Marketing with events

More and more companies are realizing that a special event has a special impact on the effective delivery of marketing messages. By bringing a product or marketing message to life in a three-dimensional form, companies can emotionally engage with audiences, ensuring that the concepts they convey are not easily forgotten.

Everyone Talks About Event Marketing

"There is no doubt that marketing with events is expanding at an exponential rate in all areas of the business world," said Settle, president of the International Special Events Society. (Don Sayter) said, "The amount of money that companies are willing to spend on activities is also continuing to grow." He believes that the reason for this shift is that people no longer think of activities as merely a social function. He continued: "Companies are willing to invest in events or public displays because they serve a commercial purpose, which is to provide marketing support, to highlight a product, or to position the company's image."

Settle believes that simply forcing the audience to absorb information is not enough. He said: "The vast majority of buyers have a lot of experience. So if you want your message to be remembered by the audience, you have to weave the message, and only then can you get the audience's attention."

Extraordinary Events provides event planning and implementation services. The company's president, Andrea Michaels, believes the campaign is an effective way to avoid confusion among audiences. "The ad doesn't actually communicate verbally with the audience. While the ad shows some information, it doesn't provide a demonstration. The campaign makes the product more lifelike. The campaign is quite personal because the audience is there and involved. And a sense of first-hand experience."

In-person experience is indeed the message of Mercedes-Benz's campaign to promote the Model S luxury car. Extraordinary Events helped Mercedes-Benz curate its top 10 city tours ahead of the vehicle's launch, aimed at wealthy motorists who had never bought a Mercedes sedan before.

"Our message was 'you're the best, and this is the best car,'" explained Michaels. "We want them to experience it for themselves -- we invite them to drive, sit in Backseat, experience legroom and the luxury of a sedan."

But it's not enough to simply bring consumers to the car on the booth. Michaels' team also displayed expensive, luxurious outfits to match the sedans in each city, giving the event an air of sophistication and luxury. "We presented these sedans in a way that would be irresistible to these potential buyers," says Michaels. "We've designed incredible trims to compliment sophistication, and the sedans are at the center."

Michaels believes that in order to transmit information effectively, it is necessary to ensure that the various components of the activity are subordinate to a unified theme. If your marketing activities are futuristic, then your events must be futuristic; if your marketing activities are educational, family-oriented, then the corresponding events should also be warmer.

"The more content you integrate into your event, the more joy your audience will have," said Elizabeth Wiersma, president of Creative Event Development . She believes that the better the match between a campaign and a company's marketing strategy, the more likely it will be successful. "Events are an effective tool, and you have to integrate them with other tools in your marketing toolbox like public relations and advertising," she said. "The better you integrate the tools, the more successful your marketing campaign will be. The more likely it is."

Next, let's see how Kroger, Conseco, and Tektronix put the key principles of event marketing into practice.

Setting Specific Goals

Kroger prepared a week-long event to cheer for the company's opening of a supermarket in Indiana, USA. These events are designed to gain market share and build employee morale. These campaigns are part of a comprehensive marketing campaign. In this marketing campaign, the advertisements were mainly to feature the new storefront, and the public relations campaign was mainly to explain how the supermarket would create considerable benefits for the people in the local community.

The decoration of the supermarket emphasizes the theme of this week's events through the use of multi-colored ribbons. Betsy Wiersma of Creative Event Development, who planned the event, said: "The ribbons represent all the talents of the staff and the different services provided, and the different coloured ribbons represent different talents. Not only that , these ribbons also added color and excitement to the whole event." In addition, the supermarket also held a large evening light show. Putting spotlights on the buildings and throwing them into the sky makes the night sky incredibly bright, "this event highlights the energy of the ribbon, the energy of the lights and the energy of all the employees," she said.

To help build morale among all employees, Kroger Company invites all employees to bring their families and friends to the supermarket for a preview of the mystery night, where they can enjoy free food and rewards. The company also invited community groups to visit the supermarket and made corresponding donations based on the consumption of group members. In addition, Kroger has created the Kids Club, which provides free fruit to children when they visit the supermarket, plus free cakes for their birthdays.

The week-long event culminated in a grand open-air exhibition and ribbon-cutting ceremony. The mayor, local dignitaries, and people from the entertainment industry were in attendance, and there was a live broadcast, and quizzes and gifts were provided to each customer. Finally, when many employees cut colorful ribbons with scissors and officially announced the opening of the supermarket, the event slowly came to an end.

Wisma says the events have drawn the hearts of the entire community. The final opening ceremony and ribbon-cutting event grabbed headlines, and the supermarket attracted a steady stream of customers. Kroger has received positive feedback from shoppers and community groups, and supermarket sales have remained high since opening.

Highlight important concepts

Conseco Corporation is a leading insurer in the fields of supplemental health insurance, retirement annuities and life insurance. The company desperately needed an unforgettable event for the company's core employees. The company acquired nine health insurance companies within a year, so the company's management knew that it had to introduce the company's philosophy and marketing strategy to new employees.

To make this event possible to integrate the company's themes of unity, teamwork and personal empowerment, Conseco turned to Famous Events & Destinations. After careful planning, the ringing event planning company designed this event around STONE. STONE is an acronym for the five English words of strength, trust, opportunity, networking and excellence.

About 450 Conseco employees are assembled at the El Conquistador Hotel in Puerto Rico. The company's executive vice president of marketing, Chris Weaver, who goes by the pseudonym "Indiana Weaver," told employees that their mission was to unlock the secrets of an ancient map he had discovered. This map details an ancient temple lost in the hinterland of the nearby EI Yunque rainforest.

