific requirements (such as government officials).

At the press conference: repeatedly confirm whether the guests’ seats, identity information and titles are correct; provide good reception and guidance for the guests. Generally, guests will rest in the VIP room first; back up the guest speeches and multimedia equipment in case of emergency; and make conference introductions and build interpersonal bridges for the guests to better integrate into the environment.

After the conference: You can write a thank-you letter to the guest and attach photos of his participation in the conference.

(3) Media participants :

Before the press conference: communicate the needs of all parties, inform the event schedule, and mark the key interview times

Press conference site: Provide good reception and guidance for the media, and arrange one-on-one interviews with the media in turn

After the press conference: send the press conference transcript, press conference manuscript, and press conference multimedia materials to the media, confirm the release time, and express gratitude. After publishing, it would be better if you could forward it to a public platform to express your gratitude.

(4) Participants :

Before the conference: A notification of successful registration and an invitation letter for the conference must be sent, and a RSVP (please reply upon receipt) text message reminder must be sent one day before the conference.

On the day of the press conference: ensure audience sign-in and provide guidance for each step of the press conference.

After the conference: Collect activity feedback from participants and make follow-up calls.

TIPS:

Other external staff must ensure that they arrive early, clearly understand the main links they are responsible for, and provide them with basic Q&A information for the conference (conference venue area floor plan, press conference flow chart), and answer the audience's question where the main venue is. When does the government sub-forum start? Where is the bathroom? And other issues.

In the personnel invitation stage, it is necessary to coordinate the invitations of multiple departments. For example, the marketing department is responsible for the registration and publicity of the conference to obtain traffic, attract audience registration, and provide the audience registration information to the call-center for telephone return calls after the event to obtain business opportunities; the sales department is responsible for targeted invitations to corporate partners, customers, etc.; the public relations department is responsible for connecting with the media, writing manuscripts and crisis management, etc.

At this step, the first four Ps have been completed and the problem of xx company having to say xx to xx at xx time at xx place can be solved. The next step is to draw up a timeline for the press conference day’s activities based on this specific goal.

wait…let me drink some water and then we can continue our chat.

P5: Process

Activities on the day of the press conference

Common links may include the following parts: before the press conference, the first half of the press conference, the halftime break, the second half of the press conference, and after the press conference. The links in each part can be arranged as needed, but one or two creative links must be set up to make a deep impression.

(1) Before the press conference: Sign-in session and warm-up session

(2) The first half of the press conference (2-3 hours): opening remarks by the leader, core product presentations, guest sharing, launch ceremony, roundtable discussion, lucky draw, guest photo session, press conference, etc.

Eg: If it is a product launch conference, the core is the product presentation, and the focus is on the product; if it is an industry forum, the core is the round-table discussion, focusing on the setting of discussion topics and the design of questions and answers.

(3) Intermission: tea break and lunch time

(4) Second half of the press conference (1-2 hours): Main forum and sub-forums

The main forum focuses on the overall situation and trends: analyzing major industry trends, such as national policy directions, technological trends, and talking about products in combination with your company's business strategy. Usually they publish their own white paper reports, which can be produced in collaboration with consulting firms. The sub-forums discussed the applications in various scenarios in a more vertical way: such as the implementation of artificial intelligence in the fields of politics, education and medicine.

(5) After the press conference: inventory, settlement and handover

Finally, after the links of the press conference are determined, a press conference process and personnel division table is made: stating the main process of the event, specific time, specific content, person in charge and contact information.

P6: Propaganda

In communication studies, there is a concept called agenda setting. That is, although the media cannot decide what users think, they can decide what users see and what things to pay attention to first. The publicity line of our event is to set the agenda around the extracted core information and reach our target users with the information we want to convey.

The promotion of the event will last from two months before the event to one month after the event. It is generally divided into the warm-up period, the holding period and the continuation period. The promotion focus and rhythm of each stage are different. We call this the Drumbeat of communication. The following is the communication strategy for the event. You can use the C-side user life cycle AARRR model or the B-side customer decision model DLTBAA to look at the three stages of promotion. I mainly use the B-side model here~

AARRR: Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Revenue, Referral

DLTBAA: Discover, Learn, Try, Buy, Adopt, Advocate

(The communication materials in the following periods are not classified by preparation time, but by actual use time.)

1. Pre-heating period promotion-Discover

(1) Communication time: Start warming up one month before the press conference, and concentrate efforts one week before the conference to build momentum for the press conference.

(2) Communication purpose: creating suspense, generating topics, and arousing curiosity

(3) Communication materials: Starting from the three angles of "big names in charge", "suspense speculation" and "difference gap", combine the brand's core values, product selling points, and social hot spots/online culture to write articles.

Visual category:

① Product promotional video (short)

②Creative series posters

③Creative video: The effect is better than poster, but the production cycle and cost are higher than poster.

Content category:

① Invitation letter: It can be a physical or electronic version, but it must contain the thoughtfulness and basic event information.

② Press release: A pre-release article written from the media’s perspective, announcing the theme of the event, some spoilers of the content, and predictions of highlights.

