The value of interacting with current and potential customers

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The POWER
of EVENT
The value of interacting
with current and potential
customers through faceto-face and virtual events
is documented. Who’s
doing it right ... and how?
MARKETING
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Despite an
economy still on
the mend, event
marketers
are bringing
unprecedented
value to their
clients. Here’s
a look at some
companies that
are breaking
new ground.
Page 2
The NEXT
FRONTIERS
of EVENT
MARKETING
<Greg
Szymanski
SampleWerx
< Lynn
Randall
Maritz
Chris
Weil
<
Momentum Worldwide
William >
Flinn
Tournament of Roses
Chris >
Gaia
Maritz
S2
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SampleWerx distributed 50,000 adidas backpacks with sample products inside to fans at
the 50th anniversary of the Coca-Cola 600 at
the Lowes Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.
At left: Happy shoppers got gift bags through
the MallWerx program.
n these tough and challenging economic
times, there’s nothing like receiving a
goodie bag to help you forget your troubles. And Greg Szymanski, the president
of Mundelein, Ill.-based SampleWerx, understands that truism better than most.
SampleWerx, a division of Metropolitan
Graphic Arts, has for the past three years distributed what the company calls TrackWerx
Race Day gift bags at a variety of NASCAR
events around the country. The service is a
unique, turnkey event marketing approach
that allows packaged goods companies as
diverse as Procter & Gamble, Wrigley and
GlaxoSmithKline to distribute their products to
race fans as they exit the track.
A level of excitement seems to infuse all of
SampleWerx’s programs. For example,
WelcomeHomeWerx, a service the company
started up this past spring, involves a highend gift box that’s given to new home owners
on the day of closing.
“We’re getting a lot of brands who are interested in [WelcomeHomeWerx] because a
company’s products can be put in the hands
of someone precisely when they need them,”
says Szymanski. Samples might come from a
home improvement retailer, household product manufacturer, lawn care provider or any
company that produces a product that home
owners can try as they start a new chapter in
their lives.
The company also distributes gift bags to
I
more than 200 U.S. shopping malls on Black
Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. As the
unofficial beginning of the Christmas shopping
season, it’s traditionally the busiest shopping
day of the year. The samples might include
items that make the shopper’s day go easier.
SampleWerx has tie-ins with about 1,000
online catalogers. The company provides
product samples that are highly targeted to
the purchaser’s demographic and psychographic, and these are delivered in the box
with the customer’s order. There’s even a
SampleWerx service called RestaurantWerx,
which involves small product samples delivered with the cutlery at fine eateries.
GLOBAL
RESEARCH
These approaches are precisely what make
good event marketing—whether it’s at a race
track or a Realtor’s office—so successful. And
that, according to the latest research from the
Event Marketing Institute, is what a growing
collection of marketers around the world are
coming to realize.
In the 24-page EventView 2009 Global
study, a research project that the institute has
co-sponsored for seven years, 52 percent of
respondents chose event marketing as the
most effective discipline for those looking to
accelerate and deepen their relationship with
consumers. The study goes on to report that
30 percent believe that event marketing provides a better return on investment than any
other marketing strategy.
To no one’s surprise, a preponderance of
participants in the study cited “apprehension
about the economy” as their primary marketing concern. But as event marketing’s share of
companies’ overall budgets has increased
from 22 percent in 2007 to 27 percent last
year, marketing companies are learning the
true value of face-to-face interaction with current and potential customers.
Still, the study concludes, there’s more work
to be done. And savvy event marketers—as
well as companies such as SampleWerx that
make these programs happen—will redouble
their efforts to demonstrate the discipline’s
bottom line-driven results.
“Senior executives clearly believe that
events provide sound ROI, but it’s up to event
marketers to improve on this perception even
further by ensuring executives’ agreement on
ROI methodology and communicating those
measures in language that more effectively
articulates the validity and impact of the metrics,” the report suggests. “Developing more
efficient communication and measurement
systems are, thus, the twin imperatives of
today’s marketer. Those who do so successfully will achieve greater success for themselves and their organization by becoming a
force of profitable change.”
