4 Reasons Why Events Really Work (and can make your customers fall in love with your brand)!

Back in medieval times before Event Planning was an official job description, I landed a great job coordinating events and conferences. I wasn’t called an event manager or anything fancy like that. I was simply a marketing assistant tasked with coordinating a myriad of details for corporate events across the country. I thought, not bad for a pretty young thing with no experience!

I remember calling my mother, giddy with excitement, to share the news.

But like any loving parent concerned for her child’s financial future and perhaps lack of good judgment, she said, “Oh, honey, you might want to look for something else. I mean, how much money can there be in throwing parties.”

Well, we now know that the events and meeting planning industry contributes over $395 billion dollars to GDP totals and requires advanced management skills equal to an engineering project manager.

Sorry mom, but special events today are nothing like the swanky little soirees that you and dad use to throw for your friends.

Don’t get me wrong, my parent’s den parties were pretty epic. Lots of dancing, drinking, and tasty hors d'oeuvres which my mom spent all afternoon making. But if you share my mother’s belief that events are just about throwing parties with fancy finger foods, you’re ignoring one of the most powerful marketing tools on the shelf.

Events are one of the best marketing channels to reach your target audience.

In this impersonal digital age where customers are demanding more authentic connections, here are four reasons why event marketing works and should be at the top of your ‘to-do’ list:

1.  A well-produced event allows your brand to get intimate with customers and create moments. There is nothing more impactful than standing shoulder-to-shoulder with a client, as they experience your product or service or talk with you one-on-one. This is a chance to engage with clients and share details and insight that you couldn’t possibly do online. The bonus is you usually reach more than one client at a time.
2. Special events provide a stage for telling your story and a place to demonstrate what the brand stands for and let people know the people behind the brand. There is no better platform for telling the “why” of your business and to create unbreakable bonds than breaking bread together. Remember, facts tell, but stories sell – and this alone can grow your business.
3. If branding is the sum total of the customers’ experience, and it is, then events are an essential key to branding. Immerse your customers in unique and transformative experiences, and they will remember your brand forever.  People are no longer coming out for long presentations with wine & cheese. By invoking all five of a customer’s senses, you’re guaranteed to receive, ‘thank you from the bottom of my heart’ responses – these moments cannot be duplicated in a print ad or digital medium. Engaged customers will post, share and talk about their experience with others.
4. Events are the perfect binding energy for people to coalesce around – creating an ideal environment for collaboration with others. The gathering of a cool brand, customers, and a worthy cause will spark conversations and create synergy. I often partner my event with a charity to create a buzz that also attracts media attention – a win-win for everyone involved.
   
   

Even if you produce just one or two stellar events a year, this can intensify the effectiveness of your marketing – increase your SEO and boost your social media presence. Special events should be part of every savvy marketer’s integrated marketing strategy, complete with targeted goals and sophisticated messaging.

The people of Spain have a beautiful, almost untranslatable word called, sombremesa. This word embodies the concept of lingering table talk after a meal, digesting and savoring both the food and the friendship. My parents were the experts at excusing the kids and creating an atmosphere for adults to connect after dinner. And in dating, as in business, this intimate time is where the ‘make or break’ of the relationship is determined.

 If you want to cut through the noise in a crowded marketplace, gather people together for an event and entice them to stay for a little la sombremesa.

Salute!

It Is Here!

My top seven event marketing trends for 2010 are here! And even if you don’t know the difference between a tweet and a yelp, understand that the educated, informed and active consumer is alive and well, and traditional marketing channels have passed away. Marketers will discover that to stay in the game in 2010 will require, more than ever, agility and a willingness to venture into uncharted waters with new and adaptive innovations. The time has come to explore, ideate and gamble – to tear down the walls that separate people from each other and their views about your product. Here is one of my top seven event marketing trends for 2010. Businesses should note the emergence of a ‘transparency and honesty’ theme that is rising to the top.