③ Speech: Spontaneous official speech at events and employee self-channel communication copy

(4) Form of communication:

Online: Creative H5, countdown posters (one poster per day, one week in advance), viral videos (popular science, spoofs, interviews, music and dance, sitcoms, MG animations, etc.), creative invitations, comic strips, pictures and texts, etc.

Offline: outdoor advertising, building advertising, paper media advertising, etc.

2. Promotion during the event – Discover, Learn, Try

(1) Dissemination time: on the day of the press conference

(2) Communication purpose: win recognition, trigger interaction, and create a wonderful experience

(3) Communication materials: focus on company brand, product selling points, and manufacturing memorable points

(4) Stimulate the audience's "five senses" to enhance brand memory. See the table in the figure for details.

(4) Form of communication:

On-site: customer testimonials, guest speakers, large-screen interactive tools, etc.

Off-site: Live broadcast promotion (including picture live broadcast, video live broadcast, audio live broadcast and interactive live broadcast) to speak to people outside the venue and conduct secondary dissemination of content.

3. Continuation period promotion – Buy, Advocate

(1) Dissemination time: Strike while the iron is hot and continue publicity within one week after the press conference.

(2) Communication purpose: continuous traffic generation, strengthening word-of-mouth, and improving conversion

(3) Communication materials: focus on event highlights and effects, in-depth product interpretation, etc.

① On-site pictures and videos after the event

②Public press release: media publicity, official publicity, self-media KOL publicity

③Exclusive interviews and in-depth reports: media releases, official releases

The general framework of the press release can be prepared in advance, and the official multimedia materials and interview transcripts can be given to the media as soon as the event is over, reminding the media of the release time. It is best to send it out after the event, or at the latest the next day. Therefore, any activities of the press conference should not delay reporters from writing articles.

(4) Communication forms: official press releases, journalist interviews and reports

After knowing the goals of each stage of communication and the materials needed, you need to start allocating resources, knowing which ones can be done by the company's internal resources (depending on capabilities and schedules), which ones can be contacted for free resource exchanges, and which ones require outsourcing of part of the work (advertising companies, public relations companies, etc.). Understand the quotation clearly, cut out unnecessary expenses according to the budget, and finally apply for the budget.

TIPS:

When doing media interviews, if you have a mineral water bottle, remember to tear off the label. All external news materials must be in a unified format and with a unified tone to demonstrate professionalism.

P7: Pay (budget expenses)

Generally speaking, the budget is proportional to the effectiveness of the activity, but in the Internet age, everything is possible.

Zero budget: Try to do online activities, exhaust the company's internal resources, and have high content capabilities.

Budget less than 100,000 yuan: Startups have limited budgets and should focus on a small goal and avoid using the planning methods of large companies.
A medium budget of RMB 100,000 to RMB 1 million: RMB 500,000 can mobilize more departments and partners to participate; the creation and presentation of content can also be more diverse and complex (plan in advance the design and production costs of videos and posters, the design and production costs of the "five senses" experience, communication costs, etc.). With RMB 1 million, you can consider more creative forms of on-site "sound, light, electricity" and hoisting.
A large budget of more than 1 million: In terms of the form of the event, you can make a comprehensive planning of "land, sea and air"; in terms of the time period, you can extend it to cover the entire period before, during and after the event; in terms of channels and partners, you must choose the best industry resources and partners.
From: "Becoming a PR Expert: A Summary of My 15 Years of PR Experience at Ogilvy, Lenovo, and Meituan" - Wu Jialu

The expenses mainly consist of five parts: personnel, food, accommodation, transportation, supplies, venue and publicity. Therefore, when planning each part, the quotation for each link should be recorded and the invoice should be kept to facilitate subsequent accounting and reimbursement.

TIPS:

If the activity requires cooperation with a third party, the needs, prices, delivery time, etc. of Party A and Party B must be communicated in advance, implemented in the contract, and OA must be used. In terms of form and content, we pay more attention to the content rather than being a beautiful vase.

How to report PPT?

When reporting the written planning proposal, you should also pay attention to the target audience, because different reporting objects have different focus points.

The marketing manager usually focuses on the logic of the plan, whether the content covers the core information, and whether the plan has any explosive points;

The product manager focuses on the user matching degree of the solution, whether the product selling points are covered, and whether the user understanding threshold is low enough;

Company leaders focus on the budget and structure of the entire program, as well as the program's potential effects and returns.

Focus on this aspect according to the focus of the reporting object.

Part 3: Implementation and execution on the day of the press conference

In fact, if the planning is done well in advance of the press conference, it will be much easier to implement on the day of the press conference, and everything will happen in an orderly manner according to the timeline of the press conference. Each event person in charge must be very familiar with all the processes of the event and know who to contact to confirm the content of each piece of work.

1. Press Conference Rehearsal

(1) Time: Rehearsal should be conducted the evening before or the morning of the press conference.

(2) Links: Pay attention to the time nodes, what to do at what time, and who is responsible. Rehearsal is a good opportunity to discover and solve problems at the last minute, so don't just rush through it.