S3
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TOURNAMENT
of ROSES
As far as senior executives go, count William
Flinn as one who does not need to be convinced of the power of event marketing. As a
young boy growing up in the Philadelphia
area, he clearly remembers New Year’s Day
celebrations from his youth as the snow and
mercury dropped outside. Inside, he recalls,
the family was huddled around the set watching the Rose Parade and then the Rose Bowl
football game from invariably sunny Southern
California.
“When I was a kid, I remember seeing
those games and those palm trees in the
background, and I remember thinking, ‘Wow,
that would be a great place to be,’ ” he says.
As it turned out, Flinn, who is chief operating officer for the Tournament of Roses, realized his dream and then some.
“The Rose Parade and the Rose Bowl game
have become part of the way America spends
its New Year’s Day. It’s as much a part of that
day as getting together with family,” he says.
“And it’s also a great platform for companies
to get their message out and a great marketing opportunity for them to be a part of.”
That may actually be even truer this coming New Year’s than others, thanks to the
scheduling gods of college football. Because
in addition to being the 121st Rose Parade
and the 96th Rose Bowl game, the
Tournament of Roses this coming year also
will present the BCS National Championship
game in Pasadena, Calif.
The Tournament of Roses also stages a
number of events leading up to the Rose
Bowl, which has famously been called the
“Granddaddy of them all.” Two perennial
favorites, Flinn says, are Equestfest and
Bandfest. Equestfest, which happens every
year a couple of days before the Rose Parade,
gives fans a chance to get a close look at the
array of horse breeds that will participate in
the parade. Also leading up to the big day is
Bandfest, a two-day celebration featuring the
musicians, dancers and auxiliary performers
who will play in the parade.
Taken together, the events will be televised
by a wide variety of outlets, including ABC,
NBC, ESPN, the Home & Garden network,
Tribune Broadcasting, Univision, the Travel
Channel, Discovery and RFD TV, and will be
seen in more than 200 countries and territories outside the U.S.
The week-plus of events, many of which
are free of charge, will draw approximately 1
million in-person visitors, about 300,000 of
whom are out-of-area visitors who have
decided to vacation in the Pasadena area to
take in the festivities. And while Flinn is realistic about the effects of the economy on
Americans’ personal travel budgets, he
remains optimistic that attendance levels will
be on par with that of years past.
“Economics will always have an impact on
live events,” he admits. “But one of the things
to remember about economic downturns is
that these are precisely the times when people are looking to be entertained. We expect
the current economic conditions to have some
The Tournament of Roses events are known throughout
the nation as America’s New Year Celebration.
Thousands line the parade route in Pasadena to see
marching bands and floats make the 5.5-mile march.
S4
impact. But we also know that our events
draw from a wide range of demographic and
socio-economic groups.”
Additionally, he says, “Pasadena has
become a destination location around the
New Year’s holiday, and that’s exactly how we
market it. Because of that, it gives marketers
who are looking to get involved in our programs a lot of different levels with which to
accomplish their goals. It’s a very good investment for those companies.”
Flinn also contends that the Tournament of
Roses events, as well as those like them
across the country, fulfill a deeper purpose in
the American zeitgeist. They have become, he
believes, a common touchstone for the nation,
a group of events that can be counted on,
enjoyed and remembered.
“These types of traditions, especially the
ones that companies can associate with to
reach a lot of people, are becoming rare,” he
says. “They really are very American, and they
typically revolve around a major holiday.
“Events like these are something that will
always be there, year after year. People can
rely on them. And I feel that our events,
because they come at the beginning of a new
year, are about hope and fresh starts. That’s
the magnet of events like these. And that’s
one of the reasons why they’re so effective for
marketers.”
MARITZ
Nearly a half-country away to the east, in St.
Louis, Mo., Maritz, a firm that delves deeply
into the business-to-business meeting and
event marketing space, is finding that
despite the fact that the U.S. economy still is
in recovery mode, there are plenty of reasons for optimism.
In late May, the company released the findings of a Maritz Poll that showed a sense of
resignation and skepticism about the economy, but also a growing hope beginning to
emerge among certain groups of consumers.
The nationwide study showed that 70 percent
of respondents believe the economy “will get
worse before it gets better.” But nearly half—
48 percent—indicated that the U.S. economy
will be stronger once it does stabilize.
