Last Word
Recently , I found myself reviewing the activities of PR and marketing contractors and I found myself doing the rounds of some trendy ‘ medyah !’ companies . At one of these meetings , in an equally trendy coffee shop , my host ordered a ‘ celerybooster-smoothie ’ which arrived in a jam jar . Whenever I see things like this my first question is , ‘ Who was the first to think that ….’. In this case ‘… drinking out of a jam jar would be a good idea ?’ Wouldn ’ t a straight glass suffice ?’ What struck me , as I considered this vision of unnecessariness , was that it was a good representation of what ’ s wrong with a lot of event marketing : the tendency to overcomplicate . One thing that never ceases to amaze , is the lengths that some people go to overcomplicate the simple proposition of events . Complexity confuses people . It ’ s the antithesis of success . Events are not complicated . It is only our insecurity that prompts us to find unnecessarily complicated answers to simple problems . It adds little value or added improvement to marketing activity , but is one of the key constants in every failure or under-performing event . The role of a genius is not to complicate the simple , but to simplify the complicated . There is an evolution away from complexity toward simplicity . Simpler things are more understandable . Improving efficiency and effectiveness generates better results .
We need to talk about event marketing
Trevor Punt , director at pm2o strategies , says event marketing needs a simple rethink
Whether you are launching , or increasing the audience of an event , marketing should increase exhibitors , visitors , delegates and other attendees who want to participate . A complicated message or a delivery mechanism does little to attract them . Marketing is imperative for an event to grow . Without some sort of marketing , exhibitors exhibit and visitors won ’ t visit . Unless you ’ ve got a super-exclusive show that trades on being the best-kept secret , marketing is essential . For some , marketing is a necessary evil . For others , it ’ s a passion . For most , it ’ s both a mainstay and mystery : we must do it , but we don ’ t know how to do it right .
Trevor Punt
What is wrong with a lot of event marketing is that there are too many ‘ experts ’ and not enough informed buyers . It used to be easy to find an agency that could handle all your marketing , now there are choices to be made from experts in disciplines like SEO , online advertising , social media , mobile marketing , and much more . Marketers looking for help must be both wary and wise about what they are buying . Today , buyers of marketing services must contend with multiple aspects of branding , marketing and communications from engaging an audience through social networks to the changing landscape of PR and media , mobile marketing , SMS , locationbased promos and content creation and curation . Event marketing is , like the concept of an event itself , a simple proposition . However , simplicity is smart , but it ’ s not always easy to achieve . Simplicity means remembering the six Ps : product , people , proposition , price , promotion , place . If you know the answers to these questions the less complicated and more effective the engagement of experts , the simpler your marketing will become and the more successful the outcome of your events . Growth creates complexity , which requires simplicity . It is always the simple that produces the marvellous , it ’ s as simple as that .
58 — Winter