It's hard to believe it, but I've been going to industry conferences for about a decade. 

Prior to my role at VettaFi, I worked for a major asset manager running their U.S. ETF marketing efforts. Sponsoring and attending in-person events was a key component of our distribution strategy. Initially, this meant attending multiple smaller industry events as we tried to gain initial traction. Eventually the focus narrowed to a few larger key events, such as Exchange, and showing up in bigger ways as our ETF suite picked up momentum, ultimately growing to over $20 billion in AUM at the time of my departure.  

Now, in my current role, I'm part of an organization that produces a large financial services conference. In its fourth year, Exchange is an annual event that brings over 1,900 members of the financial services community together - and a large part of being able to make an event on this scale is through our sponsors.

As such, I’ve been on both sides of the sponsorship equation. I have been both a sponsor of a big event as well as the host of a conference. I've seen my fair share of event activations spanning various sizes - small, medium, and large. Here are three of my favorites. 

P.S. This is a personal opinion and not a representation of the firm’s view. All of our sponsors and partners are highly valued. I just want to share what spoke to me specifically.

Deutsche Bank’s plain vanilla activation 

This was several years ago - but here's what I remember: It was at an industry conference; every inch of the hotel was sold for branding. The big issuers with the big bucks had secured the big branding opportunities, and it was hard to break through the noise and stand out.

It was also a time when all the buzz was about “smart beta.” What is it, will it last, is it just a fad? Passive beta was old news.

Deutsche Bank faced this challenge head on by using their 10x10 booth in an innovative, creative way. They decided to make their space work as hard as possible for them, in a (I imagine) fairly cost efficient way that could create buzz for their own firm, reinforce their products, and create a value exchange with attendees. 

Instead of filling their booth space with a pull up banner, a table, bored sales reps, and printed material, they brought in a small, branded cart and served vanilla ice cream. This created a buzz amongst attendees. 

The campaign messaging was oriented around their passive index suite, often deemed “plain vanilla beta,” in the industry. The activation was a play on the fact that while passive funds may be considered “boring” (aka plain vanilla), they are still a tasty option for your portfolios. 

Who doesn't like a nice afternoon treat? The activation created a value exchange with attendees through the offer of ice cream. “I remember eating various ice creams near their stand and talking to Fiona Bassett about it,” said Michael Camacho, head of U.S. wealth at UBS. 

Through the fog of time, I can't remember if they had toppings there to make sundaes. If they did, they could've taken the analogy even further, noting that plain vanilla funds (aka vanilla ice cream) are solid foundations for portfolios (for sundaes). 

Regardless, it was a cost-effective way to stand out in the crowd. The fact that it represented their product line up in an interesting, creative way makes it a top activation in my book - and other people share my opinion here. Julia Stoll, vice president at Goldman Sachs Accelerator said, “I… thought the campaign was brilliant.” 

J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s built to last experience 

This next activation is a personal point of pride, as it was the last and my favorite event sponsorship I planned and executed while at J.P. Morgan Asset Management (JPMAM). 

JPMAM’s brand is rooted in being a portfolio solutions partner; partnering with clients over time, and building products for investing over the long term. And so the campaign idea was generated with the phrase, “built to last, with your future in mind.” This concept was then threaded through the whole event experience.

Ahead of the event, we asked attending financial advisors to upload a portfolio “built to last” into JPMAM’s digital portfolio analysis tool and had the portfolio insights team analyze it against key risk measures. Not only is this a great lead capture opportunity, but advisor participation also fed the broader set of portfolio data. The winning “built to last” portfolio received a complimentary video interview with a media partner.

Outside of JPMAM ETFs, what is built to last? Steel. The traditional booth was made sexier with a metal reskin and metal accents throughout. For swag, we wanted to move away from the low cost tchotchkes sponsors provided in the past. As someone that is constantly purging my environment of clutter, I rarely grab swag and most seem beyond wasteful. We wanted to provide swag that was, well you get it by now, built to last. We sourced a selection of reusable options, including metal water bottles, luggage tags, and portable chargers.

In tying with the personalized touch that the JPMAM team provides, we brought in an engraving station at the booth so attendees could get their personal information engraved into their choice of metal swag. This was also a lead capture mechanism, as advisors had to “sign up” to participate in the engraving portion.

“Years later, and I still use my JPMAM water bottle and luggage tag today!” Noted Brian Coco of VettaFi. 

Lastly, we held a dedicated breakfast for financial advisors at the event. To break through the email noise that sponsors create ahead of the event, we physically mailed advisor registrants a printed invitation. The breakfast session featured portfolio construction experts walking through common portfolio scenarios of the time, providing them with guidance on how to construct a portfolio that is … built to last! Also, it was another opportunity to identify leads, as attendee information was captured when they participated in the session.

Why am I proud of this activation? The answer is two-fold. First, the campaign concept was threaded throughout for a focused, consistent message, and experience; the activation reinforced our brand and product line up. Second, we put in the work to create opportunities to connect with advisors at the event. An event can generate business opportunities - if you work it right!

Grayscale’s drone show

Want to break through the sponsorship noise and capture attendees attention? Sometimes spectacle is the answer.

At Exchange 2024, Grayscale coordinated a drone show in the night sky of the outdoor closing reception. 

For spectacle to succeed, it truly needs to impress and Grayscale did not disappoint. I've never seen hundreds of drones flying in a choreographed fashion in perfect coordination. Creating a visual representation of a bitcoin symbol, blockchain technology, the Grayscale firm name and their ticker would have been impressive on its own, but it was also paired with music and brilliantly choreographed. It was dare I say… beautiful and oddly moving? Plus, everyone of the thousands of attendees grabbed their phone and took photos of the activation. 

Talk about owning a moment with 100% SOV, attendee penetration and attention. Grayscale also complemented their splashy event with digital buys at local airports, following attendees from home base to the conference to build buzz and excitement before they even arrived. 

Their booth was visually stunning, to add to the strength of the entire execution. This is a minor detail, and many firms would have skipped on putting time and effort into their booth and instead relied on the spectacle of the drone show to carry their branding, but this care and attention to detail matters and lifts the entire experience.

I still think a drone show would've served an issuer who invests in drone technology better (ARK maybe?), as it would have reinforced the investment and product case, but early bird gets the worm!

What to remember

You can make an impact at an event no matter how small or large your budget. What’s important to remember is:

• Figure out an activation idea or theme that is representative of your brand and core product offerings. Something that works to strengthen your message, versus distracts with an unrelated concept. Thread it throughout your whole experience. 
• Think outside of the box to break through the noise other sponsors inevitably create. Go beyond traditional sponsorships and what sponsors typically do.
• You want leads? Generate opportunities throughout your conference presence to capture them! Want brand exposure? Pick a primary goal and construct your sponsorship and presence to achieve it.