5 Event Marketing Tools You Need to Use Now

5 Event Marketing Tools You Need to Use Now

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You can put plenty of effort and strategies into planning your next event but it won't be a success unless you have strong attendance. Marketing is important for helping the right people discover your event. Within your promotional plan, make sure you try these five event marketing tools. 

An Event Management Tool

Consider using a platform designed for event management to help you with your marketing. These platforms can help you market through email and other online means. They often support registration, tracking of attendees, surveys and other aspects of marketing and managing the event planning process. You have many options to choose from, such as Bizzabo, Attendease, Eventbrite and etouches. Choose the one that fits your company size and event marketing needs.

An Event App

This tool allows you to keep definite and potential attendees up-to-date about your event before it happens. Current audiences expect this capability, plus it will keep people informed and interested. They can learn new details about the event, such as added speakers or accommodations, as they become available, which keeps the event in your audience’s mind, builds excitement and helps attendees with their planning. And you can continue to use the app to share information during the event. Some event management tools provide the ability to create an app or you could use a service like DoubleDutch that is dedicated to event apps.

Communities

Try starting an event community dedicated to your specific event on Facebook or another platform that supports this approach. This type of tool helps to engage your audience and keep them in-the-know about event details. Within the community, you can share new information and give teaser information on what will be included, from meals to activities. You can also share practical information that helps with planning. Plus, this is a great space to engage potential attendees with conversation and to help them connect with one another. When you capture people’s interest and help them feel included through an event community, you’ll encourage them to register and potentially spread the word about the event.

An Event Directory

Make sure your event is listed where people are looking for events. You may have an untapped market of people who would attend your event but simply don’t know about it, and getting it listed on directories can help it get seen by the right crowd. You could put it on Meetup, which is particularly effective for events that want to draw a local crowd. This option also lets you continue to reach out to the same group of people over time. Another option is Lanyrd, which is a social conference directory. A great feature of this directory is that it helps you figure out the target audience that went to similar events around the world so you can better tailor your own marketing. Also, many of the event management platforms provide directories included in the service.  

Analytics Tools

While marketing events might sometimes feel like guesswork, you can also find strategies and formulas backed by data. Using an analytics tool can help you weed through data and use it to get better at event promotion. For example, Brandscopic is an event marketing analytics tool that helps you figure out demographics, target your audience better and collect media about the event. 

Using these tools along with your tried-and-true event promotion methods can help you streamline your marketing process and make it more effective. With these tools, you'll become an event marketing pro -- or elevate your professional game to the next level.

Coachella 2017: When Brands Create Experiential Marketing Trends

Who doesn’t like sun, drinks, music and fashion? Coachella, the much-loved CA-based music festival, is packed with fashion brand representation. This year, a slew of brands flocked to the desert, capitalizing on Coachella’s rad fashion collection. It wasn’t all about the brands, but they certainly made a splash. Whether it was shop-able runways, hip bars, social media activations or entire branded festival lines, Coachella was the place to be. Here’s our coverage of the hottest Coachella marketing events.

Levi’s Creates Neon Carnival

Posted up in an Airstream, Levi’s gave eventgoers a power-packed experience via Tequila Don Julio. We know, it’s an odd partnership. It worked, though, and Levi’s-lovers reveled in the specialty drinks from dusk til’ dawn.

Jeremy Scott’s Moschino Party

Produced by XA, Jeremy Scott’s Moschino party featured a kitschy, Candy Crush theme. It was larger-than-life, giving guests the chance to slide into a massive ball pit. The balls were made of lucite, ignited by the pool’s neon glow.

As if that wasn’t enough, the party also featured an oversized Absolut Lite-Brite installation. Guests could place different pieces into different slots, crafting their own art, patterns and long-lasting displays. The display took on Absolut’s lime flavor color, casting a memorable light.

Victoria’s Secret Angel Escape

The Angel Escape was an islandic tent, offering comfortable seating, shade and pillows for guests. While it covered a large amount of land, it was surprisingly low-key—in a good way. Customers looking for a reprieve from Coachella’s frequently rowdy atmosphere need only step into the tent’s intimate enclosure, taking a load off the feet.

The Katy Perry Footwear Easter Sunday Recovery Brunch

For the afterparty-goers, Katy Perry Footwear featured a Sunday Recovery Brunch powered by the H.Wood Group. Sure, it might’ve been a graphic, neo-art doughnut wall, but it certainly ignited holiday cheer with an awesome nod to pastel.

