LinkedIn Lays Off Entire Global Events Marketing Team Adweek
Tag: marketing
City holds first Beer, Brands, and BBQ event with guest marketing consultant
Gair Maxwell, author of Big Little Legends, joined Moose Jaw Mayor Clive Tolley at the building formerly known as Mosaic Place, where guests heard from local business leaders and enjoyed pulled pork sandwiches and a Moose Jaw-brewed IPA.
Gair Maxwell, author of Big Little Legends, joined Moose Jaw Mayor Clive Tolley at the building formerly known as Mosaic Place, where guests listened to local business leaders and enjoyed pulled pork sandwiches and a Moose Jaw-brewed IPA.
The event took place August 4 in the Founder’s Lounge. Craig Hemingway, the City’s communications manager, thanked sponsors including Burns & McDonnell, Thunder Creek Pork, which supplied the meal, and the staff at the Events Centre.
The night’s featured businesses were the Moose Jaw Brewing Company (MJBC), Lion’s Creek Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar, and the Moose Jaw Co-op.
Tolley noted as the event got underway that he had only met Maxwell that evening, but discovered they shared a past in hockey colour commentary. The pair spent some time bantering in character before Maxwell talked about how the city’s prohibition-era reputation lent itself well to the brand of Most Notorious City in Canada.
Maxwell’s style during the evening was to interrogate guests on their branding strategies and try to come up with suggestions for their next reputation-building move. He engaged the audience with rhetorical questions such as:
“I just want to know if fundamentally you’re ok with greatly expanding your customer base and driving revenue, is that ok, are we ok with that?”
Terry Zwarich and Cody Schulze are the passionate brewers and co-owners behind the Moose Jaw Brewing Company (MJBC), which began producing beverage in January 2022. They brought a sample of their MJBC IPA, which was the evening’s hot topic.
The MJBC’s “silly sauce” — Zwarich’s description — is currently available from Cask 82, Bugsy’s Irish Pub, The Crushed Can Rec Room & Bar, and the Sobey’s Liquor Store. The company’s passion for their process was apparent as Zwarich and Schulze described the various influences of time, temperature, humidity, herbs, and spices on their flavours and how they have refined a consistent taste in their core lineup.
Charmaine Franken of Lion’s Creek was up after the MJBC.
Lion’s Creek’s flagship store in Moose Jaw, but the company imports its olives from South Africa and its balsamic vinegar from Modena, Italy. Franken told the story of their successful rebranding.
The name Lion’s Creek comes from the source of their olives in South Africa — where two rivers converge. Both rivers are named after the legendary predator: Leeu in Afrikaans and Gamka in Khoisan.
Free tasting sessions, staff expertise, a wide variety of pairing options, and scores of flavours have made Lion’s Creek justifiably famous and a regular stop for downtown shoppers.
Geoff Anderson was the final guest. Anderson has been the general manager of the Moose Jaw Co-op Association since 2019 and has built a reputation for his community participation. He is the current chair of the Downtown Moose Jaw Association (DMJA), which recently announced a goal of creating Canada’s Most Notoriously Charming downtown.
Anderson and his wife Juanita mentioned that their careers with the Co-op have resulted in more than 45 moves between the two of them. During his conversation with Tolley and Maxwell, Anderson expressed his passion for the culture of customer-owned co-operatives, which translates into a brand centered around experience rather than product.
Experiential events are the future of modern marketing – by Be Experiential’s Mo Hussein – Campaign Middle East
Experiential events are taking over the marketing landscape. Brands are looking for new ways to stand out from the crowd in this continuously expanding and overcrowded environment. Brands are achieving this originality by out-of-the-box thinking, and experiential events are one way to accomplish this. By stepping away from the mainstream, they aim to create an intimate relationship between the brand and the consumer to prompt an emotional connection. Experiential marketing campaigns often involve events like pop-up stores or restaurants where groups of people come together, which elicits a sentimental response.
