Event marketing cited as a growing profit area in uncertain times

Confronted by a turbulent economic climate and the changing ways in which audiences consume and are influenced by media to make purchase decisions, the C-suite and boardrooms of major brands are looking to senior marketing and sales executives as a source for innovative sales strategy. According to new research released jointly by the Event Marketing Institute, Meeting Professionals International and the George P. Johnson company, that strategy is event marketing.

For the seventh year in a row, the EventView report provides the data and insight to build a business case for the more central role of events in today’s new marketing framework.

The two new reports, EventView 2009 North America and EventView 2009 Global, are available for free download. To get your copy of EventView 2009 North America, click HERE.

To get your copy of EventView 2009 Global, click HERE.

Welcome to the New Reality: Everyone has to do more with less, and meetings are not exempt. Yet even now, management will still question whether an event is needed or not. How do you justify it? In a timely, informative look at how you can save costs and still put on a meaningful event, Event Dialogs Online recently hosted a FREE Webinar addressing the topic “Managing Event Costs: Smart Budgeting to Deliver Results.” Please join our host, EMI Senior Editor Rory J. Thompson, as he welcomed Mike Westcott, Managing Director of the Event Marketing Institute; Mark Shearon, Executive Vice President of TBA Global; and Tracy Higgins, Senior Director, Event Operations, Red 7 Media. To hear what they had to say, click HERE fill out the requested data, and hit “Launch Presentation.”

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The Event Marketing Institute is a think tank, educator, and global professional resource dedicated to the advancement and development of best practices, insights and business intelligence for individuals and companies using live marketing as a strategic marketing initiative. EMI serves as a catalyst for innovative thinking in event marketing strategies, tactics and measurement.

For an informative explainer as to what exactly EMI is and can do for you, log on to a recent FREE Webinar we hosted. Just click here to  fill in the requested information, and hit "Launch Presentation".

EMI WORKGROUP MEMBERSHIP is a competitive advantage you can’t afford to be without, including VIP benefits, discounts, business intelligence, marketing innovation and best-practices support that is essential to your business.
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EMI is proud of the members who help us promote our colleagues in the events industry. Could your company benefit from being affiliated with us? For a complete list of current EMI members, click the headline above, and see the roster of top-shelf companies who are already enjoying the advantages of membership. For more information on all the benefits, including access to our complete library of research and white papers, contact Member Development Director Kevin Rudden at Krudden@eventmarketinginstitute.org.

The largest and longest-running annual survey of corporate sales and marketing executives, EventView 2009, reveals that senior sales and marketing executives in North America believe that among all marketing channels, meetings and events are the discipline that can be leveraged now to best drive ROI, and accelerate and deepen brand relationships.

For the complete story, including a link to a free Whitepaper, "The Value of Meetings," click HERE.

Event Dialogs goes LIVE at this year’s EMS show in Chicago; the Event Marketing Institute will be holding “UnSessions” in the EMI Learning Lab. It’s where discussions will take place based on the topics YOU want to know about, an unstructured session where you pick the topics and you leave with answers from the industry’s best minds. Meet EMI analysts, advisory board members, and conference speakers, and get face-time with Event Marketer magazine’s editors. For more details contact EMI Managing Director Mike Westcott at mwestcott@eventmarketinginstitute.org.

Data shows decision-makers are turning to event marketing to drive purchase behavior and deepen engagement in the face of an intensifying worldwide financial crisis.

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. and DALLAS – The largest and longest-running annual survey of corporate sales and marketing executives, EventView 2009, reveals that senior sales and marketing executives in North America believe that among all marketing channels, meetings and events are the discipline that can be leveraged now to best drive ROI, and accelerate and deepen brand relationships.

