In today’s marketing environment, the term ‘influencing the influencers’ normally refers to the online space – blogs, social networking etc. But word of mouth has always been around; it’s now simply adding another dimension, in this case digital media, to its appeal. But as Carol Abade, CEO of Exp. explains, it’s not just about telling someone is great. “Influencing goes beyond word of mouth into conviction. It is not about simply passing on information but about passing on the experience linked to real belief of the brand promise.”Word of mouth, especially using new digital mediums, has also levelled the playing fields for brands, especially those that don’t possess enormous marketing budgets. “Frankly word of mouth is not new to marketing it is only now being defined as a key for brands that have niche appeal and cannot always employ mass media to get their messages out there,” says Abade. The key to influencing the influencers however, is finding them, and this can be as easy as looking at your existing customers. “They are mostly long term loyal consumers, whose reason for use of the brand is tied to the long term relationship that they have had with the brand,” says Abade.“There are several models applied to be able to determine key brand influencer. Most of these fairly scientific and rely on profiling and cross matrix applications of consumer lifestyle, the brand promise, and the relationship that they have with the brand against the rest of the category. The willingness of the consumer to work for you will be based on your objectives, in several instances it’s a subtle association, derived from their ‘influencing’ position that one utilises to draw associations.”Now while it is known that word of mouth marketing can be extremely powerful, it doesn’t always work for every brand; in fact, in some cases in can even be damaging. So how do you know when to use it? “It is becoming more and more appealing in instances where traditional marketing is not consumed in the way that is expected,” says Abade. A key target market is of course, today’s youth market, which is always connected, and always looking for the next ‘in-thing’. “The youth market is currently consuming a different media which changes as quickly as it starts keeping up with that requires a cross section of influencing positions being able provide lead into new innovations. In this case the use of the influencer is key in being able to drive audiences to new ideas in digital space, based on their experience.On the more traditional side, a form of this is used for brands that have self or legislated regulations that preclude them from using traditional mass media. But throughout the centuries this has been applied successfully in brands with real niche targets as opposed to wide mass appeal like luxury brands,” says Abade. Still, word of mouth marketing has to also be carefully examined to ensure that the right campaign is used for the right target audience within each market. As Abade points out, in African markets, which are extremely complex, it is not possible to come up with a single guide that is assumed to work across the different markets. “The key is to identify what is ‘real influence’ against what is ‘presumed influence’; this is the crux of operating in these markets. And that question will be handled in detail at the African Experiential Marketing Summit…”
Carol will be presented a keynote speech on Influencing the Influencers at the African Experiential Marketing Summit on 3 September 2008, in Johannesburg.
Contributed by Marketing Mix
Friday, August 8, 2008
Monday, August 4, 2008
Interview with Kim
Kim Skildum-Reid heads up Power Sponsorship and is one of the world’s top corporate sponsorship consultants, trainers, speakers, and authors, with 22 years experience across the US, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Australasia.
Kim will be presenting a keynote speech on Last Generation Sponsorship at the African Experiential Marketing Summit on 3 September 2008, in Johannesburg. Marketing Mix managed to catch up with her for an interview.
Marketing Mix: Why is sponsorship so important in the marketing mix?
Kim Skildum-Reid: While other media are essentially one-way communications, best practice has gone beyond that, and beyond two-way communications, to become a true collaboration with and reflection of the sponsor’s target market. It has a degree of relevance and resonance that no other marketing media has or could have.
The reasoning is that a best practice sponsor understands, honours, and respects their target markets’ event experience and seeks to add value to that experience in a range of ways, thus becoming a valued and appreciated part of an experience that target market cares about. Contrasting that with traditional sponsorship, which is largely based on wallpapering logos all over the events and organisation these target markets have decided they care about, and disrespecting that experience with intrusive promotions and branding – electronic signage right next to the pitch, anyone? – and the value of best practice sponsorship becomes crystal clear.
MMX: How do you 'measure' ROI on sponsorships?
KSR: The short answer is, ‘you don’t’. Of course, that doesn’t mean you don’t measure the results; it simply means that the results will never be accurately measured using some kind of arbitrary dollar-value ratio.
The operative term for best practice sponsors is ROO – or Return-on-Objectives. This approach leaves behind the old-school approach of logo counting, media equivalencies, impressions, ‘good corporate citizenship’, and my personal favourite, ‘the halo effect’ and all of the hot air that goes into putting some kind of dollar value on these areas, and focuses on measuring strictly against objectives.