The Ciroc Summer Take Over

Ironically—or, perhaps unironically—alcohol brands promoted, well, themselves at Coachella. Ciroc, in particular, hosted memorable experiential events for patrons’ eyes. The Ciroc Summer Take Over, hosted by the Hard Rock Hotel, presented the brand in a new light—a vintage one, to be exact. Ciroc bottles were displayed alongside vintage objects, florals and vinyl records, giving event goers a taste of all things classy.

Coachella is a wonderful opportunity for brands. Featuring some of today’s leading brands, the event was a powerhouse of experiential displays. We’ve kept our eye on Coachella for a while, as it always highlights emergent experiential marketing trends. We'll likely see more great displays next year. For now, however, we'll make due with this year's awesome brand contributions—powered by today's leading providers.

How Nike Likes to Celebrate Anniversaries

Are anniversaries promotional? We’d like to think so. Nike’s shoe-inspired pop-ups have come a long way. Now, they’re extending into dynamic promotional territory with the brand’s “Sneakeasy” in promotion of its Nike Air Max. Air Max Day is a thing, and it’s been celebrated every year for the past four years. Highlighting the company’s past and present designs, Air Max Day is a much-celebrated event guaranteed to turn heads.

From East Coast to West Coast

In promotion of the Air Max’s 30 years of success, Nike’s Sneakeasy pop-up stand took an always-accessible approach. It traveled from New York City to Chicago, stopping in Toronto and Los Angeles on the way. Select locations featured the VaporMax model—which is one of the company’s newest, coveted, model.

Yeah, the event was based on R.S.V.P. interactions. That said, Nike’s interactive experiences don’t come cheap. Marketing real estate in New York, Los Angeles, Toronto and Chicago is top-tier, and the brand excelled in highlighting its strategy while throwing a rad party.

All About the Art

The Sneakeasy, while inherently a promotional stand, offered interactive art experiences. Hosting live music performances, curated exhibits and local influencers, the Sneakeasy was a one-stop culture shop for locals and travelers alike. The interactive Air Max display was, of course, the centerpiece. Alongside the Nike Air Max 1 Flyknit, the Nike Air VaporMax made quite an impact.

Nike pulled it off by showcasing its many innovations, remixes and re-releases. According to Matthew Kneller, Nike North America’s communications director, it was the brand’s first-ever stab at a speakeasy-inspired pop-up. Understandably, speakeasies and sports don’t always mix. By commodifying quality products, however, Nike succeeded in giving consumers full product access while retaining the classiness and intimacy of a true-blue speakeasy display.

An Unorthodox Event Space

The Sneakeasy’s event spaces are worth mentioning. At every destination, Nike planted its feet in urban locations to engage consumers. The Toronto Sneakeasy, for example, was established in an unoccupied Chinatown warehouse. While unorthodox, the location still garnered attention. Guests who procured golden tickets from Nike’s much-advertised Air Max Bus were given VIP access. At every location, interiors were inspired by the much-loved Air Mx 90 style. There were upside-down shoe portraits. There were benches. Yes, there were Nike-themed history displays. Nike relied on intelligent modern artists to pull off the look—and it worked.

The first Air Max shoe rolled out in 1987. This brand cornerstone was highlighted by Bryan Espiritu—an artist who created a “Tear down this wall” display in homage to President Ronald Reagan’s Berlin Wall speech. Nike is a brand of culture. Like all cultural displays, its anniversary paired class with a modern edge. It was memorable, serving as modern proof that anniversaries still have great marketing potential. 

What's the Method Behind Google's Madness?

While coast-to-coast marketing efforts frequently work, using a coast-and-coast mentality is unheard of. Google has rewritten this unspoken truth, and it has hosted block parties in both New York and Los Angeles to make a point to consumers.

Google Home and Google Play Music

Google’s latest product, Google Home, is the brand’s voice-activated smart speaker system. It’s voice-controlled, answers questions, plays music on command and can manage a variety of tasks. Google has received in-depth support from fans before. Now, it’s highlighting Google Home’s latest features by giving back. In promotion of Google Play Music, the tech company created a double feature, two-block-party extravaganza. It meshed Google Play Music and Google Home, creating an awesome experience for Los Angeles and New York partiers alike.

Grow Marketing and the Magic Touch

Grow Marketing is an experiential marketing company, and it’s responsible for the activation of both events. Present in New York’s Chelsea Market between February 24 to 26, Grow Marketing created a block-to-block experience to help consumers connect their Google Play services. As if this wasn’t enough, it also presented its options in Abbot Kinney, Los Angeles, earlier that month between February 11 and 12.