Each component of this activity is designed to make its due contribution to the project. At the welcome reception, after torches and sun hats were distributed, the 450 employees were divided into nine groups, each representing a color. Organisers told them that a colorful stone in the ancient temple had broken into 10 small pieces and was missing. Therefore, the task of each group is to find small stones that match their own color.

On the second day, each group started a treasure hunt and successfully found 9 small stones. That night, accompanied by a team of naturalists, guides and an "archaeologist" played by an actor, they explored the entire rainforest in hopes of finding the ancient temple. Finally, they came to an open space, and what appeared before them was an exquisitely carved temple. In the center of the temple is a large mandala with 10 vacancies - this is the home of the 10 little colored stones that were lost! A tribal leader played by one of the company's managers appeared and revealed to everyone the power of the stone, and when the stone was broken into ten pieces and lost, its power was blown away by the wind.

The nine groups placed small stones on the mandala in turn, hoping to restore its power, but a small colored stone was missing. Suddenly, Indiana Weaver (actually a stand-in) emerges from the darkness of the rainforest. He held the lost colored stone, and as he returned it, the temple began to rumble and fireworks lit up the night sky. Gradually, each of Conseco's letters appeared on the facade of the temple, and the company's new logo was projected onto the stone and brought into view.

At this time, Wei Wo stood up and explained the power of STONE to everyone. He leads the crowd in a chant: "STONE! STONE! STONE!"

As the performers all bowed, one pushed the lever hidden behind the mandala, and there was a sound of stones colliding Through the night sky. The temple began to move slowly, revealing the entrance - the secret entrance to the temple. The "temple" has since proven to be a one-story building, modified to accommodate 450 guests for dinner. Wei Wo waved to everyone and invited everyone to follow him on the path to success. The happy celebration inside is beckoning to them!

Managers of Conseco Company spoke highly of the event, which not only boosted the morale of employees, but also created a spirit of solidarity and cooperation. In the months following the event, the company maintained an 11% increase in total insurance sales, far exceeding original expectations. In addition to this, those employees who attended the event showed a keen interest in recruiting new sales agents. Conseco owes this to the message delivered in the heart of the rainforest, which inspires a positive mindset among its employees.

Focus on Power Themes

Tektronix Corporation, a manufacturer of color printers, was in desperate need of a buzz to get market attention. Having failed to make it into the ranks of the powerful and well-known printer companies, it hired Extraordinary Events to help with that mission. Michaels' team created a multi-level campaign in October 1998 to introduce the audience to 4 new printers. The event featured a theme: "We don't live in a black-and-white world, so why is your business using a black-and-white printer?"

To build a solid foundation, Extraordinary Events Inc. provides the printer company's location in Arizona, USA A special presentation was planned for the sales meeting in Phoenix. "It's a very different event with a predominantly male audience," said Michaels. The event's design team is positioning the event to take on competitors, positioning it for an event that will eventually be unveiled in New York. Mysterious race, therefore, they designed an intense racing competition in virtual reality.

"We came up with a very imaginative way to get the salespeople to buy into the idea -- it's a race against Hewlett-Packard and other competitors," says Michaels. Extraordinary Events has created an exact replica of Tektronix's president's office, complete with the president's desk and chairs, and a window that depicts the company's headquarters in Portland, Oregon. The president sat at his desk and said he had to solve a marketing puzzle. Just as he was speaking, his desk began to spin, slowly falling under the floor, becoming the back of a Formula 1 car. The screen changed from a corporate scene in Portland to a virtual reality race car race against Xerox, Lexmark and Hewlett-Packard. The company's president drove all but Hewlett-Packard, its biggest competitor, and the race was suspended. The president stood up and addressed the salespeople in the room, explaining why Tektronix could win in the future. Then he got back into the car and continued the race, eventually beating Hewlett-Packard. "The whole venue was going crazy," says Michaels, "and they were all thrilled with the information."

In order to demystify the printers to potential clients, Extraordinary Events decided to put the event in on backgrounds ranging from colorless to colored. Michaels chose a beautiful marble event space in the old stock exchange on Wall Street. This location provided the perfect palette for portraying Tektronix's message. Those in attendance entered a tasteful, pastel room where, in addition to colorless food and drinks, such as white asparagus, oysters, white wine and Martell, the event organizers invited a team dressed in black and white. The band played a serenade. The four walls of the house are adorned with black-and-white photographs taken by photographers from the American National Geographic magazine reflecting the work of people around the world, such as camel riders in Sahara and Indians transporting logs on elephants.

As the company's president addressed the event, he talked about the importance of color to the world. A large number of still images are projected on the walls, which slowly change from black and white to colorful before the eyes of the viewer. One person from the company took to the stage, and as he sang "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," the room was gradually bathed in colorful lights. Food and drinks also come in a variety of colors—red wine, green peppers, ketchup, and more. Plus, those beautiful National Geographic photos were flipped over, going from black and white to vibrant multicolor. Towards the end of the song, several cartons were lifted to show off Tektronix's new printer and print out color copies of National Geographic photos that were signed and sent by participating photographers. given to the guests attending the meeting. "This event shows you what this printer can do," explained Michaels. "It's not in words, it's in action."

Combined, these factors, It created a sensational marketing effect for a small company like Tektronix.

Copyright 2003 by Sales Marketing Network (www.info-now.com). Translated by Li Jian.

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