Seriously, what does it matter if a million people saw your logo if not one of them changes their perception or behaviour around you brand? It doesn’t. Not at all. Best practice is all about measuring changes in perceptions and behaviours. This is accomplished using two strategies:
Using your internal experts – Your sales department has a myriad of ways to measure sales, incremental sales, reorders, promotional support at retail, merchandising, promotional participation, coupon redemptions, and many dozens more objective-driven, benchmarked indicators. So do your PR, HR, loyalty marketing, electronic marketing, media, and other departments. Let the experts set the objectives and let them measure. You will get figures that will stand up to scrutiny against your company’s accepted benchmarks.
Research existing questions – Invest in some good research, but don’t invent questions. Use a selection of the same question that you are asking in your ongoing or most recent target market research, and then ask those questions of people with varying degrees of involvement with the event and your leverage program (eg event attendees, watch it on television, fans of the team, promotional participants, people who signed up for your event-driven web content, etc). The results will give you apples-to-apples comparisons against perception indicators your company has already decided are important.
(If you would like more information on measurement, please read Kim’s blog www.powersponsorship.com/blog.aspx#132)
MMX: How should a marketer go about initiating and maintaining a sponsorship?
KSR: The most important thing, going in, is to know exactly what you plan to do with it – how you are going to leverage it to achieve your objectives – and have the buy-in to make that happen.
If you sort that out before negotiation, you will negotiate for more strategic benefits and will fly out of the starting gate with your leverage programs. Plus, it is much easier to manage a sponsorship and keep internal stakeholders committed to leverage when you have buy-in before the commitment.
MMX: How can you make a sponsorship work with regards to integrating it with traditional and non-traditional media, or should it be standalone?
KSR: Buying sponsorship and not integrating it across all, or at least some, of your other marketing activities is like buying a ladder and never using it. Sponsorship is an opportunity. Leverage creates the results, and leverage starts with integration.
The only benefit a sponsor will get if they don’t integrate it across other marketing activities is a big fat ego trip.
MMX: How do you make a sponsorship really work for your brand - are there key elements that must exist for example?
KSR: It’s all about leverage, baby!
When a sponsor invests in a sponsorship, they are investing in opportunity. Leverage is what a sponsor does with the sponsorship, and that is what provides the results. There are no hard-and-fast rules for what a leverage program should look like, but there certainly is a new order of priorities.
First priority: Target market needs
If you ignore, or worse yet, disrespect, a target market’s needs, the sponsorship will not work for your brand. Your first priority is to understand those needs, wants, and challenges and then devise ways that you can help the target market to get what they want. If getting tickets is going to be nearly impossible, can you get early ticketing for your customers? If the ground is hard at the event, can you loan people cushions to sit on? This isn’t rocket science, yet sponsors rarely get it right.
Second priority: Internal buy-in
You can’t integrate sponsorship across other marketing activities unless you get buy-in and active involvement from a range of internal decision-makers. If you don’t have buy-in, your sponsorship will be much less effective and cost a lot more to leverage.
Third priority: Brand needs
Brand needs aren’t third because they’re unimportant. They’re third because you won’t get your target markets to change their perceptions and behaviours (in other words, to do what your marketing is trying to make them do) unless you meet their needs first. And you won’t be effective at leverage unless you get buy in.
Brand needs are important, you just have two critical hurdles to get over before you will be able to address them.
MMX: With respect to the upcoming 2010 FIFA World Cup and the fact that ambush marketing (should be) clamped down on, is there any advice?
KSR: No ‘shoulds’. It is impossible to ‘clamp down’ on ambush marketing. You can clamp down on people using IP illegally and you can inconvenience people who inadvertently wear a t-shirt with a non-sponsor logo on it to a game, but that’s not ambush marketing.
Ambush marketing is legal and there are no laws that can be passed to stop a committed strategic ambusher from gaining a marketing advantage and hurting a sponsor.
Strategic ambush is not about pretending you’re a sponsor. Frankly, consumers don’t really care who is and isn’t the sponsor. What they care about is who is making the event experience better, easier, or more enjoyable for them. Who understands and respects their event experience. If an ambusher does a better job at adding value to the event experience – understanding that the event experience doesn’t just happen when you’re sitting in a stadium – they will be successful.
That said, ambush marketing is easy to control, but the World Cup and laws aren’t going to do it. The only ones who can stop ambushers are the sponsors themselves. If they ensure that their programs are fully leveraged and that those leverage programs have been developed in such a way that real, meaningful benefits flow to the target markets and that their event experience is valued and respected.
