Main Event, a chain that offers activities such as arcade games, bowling, laser tag and ropes courses, clearly had to rethink its strategy when the coronavirus pandemic hit.
The Dallas-based company soon began offering virtual birthday sing-a-longs on Instagram Live, often led by influencers. It promoted delivery of its food, such as pizza. And it began talking to moms about what measures they would want to see in place before they would feel comfortable returning to massive event spaces, where contact with others and with numerous shared surfaces—bowling balls, gravity ropes, buttons on games, and more—was the norm.
“We reached out to our community of loyal followers and asked for feedback,” said Main Event Chief Brand Officer Sarah Beddoe on the latest episode of Ad Age’s Marketer’s Brief podcast.
Those conversations helped Main Event decide which steps it would take before it began reopening its centers.
“The most scrutinizing, most concerned and conservative mom, if she felt good, then we knew we were far and away over-delivering, and that’s exactly what we did,” said Beddoe. “So, we got incredible feedback from the community and then we put those plans in place.”