Google’s high-powered tech options aren’t new, but their awesome capabilities were deserving of a “magic touch,” states Google Home’s product marketer, Dee Dee Paeseler. To demonstrate Google Home’s power, Google represented its awesome tech portfolio by creating a cross-coast experience. Both hardware and services were interconnected, and both Google Play Music and Google Home were presented within the lens of music.  

Three Homes to Show the Magic

To demonstrate how both products were capable of interacting with one another, Grow Marketing created three separate homes inspired by three distinct YouTube personalities. Filmmakers Ted Fu, Philip Wang and Wesley Chan, first, stood in for Wong Fu Productions. MyCupcakeAddiction’s Elise Strachan, too, was present. Us and the Duo’s channel representatives, Carissa and Michael Alvardo, heightened the event’s musical touch.

By grounding these musical experiences between coasts, Google successfully represented its dedication to real-life people while successfully launching its product’s incredibly potential. Google targeted a large audience—an audience which was guaranteed full attention at every turn. Within each of the three homes, Google’s placed product specialists helped users understand how each product incorporated its technology with the other. Google has always been a brand of personal touch, and its inclusion of YouTube personalities certainly let it connect its products together.

It’s rare to see block party events succeed with such a great distance between them. That said, Google’s interested consumers are a lively bunch. Google might appear mad to some, but it’s certainly sane in connecting the dots between its users.

Creating a Multisensory Experience for your Next Event

These days, thanks to the intrusion of virtual information into every moment of our lives, life experience and experiential opportunities have become a coveted asset. Time is valuable, and humans have a generally shorter attention span in keeping with the onslaught of instant information via smartphones and real-time communication. So, what’s a business to do when they are competing with the sensory overload and reduced attention spans of an overwhelmingly technology-driven marketing climate?

A multisensory event—and the inherently immersive, experiential power behind it—may be your answer.

Tips For Driving Success With A Multisensory Event

Interactive Meetings

Ever held a meeting where the entire room was equipped with stability balls in place of traditional conference chairs? Sometimes in the corporate and business world, a typical meeting in a room full of nametags, whiteboards, conference tables, and stackable chairs can feel familiar and nostalgic...and not in a good way.

Get the Most Bang For Your Buck

You’ve spent part of your marketing budget to pull your event together, and you want your clients and employees to feel energized and engaged—not bored and ready to check out. With a dedicated multisensory event space, you can get creative with the company vibe. Think about incorporating the following elements to make your conference an effective, memorable experience.

Engage the Five Senses

Sound

• Incorporate event-appropriate music—and be sure it’s not just upgraded elevator tunes. Know your audience, and create a Pandora station that resonates with their demographic and the overall tone of your event. Better yet, consider hiring a local band that reflects the culture and social scene of your specific event location.

Taste and Smell

• Serve energizing, healthy snacks. Ditch the typical sugar-laden, white carb nightmare of traditional conference food, and surprise your event-goers with a selection of healthy, vitamin-rich small plates that reflects and celebrates the geographic location of your multisensory event space. After all, the senses of smell and taste are powerful influencers.
• There is nothing like the smell of freshly roasted and ground coffee to make a morning meeting a pleasant experience. If yours is a coffee-based affair, try including a local coffee roasting company in your plans.
• Throughout the day, make sure your guests have a constant supply of freshly filtered water—and include a few decanters infused with citrus zest, green tea, and mint leaves. Not only is the herbal green tea-and-water concoction a stimulant, the smell of orange and lemon zest inspires creativity and a sense of well-being.

Sight and Touch

• Instead of the standard, stress-inducing fluorescent lights that most corporate events guests are accustomed to, choose a space that allows you to be creative with your atmosphere and mood. Incorporate creative lighting and striking visual décor, or choose an event space that has the resources and the talent to make a sensory experience part of the package: think luxurious fabric draping, hands-on displays, and interactive classes where your guests can cook a gourmet dish, oil paint on canvas, or get a chair massage.

When you want to create a memorable, experiential conference or marketing event, contact the experts at Soho Studios for more information.

Friskies Teams up with Grumpy Cat at the 2016 South by Southwest Festival

On March 12 and March 13, 2016, at the South by Southwest interactive (SXSWi) festival, Friskies well known mascot, Grumpy Cat, graced the crowd with an appearance to promote its most recent wet cat food product, Cat Concoctions. This new product has unusual flavor combos for the curious cat, like cod in cheesy bacon flavored sauce and chicken in creamy crabby sauce. The Inspiration Behind Cat Concoctions

“For the launch of Friskies’ Cat Concoctions, we really thought it was important for people to understand the product proposition—the fact that this line of cat food was inspired by cats,” said the brand manager at Friskies, Jessica Nichols. “And since people aren’t actually eating the product, having this tangible, physical event really helps bring that concept to life. Live experiences allow us to connect with media and consumers in a fun and unique way that really resonates.”