Sponsors who expect laws and events to protect them from ambush marketing need education and they need to raise their game. If they aren’t interested in that, they’re lazy and deserve to be ambushed.
Interview contributed by Marketing Mix
Kim will be presenting a keynote speech on Last Generation Sponsorship at the African Experiential Marketing Summit on 3 September 2008, in Johannesburg. Marketing Mix managed to catch up with her for an interview.
Marketing Mix: Why is sponsorship so important in the marketing mix?
Kim Skildum-Reid: While other media are essentially one-way communications, best practice has gone beyond that, and beyond two-way communications, to become a true collaboration with and reflection of the sponsor’s target market. It has a degree of relevance and resonance that no other marketing media has or could have.
The reasoning is that a best practice sponsor understands, honours, and respects their target markets’ event experience and seeks to add value to that experience in a range of ways, thus becoming a valued and appreciated part of an experience that target market cares about. Contrasting that with traditional sponsorship, which is largely based on wallpapering logos all over the events and organisation these target markets have decided they care about, and disrespecting that experience with intrusive promotions and branding – electronic signage right next to the pitch, anyone? – and the value of best practice sponsorship becomes crystal clear.
MMX: How do you 'measure' ROI on sponsorships?
KSR: The short answer is, ‘you don’t’. Of course, that doesn’t mean you don’t measure the results; it simply means that the results will never be accurately measured using some kind of arbitrary dollar-value ratio.
The operative term for best practice sponsors is ROO – or Return-on-Objectives. This approach leaves behind the old-school approach of logo counting, media equivalencies, impressions, ‘good corporate citizenship’, and my personal favourite, ‘the halo effect’ and all of the hot air that goes into putting some kind of dollar value on these areas, and focuses on measuring strictly against objectives.
Seriously, what does it matter if a million people saw your logo if not one of them changes their perception or behaviour around you brand? It doesn’t. Not at all. Best practice is all about measuring changes in perceptions and behaviours. This is accomplished using two strategies:
Using your internal experts – Your sales department has a myriad of ways to measure sales, incremental sales, reorders, promotional support at retail, merchandising, promotional participation, coupon redemptions, and many dozens more objective-driven, benchmarked indicators. So do your PR, HR, loyalty marketing, electronic marketing, media, and other departments. Let the experts set the objectives and let them measure. You will get figures that will stand up to scrutiny against your company’s accepted benchmarks.
Research existing questions – Invest in some good research, but don’t invent questions. Use a selection of the same question that you are asking in your ongoing or most recent target market research, and then ask those questions of people with varying degrees of involvement with the event and your leverage program (eg event attendees, watch it on television, fans of the team, promotional participants, people who signed up for your event-driven web content, etc). The results will give you apples-to-apples comparisons against perception indicators your company has already decided are important.
(If you would like more information on measurement, please read Kim’s blog www.powersponsorship.com/blog.aspx#132)
MMX: How should a marketer go about initiating and maintaining a sponsorship?
KSR: The most important thing, going in, is to know exactly what you plan to do with it – how you are going to leverage it to achieve your objectives – and have the buy-in to make that happen.
If you sort that out before negotiation, you will negotiate for more strategic benefits and will fly out of the starting gate with your leverage programs. Plus, it is much easier to manage a sponsorship and keep internal stakeholders committed to leverage when you have buy-in before the commitment.
MMX: How can you make a sponsorship work with regards to integrating it with traditional and non-traditional media, or should it be standalone?
KSR: Buying sponsorship and not integrating it across all, or at least some, of your other marketing activities is like buying a ladder and never using it. Sponsorship is an opportunity. Leverage creates the results, and leverage starts with integration.
The only benefit a sponsor will get if they don’t integrate it across other marketing activities is a big fat ego trip.
MMX: How do you make a sponsorship really work for your brand - are there key elements that must exist for example?
KSR: It’s all about leverage, baby!
When a sponsor invests in a sponsorship, they are investing in opportunity. Leverage is what a sponsor does with the sponsorship, and that is what provides the results. There are no hard-and-fast rules for what a leverage program should look like, but there certainly is a new order of priorities.
First priority: Target market needs
If you ignore, or worse yet, disrespect, a target market’s needs, the sponsorship will not work for your brand. Your first priority is to understand those needs, wants, and challenges and then devise ways that you can help the target market to get what they want. If getting tickets is going to be nearly impossible, can you get early ticketing for your customers? If the ground is hard at the event, can you loan people cushions to sit on? This isn’t rocket science, yet sponsors rarely get it right.