1. Social, Media, Networking…Oh, My!

No longer considered a tween fad (think Myspace) or a place for grandma to post pictures, social media will effortlessly meld personal and professional, online with brick & mortar and provide cohesion between brands and their customers. This trend to build customer-centric communities that incorporate internal collaboration, extending a company’s tentacles out into their customer and partner networks, will continue to grow and up the ante in 2010 [btw, according to eMarketer U.S. ad spending on social networks will show a 7 percent increase in 2010, to $1.3 billion]. Savvy marketers can stay ahead of the curve next year by introducing events + video into their social media efforts. This trinity marriage should result in more engaging content, a dynamic way to hear and interact with customers, and produce ‘infections messaging’ that travel faster than ever before. Social media might well become the base in the marketing mix topped off with the event experience, and the spice of video, as brands remove the layers between themselves and the customer. In 2010, custom created events using branded social networking will be the norm for persuasion through organically fitting into the consumer’s social sphere – developing, connecting and engaging loyal fans and customers.

To receive my other event marketing trends for 2010, please sign-up at http://www.creativitymadefresh.com/.

It is Time!

Today I had an opportunity to pitch my creative ideas and insights to a journalist from a major on-line publication about strategies Cadillac might use to revitalize their brand.

Part of the problem as I see it is, GM has become like a gigantic, big-budget locomotive engine that appears oblivious to the changing landscape; puffing along, and up until recently, quite complacent and comfortable. What I suggested is that both GM and the Cadillac brand, need to create a cultural message (think Volkswagen van), seek out "uncomfortable and unsafe" marketing channels, and learn to obsess about their customers.

It is time for auto manufacturers to re-discover their story; the cultural and social "why" behind the purchase. Forty years ago, car models conveyed the lifestyle, and reflected the views/values of, the customer -- that some how got lost in MPG's, RPM's and the MSP! There is a sexy Cadillac swagger out there that remains undiscovered and untapped.

What's your story? Isn't it time to start telling instead of selling?

Wishing you success!

Deborah

IN OTHER NEWS...Traditional Marketing Pronounced Dead!

Funeral services for Traditional Marketing were held recently and sadly, only a few people were in attendance. That’s because most entrepreneurs and small business owners were completely unaware that traditional channels and campaigns (including guerrilla marketing) died and are no longer as effective.

As the owner of a small (and I like to think, emerging) creative marketing company, one of the biggest challenges I face is convincing clients that today they absolutely must provide a real customer experience that is connected to their brand; one that taps into the customer's behavior [see my blog "Branding From My Mother's Kitchen" 11-08]. Otherwise, promotion without behavior or branding that does not DO something is as purposeless as tits on a bull and produces little to no bottom-line results.

So, what is the latest marketing innovational shift you ask? Ladies and gentlemen, we have entered into a NEW age of marketing where successful brands (that also includes YOU as the brand) are harnessing the power of social media + video + special events. And THAT, my friends = NEW MEDIA and the wave of the future -- this is the cutting edge of where you absolutely must be if you plan to move your business to the next level. Lag on this and you will definitely lose!

When I first started in this business back in the early ‘80’s (I know, I’m dating myself), working in the world of corporate special events and meeting planning wasn’t even a career choice. In fact, my first job in the business, I was hired as a “marketing assistant.” I vividly remember telephoning my mother all excited about this new job I just started. The first thing my mother said to me was, “…oh baby, you might want to look for something else because there can’t be much money in planning events…” Who knew, I know I didn’t, that corporations spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on meetings, conferences, special events for everything from promoting new products to boosting company morale.

So it is with pride and awe that I watch special events evolve to become a pivotal and necessary player in this NEW MEDIA. Suddenly incorporating an event into the marketing mix is a way to give your customers something to DO (and say) about your brand. Cutting-edge businesses are discovering the power that a single event, video taped and then shared through social networking (i.e. WACPTV, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, et al), can have on their brand.

The use of video has become the standard medium (for now) to broadcast news, events and entertainment. Posting video on UGC (User Generated Content) social websites provides key brand interactivity and recognition – becoming THE catalyst for brand advocates and evangelists. In other words, customers will view your video, reply with views and opinions, and then share that information with others. And all this viral buzz is done without the purchase of print ads, radio or television spots or direct mail marketing (old traditional marketing channels). In fact, U.S. ad spending continues to decline.

Take for example, the uncanny rise the ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ contestant, Susan Boyle which has led to more than 100 million hits on YouTube (making it the most popular video in YouTube's history – good lawd, before tweezers!). You would think that Susan or at least the TV show is profiting a nice hefty dividend check? But according to Google "That video is not being monetized." That means that $500,000 and change in licensing fees and more than $1M in overlay ad revenue are being left on the table. The digital age provides opportunities, but only if marketers know how to grab them.