These events take consumers on a journey from what they experience when arriving, what they see during the registration, how they feel when they walk in, and what message they take away from the event. These journeys are designed to leave a lasting memory. Something you’ve seen or heard during the event might resonate with you much further down the line. The events are designed in such a way that they build a true relationship between the brand and the consumer, so they feel a certain affinity towards the brand, which in turn leads to boosted long-term sales.
People understand experiences by nature. What you feel, see, touch, smell and hear. Experiential events provide brands with the opportunity to be seen and heard. Whether it’s a launch event or a networking event, an experiential event will have different touch points throughout the space that almost subliminally deliver the brand’s message. Standard meets and greet or networking events are something of the past. Faces or conversations can be very forgettable if you haven’t built a true connection, but you are guaranteed to remember an interactive activation you have experienced. Brands naturally want to be seen and heard, so experiential events are the way to achieve this.
Everyone is now trying to stay away from being corporate as it is no longer what gets attention. Even the likes of Fortune 500 companies are adding experiential events to their calendar as a way of reaching their target audience. Traditional marketing may be effective to attract some people, but a physical connection will remain unbeaten. Recently, we have seen an increase in brands using custom applications, interactive games, and connected experiences to help sell their brand to the public.
People want experiences, to see other people, and make real connections. These events feed off other people’s energies. For brands to reach their target audience, it’s simply not enough to do it through screens. Showcasing is done in different ways and many experiential events have proven to be extremely successful ways to do that. What is a better way to tell people that you have launched something new than telling them in person and getting them to experience what the product actually is? It is all about gaining that instant connection that will create a lasting memory.
Experiential events are unique in their ability to provide personal interactions with existing and potential new customers. New customers get the chance to experience the brand, and brands get the opportunity to form an emotional connection, which may progress to a longer-term customer relationship. Brands like Red Bull with their “Stratos” jump, M&M’s “Flavour Rooms” and Coca-Cola’s “FIFA World Cup VR Experience” are just some of the many big brands utilising experiential events to further their brand image.
The landscape of the consumer-brand relationship is ever-changing, but one thing is for certain: experiential events are currently at the forefront of modern marketing and look like they will be for the foreseeable future.
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Events Marketing Manager – AnjunaBeats – IQ Magazine
Events Marketing Manager – AnjunaBeats IQ Magazine
Part 2: Six Digital Marketing Strategies to Promote Your Next Event
Whether your event management is focused on conferences and trade shows, music and sporting events, or anything else, all events have something in common; a drive to engage and entertain their attendees. In the first part of this discussion, we talked about three ways to drive attendee engagement: defining/redefining KPIs, mapping out an effective social media calendar, and revisiting your event website’s SEO. Here are three more of the best digital marketing strategies you should be using to help promote your next event.
Run a Compelling Email Campaign
Going back to the segments of your audience that are already in your brand’s orbit, well-strategized email campaigns are another hugely effective way to promote your events.
With features that will allow you to personalize your content, collect feedback, and gain regular insights that will make your campaigns far more cost effective, modern email marketing is brimming with huge benefits that you can’t afford to ignore.
Inviting people to ask questions about the event by highlighting a contact form, making it easy to share vibrant content across social media, and tailoring exclusive offers to active members of your mailing list can all be a major boon to your overall event promotion.
When it comes to events specifically, one of the biggest things to pay attention to is your subject lines, and how you can use them to create a sense of urgency in the run-up to your event. Here are a few examples of subjects that will do just that:
- [Offer] ends tomorrow!
- Just three days left to register for [event]!
- Only [X] spots left – get your ticket today!
- Act now and save [X] % on early bird tickets!
Any good email marketer will tell you that a successful campaign requires plenty of A/B testing, so start your campaign early and give yourself enough of a timeframe to gauge how your audience is receiving content relating to your event.
