National Sales Meeting
and the launch of Astra-Merck
Merck needed an environment where they could bring
3000 sales people to, in waves, over a period
of weeks to accomplish the following goals.
• Training them in new products.
• Meet with 24 different departments that provide
support services to those in the field. View the newly built
'History of Merck' Anniversary Exhibit.
• Provide the opportunity for the new Astra-Merck
Senior Management to meet with top sales staff.
• Include banquet set- ups and entertainment, being
mindful of budget and stockholder concerns.
Our solution was to request the use of a 40,000 sq. ft exhibition
hall in order to bundle their needs. We designed and installed
a complete 'Southern' village made of white lattice. All the
food and bar functions, and the entertainment, were strategically
placed to ensure that the attendees had to pass through exhibits
and division booths to get to these areas. We created private
gardens with park benches for people to hold meetings in, and
landscaped the whole environment, having laid down astro-turf
first. In the outer lobby, and additionally throughout the space,
we distributed elements of the Merck Exhibition.
As attendees stood and talked, met, or sat at small cocktail
rounds, they would notice something interesting on a wall, in
a corner etc. that would pique their interest. In order to get
to the food and entertainment areas that they could see in the
distance, through the lattice walls, they had to pass through
all these booths and exhibits to get there. As they wandered
up and down the streets of this village with a drink and a rib
in their hands, they took meetings, set dates for meetings and
were able to view a wide variety of computer, video and printed
materials each division had brought. Only in this kind of environment
could so many accomplish so much in fulfilling such a wide variety
of needs.
Astra-Merck senior staff had the opportunity to screen and meet
every Salesperson in one place in a short period of time (3
weeks)
Merck made this solution set the benchmark pre-requisite as
part of the following year's Annual Sales Meeting RFP.