Even though I do think there is still a place for some traditional print marketing and TV/radio commercials. They definitely do not dominate like they used to so you should use sparingly (and wisely). Therefore, the idea is not to throw money at your customers through expensive ads and commercials -- because the average person is not willing to retain or use your brand’s message (which, according to author Jonathan Baskin, is a little over 1 million messages a year).

Involving customers in events, captured on video and shared through social networking will create a much larger promotional splash and actually inspire (WOM) evangelism. Take a look at how Saturn used a “House Party” mega-event and partnered with TLC’s Real Simple Real Life as their social media channel to increase brand awareness by 38%. Give customers (brand) freedom to experience what matters most and a way to share their views and opinions and they will not only embrace your brand, but encourage others to as well.

Okay, so I’m hanging up my Black dress now and dusting off my red (party) stilettos – look for my video-blog on a social network near you!

Deborah Porter

dporter@creativitymadefresh.com

http://www.creativitymadefresh.com/

702-505-7110

Is BLACK the NEW BLACK?

The more I observe, the more I'm convinced that we truly are a curious nation of followers. A few months ago, I wrote about America’s brand, asking the question what does “Brand America” look and feel like? Beyond the American flag, apple pie, spacious skies and purple mountains majesty, I asked if we’ve made lasting changes to our views and perceptions about race in our country – did we wake up on November 5th to a new icon that says we feel differently about each other?

Well, I dunno if we’ve made lasting changes; tremendous strides? Yes. Lasting changes? I’m not so sure. But I can say that what I’m witnessing now borders on the ridiculous, and is very typical of the American way. And that is to be ‘Fashionably Black’. Not a reverse discrimination per se, but suddenly, it is very trendy to have Blacks in leadership, on our boards, committees, and running our companies. Black is the New Black!

Now before you judge my views as bias (Good Lawd, I can hear the NAACP calling for my card). I am an African-American woman who proudly voted for President Obama, who supports Black initiatives along with select Black organizations. I believe in diversity, fairness and equal opportunity. But I question the sincerity of any organization that has had no history of African-American inclusion suddenly wanting to engage Blacks in leadership. And not necessarily because the person is the best at what they do or the most qualified (although they could be), or because it demonstrates a company’s earnest desire for diversity. No, many businesses are just following a perceived trend. From the nomination of Michael Steele as the new Chairman of the RNC to Mike Paul, publicly demanding that the PR Society seat a Black member on its executive board, companies are scrambling to include more African-Americans in prominent positions. Yet there are countless numbers of companies that have no diversity whatsoever. Okay, so you’re thinking, so what’s the problem? Well for one, any company that would follow a “jump-on-the-band-wagon” trend is sure to disengage when the fad has passed. Second, ‘Fashionably Black’ rings disingenuous – did it take electing a Black man as the leader of the free world for us to realize there were no Black leaders in our companies? Did your company embrace diversity before November 4? How many African-Americans were a keynote speaker or spokesperson for your product, or invited to your party or a preferred vendor before the election and how many are you seeking out now?

But this brings up a more serious phenomenon in business, and that is our propensity to be followers rather than innovators, creators and real visionaries. One of the reasons President Obama was successful in his bid for the white house, was his audacity to do the outrageous, the unthinkable, to stand out, and then run the most unique political campaign in our nation’s history. The fact that he did all this is as a Black man was an added bonus of fortitude to the package. And don’t get me wrong, I don’t have a problem following some of today’s trends (why re-invent the wheel?) – I enjoy my iPod, text-messaging, Apple martinis and hair extensions. But I also recognize that trendy phrases like, “your call is very important to us,” “how may I direct your call?” “service first” are all very passé and meaningless idioms. We do it because someone else did it. That’s because growing this country, like growing your brand, requires a business to be innovative and a front-runner of the unthinkable – inventing a brand, new bar, not following the herd under the old one.

