Event Marketing & Sponsorships On The Rise

Feb 14, 2009 by Mark Maier

In the last week we had questions come in from some of the properties we consult about event marketing and sponsorship as properties look to expand value offerings to clients.  Brandweek published "Event Marketings Importance Increasing" which sheds some light on the latest trends and why your property should look at Sponsorships and Event Marketing as revenue generating opportunities....

"More than half (53 percent) of 300 senior marketing executives surveyed said event marketing is the discipline that best accelerates and deepens relationships with target audiences.

The EventView 2009 survey, which was completed earlier this month by George P. Johnson, The MPI Foundation and the Event Marketing Institute, included a healthy swath (41 percent) of marketers whose companies pull in revenues in excess of $1 billion.

More than a quarter (26 percent) of those surveyed said event marketing is the discipline that drives the greatest return-on-investment. "The economy is forcing marketers to elevate their game to survive, specifically in regard to deploying direct response marketing such as events to drive top-line performance," said Bruce MacMillan, president and CEO of MPI.

Twenty-nine percent of marketers will transition their strategy from event marketing to experience marketing in the next 12 months. The difference being that experience marketing "involves integrated live and online experiences that drive deep brand interaction through highly relevant story telling and brand immersion," per the study. A third of those polled said they already made the switch.

The findings underline two trends coming together at the same time, said David Rich, svp of strategic marketing/worldwide at experience marketing agency George P. Johnson. "First, a downward economic spiral that is forcing brands to invest in channels like events that demonstrate measurable ROI; and secondly the maturation of strategic event and experience marketing, which takes the strategic, creative, media and digital capabilities of above-the-line marketing and activates them through the on-the-ground execution of an event portfolio made up of different types of internal and external events."

You can use the same metrics to determine ROI that you use for traditional media campaigns with event marketing but the expectations must be realistic and the engagement opportunity needs to be worthwhile to consumers.  It could be sampling, database creation, branding, or any other discipline you would like to engage but it must be measurable.Related Categories