Marc-Portugal Experiential Marketing Ideas

Just BE Cause...

A while back I prepared a really great proposal that fell on deaf ears. It happens. However, since the prospective client chose not to engage, and since they are my ideas to begin with, I’d like to share one that seems relevant in today’s marketing culture:

Just BE Cause.

This is not a spelling, grammatical or capitalization error. The original thought process centered around “Just Because” – the “excuse” to do something fun, out of the ordinary and debatably adventurous in regards to a brand experience.

Having said that, some people need an excuse to justify the cost of the adventure (especially these days), or even to justify the adventure itself. In the spirit of experiential marketing’s personalized, emotional, and habitual nature, the idea of “helping” seemed like a natural pairing as an “excuse.”

Translation: Cause Marketing. Businesses working together with non-profit organizations for mutual benefit. Each gains exposure, traffic, traction, and if activated successfully – each gains revenues. An “adventure” of both substance and meaning.

“Just because” is now Just BE Cause.

By many indications including articles, conferences and more – non-profit leadership seems to feel that now is the time to embrace and aggressively pursue layered corporate partnerships, outsourcing, and other collaborative strategies and tactics to strengthen overall advocacy and development efforts.

 

Hey businesses! This means that there are great causes willing to help promote your business and probably make you money by using their e-mail lists, Facebook and Twitter accounts, and more if you are willing to donate a little time and resources too! Even as a jaded, biased consumer given my work experiences and marketing sensibilities – I 110% admit I am ABSOLUTELY INFLUENCED in regards to purchasing and brand loyalty if I know that some of my money and/or commitment will help a cause.

 

Hey causes! This means you need to step out of the proverbial box, ensure you truly understand the habits and interests your advocacy, volunteer and donor bases, and work in a proactive, modern manner to partner up with businesses that speak to the aforementioned habits and interests. Don’t be afraid of pushing the “image envelope.” No one will condemn you from hosting an event at a bar or nightclub. Don’t be afraid to “pick up the pace” when it comes to collaborative events and promotions. It won’t cost you more money – it will MAKE you more money.

 

Should consumers ONLY patronize businesses in partnership with non-profits? Of course not. Should consumers support every possible cause they can identify? No way. Business and consumers should focus their energies and resources on a few, effective, ideally long-term alliances. There are enough businesses and causes to go around such that strong, meaningful experiential partnerships can be established.

 

Bottom line: Work together. Raise and make money together. Why? Just BE Cause.

 

 

"Throw A Party!" Create and implement experiential marketing solutions (live events and online communications) that are personal and memorable such that you redirect existing and ongoing consumer affinity, participation, revenues, and loyalties to your business or brand.

 

Don't take my word for it...

http://www.namm.org/namm-show-live/articles/breakfast-champions-gene-simmons

Enought said.

It's starting to catch on...

Even the Wall Street Journal knows a good “party” when it sees one…

 

Check out today’s WSJ article by Katy McLaughlin, posted on MSN’s home page entitled “Bar Wars: To attract cash-strapped diners, restaurateurs are making dramatic bids to ramp up their bar business…”

 

It’s a very nice piece (props to Katy and WSJ), but since today is Sunday I’ll save you some quality TV time by summing it up:

 

• Recession hurts business.
• Business realizes offerings that are more social and event-driven are fun.
• Business realizes consumers will still pay for fun in spite of the recession.
• Business creates fun and makes some money.

 

If you do read the article, note the following:

 

 

1. Restaurants are affected nationwide and at “luxury” price points.

 

2. Owners are going so far as to call customers themselves (I think that’s an old marketing practice called building relationships…)

 

3. Bar tabs and tasting “events” actually yield tasty revenues (pun intended…)

 

4. Some operators recognize this “model” will CONTINUE TO WORK after the recession begins to subside…

 

 

The “model” is experiential marketing – a long-term solution that restaurants, hotels, and other businesses should consider embracing as a core focus of generating traffic, revenue, and overall brand affinity.

 

 

"Throw A Party!" Create and implement experiential marketing solutions (live events and online communications) that are personal and memorable such that you redirect existing and ongoing consumer affinity, participation, revenues, and loyalties to your business or brand.

 

Buzzword bingo spells experiential marketing: up, down and diagonal

What is Experiential Marketing??? Who invented such a silly word as “experiential”?

What was the last silly word invented? Twitter? Or was it Google? Wonder how those “words” are working out…hmm…

 

The IXMA offers this “manifesto” in defining experiential marketing?

1.         EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING must be predicated on one-on-one personal interaction between a marketer and a consumer.

2.         EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING will be conducted when the consumer chooses.

3.         EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING campaigns should clearly deliver a meaningful benefit to the consumer.

4.         EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING is based on engaging people.

5.         EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING must be based on individual experiences.

6.         EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING’s goal is to succeed using innovative approaches and tactics to reach out to consumers in creative, compelling ways.

7.         EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING is idealistic enough to empower the individual consumer and street-savvy enough to unleash the power of grassroots activation.

8.         EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING is about authenticity.

9.         EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING assumes that the entire world is media, and the entire universe is the consumer base.

