Image via Brand Innovators
For brand marketers, communicators and events executives focused on attracting key business decision-makers, 2023 has marked the year that “tentpole” events and activations returned to being a marketing must-have. That was a huge theme at Brand Innovators Trade Marketing Summit held at Amazon’s brand-new headquarters in New York City.
But more than ever, marketers’ approach to “tentpoles” is designed to perform and return dividends, unlike the “parties” of years past. Now, as movers and shakers descend upon happenings like CES, Cannes Lions, Upfronts or Advertising Week, marketers are creating environments and experiences that are a bit more intimate and aimed at deepening relationships, awareness and understanding. And, in addition to making them memorable, they’re building in ways to make them measurable, by creating ways to track and attribute each initiative.
A new favorite tactic? In addition to investing in sponsorships, bold-faced name talent and splashy experiences for big crowds, they’re also curating intimate dinners for their revenue and creative teams with top targets either weeks before an event or on the ground at week-long gatherings.
The events are the sizzle, and the dinners are the real ‘steak’ of the deal-making. The primary reason? All sales pitches can start to sound the same. More intimate gatherings are a way to cut through the noise, create relationships, learn pain points and develop very specific solutions.
“A great dinner with the right people can pay off a lot more than paying for a yacht at Cannes,” said one leading adtech CEO, who added that the new midnight curfew imposed there this year was an unpleasant surprise to the sponsoring companies whose main sales strategy was to entertain prospects until the wee hours.
What Gets Measured Gets…More Budget For 2024 Activations
During a panel on “Tentpoles: From Strategic Vision to On-site Execution,” Carly Zipp, Global Director of Brand Marketing for Amazon Ads says they create intentional "touchpoints" for each activation and track them carefully: number of invites, email opens, number of attendees, numbers of attendees who engaged in an activity or registered to get swag, etc. Their team then tracks which guests "took a high-value action” afterward, say a follow-up meeting, signing an order or increasing business. For Pinterest, even smaller events like dinners have an attribution window that tracks favorable outcomes that drive the business forward, and bigger initiatives like Cannes Lions, continue to track and measure results a year out.
For some communications professionals, a “high-value” action might include writing a positive story about your company, asking for a point of view on an industry matter from one of your company's leaders or simply asking for a 1:1 follow-up meeting.
The conference ended with smart takes from C-suiters who themselves are often the target of an onslaught of sellers. Said rockstar CMO Fernando Machado, formerly of Burger King and Activision and now at plant-based food company NotCo: “Do your homework.” This fundamental advice got heads nodding about what is clearly a pervasive “miss.” He remarked that the people he ends up connecting to and doing business with are those who clearly have bothered to experience, learn and get to know what his brand does.
For those heading into the big tentpole season, expect more and more brands to go for quality over quantity. And even the big spenders who go all out for over-the-top activations will be layering on more meaning and measurement on top of big confabs.
- Jeanne Meyer, CCO