Second priority: Internal buy-in
You can’t integrate sponsorship across other marketing activities unless you get buy-in and active involvement from a range of internal decision-makers. If you don’t have buy-in, your sponsorship will be much less effective and cost a lot more to leverage.
Third priority: Brand needs
Brand needs aren’t third because they’re unimportant. They’re third because you won’t get your target markets to change their perceptions and behaviours (in other words, to do what your marketing is trying to make them do) unless you meet their needs first. And you won’t be effective at leverage unless you get buy in.
Brand needs are important, you just have two critical hurdles to get over before you will be able to address them.
MMX: With respect to the upcoming 2010 FIFA World Cup and the fact that ambush marketing (should be) clamped down on, is there any advice?
KSR: No ‘shoulds’. It is impossible to ‘clamp down’ on ambush marketing. You can clamp down on people using IP illegally and you can inconvenience people who inadvertently wear a t-shirt with a non-sponsor logo on it to a game, but that’s not ambush marketing.
Ambush marketing is legal and there are no laws that can be passed to stop a committed strategic ambusher from gaining a marketing advantage and hurting a sponsor.
Strategic ambush is not about pretending you’re a sponsor. Frankly, consumers don’t really care who is and isn’t the sponsor. What they care about is who is making the event experience better, easier, or more enjoyable for them. Who understands and respects their event experience. If an ambusher does a better job at adding value to the event experience – understanding that the event experience doesn’t just happen when you’re sitting in a stadium – they will be successful.
That said, ambush marketing is easy to control, but the World Cup and laws aren’t going to do it. The only ones who can stop ambushers are the sponsors themselves. If they ensure that their programs are fully leveraged and that those leverage programs have been developed in such a way that real, meaningful benefits flow to the target markets and that their event experience is valued and respected.
Sponsors who expect laws and events to protect them from ambush marketing need education and they need to raise their game. If they aren’t interested in that, they’re lazy and deserve to be ambushed.
Interview contributed by Marketing Mix
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Which 15% of the AdSpend will they cut?
Conventional wisdom suggests to us that when we are hit with a recession marketers cut and slash budgets before any other category.
All those great ideas, campaigns and projects that are nice-to-haves get the old "We'll call you" place in the marketing mix.
The question begging is obviously ...
All those great ideas, campaigns and projects that are nice-to-haves get the old "We'll call you" place in the marketing mix.
The question begging is obviously ...
''By how much will the cut be? and - importantly - in what area are they most likely to cut?"
As a marketing manager of a Brand what would you do?
Having read the results of your Brands latest "Overnight AMPS for TV" any vigilant marketer may well be shocked at the results of his overpriced ATL commercials. What Overnights are saying worldwide is the same!
With the advent of PVR's and a more discerning viewing public, advertising is fast becoming electronic wallpaper - and expensive wallpaper at that.
Outside of winning Advertising Awards, "what exactly is my ATL campaign achieving ?"our Marketer asks.
Traditional wisdom says:
As a marketing manager of a Brand what would you do?
Having read the results of your Brands latest "Overnight AMPS for TV" any vigilant marketer may well be shocked at the results of his overpriced ATL commercials. What Overnights are saying worldwide is the same!
With the advent of PVR's and a more discerning viewing public, advertising is fast becoming electronic wallpaper - and expensive wallpaper at that.
Outside of winning Advertising Awards, "what exactly is my ATL campaign achieving ?"our Marketer asks.
Traditional wisdom says:
"I use your Brand because I see your advertising" but more recent research would suggest rather that.....
"I see your advertising BECAUSE I ALREADY USE YOUR BRAND"
Where then should the hatchet be wielded?
How do I get people to use my Brand in the first place and why am I spending so much of my budget on campaigns that are being switched off at home, avoided in the malls and worst of all FORGOTTEN! - (Ask any ten people who the Rugby World Cup 2007 sponsors were!)
In fact our Marketing director starts to see ye old 360 as a whole new cake to be divvied up quite differently.
The ATL/BTL balance has turned and continues to turn and purging the odd 30 seconder could well liberate some much needed resources for true Brand engagement - the stuff real Brand relationship building is made of - especially during challenging economic times.
