The Vermeer Customer Conference is an annual event that draws dealers, customers,
and prospects for tours, demonstrations, and other opportunities to get excited
about the company and its products. In 2008, when Vermeer was in the process of
introducing its new HG8000 horizontal grinder and CT1010TX compost turner, Two Rivers
Marketing was asked to create “something special” to reach potential customers when
they came to Pella for the conference.
Among the results: a short video about each new piece of environmental equipment,
already loaded into a personal DVD player in each key prospect’s hotel room. But
these weren’t the typical product walkarounds: These videos offered a refreshing
attitude and compelling reasons to watch them all the way through — while showing
each product in action and delivering the key benefits of each.
The CT1010TX video, “The Wonderful World of Composting,” resembled an educational
film from the 1950s, complete with cheesy music, an overexcited announcer, and plenty
of visual tricks to achieve the effect of a 50-year-old film. The HG8000 video,
“Big Mouth Talkin’ About the HG8000,” featured a simple animation of a character
called Big Mouth, whose name plays off the product’s extra-large infeed. Big Mouth
narrates the video with a “good-old-boy” accent and unbridled enthusiasm for the
product.