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VettaFi hosted a webcast, Bring your brand to life with event activations, on December 3rd, 2024. VettaFi CMO Jon Fee moderated the discussion along with Cassie Hughes, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Grow Marketing, and Kate Gunning, Founder and CEO of Crush Brand Advisory.
As the world becomes increasingly digital, many marketers have forgotten the power of live, in-person events. “As much as I continue to lean more and more digital, you can’t replace the power of looking someone in the eye in real life, shaking their hand, and learning about them,” Jon Fee said.
Fee opened the discussion by surveying attendees about whether they were using experiential marketing in their media mix. Over 40% of respondents claimed to not know enough about experiential marketing.
Hughes noted that there is a difference between event activations and experiential marketing, though there is some overlap. “From our perspective, experiential marketing is anytime you are bringing people together in real life talking about a product or a service,” she clarified.
56% of attendees claimed that events and sponsorships were somewhat important, but that they rely on other tactics more heavily, with 28% claiming events and sponsorships were very important.
Experiences fill you up with an emotive reaction to something; making people feel can also move them to take action.
Though real-life events do not technically reach as many people as digital engagements, they do move audiences farther and faster. “Deeper connections hold longer in the memory,” Hughes continued.
Gunning added, “Think about your own life and your world and how you feel when you have a combination of DMs and texts from a friend vs. a coffee date or a dinner.”
Gunning shared that, working for a large firm, she A/B tested doing just events and both events and digital marketing for a certain set of clients. The combination of both is invaluable; digital events complemented with in-person events are more powerful than doing either alone.
Hughes shared some intriguing stats - 79% of US marketers generate sales using experiential marketing, and more than one in three CMOs set aside anywhere from 21% to 50% of their budgets for brand experiences. Additionally, 67% of B2B marketers think of event marketing as their most effective strategy.
Figuring out how to do live events and experiential marketing can be a challenge. “The key is the triangulation of partnership between marketing, sales, and the leadership team,” Gunning said. She also outlined the importance of planning for what happens after the event. Events can work on their own terms, but also create opportunities for follow up conversations and content.
Giving an example, Hughes quoted Peter McGuiness, CMO, Chobani, by pointing out, “everything is an event, but everything done well is an experience.” She shared how AirBnB and Barbie partnered for an experiential marketing campaign that was heavily promoted digitally and went viral, but focused on a real space and experience to break through the noise.
Fee noted that a lot of hesitancy around event sponsorships comes from three myths:
Gunning volunteered that tracking ROI involves having clear goals and a clear plan. For example, having people scan codes at a booth and knowing exactly what you are doing to facilitate that action can make ROI metrics easier to decipher. “What are the opportunities for connection with the audience you are going after?”
Hughes underscored most of the brands that fail to see the ROI of an event sponsorship don’t have clear goals. “Clear goals have ROI and there are ways to track it.” Departments working together is also essential. If marketing is delivering an event, sales needs to participate in it and not feel like it is silo’d off to just marketing but, instead, a shared opportunity.
“As you think about event ROI,” Fee said, “What I think folks often forget is just because the field of opportunity is right in front of you, that doesn't mean you show up without a plough. You still have work to do… It requires everyone to roll up their sleeves and get to work.”
One assumption many small or medium sized firms make is that it is hard to stick out against the big dogs. Hughes countered that the brands that stick out are the ones that do clever, inventive activations. In fact, top brands often only lean on their own name recognition to do the heavy lifting, which creates opportunities for other brands to execute clever activations.
Smart activations create a value exchange. Breaking through the noise is a matter of being thoughtful about how you present your technology, your brand, or your service. Gunning added, “The way you break through the noise is by being relevant.” Hughes then shared an example from Google. Google had a rough go of introducing the Google Home products, but investing in a clever activation, helped connect the product’s use case and improve its position in the marketplace.
Fee noted, “Even Google has a hard time breaking through with new products.” In a similar way, big asset managers who haven’t touched the ETF space might have trouble breaking in despite their brand name.
Preparation is critical to make a live event successful. “There’s a pre-, there’s a during, and there’s a post,” Hughes said, so she discussed the value of having an outline and plan for all. Using the Komen Walk from Exchange as an example, she noted finding natural activities at a conference where you can make connections is important. In addition, walking the expo hall can not only introduce you to new folks, but it can also inspire your future activations.
Gunning spoke to the value of structured time and open time. “I try to get deliberate about the 3-5 people I really want to meet,” she said. Then she uses the open time to map out where she wants to be stimulated or pursue learnings. “I love to use these settings to learn, observe, and see if I can pick up on patterns.”
Firms of all sizes stand to benefit from event sponsorships and activations. Large firms can use the opportunity to appear more human and approachable. Medium-sized firms benefit from appearing next to industry leaders and have the opportunity to stand out with a smart activation, and smaller firms can leverage events to fuel growth. Regardless of firm size, you can rely on event sponsorships to reliably generate content and drive business goals.
Interested in learning more? Watch the full discussion here.
Bring your brand to life with event activations at Exchange, learn more here.