Just remember to keep your messaging brief, and avoid bombarding your mailing list with too much too often.
Don’t Let Up During the Event!
Though the bulk of your promotion is going to take place before the event, it certainly shouldn’t end as soon as the event officially starts. Active promotion while your event is in progress will not only have the potential to draw in a few more latecomers, but will also help to fortify your brand equity in the eyes of your audience, and support your event promotion in the future.
One good digital marketing strategy to employ when the event is occurring is to publish content that’s geared towards generating FOMO (fear of missing out). The Covid-19 pandemic created a spike in live streaming events, and many brands who used them saw an engagement spike around their future events as a result.
Live blogging through Twitter is another great way to drive engagement during the event, especially for festivals and large conferences. With any event, there are going to be people who saw all the right content and received all the right emails, but didn’t look into the event in enough detail to fully convert. By maintaining live updates of your event over Twitter, you’ll be able to show people a much more granular view of what they’re missing out on, and motivate them to keep an eye out for future events.
Encouraging real-time interaction through digital channels is another effective way to promote your event while it’s in progress. Live-streaming segments of your event through Twitch, YouTube, or another platform, and inviting those that couldn’t make it in person to field questions, will solidify the event in people’s memories whether they’re there or not. Furthermore, it’s an effective and easy way to remind your audience how much you value their input.
Finally, Learn from your Experience
Even after the event’s been shuttered and is on its way to becoming a distant memory, make sure you’re maintaining a hands-on approach to your marketing, analyzing the data gleaned from it, and ensuring that you’re applying the lessons learned.
Far too many professionals collect reams of data on the events they manage and then fail to act on the patterns they show. Don’t leave this to the competition, and make sure you’re leveraging attendee data to your benefit.
If you find that you had much more conversions from ads on a certain social media platform than others, then allocate more budget for this platform. If a survey taken at an event showed common themes in attendees’ comments, then take their advice. If the contact and demographic info that you gathered showed new and unexpected clusters, then let this inform your future ad targeting and content creation.
By taking steps to ensure your event marketing is constantly improving, especially in the time immediately after an event, you’ll make upcoming promotions significantly easier for you and your team.
Read Now: Part 1 in Digital Marketing Strategies to Help Promote Your Next Event.
Daniel Groves is a business growth strategist and author, constantly developing his knowledge and sharing his experience with like-minded entrepreneurs, business owners, and event growth strategists. Connect with Daniel on LinkedIn: danielgroves90
Hyve Sees Full Revenue Recovery as Demand for In-Person Events Returns
By Jaime Llinares Taboada
Hyve Group PLC said Monday that its third-quarter revenue for fiscal year 2022 demonstrated a full recovery on a pro forma basis, reflecting strong customer demand for in-person events.
The U.K. events company said that it ran all nine scheduled events in the quarter ending June 30, with the exception of three in Ukraine.
In addition, Hyve reported contracted revenue of 122.3 million pounds ($150.1 million) for the full year ending Sept. 30.
“The trends we saw emerge post-pandemic continue to hold true–in particular, our customers continue to spend more with us than before, demonstrating the huge value which in-person events offer and proving that our strategy of focusing on only market-leading events is paying off,” Chief Executive Mark Shashoua said.
Write to Jaime Llinares Taboada at jaime.llinares@wsj.com; @JaimeLlinaresT
Cannes Lions Has Company: Concurrent VidCon, NFT.NYC Events Compete for Marketers’ Attention
Marketers on Monday returned in person to the French Riviera for the weeklong Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity after a two-year break forced by the Covid-19 pandemic. But two other meetings of rising importance that coincide on the calendar this year with the advertising industry’s highest-profile annual conference have divided the attention of some.
NFT.NYC opened Monday, the same day that Cannes Lions kicked off, for its fourth year of talk about nonfungible tokens. Alongside attendees, whom organizers refer to as the NFT community, the agenda for the four days lists speakers with roles at marketers including fashion brand Coach, jeans maker Wrangler and sports-betting company
DraftKings Inc.