Friskies at South by Southwest

This year marked the fourth year that Friskies and Grumpy Cat teamed up at SXSWi to form a fun experience for consumers. Feline fans were able to enjoy food, music and fun photo opportunities. Music sensations Ryan Cabrera and Blake Lewis combined talents and stopped by to sing a soft, endearing rendition of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" that almost turned Grumpy Cat's frown upside down. Check out the You Tube video for the sweet harmonies of a Platinum selling recording artist and a runner-up from season six of American Idol. Very calming indeed!

Some Frisky Photo Ops

A fan favorite of the event was the official Friskies' spokes cat herself being on hand for a meet and greet. Quirky, fun props were available for fans to pose with alongside Grumpy Cat. Some of the silly items included a hat in the shape of a clamshell and crab claws you can slip on. There were also signs with phrases such as, "Strike a frown." For even more photo fun, a selfie station was available. At the station, participants were able to do a mash-up so that their faces were combined with Grumpy Cat's world famous scowl.

Ultimately about 1,600 festival goers attended the Friskies event. Those who could not attend were able to follow all the fun on Friskies' Instagram and Snapchat accounts or to join the online activity with #CatConcoctions. Social channels also featured Nala and Waffles, Grumpy Cat's fellow friends.

What is Brand Marketing?

You can find brand marketing among all successful business plans out there and what is brand marketing is a significant question. Brand Marketing requires lot of detail and in depth knowledge of the essence of a particular brand to work. The goal of this type of marketing is that your brand should be recognized and well known by people whenever and wherever they see it.

This commercial for Apple Computers that aired during the 1984 Super Bowl was the beginning a marketing strategy that took the brand to the level that it is today.

WATCH VIDEO - 1984 

What is Brand Marketing?

Brand marketing is the process of creating brand awareness. It is a procedure that takes some time to execute and to ensure that your brand is in the minds of the consumer the way it is intended. Most successful companies have a history of a lot of time and effort put out in their brand marketing campaigns.

To answer what is brand marketing, there are generally two types:

Personal Branding

In this form of brand marketing the company makes an individual (could be the owner) associated with a feeling or as an authority in a specific industry. In most cases personal branding is used more for film stars or other entertainment individuals. Madonna is great example of an individual who is now their own personal brand.

Company Branding

Here is where the company is associated with a feeling or as an authority in a specific industry. Apple is an example that comes to mind when thinking of a company with an effective brand marketing strategy.

There are many ways to market your brand, and advertising can be everything from strategic product placement in a TV show, to a brand sponsored event. Now the question of what types of brand marketing campaigns will work best for your brand depends on you or your company’s objective. For example, if your brand is energy drink it would be a good idea would be to sponsor some kind of extreme sporting event, such as the XGames.

Brand marketing has become an integral part of all businesses because consumers, in general, have become very brand conscious. People usually tend to avoid brands that are unfamiliar. Many consumers are willing to purchase and expensive brand over an unknown brand. When finding the perfect formula for what is brand marketing, it is wise to explore many options before putting together the strategy that will work best for you.

Kit Kat wants to give you a break

Experiential marketing means getting your brand message before the public’s eyes. In the past companies used things like flyers, billboards, and free samples to build brand awareness. Some paid to have cars bearing their slogans driven across country.  However marketing has evolved with time, and an experiential marketing campaign such as the Free No WiFi Zones from Kit Kat gives the consumer a brand experience that is not easily forgotten.

Watch Video - Kit Kat's Free No WiFi Zone

In this technology age, the world has gone social. Everyone connects digitally through technology. They interact socially. They learn socially. Therefore, marketing needs to be social and interactive. Sub Rosa’s Michael Ventura captured the spirit of experiential marketing. He wrote, “Brands that create experiences allowing consumers to interact digitally and socially with both themselves and others will succeed in the long term”

Big Companies Build Their Brand through Experiential Marketing

Many big companies have allowed customers to interact and experience their product message with this evolved marketing strategy. Hyundai and GE used high-end interactive games and holographic scenarios. Using a reverse approach, Kit Kat actually blocked the use of technology in their No Free WiFi Zones. They wanted to give us a break. They encouraged customers to interact and socialize with one another in person. They could also enjoy a book while treating themselves to a Kit Kat bar.

