Creating Movement - Promotional Pill

In our series of Promotional Pills, this is our Promotion Enhancing Drug designed to create movement as a way of improving a contest or promotion.

For each of the promotional pills you are given a set of questions.  The questions are designed to help illuminate ways to improve and enhance your show.

For the Creating Movement Promotional Pill:

Ask the Questions:

• Does this promotion "fill the space" we use?
• Is this interesting to watch?
•  Could this be enhanced by creating more movement?

One of the best sources of sports entertainment, in terms of production value and character development is professional wrestling.  As a mascot I think I have actually learned more about character performance, interactive theater and athletic expression from wrestling than anything else.  Also, their event production (if you don't watch) is the best you will find anywhere.  This next promotion enhancing drug is actually borrowed in part from wrestling.
 
In wrestling  if you have two big behemoths in the ring, slugging it out it can be pretty boring to watch.  They stand in the center of the ring, hit each other. Move to a corner, kick each other.....it can really lack action.  So often promoters and wrestlers will pick their opponents based on pairing a big lumbering performer with one who can create movement.  So the big guy stands in the center of the ring and the little guy can fly around the ring, off the ropes and "create movement" to make it more interesting.  That action is essential in making the match compelling for viewers, and that same action is needed to make your promotions interesting to fans.

So now take your promotion and ask the questions:

Does it fill the space, is it interesting to watch, can you make it more visual by creating movement?

Lets consider examples:

Are you familiar with the Rolling in Dough contest where a fan rolls in a pile of money (using either a Velcro suit and Velcro bills or tape and paper money). Like the two wrestlers it provides a limited amount of action all in the same small space.

We recently worked with a basketball team to improve this contest. They had 30 seconds for the contest and the rolling in dough portion was critical for their (bank) sponsor.
 
The solution we used was having the contestant start at one side of the court. They sprinted down the other end to roll in the money, collecting all they could...

The clock started running when they start running and they had to make it all the way back before the clock runs out (or they win nothing), you can add that they have to make a basket as well. It forced the contestant to run fast to the end, roll quickly, and it added some strategy to determine when to get up and run back. The contestant also looked ridiculous (which never hurts) sprinting back while trying to hold all the money on.

This created movement and drama where there was previously none.

The feedback on the contest went from "kinda boring and monotonous" to "funny and exciting" by simply adding movement and action (and in this case some strategy.

Applying this promotion pill we added movement to the contest, and made it more interesting to watch.

This is also part of the reason that Sausage Racing is so great....it moves and fills the space.

Helpful Tips:

• Consider entering the space in dramatic fashion, walking into the camera frame rather than the static shot.
• For contests find ways to make the contests move around more. If it's a basketball shooting contest, are they shooting free throws or running between three spots or "around the world?" Contests are much more visually interesting when the contestants are active.  Price is right?  Do they have to run oversize price tags to the products? Rather than just say the price?
• Can the action be combined between two areas? Can a fan in the stands throw a baseball to a target on the field or a man on the field throw a pass to his son sitting in their seats to win a prize?
• Can an additional part of the contest or promotion be added (like the rolling in dough example)?

So again, take your promotion or contest and ask the questions:

• Does this promotion "fill the space" we use?
• Is this interesting to watch?
• Could this be enhanced by creating more movement, or is this two fat wrestlers?

Rolling in Dough Contest Kit is available on the Gameops.com Store

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