Reasearch abounds - People simply don't trust advertising anymore - But most tell us that they buy because of their Experience of Brands or because someone 'like me' told them about it AND 'I TRIED IT'
I never met anyone who ever bought a car from having seen it in an ad and I dont know anyone who didnt DRIVE the Brand first -!
As John Keats said........
NOTHING IS REAL UNTIL ITS EXPERIENCED
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Experiential expert in SA
Founder and director of Columbia Business School’s Center on Global Brand Management, Bernd H. Schmitt brings his wealth of expertise to South Africa at the 2nd African Experiential Marketing Summit in September.
As Robert D.Calkins Professor of International Business at Columbia Business School in New York, Schmitt is also CEO of The EX Group, a consulting firm focusing on innovation and customer experience. He has co-authored seven books, which have been translated into 16 languages, including Experiential Marketing, Customer Experience Management and Big Think Strategy.
At the African Experiential Marketing Summit, which will take place on 3 September at Monte Casino in Johannesburg, Schmitt will present his theories on why an attractive customer experience is critical for differentiating one’s brand, and illustrate how leading brands such as iPod, Mini and Singapore Airlines utilise experiential marketing.
Marketers will learn the power of engaging consumers on a sensory level and why experiential marketing is vital in creating brand equity. Other topics that will be presented include creating brand connections, African communications and sponsorships, among others.
Other keynote speakers at the event include Liz Bigham, Director of Brand Marketing at Jack Morton (US); Kim Skildum-Reid (Australian), leading authority on sponsorship marketing; and local expert, Dr Jan Hofmeyr, Global Head of Insights at Synovate and brand commitment specialist.
As Robert D.Calkins Professor of International Business at Columbia Business School in New York, Schmitt is also CEO of The EX Group, a consulting firm focusing on innovation and customer experience. He has co-authored seven books, which have been translated into 16 languages, including Experiential Marketing, Customer Experience Management and Big Think Strategy.
At the African Experiential Marketing Summit, which will take place on 3 September at Monte Casino in Johannesburg, Schmitt will present his theories on why an attractive customer experience is critical for differentiating one’s brand, and illustrate how leading brands such as iPod, Mini and Singapore Airlines utilise experiential marketing.
Marketers will learn the power of engaging consumers on a sensory level and why experiential marketing is vital in creating brand equity. Other topics that will be presented include creating brand connections, African communications and sponsorships, among others.
Other keynote speakers at the event include Liz Bigham, Director of Brand Marketing at Jack Morton (US); Kim Skildum-Reid (Australian), leading authority on sponsorship marketing; and local expert, Dr Jan Hofmeyr, Global Head of Insights at Synovate and brand commitment specialist.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Event excitement
This is an article published by Marketing Mix in January 2007.
With below-the-line communications becoming more popular as the focus shifts to the consumer’s experience of a brand, marketers could look to events and experiential marketing for help. “This is especially true for the brands that have limited ATL budgets; they just don’t have enough scale to break through the clutter,” says Abey Mokgwatsane, group marketing director, VWV. Clients are demanding more innovative means through which to engage with the consumer. “Events are the ultimate choice in any communications process as all five senses are applied to communicate the message,” says Nicole de Klerk, general manager, Thebe Events and Productions. While exhibitions are defined as ‘hard sell’ events, experiential events offer a more subtle approach. “If we appeal to a consumer and subtly drive a brand experience into the event, the consumer will understand and see the benefits that the brand has to offer their lifestyle,” says David Boon, CEO South Africa, EXP Agency.
While exhibitions and conferences allow for some form of measurability, experiential events are something of a wildcard. “It is virtually impossible to put a value to an event… If a synergy exists between the event organiser, the client and all of the suppliers, the event will always deliver a return on investment. If the client walks away having pleased the audience, the investment is justified,” says Claudia Eicker, creative director, Creative Directions. Client satisfaction and positive consumer responses are the obvious indications that an event has done well although these are not easily measured in terms of tangible ROI. “It’s an industry worth millions of Rands. However, I hasten to add that it is not a get-rich-quick scheme. Customers are increasingly becoming more value-for-money orientated and they want their Rands’ worth,” says de Klerk. Clients compare both price and value before making an informed decision to ensure that what they see is what they get.
The trend towards experiential campaigns shows no indication of slowing. Analysts are confident that we will see more innovative and interesting event ideas, as well as a focus on interactivity. “Experiential events will demonstrate richer strategic thinking and they will become more measurable. Both of these factors will be driven by the additional resources that will be allocated to experiential. As budgets increase, so too will the need to produce more informed and accountable work,” says Mokgwatsane. He believes that it will become increasingly important for agencies to create experiential divisions if they don’t already have them.
