EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING - Designing and creating experiences that provide real value MARKETING AN EVENT - Making a compelling connection to the

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2 EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING - Designing and creating experiences that provide real value MARKETING AN EVENT - Making a compelling connection to the experience 2

3 Our focus today is on how to innovate and evolve. 3

4 Today, more than ever, the rate of change is accelerating all around us. 4

5 The companies that make up our exhibitors and sponsors are having to adapt to a variety of market forces. A couple of years ago the evolution of business was being driven by Corporate Social Responsibility. 5

6 Now, there s another shift in which companies are driven to be consumer collaborators - the power has migrated to the consumers, primarily through social media. In doing so, companies are transforming themselves into conduits of purpose. It s a new wave of capitalism - Purpose first, profits second. Brand as hero is fast becoming brand as catalyst through public dialogues with their customers. 6

7 The demographics of our attendees are rapidly changing. Millennials are the fastest growing segment of our audiences. Their priorities include healthier lifestyles, organic products, informed purchasing, global perspectives, and authenticity. They value cooperation over competition. Inclusiveness, not exclusiveness. They value personalization and experiences. 7

8 And advances in technology are all around us. On one hand, our tech-driven culture is causing disconnection, so people are hungry for real experiences. 8

9 On the other, technology is a tremendous enabler for the sharing and crowdsourcing of ideas, communication, message and information distribution, and the connecting of buyers and sellers on our show floors. 9

10 Don t take this as a prediction of doom, rather, an admonition to adapt and evolve. 10

11 Innovation is the greatest weapon we have to keep our shows vital and our constituents successful. So how do we innovate, adapt and evolve in a way that creates success for our exhibitors, sponsors and attendees? The first step is to consider a change in your perspective, or in this case, your hats. 11

12 To borrow the old Harvard Business School question, What business are you really in? I d suggest you take off your show organizer and event planning hats and think of yourselves as being the business of Value Creation. 12

13 Value must be created for all constituents within your ecosystem before your organization and your show can achieve real, sustainable success. 13

14 ECOSYSTEM DIAGRAM 1 - As an organizer and planner, you are responsible for nurturing and growing your own community, or ecosystem. Unless all of the parts are successful individually, the whole will never reach its potential. You create success for your organizations and shows by, first, creating real value for BOTH your exhibitors and attendees. 14

15 ECOSYSTEM DIAGRAM 2 - Intersections and interactions should be the primary focus of your experience design. Those are your sweet spots for value creation and success. 15

16 Second step is to step way back. 30,000 feet. Innovation and evolution aren t about looking for things to add to your experience. Our customers constantly ask us, What s new, what s innovative?" Although the question is well-intentioned - it often results in organizers applying band-aids to their show. Over time, if you apply enough band-aids your show will resemble a mummy. Instead - step back and take a fresh look at everything. 16

17 We recently worked with one our clients to reengineer their show for next year. The approach was an agnostic one. No sacred cows and everything was on the table. Our client was committed to driving change so that all parties experienced an increased level of value by participating in the show. After our discovery and strategy phases, we built an experience framework that guided our creative and experience design process. It ensured that we considered the needs of the exhibitors, attendees and the show organizer. The result was a new floor design that created many new ways for exhibitors and attendees to engage and interact with one another. The floor was zoned in a way that made sense for the attendee. It allows them to plan their xperience on the floor in a more 17

18 logical manner. We designed a variety of ways in which exhibitors and sponsors can participate. As an option to the traditional single piece of real estate, exhibitors can have a presence in multiple zones if that suits their marketing strategy. Each zone has a variety of interactive areas for competitions, showcases, education, and product pop-ups. These are all opportunities for exhibitors to participate in multiple ways, thereby increasing their likelihood of meeting up with prospects. We designed an entrance zone that softens the overwhelming feeling an attendee has when entering a show floor. It is a themed area with interactive information stations, a meet-up area, and a 125 ft media screen that will serve to communicate themed messaging as well as sponsorship opportunities, The Connector Large-scale, themed imagery throughout to reinforce the theme and messaging. Tie everything together 17

19 Experience Design considerations Understand what success means for all. You can t be successful unless you know what success looks like - make no assumptions. For example, we know that the 4 primary ROI indicators for exhibitors are: Pipeline opp ty, Brand perception, relationship strength and quality of experience. But do they have specific needs for your particular show? If so, your event design can help them if you fully understand their needs. Provide options for participation Align the needs of your exhibitors and attendees. For example we know that hands-on experiences are extremely important to your millennial audiences Humanize and personalize Technology (High Tech-High Touch) As a connection enabler - primary reason for attending - networking Create shared experiences 18

20 Provide access to information - on demand Be purposeful with your tech - not tech for tech sake Social/Digital - conversations and immersion pre-during-post Bring YOUR Brand to life - you are the Make it fun. Surprise & Delight - people react to what they don t know and what s new Exhibitor Education - not all exhibitors are savvy F2F marketers. We have found that education can go along way to helping them achieve success, which in turn creates a happy customer for you who is more likely to return. Emotion trumps all - at the end of the day, you want everyone to feel that their experience was worth their time and investment. They need to feel that you care about their success. They need to have a good time. They need to feel part of your community. This reflects heavily on your brand. 18

21 Marketing of the Event considerations In addition to , digital and social marketing... Provide Exhibitors with tools to invite (only 40% of organizers are currently doing this) Content Marketing Strategy is an effective way to enhancing your brand Create a 365 year-round experience to engage and build community Social Referrals - Like Ingo and Exhibitor Invites. Ingo helps organizers offer "social" registration - meaning attendees can use LinkedIn or Facebook - while they are registering, the tool will identify people in their network who might also have interest in your conference. Ingo and the conference then identify these people to the registrant and there are a series of tools to help with the outreach to those prospects. Exhibitor Invites is a different tool which allows exhibitors to send invitations to the conference - this allows you again to reach new 19

22 audiences through your exhibitors. Benefit to you is increase audience - benefit to the exhibitors is increased reach to the people they can to connect with. 19

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