Demographically, the Maritz Poll showed
that senior citizens, as a group, are the least
likely to think the current course set out by the
Obama Administration will improve the economy anytime soon. Working as a counter-bal-
Targeted Solutions That Deliver Big Results
SampleWerx delivers highly targeted sampling programs that bridge the
gap between your brand and your target customer. These customized
programs give you access to millions of consumers in a multitude of
venues to gain trial and build brand equity with unparalleled results.
WelcomeHomeWerx
TrackWerx
New homeowners need a
wide range of products –
from pantry and cleaning
items to hardware and lawn
care. Don’t wait until they’ve
already moved in and have
done their shopping. With
WelcomeHomeWerx your
products are hand-delivered
at closing.
Nascar is one of the most
popular American pastimes,
attended by millions every
year. We hand out your
samples as these consumers
leave the track rather than
when they enter – so your
product not only gets
into their hands, it gets into
their home.
CatalogWerx
MallWerx
Our IDR CatalogWerx program places
samples and coupons into over 540 million
catalog and online merchandise orders,
giving you the opportunity to reach your
target consumers when they place orders.
If you want to reach more power shoppers
at one time, MallWerx is the perfect
choice. We target consumers with
customized programs throughout the
year, including Back-to-School and
Black Friday after Thanksgiving.
RestaurantWerx
Our RestaurantWerx program reaches
the millions of consumers who visit
fast-food restaurants every year.
Samples are placed in packages of
plastic cutlery, so every time someone
carries out cutlery with their food they
carry home your product, too.
Contact us at 1-847-388-3299
Visit our web site: www.samplewerx.com
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ance of sorts, the study found that the far
younger Generation Y population is more apt
to believe that steps taken by the federal government will “positively impact the economy
over the next several years,” according to Rich
Brose, director of research consulting for
Maritz Research’s financial services research
group.
“While Americans still believe the financial
crisis, inflation and energy prices will hinder
the economy over the next three years, they
believe the impact of these factors will not be
as bad as they did in November of last year,”
Brose adds.
So, in an economic environment as troublesome as this one, wouldn’t it be understandable for companies and organizations to
hunker down a bit, perhaps scale back on
event marketing budgets? Understandable,
yes. But strategically advisable? Probably not,
Brose concludes, particularly in the embattled
financial services sector.
“While seeking to restore confidence and
trust in the financial system, banks and other
financial services firms have an opportunity to
distinguish themselves in the eyes of their
customers,” he says. “Banks should seize
hold of this thread of opportunity and ensure
that their communications, actions and customer experience reinforce this confidence.”
With an eye on helping companies restore
that confidence during difficult times, Maritz
has been rolling out a suite of virtual meeting
and event offerings called Maritz LIVE, which
stands for Local Interactive Virtual Events.
Elements of the suite—which complement
and, in some cases, replace in-person meetings—are satellite broadcasting that utilizes
interactive technology from private television
provider Velocity Broadcasting; total virtual
events, which leverage cutting-edge, online
systems to help stage meetings or events
without making it necessary to send staffers
to far-flung locales; online meeting and video
conferencing; telepresence; and hybrid faceto-face/virtual conferences.
As a whole, the package presents Maritz
customers with a plethora of ways to slice and
dice effective meetings and enjoy the benefits
of five virtual values: Cost, carbon, content,
collaboration and community. Maritz LIVE, in
other words, is designed to help clients reduce
expenses and create greater efficiencies;
lessen their carbon footprint and implement
green strategies; offer new and innovative
types of content management solutions, such
S6
as on-demand knowledge and audience personalization; increase the interactive experience and the frequency of those interactions
before, during and after the event; and introduce new levels and forms of engagement,
including social networks.
Those social networking opportunities,
MOMENTUM
WORLDWIDE
Talk with Chris Weil for even a few minutes
and you get the sense that the exciting times
of event marketing are just beginning. Weil, as
In one of its first truly
Phygital executions,
Momentum Worldwide
helped Verizon Wireless
introduce its VCast mobile
music service in 2006.
along with all the rest of today’s marketing
tools, allow event marketers to create “a
much deeper bond between the attendees
and our clients,” according to Chris Gaia,
vice president of marketing for Maritz. “And
when you’re talking about total virtual
events, it suddenly opens the whole thing up
so that many more people can participate.”
