By Paul Birdwell (paul@roaringforkagency.com)
For a few decades now Event Sponsorship has been a way for companies and brands to directly reach consumers in places where consumers are actually at, such as at football games, racetracks, running events, musical concerts, etc., but in today’s world with consumers immersed in digital media most of their waking hours and traditional advertising not having the power to move consumers the way it has in the past, a new kind and very effective marketing approach is becoming one of the few ways to reach consumers directly.
Experiential Marketing is that new very effective marketing approach and is defined Molly Galetto at NG Data in the following way:
What is Experiential Marketing? Best Practices, Examples, and More, Molly Galetto, NG DATA
“An advertising strategy that focuses on helping consumers experience a brand, experiential marketing veers off course from traditional strategies that broadcast brand and product benefits to a wide audience. Also referred to as engagement marketing, experiential marketing may be comprised of a variety of marketing strategies geared toward immersing customers within the product by engaging them in as many ways as possible. Ultimately, companies utilizing this strategy want to help customers form memorable, emotional connections with a brand to foster customer loyalty and improve customer lifetime value (CLV).”
Event Sponsorship is no longer just a Sponsorship with companies hoping they connect with consumers by having their brand plastered all over events, but rather Event Sponsorship + Experiential Marketing at the site of the event that is used to both deepen relationships with consumers and to give them a personal experience they could never get through a digital device may just be the very best way to drive sales and expand market share.
Citi has been a leader in sponsorship of events for years and they have become experts at executing Experiential Marketing campaigns at the events they sponsor and recently Brand Channel sat down with Citi Global Consumer CMO Jennifer Breithaupt to discuss Citi’s experience strategies:
“Brand Channel talked with Breithaupt about Citi’s approach to experiential marketing and how it works for the brand.
Why does the experiential approach hold so much power for Citi?
Citi Jennifer Breithaupt
Experiential marketing is a key component of our overall marketing strategy. For us as a brand at Citi, it allows us to bring the brand to life and connect with consumers on a deeper and much more emotional level. It’s one of our more strategic approaches to connecting with consumers. We’re proud of our unique connection as an emotive brand, and it is a great differentiator for us in our category.
How are you leveraging it to engage with customers in a deeper and more meaningful way.?
We have obviously millions of customers around the world to reach and connect with. Our music platform is rather large—we work with more than 1,500 artists a year and 6,500 events. And our consumer entertainment platform as a whole is the largest of any brand. That’s an instrumental platform enabling us to establish deeper connections and enhanced loyalty with customers.”
“Bringing the brand to life” is what Event Sponsorship + Experiential Marketing is all about and Citi has shown that being omnipresent at events, particularly musical events, is a great way for Citi to directly reach consumers which helps to build deep and long lasting relationships which are fundamental to expanding consumer market share.
Canadian Monica Gomez who created The Concierge Club, a luxury premium event and staffing company, gets right to the point of the great value of Event Sponsorship + Experiential Marketing to reach consumers that often relish a break from their digital lives and are more than happy to embrace companies and brands that add value to their life while they are outside their normal comfort zone at a live event:
The Key To Pulling Off A Successful Activation In 2019, Monica Gomez, Ad Age
“In a world overflowing with distraction and diluted with competition, it's becoming harder and harder for businesses to connect with customers online. Today more than ever, brands need to step outside the digital box and find fresh ways to surprise and delight consumers in real, authentic ways. Experiential marketing has been climbing to the top of the brand-world totem pole for a few years now and shows no signs of slowing down. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts the event industry will grow by 44 percent from 2010 until 2020, and for good reason: 98 percent of consumers say they're more likely to buy a product after attending an activation. Whether a company lives online, in brick-and-mortar or somewhere in between, in-person events carry the potential to leave a lasting impression on customers, whose attention has become a true commodity. But it's not just about throwing a great party anymore. If businesses want to bond with their audience in a genuine way, they have to solve a problem and provide real value that customers can take home.”
The “98 percent of consumers say they’re more likely to buy a product after attending an activation” is a stunning number that should get the attention of marketing executives at companies that are always interested in reaching out to consumers directly which they hope will then turn into sales for their company’s products and services. Event Sponsorship + Experiential Marketing is now an incredibly effective path to reach consumers and at events companies need to go beyond just having their name and brand everywhere for people to see, but they must also build interactive, friendly, engaging, and memorable activities at those events that create the deep relationships with consumers that will lead to long-term customers.
The Roaring Fork Agency works with over 100+ events across America every year to help them find corporate sponsorship that create opportunities for companies to put together an Event Sponsorship + Experiential Marketing relationship with those events to reach consumers directly in places where consumers are happy to hear from real human beings, i.e. not a digital ad of some kind, that can help improve their lives.
One of the event companies we work with at the Roaring Fork Agency is Miramar Events in the San Francisco Bay area that for decades now under the leadership of company owner Tim Beeman has put on some of the most innovative, interesting, and consumer-friendly events on the West Coast.
The 8 events that Miramar Events is putting on in 2019 are:
PACIFIC COAST DREAM MACHINES SHOW
"The Coolest Show On Earth"
(29th annual) Half Moon Bay, California
WHEN: April 28, 2019, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
SILICON VALLEY A LA CARTE & ART FESTIVAL
"Spring Into Festival Season"
(23rd annual) Mountain View, California
WHEN: May 4-5, 2019, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
OL' FASHIONED 4TH OF JULY PARADE
(49th Annual) Half Moon Bay, California
WHEN: July 4, 2019, Parade starts at 12 noon and lasts approximately 90 minutes.
"Hot Fun In The Summertime"
Menlo Park, California
WHEN: July 20-21, 2019, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
"Last Blast Of Summer"
(49th annual) Millbrae, California
WHEN: August 31 - September 1, 2019, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. (always Labor Day weekend)
MOUNTAIN VIEW ART & WINE FESTIVAL
"A Festival Like No Other"
(48th annual) Mountain View, California
WHEN: September 7-8, 2019, 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. on Sunday
SAFEWAY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP PUMPKIN WEIGH-OFF
"World Heavyweight Championship of Gargantuan Gourds"
(46th annual) Half Moon Bay, California
WHEN: October 14, 2019, 7 a.m. - 11 a.m. (always on Columbus Day)
HALF MOON BAY ART & PUMPKIN FESTIVAL
"World Pumpkin Capital Celebrates The Great Gourd"
(49th annual) Half Moon Bay, California
WHEN: October 19-20, 2019, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. (always weekend after Columbus Day)
There are of course Sponsorship Opportunities available at all of the above 2019 Miramar Events, but to really reach consumers Event Sponsorship needs to be combined with a clear strategy of Experiential Marketing to really make your marketing dollars payoff and the Roaring Fork Agency can put your company’s brand, products and/or services on the ground in front of happy and engaged consumers at these Miramar Events or at over 100+ other events around America.
Event Sponsorship + Experiential Marketing is going to be one of the last places that companies will able to meet and engage with consumers directly as the world continues to evolve deeper into a digital reality, and the Roaring Fork Agency stands ready to promote your company at the above Miramar Events or another 100+ events across America in 2019 and beyond.
Just give us a call!
If you have any questions about event sponsorship or venue naming rights contact the Roaring Fork Agency at:
info@roaringforkagency.com
San Francisco, California - 415 730 - 4854
Lake Tahoe, Nevada – 775 374 - 6400
Bend, Oregon – 541 237 – 8080
Honolulu, Hawaii - 808 638 - 2600
Twitter - @RoaringForkAgcy