 

The buzzwords and buzz-phrases that describe and categorize examples of experiential marketing are not nearly as bad as those often used in more traditional corporate settings – like “change agent”, “paradigm shift”, “core competency”, or “aspiration statement…”

 

In fact, at first glance, one might not even consider these words and phrases as essentially synonyms for experiential marketing. Here are some examples:

 

 

Cause Marketing: Promotional strategy that links a company’s sales campaign directly to a nonprofit organization. Generally includes an offer by the sponsor to make a donation to the cause with purchase of its product or service. Unlike philanthropy, money spent on cause marketing is a business expense, not a donation, and is expected to show a return on investment.

 

Co-Op: The sharing of advertising costs between a manufacturer and distributor or dealer.

 

Cosponsors: Sponsors of the same property.

 

Cross-Promotions: A joint marketing effort conducted by two or more cosponsors using the sponsored property as the central theme.

 

Sponsorship: Defined by IEG in 1982 as: A cash and/or in-kind fee paid to a property (typically sports, entertainment, non-profit event or organization) in return for access to the exploitable commercial potential associated with that property.

 

Tribal Marketing: Term coined by First Matter to refer to the creation of affinity groups for commercial ends. Perhaps the most notable and successful contemporary example is Harley-Davidson, which has coupled the sale of motorcycles and peripherals to the creation of weekend motorcycle clubs and an entire way of life built around Harley-Davidson products. Tribal marketing works best when it is constantly reinforced with icons.

 

I must credit IEG in “providing” all of these definitions – all of which and more are listed on their web site: www.sponsorship.com. I highly recommend it.

 

 

Anyhooo…once again the common thread is the “group thing” (see yesterday’s entry) in that a relationship – based on feelings, relevance and meaning – must exist in order for the marketing or sponsorship or philanthropic endeavor to be successful.

 

Do all experiential marketing activations need to be events? NO WAY. Feelings, meaning, authenticity, etc. can be infused in other layers of the cake. Social media is ideal, especially if consumers are prompted to Tweet while in the “Live Moment” (see GMR Marketing, www.gmrlive.com)

 

Will experiential marketing activations work better if live events are part of the equation? ABSOLUTELY.

 

Is this not every advertiser’s goal? Is this not every fundraiser’s goal? The answer is obviously yes, but many organizations haven’t learned to play bingo experientially.

 

 

"Throw A Party!" Create and implement experiential marketing solutions (live events and online communications) that are personal and memorable such that you redirect existing and ongoing consumer affinity, participation, revenues, and loyalties to your business or brand.

 

Opening Day for Experiential Marketing

Today is the home opener for the Chicago Cubs. The weather calls for rain and about 40 degrees with winds likely off of Lake Michigan which will make game time conditions at Wrigley even less pleasant. If they manage to get the game in – and win, too – there will not be a single fan in that old building with any regrets or complaints about showing up. Commitment in spite of any and all odds for the sake of the participation itself – THAT is the quintessence of experiential marketing.

 

Most experiential activations manifest as events. Let’s look at some of the value-added layers that only event activations can provide for your brand:

 

 

1. Exposure to REAL LIVE people – including customers and staff. Never forget that your staff is often equally affected by your brands’ experiences as guests and consumers. No other advertising and marketing vehicle – no matter how vast or pervasive in reach or no matter how inexpensive – can replicate “humanity.” Events are compelling excuses for people to act. In such hard times for so many – events also present a chance for diversion and means to FEEL a sense of normalcy.

2. Critical Mass – defined as “the minimum amount (of something) required to start or maintain a venture” and an “organized coincidence” – the point at which the energy of the room catalyzes a perception and a mindset of the attendees that they are in the right place at the right time, and proceed to immediately engage in word-of-mouth marketing via phone, e-mail, text messaging, Twitter, Facebook, and so forth.

3. Word of Mouth – as alluded to in the last point, very few people are prompted to “advocate” or “evangelize” for a brand just because they saw a print advertisement, or a sponsored link on Google. The closest that two-dimensional advertising gets to evoking emotion is likely via social media, and even then there has to be standard experiential layers (discovery, shock & awe, etc.) to elicit the experiential marketing version of the telephone game.

4. Short ROI Cycle – it’s a little funny to me that traditionalists have shied from events as a primary strategy using the excuse that events are tough to measure. It’s actually quite the opposite. Attendance, overall sales, categorical sales, bounce backs, preferred guest redemptions, and more are a drop of water on the tip of the iceberg in regards to metrics and ROI immediately available to brands via event marketing. Further, the ability to absorb the empirical reactions, emotions and feedback of the attendees provides immediate ROE – Return on Experience.

5. Cost Saving Relationships – the beauty of events is that they are a “group thing.” Behave yourselves - I only mean this in a business context. The success of events are measured not only by the number of people who show up, but by the number of people who MAKE UP the event. Productive relationships with sponsors and “brand partners” – other businesses facilitating the delivery of your shared promise to shared consumers – will save you money and improve your overall delivery. Just because an online ad is cheap, and just because Twitter and Facebook free, does not mean they are ordained to be effective.

 

As the great Eddie Vedder sings in his song about the Cubs and Wrigley Field, “Someday we’ll go all the way…” Your brands will go further as well with the incorporation of events and experiential marketing into your own game plans.

 

"Throw A Party!" Create and implement experiential marketing solutions (live events and online communications) that are personal and memorable such that you redirect existing and ongoing consumer affinity, participation, revenues, and loyalties to your business or brand.