The future looks bright for experiential marketing and it is expected that the event side will become an important part of brand activation. “As marketers we are going to get better at activating brand experiences through a deeper understanding of how consumer brain behaviour works,” says Boon. “The only constraints will be budget and the degree of creativity,” adds Ian Watts, AV development manager, Gearhouse.
With this industry booming, it is comforting to know that legislation, industry standards and ethical practices are healthy. Rowena Hudgson, marketing and PR assistant, EXSA, says that EXSA is currently working with the dti to raise the credibility of exhibitions and to improve industry standards. Guaranteeing the safety of guests is a major local challenge “We have a high level of expertise in our industry… legislation ensures that our safety standards are of the highest quality and that copyrights are adhered to,” says Eicker. The Safety at Sports and Recreational Events Bill, which is soon to be passed, will also have an impact on the industry. While there are many risks that the industry must deal with (including crowd management, new sites and suppliers, high-risk activities and new communication mediums), experienced agencies have policies and procedures in place that effectively manage these. Craig Shapiro, director, Liquid Chefs, says that while alcohol makes it difficult to contro peoples’ actions, you can control how much they drink, for example, or who drives them home. Liquid Chefs barmen are trained to identify guests who have over-indulged and to stop serving them. They also make sure that they have a safe ride home. “Clients should request a list of previous events that have been successfully organised, as well as reference letters from other clients,” says Eicker.
Deadlines and time management loom large amongst the day-to-day challenges that face this industry. “The show must go on, so you have to stick to your deadlines and manage your clients,” says Eicker. Logistical challenges for specialist agencies include factors such as the time lapse between the concept, design acceptance and delivery. “What doesn’t work is when a marketer insists on the WOW factor for the sake of the spectacle. Fit the staging of the event to the rationale – sometimes the simplest idea works best and then the WOW factor happens naturally,” says Robyn D’Alessandro, marketing manager, Gearhouse.
South Africa is well-equipped in terms of events and industry players insist that we are on a par globally. “In terms of design South Africa certainly surpasses many countries,” says Hudgson. Both the venues and target markets are varied. “South Africa’s event industry has the capacity, the know-how and the resilience to stage world-class events,” says de Klerk. Value for money is a major draw card for the international market.
Looking ahead, it seems that there are no limits to what experiential events can deliver. As Mokgwatsane puts it, “The injustice occurs when you limit the scope of experiential marketing to the actual physical experience and when you assume that Experiential Agencies aren’t able to leverage other mediums such as TV, Internet, SMS, direct mail etc, for the purpose of embellishing consumer experiences.”
With below-the-line communications becoming more popular as the focus shifts to the consumer’s experience of a brand, marketers could look to events and experiential marketing for help. “This is especially true for the brands that have limited ATL budgets; they just don’t have enough scale to break through the clutter,” says Abey Mokgwatsane, group marketing director, VWV. Clients are demanding more innovative means through which to engage with the consumer. “Events are the ultimate choice in any communications process as all five senses are applied to communicate the message,” says Nicole de Klerk, general manager, Thebe Events and Productions. While exhibitions are defined as ‘hard sell’ events, experiential events offer a more subtle approach. “If we appeal to a consumer and subtly drive a brand experience into the event, the consumer will understand and see the benefits that the brand has to offer their lifestyle,” says David Boon, CEO South Africa, EXP Agency.
While exhibitions and conferences allow for some form of measurability, experiential events are something of a wildcard. “It is virtually impossible to put a value to an event… If a synergy exists between the event organiser, the client and all of the suppliers, the event will always deliver a return on investment. If the client walks away having pleased the audience, the investment is justified,” says Claudia Eicker, creative director, Creative Directions. Client satisfaction and positive consumer responses are the obvious indications that an event has done well although these are not easily measured in terms of tangible ROI. “It’s an industry worth millions of Rands. However, I hasten to add that it is not a get-rich-quick scheme. Customers are increasingly becoming more value-for-money orientated and they want their Rands’ worth,” says de Klerk. Clients compare both price and value before making an informed decision to ensure that what they see is what they get.