Gaia’s colleague, Lynn Randall, a strategic
marketing and events coordinator at the
company, adds that events such as virtual
conventions and conferences would have
been unthinkable in the not-too-distant
past. But now that they’re here, they can be
used to deliver enhanced payback for the
clients as well as the attendees.
“Unless you give the attendees what they
need and what they want, they aren’t going
to respond the way you want them to,” she
says. “You have to use virtual events as a
unique tool that can be used to craft the
attendees’ experiences in new ways that
will be helpful to them.
“It’s really a very exciting time to be in
this business because the technology allows
you to do so many new and unique things
for your clients. And I think that’s particularly important in this environment, when
clients are looking to make every aspect of
their programs as impactful as possible to
the bottom line.
global chairman and CEO of Momentum
Worldwide, presides over what he proudly
describes as the world’s first Phygital marketing agency.
Phygital™ is a word Weil coined about two
years ago at the American Association of
Advertising Agencies’ Digital Conference.
What the word represents, Weil says, is the
intersection of the physical and digital arenas
as they pertain to communicating a client’s
brand message.
“The interesting thing about event marketing and experiential marketing has always
been that true brand engagement was most
powerful when consumers could actually
touch and feel the brand,” he says. “The only
drawback was that the reach of those events
was limited. But the emergence of digital has
taken care of that. So, when you put those two
worlds together you realize that Phygital is the
thing now. It’s the interplay that makes for a
campaign that rises above the expected.”
Momentum’s Phygital expertise took center
stage about a year ago during the Beijing
Olympic Games when the company conceived, built and staffed a 16,000-square-foot
pavilion to showcase the corporate brand
image of client adidas. Meshing the sports
apparel manufacturer’s logo of “Impossible is
Nothing” with the Olympics tagline of
“Together in 2008,” Momentum devised a
Don’t let the parade pass you by.
The Tournament of
Roses® unites brands with the millions of television viewers around the world who spend
their New Year’s Day sharing in the excitement of the Rose Parade® and the thrill of
college football at its finest in The Granddaddy of Them All ®—the Rose Bowl Game.®
Millions more will join that audience in 2010, when the Tournament of Roses also hosts
the Citi BCS National Championship Game.
Companies such as American Airlines, Honda, Nike and Sprint have made the
Tournament of Roses part of their marketing strategy—and so can you! To learn more, please
contact Wendy Matthes, Director of Marketing at (626) 449-4100 or wmatthes@rosemail.org.
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Momentum Worldwide’s event marketing
strategy leads with a “Phygital”
approach that communicates a client’s
brand message at the intersection of the
physical and digital arenas.
memorable multi-media experience for
Olympic visitors. At the heart of the pavilion
was a spiral theater that measured nearly 300
feet in length (the world’s longest) and was
composed of 760 LED panels.
The pavilion was a huge success. It attracted a total of 322,956 visitors (an average of
about 10,000 per day) and led to a 38 percent
increase in the brand awareness of adidas.
And, according to news reports, adidas had
the third-highest brand recall of any sponsor
at the Beijing Games.
That experience—as well as many years of
building fresh event marketing programs for
Coca-Cola’s Olympic sponsorships—helped
Momentum snag a nice piece of new business in mid-June when it was tasked with
creating a citywide celebration leading up to
the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games.
That’s got to be gratifying news for Weil,
whose agency’s brand of event marketing
never shies away from the edgy end of the
spectrum. But even as Momentum is willing to
go to new heights for its clients, the tenets of
Phygital marketing are rooted in rock-solid
S8
research and are crafted to produce maximum return on investment for the brands on
the firm’s roster.
Part of the promise of recent advancements
in technology is that they enable event marketers to envision never-before-conceived
scenarios for their clients. Another important
aspect is that those advancements allow
companies like Momentum to deliver laserlike metrics to measure the effectiveness of
campaigns.
Weil cites one recent example for a client
he declined to identify in which the
Momentum team staged a live show that was
tied to the client’s brand. After the event, he
says, the brand’s metrics shot up 30 to 40
percent. The show then was reformatted as a
Webcast, which led to another spike of 20 to
28 percent. Finally, the presentation was
repurposed as a TV show. And that bumped
the brand’s scores 30 to 35 percent higher.
