Quite possibly the world's largest spender on event marketing, Microsoft is becoming a marketing juggernaut by transforming its event and trade show portfolio into a turbocharged, experiential machine.
Local, regional, national and global events are being mixed and matched into super-relevant engagement platforms. The fusion of event delivery and digital technology has never been more urgent. And live marketing is being measured more than ever before, showing Microsoft what's working and why.
Jeff Singsaas is general manager of event marketing at Microsoft. We from Stinson Brand Innovation recently attended a meeting with Jeff, and he offered a taste of where the event industry is headed, from the redeployment of dollars to portfolio analysis to measurement and professional development.
Jeff imparted this 5-part formula for winning events:
1. A stable team of really good business people
□ To increase consistency of execution
2. Making sure everyone is clear and accountable
□ To navigate account and budget
3. Process focus
□ To remove variation and duplication
4. Clear roles & responsibilities
□ To improve communication and accountability
5. Great business acumen
o To track budgets & metrics
From his vantage point at Microsoft, Jeff sees a trend toward digital events being added to the marcom mix. This means pairing tactics from the e-world to leverage traditional media – all in the context of successful meeting promotions and management.
Some examples include:
Traditional Media
Radio
Referall cards
Television
Print ads
Events and trade shows
Press releases
Direct mail
Newspapers
Digital Media
Podcasts
Social Networking
Streaming Videos
Banner ads
Virtual events
Blogs
RSS
Given this trend, he presented four cornerstones of great marketing in this digital space:
□ a clear value proposition of what the customer wants and needs.
□ a more connected sales and marketing effort.
□ a definable business strategy with goals and objectives for the events.
□ storytelling that can make the message more compelling for customers.
Creating “the show that never ends” also means designing digital event tactics that can build anticipation, deepen the interaction, extend the experience, and magnify the impact beyond the venue.
Building anticipation means appealing to participants’ excitement and curiosity. Pre-meeting communication can provide practical information that address concerns. In this phase, one must avoid over-promising and under-delivering.
Deepening the impact means creating more relevant and meaningful interactions with customers. Planners should use technology as a means to this exchange, not simply having some gadgets in the meeting.
Extending the experience after the meeting can be accomplished in many ways using CDs, custom websites, and downloadable photos.
Magnifying the impact of an event helps leverage the investment in any convention, sales meeting, or customer event. Examples are posting meeting content online, hosting a keynote presentation in a virtual space, or even broadcasting live from an exhibit booth with updates from the show. Blogging from breakout groups is another common technique.
We’ve just published a new white paper entitled "Creating a Quality Brand Experience Through Event Marketing: Case studies from the 2008 Experiential Marketing Summit and applications of key learnings for health, science, and technology brands." You can download it free at http://stinsonbrandinnovation.com/news/WP41BrandExp2_1008.pdf
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