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I think the sponsoring company should've been madder at the event manager than Virool. Also, the event manager was none to pleased either, I'm guessing? No adve

I think the sponsoring company should've been madder at the event manager than Virool. Also, the event manager was none to pleased either, I'm guessing? No advertiser wants to share space with a competitor, but it's generally the fault of the party that owns the space, not the competitor.

alexholehouse 14y ago
If I were the event company I'd just bar Virool from future events. I'd have though making enemies would be more detrimental than gaining a finite number of clients, but equally, I may not be the most informed person to make a judgement in this situation.
- tankbot 14y ago
  Your judgement sounds pretty good to me. In fact this is exactly what I was thinking when reading the OP, mainly because he spent 2 hours printing "hundreds" of fliers and packing them into envelopes only to gain what, 15 emails? And how many of these emails were unflattering remarks by the competitor or panel manager? This whole article reads like some spastic marketing douche who is running too hot to consider his own actions and how they reflect on his company. Not to mention fixing typos and poor phrasing in his company blog. Unprofessional is the word.
  - caw 14y ago
    I agree. Was it clever? Yes. Would I at least check the website? Yes, I'm curious. Would I do business with him? Probably not. If I control a the marketing resources of a high profile brand (He mentions Pepsico, so I'm assuming the target is other large companies), I'm not sure I want to be associated with a business that pulls stunts like that. Part of it would be avoiding guilt by association for being unprofessional. I also wouldn't want backlash if Virools methods turn out to be complete sleaze and something crazy like getting all of my Facebook likes or youtube views reset (viral equivalent of being Panda'd?)
    - tankbot 14y ago
      Yeah, but part of me feels bad that my curiosity added to demonstrable traffic for his site. I feel all icky now.
jakejake 14y ago
I'd imagine also that company X would want some compensation considering the event company allowed a competitor to advertise at their session (which I'm sure cost them a lot) for free. Even though its not the event companies fault, why would anybody want to pay to sponsor a session when you can just drop in and pass out literature for free?
inthewoods 14y ago
This - and if I'm the competitor who paid for the event, I'm asking for money back or a credit on a future event. I've actually seen this done with success. So for them it is definitely a money losing situation caused by Virool. Can't say I've ever seen someone banned for doing something like this - and events seem to always have someone doing something controversial - so I don't see it happening. More likely a "stern talking to" as my Dad would say. Imagine if Virool got huge and came back the next year wanting to by a 20x20 booth - I doubt anyone is going to stop them. Ultimately, that's why people do controversial tactics - little downside to doing them.

alexholehouse 14y ago

If I were the event company I'd just bar Virool from future events. I'd have though making enemies would be more detrimental than gaining a finite number of clients, but equally, I may not be the most informed person to make a judgement in this situation.

tankbot 14y ago
Your judgement sounds pretty good to me. In fact this is exactly what I was thinking when reading the OP, mainly because he spent 2 hours printing "hundreds" of fliers and packing them into envelopes only to gain what, 15 emails? And how many of these emails were unflattering remarks by the competitor or panel manager? This whole article reads like some spastic marketing douche who is running too hot to consider his own actions and how they reflect on his company. Not to mention fixing typos and poor phrasing in his company blog. Unprofessional is the word.
- caw 14y ago
  I agree. Was it clever? Yes. Would I at least check the website? Yes, I'm curious. Would I do business with him? Probably not. If I control a the marketing resources of a high profile brand (He mentions Pepsico, so I'm assuming the target is other large companies), I'm not sure I want to be associated with a business that pulls stunts like that. Part of it would be avoiding guilt by association for being unprofessional. I also wouldn't want backlash if Virools methods turn out to be complete sleaze and something crazy like getting all of my Facebook likes or youtube views reset (viral equivalent of being Panda'd?)
  - tankbot 14y ago
    Yeah, but part of me feels bad that my curiosity added to demonstrable traffic for his site. I feel all icky now.

jakejake 14y ago

I'd imagine also that company X would want some compensation considering the event company allowed a competitor to advertise at their session (which I'm sure cost them a lot) for free. Even though its not the event companies fault, why would anybody want to pay to sponsor a session when you can just drop in and pass out literature for free?

inthewoods 14y ago

This - and if I'm the competitor who paid for the event, I'm asking for money back or a credit on a future event. I've actually seen this done with success. So for them it is definitely a money losing situation caused by Virool. Can't say I've ever seen someone banned for doing something like this - and events seem to always have someone doing something controversial - so I don't see it happening. More likely a "stern talking to" as my Dad would say. Imagine if Virool got huge and came back the next year wanting to by a 20x20 booth - I doubt anyone is going to stop them. Ultimately, that's why people do controversial tactics - little downside to doing them.