That level of growth, according to Weil, can
mean only one thing: that the campaign has
used Phygital marketing to make the brand a
part of consumers’ lives.
“There’s no doubt that the technology has
come a long way and that it gives us a lot
more tools to work with,” he says. “But the
real reason we’re doing this—and why it’s so
effective—is that this is how consumers are
living their lives now. We’re no longer just
looking at events as an isolated incident.
We’re saying, ‘Look at the number of dialogues we’ve started with these people.’
We’re connecting with them in a very real
way.”
And that connection even includes younger
consumers who can sometimes look at traditional marketing approaches with a skeptical
eye.
“I think the next generation coming along is
very interesting because they’ve been raised
with this technology, and they no longer view
marketing messages within various media
platforms as objectionable,” Weil says. “The
idea that you are selling out because you
make a brand part of the entertainment is
gone. If it’s done correctly and done in their
voice, you can become an important part of
their community.”
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Momentum Worldwide
moving people to action
It may be hard to imagine, but the word
“Phygital” did not exist before June 14,
2007. That was the day that Chris Weil,
the global chairman and CEO of
Momentum Worldwide, uncorked it at a
conference on digital technologies presented by the American Association of
Advertising Agencies.
The concept of Phygital™ is simple…
deceptively so. It’s the marriage of marketing disciplines and tools that reside in both
the physical and digital realms. And, as
explained by Weil, it is the only true way to
turn simple brand users into coveted brand
loyalists.
“Everyone is always talking about
engagement. It’s the holy grail of marketing,” Weil says. “But engagement only
happens in two places—in the physical
space or the digital space. Otherwise, it’s
just pushing messages at people.”
Case in point: A few years back, the
company helped Verizon Wireless introduce its V Cast mobile music service with
a reunion concert by hip-hop band The
Fugees at the intersection of Hollywood
and Vine in Los Angeles. But it wasn’t just
any concert...That wouldn’t be Phygital. In
the month leading up to the live show,
consumers were invited to download music and ring tones and,
after opting in, Verizon returned the favor by sending to their
handsets bar-coded tickets that were scanned for admission at the
Fugees event.
The result was pure Momentum: The concert sold out within
hours, consumers were pumped to see the show, and Verizon’s V
Cast had a major halo moment.
Now, with a few more years of experience in planning programs
by looking through a “Phygital lens,” Momentum tends to
make Phygital campaigns look easy. They are not. They actually
are the payoff of an arduous multi-step process that begins with an
honest appraisal of a brand’s physical, digital and social assets.
This step in the process, which Momentum has dubbed the
“Phygital Audit,” is melded with a creative brief, consumer
insights, social and environmental factors and business challenges.
The end result takes the agency and client into the next step of the
process, the “Phygital Aspiration.”
Serving as a creative compass of sorts, the Phygital Aspiration
phase determines how Momentum will shape future consumer
interaction with the brand to ensure maximum impact of the
messaging, as well as the parameters of what the firm describes as
the “Brandworld” it will create.
Throughout the planning process, the teams work with the
experts in Momentum’s global Phygital R&D Lab to explore,
acquire and even create technologies that will bring the Phygital
Aspiration to life.
“Our leaders around the world have embraced the Phygital
ideal, and I have challenged them to always present ideas to the
clients that live in both spaces,” says Weil. “Either it begins with a
strong physical component and has digital elements that turn it
into something beyond the expected, or it’s the other way around.
With everything we do, we look at it through the same lens.”
Momentum
That unswerving philosophy led to a significant new piece of
Worldwide turns
business for Momentum Worldwide in mid-June, when the
brand users into
brand loyalists.
organizing committee of the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic
Games selected the firm to manage a citywide celebration leading Above: Verizon event.
At left: Coca-Cola and
up to the Games.
