With the diminishing returns on television, print and direct mail, event marketing remains one of the most promising ways to capture the mind share of the consumer.  Corporate event marketers and chief marketing officers plagued by shrinking budgets, high demand for ROI and experience-hungry consumers are looking for the most effective ways to integrate events into the marketing mix.  The key for marketing strategists will be to understand the fundamental appeal of event marketing and to determine where events fit in reaching specific marketing objectives.

The world of marketing has changed dramatically in the last few years, according to Geoff Poli, Senior Vice President of Carat Brand Experience, the division of the global independent media agency network Carat that develops and executes event strategies for corporate clients.  “What’s changing about our business is that up to a few years ago, clients were more concerned about print ads and 30 second TV commercials.  Today they are looking for different, more effective ways to engage their audience.”

Where event marketing succeeds and other mediums sometimes fail, according to Poli, is precisely in its ability to engage all of the senses to deliver a specific experience in a way that print, radio, television or the Internet cannot.  In contrast to mass marketing options, “Everything we do [with event marketing] is extremely targeted,” he says.  For this reason, Poli explains, “Companies are shifting significant amounts of dollars into experiential marketing.” 

Vincent Polito, Senior Vice President of Stamford, CT-based Reed Exhibitions describes the appeal of events to senior level marketing strategists.  He affirms (in the case of event marketing), “the depth of engagement that a website can't produce, one on one interaction/dialogue, live comparative opportunities for competing products and the ability to see customers more efficiently than on individual sales calls.”

A 2001-2002 research report (RCSR 18.02) titled “Trends in Event Marketing” from the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) stated that “Event marketing as a component of the marketing communications mix, is not only growing in use among U.S. corporations, but also growing in importance as a strategic marketing tool.  Forty percent of marketing executives indicated that the importance of event marketing for their company was increasing.”

As client goals and objectives differ, so do their event strategies.  Carat’s Poli explains, “Where one company may choose the traditional trade show route, another may do a seven city road show or invite twenty five people to a breakfast round table.”  According to Poli, developing an effective event strategy involves first determining who to market to, what the message is, what the objectives of the campaign are and how those objectives will be measured.

Even within the event community, there are differences in philosophy regarding which events are most effective.  The same CEIR report that cited the growing trend in event marketing also notes the contrast between attendee and exhibiting companies’ preferences noting that, “a number of exhibiting companies rate private events of higher value for face-to-face opportunities than do attendees.”  It also states, ”Private events compete with exhibitions and conventions for attendees’ time and portions of exhibiting companies marketing budgets.” This competition, says the CEIR study, may cause conflict in the industry.

Vincent Polito of Reed Exhibitions concurs with the CEIR report and offers a compromise.  He believes there is a misperception relating to trade shows.  In his experience, while some exhibitors have refocused to private shows, attendees are rating trade shows as the best place to make buying decisions and learn.  He says, “Trade shows/events created the idea of content, community and commerce, not the Internet.  The key for organizers like Reed is determining that mix in each of the industries it serves.  Private shows, etc. can be valuable, but they are best used as a part of an event marketing program that includes trade shows.”  Reed, says Polito, embraces such cooperation by trying to get user groups to meet inside or in front of their trade shows.

Geoff Poli explains that it has less to do with the type of event or marketing a company chooses to employ than it does with the objectives that a particular medium is meant to reach.  With direct mail, for example, generating less than a one percent response rate in some cases, does that mean that direct mail should be abandoned all together as an effective mass marketing approach?  “Not necessarily,” says Poli.  “It depends on what you’re after.”

The concept of objectives is extremely important for determining where events fit in the marketing mix says Reed’s Polito.  He explains, “We try and satisfy both ROI and ROO. We categorize our events into three broad categories; trading, sourcing and learning.  Once you understand the type of event you are participating in, there should then be differing sets of goals/objectives.  Some might be hard categories, like sales and leads while others are softer categories like public relations, brand awareness and customer service, for example.”

George P. Johnson Company has also taken a leading role in integrating events into the marketing mix by creating the largest strategic event marketing practice in the world. David Rich, Vice President of Program Strategy at Detroit-headquartered GPJ admits, however, the integration process can be challenging.  “The challenge at the macro level,” says Rich, “is orchestrating the various disciplines to work together in order to get the marketing mix to function.”  In contrast, “The challenge at the micro level is accelerating prospects and customers to sales conversion by cutting through the clutter in a way that drives differentiation and engagement.”

Although people within a company are specialists in their particular areas such as print advertising, interactive events, television, public relations, etc., Rich says the goal needs to be the disciplines working together.  Because, he says, “Clients respond to the entire marketing message.”  This is achieved by changing the management structure to eliminate redundancy of effort and implementing reward structures that compensate marketing specialists for the success of the entire campaign and not just the results of a particular tactic.

Rich stresses that in order gauge the effectiveness of event marketing, the event strategy needs to be evaluated on four levels:

• Diagnostics such as attendee satisfaction, reach, cost of reach, etc.
• Marketing or Learning Impact, i.e. have there been measurable changes in perception or behavior or has the prospect really learned something that they will put to use?
• Monetization of Perceptions or Behavioral Changes, for example, monitoring the purchasers to determine what they will purchase and when or converting what they have learned into measurable behavioral changes.
• Return on Investment or making a comparison between the business results that occurred and what was spent to achieve those results.

Because consumers today have been impacted by the greatest technological advances in history including the Internet, cable television and interactive video games, marketing executives are starting to realize the very strong value proposition in being face-to-face with customers.  GPJ’s Rich describes this value proposition as the “ability to immerse the customer in the concept of the brand.”  Whether this experience is transferred through private events or trade shows is a matter of strategic objectives.

Reed’s approach to the subject of value propositions is summed up in the following mission statement:  “Creating a unique value proposition and brand platform for each of our shows is critical for establishing long-term differentiation and premium value for our customers.

Understanding more than the transactional value of a Reed Exhibitions event is the underpinning for product development, product superiority and customer value. Each show team is expected to have a well defined and succinct value proposition.”

The value of events in the marketing mix is dependent upon a number of critical factors including the development of an event marketing strategy that integrates with and supports other mediums in the mix to deliver a cohesive message to customers about the brand.  However, with consumer preferences leaning toward “experience” rather than “message,” event marketing strategists are poised to make events an even larger part of the mix than ever before.