And VidCon, an annual convention in Anaheim, Calif., centered around digital creators, is meeting in person Wednesday through Saturday, with executives from brands including food and beverage company
Nestlé SA,
dating app Tinder, fast-food chain
Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc.,
crypto exchange Crypto.com and media company Hello Sunshine scheduled to take the stage there.
The confluence showcases the shifting trends in marketing, including a rising focus on video creators, social-media influencers, and NFTs and other elements of Web3 technology, a budding iteration of the internet that is built using decentralized blockchains.
Some marketers—and the advertising platforms that court them—will be at all three events, while others are picking their priorities.
Social-media company
parent Meta Platforms Inc. is attending Cannes Lions, VidCon and NFT.NYC to promote its products to the marketers at each event, said
Nicola Mendelsohn,
vice president of Meta’s global business group.
“People are wanting to understand where consumers are going, where the technology is going, where the best places to be able to reach them, and, accordingly, how they will be able to grow,” Ms. Mendelsohon said of the three events.
Whalar Ltd., a marketing agency that specializes in working with creators, decided to send 15 executives to Cannes, 13 to VidCon and three to NFT.NYC.
VidCon and NFT.NYC represent where the marketing industry is headed, said
Jamie Gutfreund,
global chief marketing officer for Whalar.
“It is a bit of an interesting moment in time, where the traditional creative approach has not really welcomed the creator economy, whereas the other two events are obviously all about the creator economy,” Ms. Gutfreund said.
The NFT.NYC conference kicked off in New York on Monday.
Photo:
John Marshall Mantel/Zuma Press
Malik Ducard, chief content officer at social-media platform
Pinterest Inc.,
this week is making his way to both Cannes and VidCon.
“Many of us, like myself, are happy to have the opportunity to join both as we focus on key constituents, brands and creators,” Mr. Ducard said.
Media.Monks, a marketing-services agency owned by S4Capital, is sending employees and executives to Cannes as it has in the past, but the company has also deployed more team members to NFT.NYC than it has before.
Employees are asking to go to NFT.NYC because they are interested in the evolution of NFTs and the community around them, said Henry Cowling, chief innovation officer at Media.Monks.
Meanwhile,
Tripadvisor Inc.
is coming back to Cannes this year, the travel company said, but isn’t planning to be at VidCon or NFT.NYC.
“Cannes is important and unique in that it brings together global perspectives from all different industries and experiences—something that is core to Tripadvisor, as a brand, as well,” said Christina Maguire, the company’s general manager and vice president for global media business.
Cannes Lions remains the pre-eminent ad-industry event, gathering attendees from all over the world for talks, networking, meetings, highly coveted awards, celebrity appearances and concerts over the course of five days.
It is tracking to reach about 12,000 attendees this year, in line with 2019’s numbers, an event spokeswoman said earlier this month.
NFT.NYC has grown to an expected 12,000 attendees this year, from 262 for its inaugural event in 2019, said co-founder Jodee Rich. This year’s event is spread across 10 stages, up from four last year.
VidCon declined to disclose how many attendees have registered this year, but said more than 150 speakers are scheduled, with about 100 sponsors and exhibitors set to be on hand as well.
Ally Financial Inc.
is sending employees to VidCon because the conference brings fans together with creators and platforms, making it easier to understand the consumer reaction, said
Andrea Brimmer,
chief marketing and public relations officer of the digital financial-services company. Ally Financial isn’t going to Cannes Lions or NFT.NYC.
Many of the conferences have grown so big that it becomes difficult to understand broader trends and what’s important to customers, Ms. Brimmer said.
Ms. Brimmer herself isn’t attending VidCon, preferring to study executive summaries from her team, she said. “I’ve personally found it more productive to just kind of stay back and do the work,” she said.
—Nat Ives contributed to this article.