The trend towards experiential campaigns shows no indication of slowing. Analysts are confident that we will see more innovative and interesting event ideas, as well as a focus on interactivity. “Experiential events will demonstrate richer strategic thinking and they will become more measurable. Both of these factors will be driven by the additional resources that will be allocated to experiential. As budgets increase, so too will the need to produce more informed and accountable work,” says Mokgwatsane. He believes that it will become increasingly important for agencies to create experiential divisions if they don’t already have them.
The future looks bright for experiential marketing and it is expected that the event side will become an important part of brand activation. “As marketers we are going to get better at activating brand experiences through a deeper understanding of how consumer brain behaviour works,” says Boon. “The only constraints will be budget and the degree of creativity,” adds Ian Watts, AV development manager, Gearhouse.
With this industry booming, it is comforting to know that legislation, industry standards and ethical practices are healthy. Rowena Hudgson, marketing and PR assistant, EXSA, says that EXSA is currently working with the dti to raise the credibility of exhibitions and to improve industry standards. Guaranteeing the safety of guests is a major local challenge “We have a high level of expertise in our industry… legislation ensures that our safety standards are of the highest quality and that copyrights are adhered to,” says Eicker. The Safety at Sports and Recreational Events Bill, which is soon to be passed, will also have an impact on the industry. While there are many risks that the industry must deal with (including crowd management, new sites and suppliers, high-risk activities and new communication mediums), experienced agencies have policies and procedures in place that effectively manage these. Craig Shapiro, director, Liquid Chefs, says that while alcohol makes it difficult to contro peoples’ actions, you can control how much they drink, for example, or who drives them home. Liquid Chefs barmen are trained to identify guests who have over-indulged and to stop serving them. They also make sure that they have a safe ride home. “Clients should request a list of previous events that have been successfully organised, as well as reference letters from other clients,” says Eicker.
Deadlines and time management loom large amongst the day-to-day challenges that face this industry. “The show must go on, so you have to stick to your deadlines and manage your clients,” says Eicker. Logistical challenges for specialist agencies include factors such as the time lapse between the concept, design acceptance and delivery. “What doesn’t work is when a marketer insists on the WOW factor for the sake of the spectacle. Fit the staging of the event to the rationale – sometimes the simplest idea works best and then the WOW factor happens naturally,” says Robyn D’Alessandro, marketing manager, Gearhouse.
South Africa is well-equipped in terms of events and industry players insist that we are on a par globally. “In terms of design South Africa certainly surpasses many countries,” says Hudgson. Both the venues and target markets are varied. “South Africa’s event industry has the capacity, the know-how and the resilience to stage world-class events,” says de Klerk. Value for money is a major draw card for the international market.
Looking ahead, it seems that there are no limits to what experiential events can deliver. As Mokgwatsane puts it, “The injustice occurs when you limit the scope of experiential marketing to the actual physical experience and when you assume that Experiential Agencies aren’t able to leverage other mediums such as TV, Internet, SMS, direct mail etc, for the purpose of embellishing consumer experiences.”
Sponsorship as an experience
This is an article written by Justin Sampson of Exp South Africa, which was published in the March 2007 edition of Marketing Mix:
In today’s cluttered media environment – with the slow death of the 30-second advert as we know it – sponsorship as a marketing discipline is gaining increasing popularity with brand marketers in engaging consumers and breaking though the clutter. Sponsorship has become much more disciplined and strategic in its approach and as a result it is connecting brands to their markets through sports and entertainment. In the past sponsorship was an after thought but it is now at the forefront of developing any marketing strategy.
Whilst it might be an exaggeration to say that the 30-second advert is dead, there is no denying that brands need to go well beyond traditional advertising to reach and truly engage with their target markets (as opposed to interrupting them). While South Africans appear not to have heard this message and are still using sponsorship for hospitality and brand exposure (signage), the rest of the world has already moved on and the sponsorship market is maturing. Sponsorship today is about enhancing the property you are sponsoring and creating a unique experience that only your brand can deliver. The era of experiential marketing is upon us – it is the next phase of leveraging a sponsorship in order to optimise its potential.
Using sponsorship as an integrated marketing platform is something that has been around for years. A few select brands like Absa, MTN, Coca- Cola and Vodacom have always ‘gotten it,’ while others still see it as a branding opportunity only. However there is another vastly underutilised role that sponsorship can play in the marketing mix – it can be used as a medium for integrating the brand into the overall brand experience. This can be an extremely relevant contact point for a target market that isn’t reached or engaged by traditional advertising.
