Wilson : Sure. Experiential marketing is also referred to as event-based marketing. The idea is to get your client's prod- uct or service in front of their consumers in an authentic and immersive way. We want the consumers of our client's brands to be able to touch, feel and experience the brand in the most immersive, authentic way. HCOB: That seems like quite a different objective than events management for individuals, involving a whole host of expertise you might not have on-hand. How did you bring those news capabilities to bear? Wilson : We had proven ourselves as event planners, so I was confident in that aspect of our deliverable, but with experiential marketing, there's a tremendous amount of strategy and ideation that goes into it. So, I pulled in experts to assist with those elements where I didn't feel that I could deliver to make sure that we provided the best product possible. That meant that maybe my margins weren't as high — maybe I was breaking even on a project or two, but Wilson : My first client was Samsung, a connection I made through networking with some of my vendors. As I said, we had proven success as event planners — I was confident in that capability and expanded that confidence into the other components of our experiential marketing offering. I have to say that is one of the key elements of success as an entrepreneur — you have to have an unwavering belief in your ability. I was proving myself and building our portfolio. HCOB: How did you get your first clients?
that tells you “Oh my gosh, you're amazing.” That was the most shocking part — I had no idea how isolated it can feel. You’re trying to push a giant boulder up a mountain every day, all by yourself. These days, social media glamorizes so many things about entrepreneurship. It is nowhere near as glamorous as it may appear because the buck stops with you. You are the last person to be held accountable. At the end of the day it is on your shoulders and you have to be prepared for that. HCOB: But you prevailed, you succeeded. Your business was making money for almost 10 years. And then comes 2015 and you decided to make a pivot, and a fairly substantial shift at that. Can you tell us why you made that move? Wilson : The main thing was, even though I’d built a suc- cessful, viable business, I realized it wasn’t scalable — it couldn’t grow much further than it already had. It was a lifestyle business, really, and I wanted more. The main roadblock to further growth was that my clientele was individuals wanting to put on a single milestone event — a one-off celebration — with very little potential for repeat business. A successful engagement offered little opportunity to do another event for that client for years, if ever. I felt the business marketplace, on the other hand, offered a much more promising avenue for real, sustainable growth. HCOB: Yet, the business marketplace is substantially different from the space you were operating in for almost eight years. How did you go about making that pivot? Wilson : Again, I had a process, a pattern. I spent about
six months working to make the change to an experiential agency serving big brands. I revamped my website so it would be ready to go at launch, explaining why I was changing our business mod- el. I shored up our finances, knowing there would be a lag in our revenue stream as we moved from working with individuals to prospecting corporate clients. HCOB: You describe your agency today as “experien- tial” — what do you mean by that and how are the services you offer corporations today different from what you pre- viously offered individuals?
Tara Wilson was once a Harbert College of Business Senator. (Photo by Albert Ralelo)
10
Powered by FlippingBook