In announcing the assignment, Goh Kee Nguan, the chief adidas experiences at
executive of the organizing committee, alluded to Momentum’s the Beijing Olympics.
deep vault of experience developing on-site Olympic marketing
programs for Coca-Cola and others. He added that “Singaporeans
and visitors can look forward
to a memorable experience.”
ur leaders around the
Which is pretty much what
makes guys like Chris Weil
world have embraced
tick.
the
Phygital
ideal, and I have
“What our clients are lookchallenged them to always
ing for is sales-driving marketpresent ideas to the clients
ing opportunities,” he says.
“And a lot of what we do is to
that live in both spaces. Either
create moments in time that
it
begins with a strong physical
can become touch points in a
component and has digital
longer and deeper conversation
with consumers. At the end of
elements that turn it into
the day, all of our ideas are
something
beyond the expected,
designed to move people to
or
it’s
the
other way around.”
action.”
“O
For more information, visit www.momentumww.com
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Creating Increased Value by Incorporating a
Virtual Strategy into Your Traditional Events
As a corporate event strategy, virtual meeting solutions have
moved from the realm of imagination to viable options for
improving reach and impact. Real business value can be
created by engaging and motivating customers, channel
partners and employees through the powerful combination
of virtual and face-to-face meetings.
t
Collaboration, creating meaningful relationships inside
the virtual event framework
t
Community, bringing people together with interactive
experiences and social networking that expand
the impact of the event well beyond its physical
timeframe
In April of this year, St. Louis-based Maritz announced the
launch of Maritz LIVETM, where LIVE stands for Local Interactive
Virtual Events. Maritz LIVETM is a suite of services that enables
companies to successfully integrate virtual meetings and
events with their traditional, in-person programs. The virtual
platforms supported by these services are:
“Part of what we’re doing with the virtual events is developing
an environment that has some similarities to online gaming,”
explains Lynn Randall, strategic marketing and events
consultant for Maritz. “One of the primary anchors for
Maritz is engaging the attendees with compelling content
and presenting it in a way that is going to drive results for
our clients.”
Helping Organizations More Effectively Communicate, Motivate and
Educate their Customers, Channel Partners and Employees
“Improving meeting and
event effectiveness through
the creative use of virtual
meeting options represents
a significant opportunity for
companies today.”
t
Totally Virtual Environments - on-line interactive
environments
t
Satellite Broadcasting - custom television
programming to invitation-only audiences via
VELOCITY HD Broadcasting Network
t
Web Collaboration - on-line web meeting and video
conferencing
t
Telepresence - live, face-to-face experiences through
high quality video and voice transmission
“The economy [has] opened the door for companies looking
for solutions that are responsive to today’s environment, while
ensuring exceptional experiences to their employees, channel
partners and their customers,” says Chris Gaia, vice president
of marketing for Maritz. “Companies looking to use virtual
are encouraged to follow the ‘5Cs of virtual value’ as a basis
for their strategy.” These values are:
t
Cost, through reduced air travel
t
Carbon, by traveling fewer air miles and reducing an
organization’s carbon footprint
t
Content, leveraging the latest in audience
personalization and on-demand knowledge
Maritz services apply across all of the virtual platforms and
ensure a successful connection to your face-to-face meeting
and event strategy. Despite today’s advanced technologies,
both Gaia and Randall stress the importance of personal
interactions when it comes to meetings and events. Without
that, they say, client companies will not realize the full potential
of their marketing and communications initiatives.
“The opportunity is for companies to create these hybrid
events between the actual world and the virtual world so
that they can greatly increase the value of their meeting
investment,” says Gaia. “The virtual environment presents
some special challenges that are not found in face-to-face
events. By adding skills in the areas of virtual engagement
and recognition, learning and participant research, you can
create experiences that exceed expectations. So, you have to
take a look at all the possible avenues today and you have to
mix and match the available tools to best leverage the content
in your event.”
Or, as Randall says, “in-person and virtual constitute a great
one-two punch. There will always be compelling reasons for
people to get together and share that human connection. But
virtual events allow you to reach an expanded audience and
extend the event through time.”
