Using Live Trivia for Audience Engagement & Brand Awareness: The Economist Case Study

This week, I had the honor of producing and hosting another very special trivia event with The Economist, the distinguished weekly news magazine known for broad and insightful coverage of current events, politics, economics and world history. Readers of The Economist are equally bright, intellectually curious consumers of global affairs, and in an impressive effort to engage this loyal readership, the magazine is continually seeking new and creative ways to reach out off of the written page, allowing enthusiasts to connect with them through a variety of means. These not only include a Facebook page with a over 700,000 fans and an official Twitter feed with nearly 1 million followers, but also many “live” audience engagement events held in various cities, ranging from social gatherings to editor meet-and-greets.

The idea for The Economist pub quiz came about late last year, when the magazine was approached by an avid reader who also loved NYC trivia nights. Feeling that live trivia parties would be a perfect match connecting the cerebral publication and its clever readers, we set out to create events which would not only deliver a hearty amount of entertaining & high-brow trivia, but which would have an instantly recognizable Economist look, feel and flavor. Using the same level of care and attention to detail which The Economist is known for in its articles, we then set out to craft trivia questions which the average reader would have a reasonable expectation of knowing about world affairs, politics, economics, and the magazine itself.

After selecting fun trivia bars in New York City, the magazine made sure to paint the venues “red” for their events by tastefully displaying the magazine’s famous logo on signage and flatscreen TVs throughout the rooms. Upon arrival, attendees were presented with Economist pens and answer sheets, as well as complimentary red T-shirts. Teams were instructed to choose their own team names, and encouraged to be creative to earn bonus points – resulting in many humorous Economist-themed names, which delighted the crowd. After reading out a couple rounds of trivia, we then welcomed a high-ranking member of the magazine’s editorial staff to read off their own favorite trivia questions about The Economist, as well as share a sampling of their ipod songs, which attendees could earn points for identifying. After raffling off several prizes, we passed around a round of picture trivia featuring major political figures, all of whom had something in common which the audience had to figure out in a set amount of time. We concluded the events with a final round of “challenging” questions, and then awarded prizes to the winning team.

I find these Economist pub quiz nights to be so fantastic, for three reasons: 1) the audience who attends loves the magazine, and clearly enjoys the opportunity to interact with it in an exceptionally fun, unique and personal way; 2) the magazine gets to engage with its most loyal fans firsthand in an extremely positive, high-energy manner; and 3) the intellectual challenge of creating questions for highly intelligent, sophisticated and lively trivia enthusiasts simply can’t be beat.

Do you feel that experiential marketing and brand awareness events successfully bring a brand closer to its audience? What other ways can you think of for a distinguished brand to engage with its loyal following in a “live” setting?