Events The New Marketing Media

Events The New Marketing Media Simon Baggs Lateral Marketing & Management

Paradigms are changing Before the GFC During the GFC After the GFC Events were gaining ground as a marketing tool Events prove their success as a marketing tool Events are gaining a greater share of the A&P budgets

A definition of marketing is; creating an environment in which sales can happen The marketing arsenal has traditionally consisted of; Advertising Direct Mail Public Relations Point of Sale & Promotions Advertising commands 78% of all marketing spend in many industries

Advertising is not working so well anymore Fragmentation is rife While media advertising costs rise, results plummet Online advertising is the hero capturing 30% of ad spend OOH media is gaining ground TV, Radio, Newspaper, Magazine media is having to work harder

Events are the new heroes because; Events provide an interactive, two way audience Events are a gateway to a face-to-face experience with customers Events enable customers to experience the product or service That experience is all powerful in purchase decisions Events create bonds with customers that advertising does not Also events are extremely accountable

An ad agency will deem their job done if they place the right ads in the right media to achieve their reach end of story To determine the success of an ad campaign expensive research is required The old adage lives on: we know we are wasting half our advertising, we just don t know which half

Advertising agencies are not event supporters because; They are not good at creating events it is not their forte They can t earn their 17.5% of the budget It is all too hard

While advertising plays an essential and irreplaceable role in marketing, the potential of events have been largely ignored until now Advertising delivers a clearly defined message in a very controlled environment it communicates an exact message on a predefined schedule However advertising is non-interactive While a prospect may see or hear an ad, the brand does not become an experience

Events could capture a far greater share of the overall marketing budget if marketers focused on Return on Investment (ROI) which they are now doing thanks to the GFC However, event managers need to understand how the advertising industry have been able to price advertising by guaranteeing audiences For years the advertising industry has been charging for access to a set demographic, rather than charging per ad

TARPS (Television Average Rating Points) For example: if you wanted to reach men 18-39 year old, you buy a number of TARPS If 25% of men 18-39 in Sydney watch CSI: Crime Scene Investigation we could also say the TARP of this show is 25 The cost per TARP is the cost of advertising within a program divided by the number of TARPS it will achieve For example: if Sunrise costs $2,000 for a 30 second spot and delivers 4 TARPS for the target audience, then the CPT (cost per TARP) is $500

Print Media With the print media we have CPM (Cost Per Thousand) the cost to reach 1,000 people within the target audience The M of CPM is the roman numeral for one thousand For example: a magazine reaches 820,000 women aged 14+ The cost for a full page ad is $14,550. CPM = (14,500/820,000) x 1000 = $17.68

Measuring the effectiveness of events is like herding a mob of subjective opinions into a neat excel spreadsheet, adding some hard data, some formulas and coming up with a number Accountants understand numbers, it is their elixir of life Give them numbers, not platitudes They will love you for it!

The 1st rule of measurement: Measure the outcomes you are aiming to achieve Measure incidental outcomes as an adjunct, they have value too Start with the end in mind

The Event ROI Pyramid ROI Business Impact Application of Learnings Learning Satisfaction & Planned Action

How will you use what you learned? No Probably Not Maybe Probably Yes Definitely Average Score Discuss with my colleagues 0% 0% 0% 37.5% 62.5% 4.6 Seek ways to acquire additional funding through A&P budgets 0% 0% 0% 50% 50% 4.5 Review how we value the events produce 0% 0% 50% 37.5% 12.5% 3.6 Put our prices up quickly! 0% 12.5% 12.5% 62.5 12.5 3.8 Tell uncle Jack that his advertising career is over 12.5% 12.5% 62.5% 0% 12.5% 2.9 Other (specify below) 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0.0

Do you think there is a potential for events to become more important to marketers 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Avg BEFORE the seminar 0 2 0 4 2 2 4 0 0 0 0 40% AFTER the seminar 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 2 2 6 87% Do you feel comfortable comparing the ROI of events over advertising? 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Avg BEFORE the seminar 2 2 2 2 0 4 2 0 0 0 0 31% AFTER the seminar 0 0 0 0 2 4 0 0 4 2 2 70% Could you put forward a case for funding from an A&P budget? 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Avg BEFORE the seminar 6 2 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 14% AFTER the seminar 0 0 0 0 2 4 0 2 2 0 4 70% Are you excited about the prospect of the events growing with A&B budgets? 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Avg BEFORE the seminar 8 2 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 13% AFTER the seminar 0 0 0 0 0 2 6 2 0 0 4 71%

Events as a marketing tool come in various categories; As a communication medium (conferences/road shows etc) As a product trial medium (experiential Marketing) As a medium to establish and enhance relationships And many others

Using events as a tool to establish and build relationships with your most important customers begins with an analysis of; Who your clients are The relationships your organisation has with these clients Ranking/measuring those relationships Identifying where multiple relationships are desirable Before you create events and send invitations, you do an analysis of your client s lifestyle preferences and prioritise their potential

Events that have been funded from A&P budgets Case Studies from the Lateral Vault

The New Frontier Events as a marketing tool

If events are used for delivering key messages, building relationships, sales or for whatever purpose; Events deliver a heart/mind connection Events deliver an experience Events deliver an interactive reaction from attendees Advertising does none of the above If the events industry gained an additional 5% spend from Australian advertising budgets, we estimate the events industry could grow by an estimated 25%

Events The New Marketing Media Simon Baggs Lateral Marketing & Management www.lateralmarketing.com.au