Marketing
Marketing the
‘new normal’
Will Broadfoot, director, Footfall Events & Marketing, offers
insight on how event marketers are changing the way they
connect with their customers
While watching this week’s
episode of Outback Opal
Hunters (I know, it’s a guilty
pleasure), I was surprised by the
number of slots in the ad breaks
promoting exotic getaways and
cruise packages. Their operators and
promoters still spending thousands
on TV advertising, seemingly
oblivious to the fact that nobody can
go on them and, currently at least,
nobody is booking them.
And while I admire the effort to
keep their brands front and centre,
I couldn’t help thinking that the
messaging was off kilter. Of course,
I want to be able to take a holiday
again, but right now nothing
could be further from my mind.
The sense of ‘looking forward to
brighter times’, which I was no
doubt supposed to be feeling, was so
masked by the economic and social
uncertainty we are all facing, that
the message was at best lost, and at
worst, damaging to their brand.
Event marketers need to be
mindful of this. Keeping our
brands visible is hugely important,
but so too is the need to deliver
messaging that resonates. We’re
pushing content out to exhibitors
and visitors, keeping them
informed of plans and hurriedly
researching alternative platforms
for engagement; but be wary. The
common marketing language of
‘features and benefits’ should be
carefully balanced with content
that is geared towards positively
helping our customers rather than
helping us to reach our goals. What’s
more, we need to make our brands
appear useful in a way that appeals
at an emotional level far more
than from a rational perspective.
Emotion is the driving force behind
decision-making at the best of
times, but during periods of crisis,
its significance becomes critical.
Naturally, when every other news/
social media story filtering through
makes such depressing reading, it
is also vital to ensure your content
avoids adding to customer anxiety
levels.
But what is emotionally engaging
content; how do marketers choose
which path to take? I don’t think it
matters; you know your markets and
which channels work best, but what
will make a difference is choosing
the right language and imagery to
convey maximum audience empathy.
We are all consumers and I’d avoid
pictures of busy aisles or people
enjoying close social interaction
until we’re also able to do so in our
own lives. Do inject some surprise,
intrigue, and even entertainment if
you can.
Will Broadfoot
So, what do other marketers in the
exhibition industry think and are
they changing the way they engage
with their audiences.
Alex Robertson, group marketing
manager, IFSEC & FIREX, Informa
Markets:
In a pre-Covid-19 world, 19 May 2020
would have seen the doors of ExCeL
London open to tens of thousands
of visitors to discover the latest
innovations in safety and security.
Unfortunately, the opportunity to
meet up in person had to be postponed
until later in the year, but what became
clear to us was that our customers were
hungry for information on how their
industries are adapting to the Covid-19
situation. Hence, IFSEC & FIREX
Digital Week was born, running from
18-22 May, the event included a series of
webinars, whitepapers, product demo
videos and articles across our content
platforms.
For our team of marketers, we had
to quickly adapt our strategy to shift
from promoting a live event to a virtual
one, building new content management
systems and websites, setting up new
automations and marketing a new
product.
The feedback we received was
overwhelmingly positive, with
sponsorship opportunities being oversubscribed,
the desire to maintain a
presence in the industry was clear. In
the build-up to the event, we saw a
steep rise in traffic to our content sites
and more than 10,000 sign-ups to the
Digital Week.
The experience has been challenging
yet highly rewarding, accelerating our
adoption of digital,
which will help us
to develop exciting
future virtual
events to run
alongside our live
tradeshows in the
future.
Alex Robertson
June — 43