VettaFi hosted a webcast, Bring your brand to life with event activations, on December 3rd, 2024. VettaFi CMO Jon Fee moderated the discussion along with Cassie Hughes, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Grow Marketing, and Kate Gunning, Founder and CEO of Crush Brand Advisory.
As the world becomes increasingly digital, many marketers have forgotten the power of live, in-person events. “As much as I continue to lean more and more digital, you can’t replace the power of looking someone in the eye in real life, shaking their hand, and learning about them,” Jon Fee said.
Fee opened the discussion by surveying attendees about whether they were using experiential marketing in their media mix. Over 40% of respondents claimed to not know enough about experiential marketing.
Hughes noted that there is a difference between event activations and experiential marketing, though there is some overlap. “From our perspective, experiential marketing is anytime you are bringing people together in real life talking about a product or a service,” she clarified.
56% of attendees claimed that events and sponsorships were somewhat important, but that they rely on other tactics more heavily, with 28% claiming events and sponsorships were very important.
Experiences fill you up with an emotive reaction to something; making people feel can also move them to take action.
Though real-life events do not technically reach as many people as digital engagements, they do move audiences farther and faster. “Deeper connections hold longer in the memory,” Hughes continued.
Gunning added, “Think about your own life and your world and how you feel when you have a combination of DMs and texts from a friend vs. a coffee date or a dinner.”
Gunning shared that, working for a large firm, she A/B tested doing just events and both events and digital marketing for a certain set of clients. The combination of both is invaluable; digital events complemented with in-person events are more powerful than doing either alone.
Hughes shared some intriguing stats - 79% of US marketers generate sales using experiential marketing, and more than one in three CMOs set aside anywhere from 21% to 50% of their budgets for brand experiences. Additionally, 67% of B2B marketers think of event marketing as their most effective strategy.
Figuring out how to do live events and experiential marketing can be a challenge. “The key is the triangulation of partnership between marketing, sales, and the leadership team,” Gunning said. She also outlined the importance of planning for what happens after the event. Events can work on their own terms, but also create opportunities for follow up conversations and content.
Giving an example, Hughes quoted Peter McGuiness, CMO, Chobani, by pointing out, “everything is an event, but everything done well is an experience.” She shared how AirBnB and Barbie partnered for an experiential marketing campaign that was heavily promoted digitally and went viral, but focused on a real space and experience to break through the noise.
Fee noted that a lot of hesitancy around event sponsorships comes from three myths:
Gunning volunteered that tracking ROI involves having clear goals and a clear plan. For example, having people scan codes at a booth and knowing exactly what you are doing to facilitate that action can make ROI metrics easier to decipher. “What are the opportunities for connection with the audience you are going after?”
Hughes underscored most of the brands that fail to see the ROI of an event sponsorship don’t have clear goals. “Clear goals have ROI and there are ways to track it.” Departments working together is also essential. If marketing is delivering an event, sales needs to participate in it and not feel like it is silo’d off to just marketing but, instead, a shared opportunity.
“As you think about event ROI,” Fee said, “What I think folks often forget is just because the field of opportunity is right in front of you, that doesn't mean you show up without a plough. You still have work to do… It requires everyone to roll up their sleeves and get to work.”
One assumption many small or medium sized firms make is that it is hard to stick out against the big dogs. Hughes countered that the brands that stick out are the ones that do clever, inventive activations. In fact, top brands often only lean on their own name recognition to do the heavy lifting, which creates opportunities for other brands to execute clever activations.
Smart activations create a value exchange. Breaking through the noise is a matter of being thoughtful about how you present your technology, your brand, or your service. Gunning added, “The way you break through the noise is by being relevant.” Hughes then shared an example from Google. Google had a rough go of introducing the Google Home products, but investing in a clever activation, helped connect the product’s use case and improve its position in the marketplace.
Fee noted, “Even Google has a hard time breaking through with new products.” In a similar way, big asset managers who haven’t touched the ETF space might have trouble breaking in despite their brand name.
Preparation is critical to make a live event successful. “There’s a pre-, there’s a during, and there’s a post,” Hughes said, so she discussed the value of having an outline and plan for all. Using the Komen Walk from Exchange as an example, she noted finding natural activities at a conference where you can make connections is important. In addition, walking the expo hall can not only introduce you to new folks, but it can also inspire your future activations.
Gunning spoke to the value of structured time and open time. “I try to get deliberate about the 3-5 people I really want to meet,” she said. Then she uses the open time to map out where she wants to be stimulated or pursue learnings. “I love to use these settings to learn, observe, and see if I can pick up on patterns.”
Firms of all sizes stand to benefit from event sponsorships and activations. Large firms can use the opportunity to appear more human and approachable. Medium-sized firms benefit from appearing next to industry leaders and have the opportunity to stand out with a smart activation, and smaller firms can leverage events to fuel growth. Regardless of firm size, you can rely on event sponsorships to reliably generate content and drive business goals.
Interested in learning more? Watch the full discussion here.
Bring your brand to life with event activations at Exchange, learn more here.
