UK. Specialist staffing agency Blackjack Promotions has introduced geo-tagging technology to ensure maximum impact from its Brand Ambassadors.
The technology, developed by AXLR8, integrates with the experiential agency’s booking and rostering system via staff members’ smartphones. An app makes it easy to see where Brand Ambassadors are, allowing team leaders to redeploy them to meet demand and send replacements where necessary.
“Making sure promotional staff are delivering activity in the right place and at the right time is key to the success of experiential activity,” the agency stated.
Blackjack Promotions Head of Staffing Nikki Fisher said: “We put all our staff through the most rigorous training and preparation for every campaign and shift we run, but the nature of our work means we have to be able to move them around to deploy them for maximum impact.
“The app also lets us ensure that we have enough staff on duty throughout a campaign; we need the resilience to cope with any last-minute staff sickness or absence for other reasons.”
The AXLR8 system also records when staff clock in and out and feeds back to Blackjack’s booking system and accounts team, so staff can be paid in full and on time.
“Making sure promotional staff are delivering activity in the right place and at the right time is key to the success of experiential activity”
Blackjack said the system allows the company to deliver reports on Brand Ambassador activity to clients (some brands ask that Brand Ambassadors provide photographic evidence of the activations they deliver).
The Android version of the app lets staff take pictures and then automatically time and date stamp the images (comparable functionality is not yet available for the iPhone version of the app).
“Our new app will save our team valuable time spent making sure staff are where they need to be,” Fisher added. “It will also allow us to rapidly deploy them if need be, significantly improving our efficiency and responsiveness. Finally, it will help us reassure our clients that we are delivering the best possible service.”
