2009 Promo Event Marketing Survey: Marketers are Still Staging Events—Budget Cuts be Damned

Digital extensions of live sponsored events are particularly effective, according to Reisman. He cites local concert sponsorships Velocity has executed for AT&T Wireless with performers such Rhianna and Jay-Z. Beyond the local promotions that bring audiences into arenas, AT&T Wireless customers can later gain access to live concert footage online, including backstage interviews.

“The trend we see with clients today focuses around deeply engaged brand experiences,” says Bill Glenn, senior vice president of The Marketing Arm. “We find clients looking for opportunities where they can have time with the consumer and measure that performance.”

One program that The Marketing Arm implemented in San Antonio's AT&T Center enables people attending the arena to use their mobile handsets to respond to messages posted on the arena scoreboard during basketball games by the Spurs and the WNBA Silver Spurs, during the San Antonio Livestock Exposition rodeo, and at other events. During the Spurs' games, fans can get information about the team, participate in interactive activities in the arena, and take advantage of special offers from AT&T.

Glenn calls it a “highly successful, highly measurable” mobile marketing ploy that gives clients the kind of concrete results they want these days.

“I think client expectations have increased across the board,” he says, both in terms of creating distinctive event promotions and producing tangible returns. “If you're not measuring, you're going to walk away from programs and have a hard time proving them the second time around.”

As for what they're measuring to determine success, Promo's survey found that 72% of respondents measure results by sales volume, while 44.7% cited intent to purchase as a prime metric. About 32% of the sample said they look at the amount of engagement time and alteration of brand preference.

Whatever the metric that's applied, it is clear that event marketing has become a mainstay in most marketing plans, and is likely to maintain that position as companies rely more heavily on direct interaction with consumers to deliver their messages.

As CEG's Ruderfer puts it: “Over the last several years, event/experiential is a more important, more reliable part of the mix, and people will be more reluctant to cut there than they would have been in the past.”

For more information on events, go to www.promomagazine.com.

Methodology

This survey was conducted for Promo by Penton Research, an in-house firm. It was e-mailed to 9,007 Promo subscribers. Participants were chosen on an nth name basis (a representative sample of all subscribers).

An initial copy of the survey offering a chance to win one of four $50 Amazon.com gift certificates was sent on Oct. 23. A follow-up e-mail was sent to non-respondents.

The base list included readers from corporate brand, agency and retail companies. Results are based on surveys returned by 180 qualified participants.