These findings and many others are uncovered in the annual EventView 2009: North America report, the first report in a year-long series that will also provide insights into marketing in Western Europe, Asia Pacific and a number of verticals including Healthcare, Technology, Automotive and Financial Services. Between December 2008 and February 2009, 1,000 senior managers from North America, Europe and Asia Pacific were interviewed via telephone with the goal of bringing clarity to the value and role that events play in the marketing mix. [More]

Visa joins Executive Advisory Committee to focus on developing and sharing best practices for centralized meeting management solutions 

NORWALK, CT –The Event Marketing Institute is proud to announce that Visa has joined the organization as a worldwide underwriter of the growing trade organization. “Visa is a business leader and key partner in the events and meetings industry. We’re excited that Visa is demonstrating its commitment to the event business via its support of the Event Marketing Institute,” noted EMI president Kerry Smith. “We welcome Visa to our Executive Advisory Board and we look forward to working with their executives and fellow EMI members to develop standards and practices for the betterment of the industry.”

(For the full press release, click HERE )

 

EMI’s latest research report, “RFP Best Practices,” will help you sort out the best ways to get the most bang for your buck. This is part one of a multi-page report that looks at the agency review and selection process, and offers timely tips and helpful insights on how to best navigate this often-frustrating process. The report notes, in part, “creating a comprehensive measurement strategy that takes into account not only your event marketing campaigns, but also other elements within your marketing mix, is a fundamental necessity in order to derive an honest and useful event assessment.” To get your member’s copy sent to you today, contact Kevin P. Rudden, Member Development Director, at  krudden@eventmarketinginstitute.org / 203.899.8484.

EMI’s research report, “Measuring Events in the Marketing Mix” is now available for FREE to EMI members. In it, we take a close look at how the ability to identify and implement strategic metrics across all of your marketing platforms is critical to determining the true effectiveness of your campaigns. More importantly, it can pinpoint how those marketing programs impact the company’s bottom line.

In this exclusive study, we uncover the following highlights:

* 70% of companies have a system in place for collecting data and following up on leads from events;

* 58% of those surveyed use a CRM or sales database to better track sales leads;

* 33% of those asked distribute or analyze trade show data within a week of the event; 14% do so within the first 24 hours.

This new study, conducted by EMI and underwritten by Maritz Interactions, is available FREE to EMI members ($495 for others). To get your copy, contact Kevin P. Rudden, Member Development Director, at krudden@eventmarketinginstitute.org / 203.899.8484.

Did you know that the “Green Event” market is projected to double in the next 12-18 months?

We’ve completed work on our highly anticipated Green Event Imperative report. In it, we take a close look at how the current “green” consciousness is affecting every aspect of the event and trade-show business. This exclusive report a must-read for those who need to let their show attendees know they’re taking the eco-consciousness issue seriously. FREE for EMI members, $495 for all others.

For full details and information on how to get YOUR copy, contact Kevin P. Rudden, Member Development Director, at krudden@eventmarketinginstitute.org / 203.899.8484.

 

Need a way to gain some insights into what makes our business tick? We’ve been tackling just those topics in our weekly Webinar series, “Event Dialogs Online.” Hosted by EMI Senior Research Editor Rory J. Thompson, and featuring some outstanding insiders from the event industry, these “Dialogs” tackle today’s pressing issues with insight and foresight. If you missed any of our recent presentations, they’re now available online for free. To listen to and watch a particular one (or ALL of them), click on the appropriate link below.

In-Store Retail Events

The Economy’s Impact on Events: What To Do

Get Ready To Go Green!

Measuring Events in the Marketing Mix

Women in Event Marketing

With the success of MySpace and Facebook, many organizations are trying to get beyond the hype and sort out the business and marketing benefits of social networking technologies. This important trend has a history that goes back over a decade in the technology sector and has the potential to play an important role in your event marketing program.

EMI has taken a closer look at this new phenomenon with examples and an overview of the options available to event marketers seeking to reach their audiences more efficiently. We found more than 30 networking solutions that might well meet your needs. Some are free, some are costly, but all have features that can enhance your event program.

To download a free, five-page PDF of what we uncovered, click HERE.