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The eTalk Concept
eTalk is a new kind of trade show presence that enhances your firm's conventional presence and expands it through the use of Internet and TV into a unique communications concept.
The big difference between the conventional type of show presence and eTalk lies in the competence of the two anchors, Tim Cole and Ossi Urchs who are able to present complex technical ideas and concepts to an layman audience of businesspeople in an understandable and entertaining way.
eTalk consists of a number of separate elements that complement and enhance each other.
- the Live Talk Show, that combines information and entertainment, providing a highlight experience for both audience and media. By helping to create high-quality journalistic content, the sponsor appears to speak for the entire industry, thus boosting its own image as a market leader.
- a strong Internet site that uses both live video streams as well as video on demand to create a compelling impression on audiences around the world that will far outlast the physical show itself.
- a media partnership with one of Central Europe's leading news channels that a potential marketing impact that is, literally, priceless.
The Trade Show Presence
The eTalk idea was the result of the desire to create an new kind of trade show presence, one that would combine journalistic competence and credibility with a strong message to show audiences, partners, customers and staff members. Together with the well-known BizzTech journalists Tim Cole and Ossi Urchs marketing experts with sponsor, UUNET (later: MCI Worldcom), explored a novel communications concept aimed at creating a dual platform for both industry leaders and business partners.
- Industry leaders: The aim here was to provide CEOs from the ITC industry the chance to showcase their company's products and to give their opinions on trends and current topics, thus being allowed to present themselves as dynamic and visionary personalities (the vanity factor played an important role, here). By giving them center stage, the sponsor demonstrated the generosity and sovereignty befitting a true market leader. As guests, attendance by these industry leaders was always free of charge.
- Business partners: Selected companies that have enjoyed close relationships with the sponsor, either as suppliers or as customers, were invited to become "Technology Partners" (TPs) and were given the opportunity to showcase their own products and services, most of them were being marketed in conjunction with the sponsor. TPs were required to pay a share of the production costs (see chapter: "cost and financing").
Physically, the eTalk concept called for an 80 sqm area within the sponsor's show booth that was transformed into a professional television studio. Trade show visitors were lured into the booth by the studio lights and atmosphere. Shows were produced from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. every hour on the hour and lasted approximately 30 minutes. During each show tree guests were subjected to a round of critical questions and answers, mostly on business-related topics.
VIP guests were able to relax before and after the show in a special lounge area with hostess service, ensuring that their appearance on eTalk was a memorable experience. By prolonging their stay at the sponsor's booth, the lounge also gave management and sales personnel rare direct access to top-level clients.
With the attraction of appearing in front of television cameras, eTalk has become a regular item on the CeBIT agenda of numerous well-known entrepreneurs, managers and other celebrities. The guest list reads like a "Who's Who?" of the ITC industry: Erwin Staudt (CEO, IBM Germany), Paul Stodden ( CEO, Siemens Business Services), Stefan Schambach (CEO, Intershop), Vinton Cerf („Father of the Internet“, inventor of the TCP-IP protocoll), Prime Minister (Rheinland-Palatine), Bill O’Shea (CEO, Bell Labs) und Gill Shwed (Founder, CheckPoint).
The Internet Site
The first eTalk was hosted at CeBIT 2000. Coincidentally, this was the year that "streaming video" was introduced as a product by UUNET. The technology, which since has been greatly improved, was able to provide VHS-quality video images over the Internet in real time. These streams were subsequently stored for later viewing via Video on Demand (VoD).
For UUNET/ Worldcom as sponsor the first eTalk was also a welcome opportunity to demonstrate this new technology. Today it is a standard tool that increases the impact of shows like these in a variety of ways:
- external: VIP guests can see themselves "like on TV"; they can alert friends, colleagues and employees to watch without having to be physically present at CeBIT.
- internal: Streaming Video can be used as an alternative to costly travel to Hanover. Staff members who must remain at home are given the opportunity to "small the atmosphere" at CeBIT, a strong motivational factor.
This innovative and cost-effective Internet site can be a big image builder and can add return on investment in show presence by providing audience exposure long after the show itself is history.
The Media Partnership
Cooperation with the major television news channels, which is now a distinct feature of eTalk, actually came about as a side effect. From the beginning the eTalk team's performance was to be measured by the yardstick of real TV production, both in terms of content (journalistic quality, attractiveness, breaking news, etc.) and atmosphere ("live" feeling, strict timetables, professional video trailers, light & sound, etc.). The result proved to be, in the words of a professional viewer, "fit for broadcast".
German news channels, on the other hand, are desperate for good broadcast material, especially during a mass event (CeBIT is regularly visited by more than 750.000 attendees) devoted to such a specialized topic as information and communications technology - of which ordinary television journalists are for the most part sadly ignorant.
For the second edition of eTalk in 2001 the first media partnership was reached with n-tv, the German CNN affiliate. Under the terms of agreement, the station was responsible for the entire TV equipment (cameras, light, transmission) as well as production supervision during all 7 days of the show. The best interviews were then combined with video footage from a roving camera team that combed the showground during the day in search of interesting products and demos. The result was broadcast nationwide every evening during prime time as the "CeBIT Journal", a 15 minute show that achieved exceptional success in the daily ratings. The show regularly made the "Top Ten" of all program elements on n-tv.
In 2002, both n-tv and the competing station N24 (Kirch Group) showed interest in being the media partner for eTalk. In the end, N24's was deemed the better offer (5 nationwide 12-minute broadcasts daily, additional camera teams on location, better financial conditions). After losing the bid for eTalk, n-tv hastily produced a stripped-down version of the show itself together with another (Sony), but with very little success.
Cost and Financing
Time and effort necessary to produce eTalk should not be underestimated. TV quality production calls for substantial outlays of both cash and organizational effort.
Just simply making sure that a grand total of 168 talk show guests are there on time is a challenge of no small dimensions, with 7 shows a day, 3 guest per show over a time frame of 8 days. Contacting and coordinating the guests calls for a full-time staff member for 3 to 4 months before CeBIT. In order to facilite this job a special online booking tool was developed.
Besides the 2 anchors, a producer, 2 hostesses and a job boy are needed for the duration of the show. These people have to be paid, lodged and fed. Experience shows that a budget of between 250.000 and 300.000 is needed for production alone, exclusive of the costs for booth space and construction (which would have been occurred anyway)
Added to this are the costs of the deal to be cut between the sponsor and the television channel. In the TV business the sponsor is expected to carry a share of the production costs, in this case somewhere between 100.000 and 120.000 Euros. The status of the "presenting sponsor", or who features prominently at the beginning and end of the show ("brought to you by..."), is a key negotiating point here.
This investment must be seen against the costs of normal TV advertising. A professionally produced TV talk show on a nationwide business news channel as n-tv or N24 is immensely more effective than any number of paid-for ad slots. It is also immensely cheaper in terms of media performance (as measured in terms of media costs versus impact).
With a seasoned core team consisting of experienced TV anchors Tim Cole and Ossi Urchs and producer Lutz Feldhege from Online Partners Agency, the eTalk concept can be realized quickly and efficiently for different sponsors and different locals. "eTalk" is a registered trademark which can be made available for use by sponsors.
For information contact:
Online Partner
Lutz Feldhege
+49-0209-933-2899
lfeldhege@online-partner.com
Deutsche Version
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