A few weeks have passed, but our popular Influencer Days, or OmO for short (stands for Online meets Offline) are still firmly anchored in the minds and discussion topics of the participants. Once again, JBL has brought together popular and committed online influencers “offline”. AquaOwner , ZooBox , GarnelenTV , AQUaddicted! , German Monstertank , Sascha Hoyer AquaArtist et ZooZajac are some of the most popular influencers of 2019 taking part in this meeting.
Even today, three months later, we’re finding posts about the event and can see that new cooperations and shared activities between the participants have been created, giving the scene an enormous boost. The campaign reached more than 2,000,000 people in German-speaking countries and has already created a great demand for the Online meets Offline Vol. 5 this year.
The influencers arrive
What exactly went on during these 24 hours? At noon on Friday the 15 participants arrived with some helpers for their video and image production. They gathered in the large conference room and got to know each other for the first time. It was a strange sight to see these otherwise very talkative and extroverted influencers suddenly sitting quietly next to each other, hardly exchanging a word. But once online marketing manager Matthias Wiesensee had delivered his loud welcome, rousing the participants with an introductions round and some inspiring comments, the group could hardly stop talking. The spell was broken.
The tour experience: a look behind the scenes
General manager Roland Böhme’s personal greeting took the meeting on to the first item on the agenda. Once the participants had put on their protective suits and gone through the hygiene lock, the extensive tour experience through the 2.5 ha large factory premises opened up the worlds of food production at the extruder, liquid production, logistics, the research centre and the other buildings of administration and production to them. The participants were awestruck by our modern equipment and the complex processes that are necessary to design, manufacture and pack more than 1000 products and 500 spare parts and to ensure their quality under strict inspection conditions.
myJBL community project - 2.000 litres from planning to realisation
After just under two hours, some refreshments of coffee and cake and an extensive discussion round, the group was divided up. But why?
In the pre-announced programme there was something about a "myJBL community project". Until then the participants knew nothing more.
Large aquariums with a total volume of 2,000 litres are located in the showroom of the reception area and in the office of the general manager. The idea behind the myJBL community project was a new set up for these two XXL aquariums, and it was to be completed through teamwork and in only 8 hours time. A task which not only meant huge time pressure but also a new experience for everyone. At home they carried out such projects alone. It was a new approach all round.
Tobias Gawrisch from AquaOwner, who had previously coordinated the “South American” aquarium planning with JBL and selected the necessary material, plants and hardscape, took charge of our boss’ own aquarium.
Thomas Lönnig from ZooBox (focused on South-East Asia) took charge of the aquarium in reception.
The teams worked completely independently and were allowed to give free rein to their creativity. The JBL Team was available to answer questions and provide additional help. Both layouts took almost four hours from the hardscape to the completion of the planting. All group members were assigned smaller subtasks by their team leaders and got to reacquaint themselves with various tricks, exchange ideas with the other group members and thus contribute their share to the finished aquariums.
There was also plenty of time for the influencers to personally devote to their channels for videos, photos or other reporting, to answer questions and give interviews. Some great content was created for social networking.
As hard work works up an appetite, the influencers were provided with dinner, snacks and drinks throughout. Around 11 p.m. the layouts were finally finished, so that the filling and cleaning up could begin. A volunteer team stayed with the aquariums and monitored their process until 1 a.m. in order to take the "final shot".
L'alligatore: visit to see the TV star and terraristics expert
Still a little tired, but motivated from the previous day, both groups met for a joint breakfast. Time for an exchange, reflections from the past day and plans for the upcoming programme items.
When online marketing manager Matthias Wiesensee introduced the upcoming programme using terms like "jungle camp", "Stern TV" and "SAT1 Frühstücksfernsehen ", things got exciting. Even people whose online presence had given them lots of insights into products, knowledge and less accessible areas, prepared themselves for a treat. Our influencers were to experience a two-hour adventure tour and show featuring alligators, snakes, spiders and other reptiles, in the home of the entertainer and showman Orazio Martino, known from regular TV appearances as the L’alligatore. It was not only great entertainment, it was also an introduction to the world of terraristics with plenty of scientific insights. The cameras were warm to the touch through non-stop clicking and whirring as one highlight chased the next. The influencers were clearly having fun and so, too, was Orazio, the entertainer.
Aquarium Dietzenbach: wholesale ornamental fish. Half a million fish
Still full of adrenaline from the previous programme, the group drove to the ornamental fish wholesaler Aquarium Dietzenbach only a few kilometers away, where the participants were welcomed by the owner Herbert Nigl. He explained lots of background details about "Where do my fish come from" and the breeding, import and selection of fish on the world market this involves. The highlight was the visit of the big halls with high temperatures, where more than 600.000 animals of different species were waiting. Here really everybody found fish species they had never seen before. Absolutely awesome!
See you in 2020
Even though we had only been together for 24 hours, it was hard to say goodbye. Actually, there was still so much we had to say to each other, ideas for common projects and many nice memories of the last hours. Although we already knew all the participants through intensive written correspondence, this unique opportunity was just what was needed to sew fruit we would reap the benefits from for a long time to come.
Where do we go from here? The corona crisis currently has the world firmly in its grip. We’re still penciling in the 5th Online meets Offline event. It is scheduled for 23 – 24 October 2020. We have postponed the Online meets Offline - Pond Influencer Special, which was planned for summer 2020 and was intended for garden and Koi enthusiasts, until spring 2021.
In addition to the many pictures you can see by clicking through the galleries of their respective programme items, we have included some of the videos created from the 24 hours JBL Influencer Days in the credits - enjoy!