If we want true economic recovery we can’t get stuck at the top of this victory hill (none of us is allowed to rest on the coat tails of President Obama’s blackness). We must bravely go out and create something new, something cutting edge in our businesses, our marketing campaigns, our events and promotions. And if that means including more African-Americans in our organizations, that’s even better! But don’t follow what has been done (there is only one Barack); instead blaze a new trail, a new path. Be original. Be uniquely you. In fact, I encourage each of you to be so daring, so brash and brazen that it makes your insides churn with fear just thinking about what you’re planning to do. Because only then can you be a creator of the next big thing, the next impossible endeavor – which is the backbone of America’s ingenuity – it’s our brand! And by all means hire me to aid you in pushing new, creative boundaries – but not because I’m ‘Fashionably Black’, but because I share your company’s vision for setting a new bar!

Branding Wisdom From My Mother's Kitchen

Exactly what is branding? No, I mean really; beyond the Wikipedia definition, what do we mean when we throw around the word, “branding” sitting in a strategy meeting trying to look cool and sound sophisticated? For far too long, branding was seen as just the use of logos, icons, symbols and the corporate name. But if you’re a smart marketer or business leader, you know that creating and establishing brand identity is far more reaching than a color-coordinated ad campaign. Powerful branding has exponentially morphed into the sum total of the audience’s experience. Branding now reflects the views and perceptions imprinted in the consumer’s mind until that psychological interaction shapes their behavior. It all boils down to an emotional experience – the way you handle your customers, how well you deliver products, promises and services. Susan Allen, owner of Out The Box, states, “…Branding means starting with your values and beliefs, projecting these into everything you do, and going forward from there…”

My mother was an incredible cook. Her down-home southern styled meals were served with warmth and genuine hospitality. And all you had to do was ask someone if they were going to Katie’s house for dinner after church and their mouth would water! Mom didn’t skimp on ingredients, spices or portions when the economy was bad. And she never cut the guest list or ask for donations when food costs went up; nor were people asked to leave early or do the dishes. Her caring personality, smile and awesome recipes were her brand. It was the experience of good times, laughs, a warm kitchen filled with love and a stomach full of the most delicious food you’d ever eat that people remembered. And that's what created her brand.

Krispy Kreme use to be a powerful brand until we bit into too many dry donuts left too long in the AM/PM kiosk – damn, did they forget what the “HOT” light sign did to our taste buds? I use to hide the empty KK box in the outside garbage can so my boyfriend at the time wouldn’t know I had eaten the entire dozen in an 8-hour period! My weekly trips to their stores have dwindled to once or twice a year now. United Airlines was the crème de la crème of airlines (my mother wore white gloves back in the ‘60’s when we flew) until they left too many passengers stranded for hours at too many gates, or left us at the mercy of rude and over-worked (and sometimes not so attractive I might add) flight attendants – with nothing more than a half-can of Coke and less than an ounce of peanuts. But boy aren’t their new commercials great? But now if I have to fly United, I won’t go.

So what does brand America look and feel like? Like many Americans I wept and cheered on election night at the audacity of hope, the possibility for greatness and the millions of cracks made in racial barriers. But I have to ask, did the election of Barack Obama as president of the United States, improve America’s brand? Because beyond the brand – you know, the American flag, record voter turn-out, spacious skies and purple mountains majesty – have we made lasting changes to our views and perceptions about race in our country – did we wake up on November 5th feeling differently about each other?

If I had a dollar for every blog, news article and quote that touts instruction on how to market your brand in a down economy, I could probably pay off most, if not all, the $ trillion national debt. Every business guru and pundit has sage advice on how to get focused, how to concentrate your efforts on your core customers. And most of what has been said has really been right on the money. But providing an incredible customer experience should have been happening all the time. Akin to what I call, the 911 share & care syndrome, excellent treatment of our customers is a behavior phenomenon that should be the norm. Why must we wait until a down-turned economy to start paying attention to our best customers, offering the best service with the most competitive pricing, or to reduce ineffective ads and promotions and begin thinking creatively for branding solutions? Effective branding shouldn’t be reactive to a bad economy or any other external forces, but should be an on-going persuasive experience that produces tangible results from our target audience. As author Jonathan Baskin points out in his book, Branding Only Works On Cattle, behavior trumps branding every time!

So in essence, branding isn’t the cool pictures, a killer logo or really funny creative ads. Branding is the sum total of the experiences of your audience. And it isn’t true branding until those attributes, and the created value, gets communicated through your actions and in turn influences the mind and thoughts of your audience. As my mother would say, it ain’t what you say baby, it’s what you do! Mom, you were absolutely right!