For best-in-class virtual experiences that
are more effective and provide better
business outcomes, strategies require a
focus on:
Creating Incremental Value
Successful events that deliver stronger outcomes require a
more complete and comprehensive approach. Virtual solutions
added to traditional face-to-face strategies provide:
t
Lower Participant Costs
t
Increased Speed-to-Market
t
Cost
t
Carbon
t
Reduced Distance Barriers
t
Content
t
Ability to Reach More Guests, More Often
Collaboration
t
Stronger Guest Experiences
t
t
Community
For more information, please visit Maritz at
www.maritz.com, email info@maritz.com or
call (877) 4 MARITZ.
aw_eventMarketing
6/25/09
1:01 PM
Page 10
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION TO ADWEEK, BRANDWEEK AND MEDIAWEEK
Creating Increased Value by Incorporating a
Virtual Strategy into Your Traditional Events
As a corporate event strategy, virtual meeting solutions have
moved from the realm of imagination to viable options for
improving reach and impact. Real business value can be
created by engaging and motivating customers, channel
partners and employees through the powerful combination
of virtual and face-to-face meetings.
t
Collaboration, creating meaningful relationships inside
the virtual event framework
t
Community, bringing people together with interactive
experiences and social networking that expand
the impact of the event well beyond its physical
timeframe
In April of this year, St. Louis-based Maritz announced the
launch of Maritz LIVETM, where LIVE stands for Local Interactive
Virtual Events. Maritz LIVETM is a suite of services that enables
companies to successfully integrate virtual meetings and
events with their traditional, in-person programs. The virtual
platforms supported by these services are:
“Part of what we’re doing with the virtual events is developing
an environment that has some similarities to online gaming,”
explains Lynn Randall, strategic marketing and events
consultant for Maritz. “One of the primary anchors for
Maritz is engaging the attendees with compelling content
and presenting it in a way that is going to drive results for
our clients.”
Helping Organizations More Effectively Communicate, Motivate and
Educate their Customers, Channel Partners and Employees
“Improving meeting and
event effectiveness through
the creative use of virtual
meeting options represents
a significant opportunity for
companies today.”
t
Totally Virtual Environments - on-line interactive
environments
t
Satellite Broadcasting - custom television
programming to invitation-only audiences via
VELOCITY HD Broadcasting Network
t
Web Collaboration - on-line web meeting and video
conferencing
t
Telepresence - live, face-to-face experiences through
high quality video and voice transmission
“The economy [has] opened the door for companies looking
for solutions that are responsive to today’s environment, while
ensuring exceptional experiences to their employees, channel
partners and their customers,” says Chris Gaia, vice president
of marketing for Maritz. “Companies looking to use virtual
are encouraged to follow the ‘5Cs of virtual value’ as a basis
for their strategy.” These values are:
t
Cost, through reduced air travel
t
Carbon, by traveling fewer air miles and reducing an
organization’s carbon footprint
t
Content, leveraging the latest in audience
personalization and on-demand knowledge
Maritz services apply across all of the virtual platforms and
ensure a successful connection to your face-to-face meeting
and event strategy. Despite today’s advanced technologies,
both Gaia and Randall stress the importance of personal
interactions when it comes to meetings and events. Without
that, they say, client companies will not realize the full potential
of their marketing and communications initiatives.
“The opportunity is for companies to create these hybrid
events between the actual world and the virtual world so
that they can greatly increase the value of their meeting
investment,” says Gaia. “The virtual environment presents
some special challenges that are not found in face-to-face
events. By adding skills in the areas of virtual engagement
and recognition, learning and participant research, you can
create experiences that exceed expectations. So, you have to
take a look at all the possible avenues today and you have to
mix and match the available tools to best leverage the content
in your event.”
Or, as Randall says, “in-person and virtual constitute a great
one-two punch. There will always be compelling reasons for
people to get together and share that human connection. But
virtual events allow you to reach an expanded audience and
extend the event through time.”
For best-in-class virtual experiences that
are more effective and provide better
business outcomes, strategies require a
focus on:
Creating Incremental Value
Successful events that deliver stronger outcomes require a
more complete and comprehensive approach. Virtual solutions
added to traditional face-to-face strategies provide:
t
Lower Participant Costs
t
Increased Speed-to-Market
t
Cost
t
Carbon
t
Reduced Distance Barriers
t
Content
t
Ability to Reach More Guests, More Often
Collaboration
t
Stronger Guest Experiences
t
t
Community
For more information, please visit Maritz at
www.maritz.com, email info@maritz.com or
call (877) 4 MARITZ.