The holiday season is upon us and is my favorite time of the year! Not only do I get chance to catch up and have a feast with my family and friends, it’s also very busy at PCA with client planning for the upcoming year.
I’ve covered many aspects of marketing in my previous columns from advertising to PR, this month I’m going to cover a discipline that is trending upwards in terms of marketing spend. This discipline allows customers to get close and personal with your brand. If you guessed event marketing, you’re right.
Event marketing also known as experiential marketing, engagement marketing, on-ground marketing, live marketing or participation marketing is a great way to create brand awareness and association to an audience you are targeting. Gone are the days, where all you do is display your company logo at an event or tradeshow. Now events are much more integrated and can be tailored with mass, digital, and social media activation opportunities to gain maximum exposure for your brand.
Events are tremendously beneficial to a company, because it essentially brings the business to where the customers are. By engaging and becoming part of an event that appeals to the target market, the company is given a chance to establish a closer relationship with the consumer and interact with them in a face-to-face. Moreover, the physical presence of a brand enhances their visibility and credibility. Not only will the business be able to reach current customers, but they also have the opportunity to attain new prospective clients. The benefits don’t end here; businesses are given space and booth to showcase their products and services. This allows the business owners to demonstrate their products in person and clear out some of their excess inventory. Last but not least, by becoming part of an event, the business gets heightened visibility and exposure through media coverage of the event itself. If your business does not yet have the capacity to carry out its own media strategies, sponsoring an event is the solution to spread noise about your brand through various media outlets.
Now that we’ve explored the numerous benefits of event marketing, I’m sure you might be asking yourself, “So, how do I get started?” Whether you are a small business or a large corporation, you need to research some key points prior to getting involved with a certain event. First off, make sure that the event resonates with your target market. It would be a big waste of money and time if you fail to attract the type of customers that would find your product or service worth their investment. Also, be aware of competitors. A little competition is always healthy for any business, but if the event is oversaturated with multiple brands offering similar products, this will most likely hurt your venture. Lastly, make sure you negotiate with the organizers on the kind of exposure you will be getting. Both parties should be clear early on in the planning process, so no problems arise during production.
You may choose to financially support either a big-scale event or a local fair depending on the amount of leeway your budget allows. Regardless of the type of project you would like to fund, however, the benefits from sponsorships stretch to new grounds that regular advertising doesn’t accomplish. Both small and medium-sized businesses are now actively engaging in event promotions and this might be a great opportunity for you to spread brand awareness and connect with your consumers in a more personal level as a means to build loyalty and credibility.
* * *
Giancarlo Pacheco is the President of PCA, a full-service marketing and communications agency with offices in Los Angeles and New York. For over a decade, the agency has been a leader in providing integrated campaigns for Fortune 1000 companies. PCA has served a wide array of clients including Verizon, Gilead Life Sciences, Pernod Ricard USA, Jollibee Food Corporation, AARP, City National Bank, Philippine Airlines and Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. For more information, please visit www.plancagency.com.