The benefits of Kit Kat’s campaign were increased exposure, tons of attention, and strong brand recognition. Its success is visible because:

- Everyone is talking about their unique idea

- They clearly stand apart from the Free Wi-Fi crowd

- Their campaign has inspired a larger conversation on the need for more No Free Wi-Fi Zones.

Host Your Own Experiential Event in One of the Top Venues in Miami

Your company can benefit by hosting its own event. Your customers will be able to socialize as they interact with your product. They will develop a meaningful connection with your brand. Many companies have had success hosting similar events in Florida. They maximize exposure to their product by hosting their events during Miami’s big event season. Soho Studios, one of the top venues in Miami, can accommodate all types of experiential events. You can host a live concert, a flashy fashion show, or a high-tech interactive presentation. The 65,000 square feet, multi-purpose convention center, located in Miami’s Wynwood District, is ideal. Join Puma, Absolut, and other big brand companies who hosted their own events at Soho Studios.

Interactive print ads from Vogue

One effect of the Digital Age is that people are becoming more stimulated than ever. From a marketing perspective, it is becoming more apparent that new methods are needed to get a consumer’s attention, maintain their attention, and then get them to buy. To respond to shift in consumer response, marketing gurus are now using experiential marketing techniques to appeal to consumers.

What Is Experiential Marketing And Why Does It Work?

Experiential marketing is an approach to communicating a product or service that invokes one or more of the five senses: seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching. Traditional forms of distance marketing, such as television and radio ads are being replaced with more unique methods, such as outdoor displays and exhibits, street performances, and augmented reality demonstrations.

To understand experiential marketing on a small scale, consider the popularity of perfume samples and “scratch and sniff” opportunities in magazines. Magazines are now starting to get even more personal. The interactive print ads developed for Vogue.com are great examples. One ad for eye makeup allows the consumer to place the camera on their mobile device over an image of a model who is wearing a particular brand of eye makeup. The consumer is able to view the step-by-step process of creating the look.

Watch the Vogue campaign - Interactive Print Ads from Vogue

There are five key reasons why this experiential marketing campaign works:

- Connects consumers with the product

- Offers an opportunity to experience the product

- Highly likely to generate word-of-mouth

- Educates consumers about the product

- Intensifies the product’s brand message

To see experiential marketing in action, all you have to do is attend one or more of the surplus of social events in Miami. Although more rare, but increasing in usage, experiential marketing campaigns are also starting to crop up in unusual venues in Miami such as street corners and shopping malls. In both instances, the product or service is introduced in the consumer’s natural habitat.

Conclusion

Experiential marketing is now in its infancy, but is sure to gain usage as consumers continue to demand more of a deeper experience with products and services. It shouldn't surprise you if you walk down the street and have an opportunity to have a face-to-face encounter with a product or service.

Engaging the audience with Porsche's Spirited Escape

As part of the Boxster ad campaign, Porsche and Men's Journal joined forces with former NFL star and current adventure traveler Dhani Jones. Driving a bright red Boxster, Jones takes to the streets, back roads and mountain curves of the East Coast in Spirited Escapes. This seven-episode videologue followed Jones as he talks to tradesmen who are living in different regions on the eastern highways as noted by Porsche Cars North America. This marketing campaign blurs the lines of product and service of both the Boxster and the goods made by the men in the videos. Through the subliminal metaphors of quality, craftsmanship and simplicity, you take away the feeling that Porsche designers and American tradesmen have forged a common bond.

Watch Video - Porsche's Spirited Escape Kick Off

Using the aspect of social engagement, a term that is increasingly becoming a part of the Internet world through the use of social media to drive page rankings, Porsche takes experiential marketing onto the streets. They have found a way to recognize the common ground between luxury car manufacturers and butchers, bicycle builders, music producers, journalists, and fishing instructors. The videos showcase Americans from Brooklyn to Birmingham, extending beyond regional dividing lines. A satisfactory showcase of experiential marketing, this ad campaign brings the Boxster within reach of a wider audience than possibly it ever has before now.

Soho Studios in Miami FL

If you are looking for a way to drive social engagement into your next ad campaign, consider the accessibility of events in Florida. At Soho Studios, the premium venue in Miami, your limit is beyond the sky. We offer a 65,000 sq. ft. space that offers multifunctional opportunities for ad campaigns and experiential marketing. Create a state of the art showcase for the largest and most diverse audience in the Southeast at this Miami locale. You will be in the same place that hosts the legendary Ultra Music Festival each year, as well as high end Miami Fashion Week and the experimental Art Basel Miami. Whether you are looking for a space to provide an interactive exhibit, or you need a diverse space where you can shoot your next video, Soho Studios is the place to be.