Write to Ann-Marie Alcántara at ann-marie.alcantara@wsj.com
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Overcoming uncertainty in your event marketing channel
The dramatic shift in the meetings and events industry put even the most seasoned marketers on their heels. It’s a new landscape, but one with much more potential. So, if your marketing mix doesn’t include meetings or events, you’re missing a more complete channel to deliver deep engagement while also reaching large audiences. Still, with uncertainty comes challenges. From in-person, virtual, and hybrid events—the key to success is to have a marketing game plan to take advantage of all these event types, and that requires a new way of thinking.
Uncertainty continues but with it new comes opportunities
The new events landscape continues to have the word “uncertainty” attached to it. A fact of life due to the pandemic, and the variants that continue to surface. However, this means the events channel has expanded for marketers and another word is surfacing alongside the “U Word,” and that is: asynchronous. Or, simply put, an “always on event.”
The digital boom, driven by the need for virtual and hybrid experiences, drove this concept. Thinking of events like a 24-hour news channel is a seismic shift in thinking for marketers—but not a bad one. Event technology now provides an opportunity for marketers to extend and deepen the in-person and virtual attendee experience and engage attendees with more fluidity before, during, and after events. No more one-and-done, move onto the next. Your events can now deliver for you weeks, and even months after they’re “over.”
Break down silos & strengthen internal partnerships
When it comes to events, perhaps no other marketing channel was more impacted by the pandemic than events. When in-person events suddenly stopped, organizations were forced to innovate to survive. It was survival of the fittest, with evolution taking place in real time. Not only did organizations adapt brilliantly, they arguably changed the face of event marketing forever. And the days of planners and marketers working in silos, is over.
Here are a few reasons why:
- More organizations say that demand marketing is responsible for setting event strategy
- In-person events are now more digitally connected
- Successful events are now the result of marketers and planners working hand-in-hand to deliver dynamic, engaging event experiences
Taking advantage of the new event marketing opportunity demands marketers align strategy, technology, and teams to deliver the right event format (virtual, in- person, hybrid) for the right event type (events, conferences, meetings, seminars, training, etc.) for the right audience, at the right stage along the customer journey. And that means collaboration.
A new way of thinking
With uncertainly comes the reflexive action to doing things “the way we’ve always done them.” For marketers in 2022 and beyond, this is no longer a strategy for success. In fact, for many it’s likely a recipe for failure. To thrive, marketers must fold virtual and hybrid experiences into the existing in-person event marketing channel.
This shouldn’t be viewed as a burden, but as a benefit; virtual and hybrid events enhance marketers’ opportunity to reach and engage new and larger audiences, increase brand awareness and engagement, deliver more insights and, ultimately, drive revenue. Building a programmatic events channel requires reimagining traditional roles, removing silos, standardizing processes, incorporating dynamic data, and streamlining technology across the entire marketing function.
The result? Year-round engagement
Marketers spend a lot of time preparing for their events, and with this new digital landscape, planners and marketers have a great way to extend the conversation beyond a single event. All the hard work they have invested isn’t just condensed into two or three days. While nothing can beat in-person, increasingly, marketers should strive for creating communities around events. Before, during, and after. Tech makes that happen.
From pre-event conversation huddles to post-event experiences, like watching sessions they may have missed on-demand or re-watching and sharing their favorite keynotes and educational sessions—”always on” is boon to marketers from a lead generation standpoint. It greatly extends reach. Sure, pre and post-event engagement isn’t necessarily new, but is now both easier and more impactful.
To learn more about this topic, we encourage you to visit Cvent’s interactive hub on the New Event Marketing Opportunity.
Beauty events are roaring back. Getting it right isn’t so easy
Brands can be clever about investing in events that build new fans and potentially long-term loyalty, as people “often end up posting on an organic basis quite frequently,” says Alexandrides. She adds that it is better to keep events “personal and targeted”. The brand is shifting away from “really expensive” sponsorships of high-profile annual events such as the British Fashion Awards or the Amfar Gala and prefers to do 10 to 20 smaller, more tailored events “for the same price”.
