DUAL-PURPOSE EVENTS A popular trend among several segments, dual- or even multipurpose events allow clients to stage events that yield more bang for the buck by achieving several goals at once. Such events provide clients with the key to engage actual event attendees and the community at large with “both social and business value,” explains Cathi Culbertson, executive director of event marketing and protocol for New York-based Forbes Media.
As an example, the Forbes’ Women’s Summit, which will take place in May this year, addresses how a new generation of women can redefine power and “join forces with more traditional leaders to help solve society’s most difficult problems,” Culbertson says. Although the actual event is invitation-only, it will be featured across Forbes' desktop, tablet and print platforms, thus multiplying its effect.
On the flip side, other corporate clients are moving away from standalone events, such as the annual holiday party, by piggybacking it onto a day of business meetings.
Deborah Elias, CSEP, CMP, president of Houston-based Elias Events, notes that two big oil company clients both held their business conferences during the day and then hosted key celebrations at night. One staged a 15th anniversary gala after a day of business, while the other lets its holiday party end a day of work. “To get away with their big celebration, they are disguising it and holding business meetings during the day,” she explains, an approach that makes the spend more palatable.
'DEEP REACH' EVENTS Brands such as Target, Condé Nast Publications and Samsung look for “creative ways to tap right into the people that buy their products,” says Cara Kleinhaut, owner/CEO of Caravents of Beverly Hills, Calif.
And Kleinhaut know where to find these buyers. "For these types of events, we select a location with high foot traffic, high visibility, parking close by, and other retail in the area,” those places where consumers will already be out strolling and shopping, she says. The point is to reach as many consumers as possible so that if “one person has their photo taken, posts a status saying they visited the XYZ lounge or pop-up experience, then we have reached out not just to that one consumer, but all of his or her friends/fans/followers," she explains.
EXPERIENTIAL BRANDING High-end, premium events that offer irresistible engagement top the list forPatron Spirits Co. Director of events Pam Dzierzanowski chooses only those events that can be “100 percent experiential,” she says, so the consumer is “immersed in the brand."
See the full story in the March-April issue of Special Events, which is available to ISES members for free and to subscribers. Not a subscriber? We can fix that; just click here.
