This blog has been updated with fresh new tips and insights.
We’re back with another installment of our SEQ Discovery series! 👏 You’re welcome 😉
Last time, we talked about what Discovery is and why we do it. Definitely go back and take a gander if you haven’t already.
Today, we’re going to talk more about how we actually go about discovery within our Launch SequenceⓇ process. We cannot understate how critical this process is to our success as a strategic creative agency, as well as for our clients. Our findings and key takeaways become the foundation for every aspect of a project moving forward. In other words, it’s a really big deal! 
Preparing for Discovery
Discovery starts with asking many informed questions. So, as we kickoff we always start internally with reviewing the information we already have and by doing our own additional research. What do we already know from an RFP, or from early conversations with a client? What nuggets are living within their brand guide? What can we learn from their own social content, or past events? Typically, some key points have come up before so we can start to ask more productive follow-up questions to move the conversation forward.
Typically, multiple members of our event team are included so that everyone can walk away with a shared understanding of the client’s goals prior to starting development and production. Conversations are usually spearheaded by the strategy arm of our Creative Department as it’s the starting point for all strategic ideation as well. That is often our Chief Creative Officer, or another senior member of the team.
When to Discover
Discovery should take place as early as possible in the process to ensure it sets the tone and foundation for additional work. If engaging in a Launch Sequence scope, we need to allow an additional 6-8 weeks on top of a typical event production timeline (though some pre-production elements can be done in tandem). If more of a pared down sync, or a refresh on an experience we already know well, it can be woven into our kickoff meeting and be paired with our standard onboarding with a new client.
Often, Launch Sequence includes a client-led Brand Immersion session. This is a meeting where we ask the client & the client’s brand, design or marketing team to present the key elements of their visual, written or internally-facing brand as it relates to the project so that we’re all on the same page (more about that in a future blog!).
How & Who?
How questions are asked and of who are also key elements to the success of the Launch Sequence process. We often assess how to approach this based on who; who are we asking these questions of and how can we get the best results from them? Some clients have a smaller group of stakeholders, dedicated brand or marketing departments, senior leadership in the mix, or mid-sized committees who will stay involved throughout, etc.
It’s important for our clients to understand that there is an investment of their time upfront to make this work. It’s important to assure your busiest stakeholders that they just need to show up engaged as themselves. Most will see that the process will actually save them valuable time in the end, and that we fully guide them through it.
What is incredibly vital to the process is that anyone who will be weighing in on the strategy, event or experience at any point and has the authority to change decisions participates in some way in discovery. We bolded this for emphasis! It can be really tough to go through the process, hit the ground running and then when a concept lands on a key decisionmaker’s desk down the line it’s not aligned with their priorities. Launch Sequence is not the moment to save the CMO or CEO time if they will at any point weigh in on the experience and expect to change course without financial repercussions.
Getting the right people to the table at the same time can be challenging for sure! Ideally, discovery is at least partially a live conversation (IRL or virtually) since it also offers an opportunity for our team to get to know the client more, and see how they relate to each other. This works well for a small group and even for a mid-sized group with a clear protocol and agenda. We often set up multi-part conversations: one for our day-to-day contacts and another for a larger committee, for example.
For much larger groups, clients with a wider range of stakeholders, or groups that are too busy to meet as one, we often make this an async exercise via a survey. Either way, participation should be mandatory (in a fun way!). We ensure that it’s not too overwhelming, which can prevent people from actively participating.
What to Discover
So, what are we actually trying to learn?! Great question! The answer is… it depends. Launch Sequence can cover a lot of ground or be more targeted in a specific area. Not everything is relevant to every client or experience, so it’s important for us to identify the opportunities most aligned to your needs at kickoff. Sometimes this initial conversation will actually lead us to other areas to discover.
Here is a non-exhaustive list of some key elements we explore in Launch Sequence (in no particular order): Why this event experience / why now, goals, aligning key stakeholders, KPIs, success metrics (tangible & intangible), overall event strategy, the brand (externally-facing, or internally-facing), audience demographics, event history, competitors, event concept, event format, thematic development, messaging, shared definitions, style, how we want to make people feel, how we don’t want to make people feel, inspiration, budget, priorities, internal deadlines or milestones, decision making, venue, vibe, geographical location(s), audience engagement, giveaways, surprise & delight, sponsorship strategy, existing resources, programming elements, content opportunities… and MUCH more!
Keep in Mind
It is very important that we go into conversations with a clear hierarchy of input (some clients don’t like to admit their organization has a hierarchy, but we have yet to meet a group that doesn’t really!). We should also know who the budget owner(s) are as they tend to be the last stop for decisions.
It’s also important to understand how various priorities and goals established upfront should be ranked for our team to ensure they’re kept top of mind moving ahead. Some elements will be MUSTS and others are nice-to-haves. It’s important to make sure that we ask clients to rank these elements intentionally so that we can keep reflecting them back in the solutions we design.
Reporting Results
It’s also key to share our clients on results of discovery for their full buy-in before we continue to more tangible solutions. Findings like success measures, repeated themes within the data, any surprises, misalignments and key findings should be the focus in this step.
We create an initial Discovery Deck as a first deliverable to review before moving ahead to ensure that everyone can easily digest the same findings and flag anything for further discussion. This should be clearly conveyed as a “speak now or forever hold your peace” moment. It’s important that everyone understands that this is the foundation of next steps and major changes to the information agreed upon in discovery can waste everyone’s time and money (not to mention blood, sweat & tears!).
Go ahead and give yourself a high five! We’ve completed discovery! Now the real fun begins when we put it all into action…
Tune in next time for Part III of our thrilling 3-part Discovery series. And if you can’t possibly wait to learn more, just drop us a line and we can get Launch Sequence scheduled for your upcoming experience today!