Fashion Monitor’s Taylor agrees that events are becoming more intimate. A personal approach, such as one-to-one time with a founder, can be more engaging for editors and result in greater ROI versus a party where the crowd is oversaturated, she says. They are also a comfortable alternative for editors who may not be keen on large crowds after Covid.
This move towards smaller, more tailored activations is also being driven by the need to create more custom content than ever before. In addition to hosting a celebratory dinner for its new soothing cream and light cream in April, science-led skincare brand Augustinus Bader invited press for a personal one-to-one chat during the day with CEO Charles Rosier at the 180 Health Club in London. “We think about whether there’s a moment where editors can have a one-to-one with the brand. Everyone is so specific about the type of content that they want to write or produce; group sessions are not even an option anymore,” says Seen’s Walsh.
This preference for one-to-ones is emerging in both the UK and US, but brands need to keep in mind their audience, she adds. “The in-depth and individual experience drives a better-quality output as journalists and editors are able to secure unique content, quotes or information. On the other hand, group content creation moments are still performing strongly for influencers, provided the experience is well curated and designed with content in mind.”
Nevertheless, an experience-rich event may not be for every brand. To make this approach successful requires budget, access to the founders or key stakeholders, and something unique to say, argues Walsh. “We’re supportive of [skincare brand] Byoma hosting an event, for example, because they’re leading the conversation around oversaturated skin barriers; the founders are available and have tons of insight; and the brand is disruptive in how it looks and feels. It all comes together,” she explains. “If brands don’t have that, a personal note with the product and a strategic well-crafted pitch might be more effective.”
A minor reformulation or shade extension is no longer reason enough for an event, and simply being Instagrammable no longer cuts it, says Karla Otto’s Boyd. “A new market entry, the unveiling of an exciting collaboration or the strategic targeting of a new community” are among strong reasons for a brand to host an event, she believes. “The best beauty activations are the ones that have a purpose and impart a distinct brand message.”
Comments, questions or feedback? Email us at feedback@voguebusiness.com.
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First annual off-road motorcycle event coming to Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo
Richardson Backcountry in Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo
“Photo provided by Ride North Moto”
Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo Economic Development & Tourism (FMWBEDT) has teamed up with Ride North Moto, to deliver their first-ever off-road motorcycle event to the area.
Together, they’re launching “Boreal Royale”, a dual-sport motorcycle adventure taking place June 24-26.
Tyler Cole, Sports & Events Economic Development Officer with FMWBEDT describes it as not being a race, but more of an opportunity to responsibly welcome the motorcycle community to the beautiful backcountry areas of Wood Buffalo.
The event includes four nights of camping at the motocross track and three days of competition that will see competitors use the WANDURO app to find waypoints and collect Quest Points.
The press release describes the event as being similar to geocaching, which is where individuals hunt for hidden objects by using GPS coordinates, but with motorcycles.
“We are working towards this event becoming a staple in the dual-sport and adventure sport motorcycling event calendar going forward,” explained Cole.
McMurray Dirt Riders Association and the WANDURO Adventure Moto Navigation events team from British Columbia will also be hosting Boreal Royale in partnership with the event.
Mike Haberoth, Founder of Ride North Moto says, “We are very excited to see the 1st Annual Boreal Royale come together and to share our passion for motorcycle sport with others in the community. Our local partners have been the key to helping us explore the region’s backcountry and inspiring us all to be proud of the place we call home.”
FMWBEDT stated in a press release that the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation has given permission to the group to allow competitors on their traditional territory in the Richardson backcountry north of Fort McMurray.
An introductory video for the event can be viewed at Boreal Royale – Teaser Video – YouTube.
For more information, you can visit ridenorthmoto.com.