(3) Test the facilities and equipment: First go through the entire process with the staff: AV, props, lighting, PPT (whether it is compatible with the large screen), photography (testing the live broadcast signal, key shooting content), etc., and label the locations.

The process and content require the participation of leaders and guests, and the focus is to make the guests familiar with the process and content.

(4) Combined rehearsal: Practice the entire practice session. If time is insufficient, focus on the most important parts.

In parallel with this:

(1) Hotel venue layout and handover: Be familiar with the hotel's hardware and software facilities, such as tables and chairs, props, basic operation of audio-visual equipment, etc., so as to avoid problems that cannot be solved by others. The second thing is whether the main visual display board is placed properly.

(2) Final preparations for the event: Finally, clarify the process, responsibilities and precautions of each link with the venue manager, cooperating vendors, etc. (inform the early warning mechanism to ensure that rights and responsibilities are assigned to individuals). If necessary, equip the persons in charge of each link/area with walkie-talkies.

2. Press conference begins

From the moment sign-in began, the press conference was officially underway. It was an integrated application of the five senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch, so that the audience would not be distracted.

Eg: Taking the press conference of Fourth Paradigm as an example, in terms of visuals, the main visual of the blue planet with a sense of technology and futurism was used; in terms of hearing, the magnificent and inspiring music with a sense of technology created an atmosphere of revealing suspense and exploring the future; in terms of smell, it was the fragrance of the hotel itself that gave people a sense of stability and grandeur; in terms of taste, the Fourth Paradigm logo was specially made on the snacks during the tea break; in terms of touch, locomotive souvenirs were carefully prepared, as well as a demo area for experience, etc.

The next step is to run down according to the timeline of the execution plan on the day of the event.

Here are a few tips to help you adapt to changing circumstances and avoid potential pitfalls:

(1) If the sign-in process is congested and the press conference is delayed, you should improvise and sign in from the back to the front.

(2) If the number of guests who sign in at the event doubles, many guests will not be able to enter the main venue. They will be evacuated to the branch venue to watch the live broadcast of the main venue. The size of the venue should be reasonably estimated for future events.

(3) At the beginning of the event, as the lights dim, it is best to have a voice prompt to remind the audience to adjust their mobile phones to silent mode.

(4) The video sound in the demo area needs to be turned down when the main venue officially starts.

(5) During the tea break and at the end of the event, have a brief interview with the audience, asking them what they think of the highlights of the press conference and whether they are consistent with their psychological expectations. Questions like what you think was done well and what can be further improved can be used as material for the press conference review and as alternative material that the media can use to the outside world.

(6) Each branch venue and the main venue must communicate with IT personnel in a timely manner. In particular, the live broadcast situation needs to be monitored at all times so that someone can solve any problems in a timely manner.

(7) Whether external or internal employees, they must have their own opinions and a sense of ownership. They must want to get things done and achieve the best results regardless of the process. They must take the initiative to follow the logic of the activities and be active.

3. After the press conference, all parties will conduct docking and handover

(1) Guest connection: Send photos of the event and guests to the corresponding guests and express gratitude.

(2) Media connection: Shorthand transcripts, multimedia materials such as on-site photos/videos, the compiled news release framework, project activity introduction, key points, etc. are sent to reporters for drafting.

The pictures should tell a story: the selection of photos should be proportional, and the entire press conference should be presented in the form of photos, so every scene/link needs to be taken into account. It is best to cover all guests, and the highlights of the press conference (launch ceremony, product launch, famous quotes + characters, etc.) must also be included, but attention should be paid to whether there is any infringement and whether the content of the guests' speeches can be publicized.

(3) Audience docking: Desensitize the press conference PPT and white paper through the network disk; conduct audience satisfaction surveys

(4) Hotel docking: settle the remaining funds, count the materials placed in the hotel, and whether to recycle them.

(5) Supplier docking: Final payment settlement.

Part4: Post-review and summary of the press conference

P8: Performance (performance evaluation)

Whether the success depends on whether the initial specific goals are achieved.

1. Evaluation latitude:

(1) Person:

(2) Number: the number of people participating in the activities offline, the number of people participating in the live broadcast online,

(3) Quality: Personnel Division (customer type, customer industry, etc.)

(4) Feedback: Participants' event satisfaction survey: guests, audience, and media's evaluation of the event's time, process, speech content, publicity main vision, hotel accommodation itinerary, etc.

(5) Action: Follow-up actions of tracking participants: How many people scan the QR code to follow the official account on site, the number of visits to each page of the official website, the number of downloaded speech PPTs and white papers, how many people have the intention to continue to communicate after the call-center follow-up visit, etc.

(6) Promotion: Statistics on the performance of media reports from various channels; reading volume, comments, conversion rate, etc., and conduct cross-comparison analysis of various channels. Have there been public opinion and is the management in place?

(7) Others: Is the process of the press conference smooth, no accidents or accidents, or accidents that can be resolved in a timely manner. Is the supplier managed in place and how is the cooperation effect? Is the overall budget expenditure reasonable?