For example, during the Absa Cup 2006 – also known as the Absa Cup of Dreams – Absa was able to tap into the emotions of millions of fans and to create a unique experience. Not only did they sponsor and enhance the tournament, they also facilitated the realisation of the dreams of a number of entities. This experience included the top teams (who could win the tournament) as well as the bottom teams (an amateur team could end up playing against one of the big teams like Kaizer Chiefs in the final or the knock-out stages).
Through the various promotions that were held during the tournament, consumers could also realise their dreams. Prizes which ranged from cash, to winning a car, to winning a trip to the 2006 FIFA World Cup, were given away through print, radio, TV and at the actual stadium venues. The ‘never in your wildest dreams competition’ allowed one lucky consumer an experience of a lifetime by providing a grand prize that consisted of a Ford Focus, R50 000 and two tickets to the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.
As result, the sponsorship was able to communicate much more than would have been achieved in a 30 second ad. Significantly, this was done in an environment free of clutter. Absa owned the market on their own terms for the duration of this tournament because they chose to be part of the Absa Cup experience.
What is the moral of the story? Whenever possible, integrate, activate and create a unique experience in order to get the maximum ROI (or Return on Objectives) out of your sponsorship Rands. Using sponsorship as a platform can deliver a lot more than the traditional 30-second ad and by creating a unique experience it can ‘burn a memory path’ that will never be forgotten. Previously sponsorship agencies were left on the outside of the boardrooms but now we are right in there, shoulder to shoulder with the marketing director and the senior management, developing strategy and creating a unique experience.
Article contributed by Marketing Mix.
In today’s cluttered media environment – with the slow death of the 30-second advert as we know it – sponsorship as a marketing discipline is gaining increasing popularity with brand marketers in engaging consumers and breaking though the clutter. Sponsorship has become much more disciplined and strategic in its approach and as a result it is connecting brands to their markets through sports and entertainment. In the past sponsorship was an after thought but it is now at the forefront of developing any marketing strategy.
Whilst it might be an exaggeration to say that the 30-second advert is dead, there is no denying that brands need to go well beyond traditional advertising to reach and truly engage with their target markets (as opposed to interrupting them). While South Africans appear not to have heard this message and are still using sponsorship for hospitality and brand exposure (signage), the rest of the world has already moved on and the sponsorship market is maturing. Sponsorship today is about enhancing the property you are sponsoring and creating a unique experience that only your brand can deliver. The era of experiential marketing is upon us – it is the next phase of leveraging a sponsorship in order to optimise its potential.
Using sponsorship as an integrated marketing platform is something that has been around for years. A few select brands like Absa, MTN, Coca- Cola and Vodacom have always ‘gotten it,’ while others still see it as a branding opportunity only. However there is another vastly underutilised role that sponsorship can play in the marketing mix – it can be used as a medium for integrating the brand into the overall brand experience. This can be an extremely relevant contact point for a target market that isn’t reached or engaged by traditional advertising.
For example, during the Absa Cup 2006 – also known as the Absa Cup of Dreams – Absa was able to tap into the emotions of millions of fans and to create a unique experience. Not only did they sponsor and enhance the tournament, they also facilitated the realisation of the dreams of a number of entities. This experience included the top teams (who could win the tournament) as well as the bottom teams (an amateur team could end up playing against one of the big teams like Kaizer Chiefs in the final or the knock-out stages).
Through the various promotions that were held during the tournament, consumers could also realise their dreams. Prizes which ranged from cash, to winning a car, to winning a trip to the 2006 FIFA World Cup, were given away through print, radio, TV and at the actual stadium venues. The ‘never in your wildest dreams competition’ allowed one lucky consumer an experience of a lifetime by providing a grand prize that consisted of a Ford Focus, R50 000 and two tickets to the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.
As result, the sponsorship was able to communicate much more than would have been achieved in a 30 second ad. Significantly, this was done in an environment free of clutter. Absa owned the market on their own terms for the duration of this tournament because they chose to be part of the Absa Cup experience.
What is the moral of the story? Whenever possible, integrate, activate and create a unique experience in order to get the maximum ROI (or Return on Objectives) out of your sponsorship Rands. Using sponsorship as a platform can deliver a lot more than the traditional 30-second ad and by creating a unique experience it can ‘burn a memory path’ that will never be forgotten. Previously sponsorship agencies were left on the outside of the boardrooms but now we are right in there, shoulder to shoulder with the marketing director and the senior management, developing strategy and creating a unique experience.
Article contributed by Marketing Mix.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
.jpg)
.JPG)
.jpg)
