CUSTOMER-DRIVEN EVENTSAND PROMOTIONS

A SHIFT IN THINKING…CUSTOMERS ARE MORE INVOLVED IN THE PRODUCTS/SERVICES YOU PROVIDE

Robin Hovey-Stapp, Senior Marketing Coordinator

Amy Leon, Senior Marketing/Events Coordinator

Erin Holley, Marketing Coordinator/Events

Why Develop a Promotion/Event?

Promotional activities are designed to inform, persuade, or remind the market of what we offer and our products and ultimately to influence consumers' feelings, beliefs, and behavior. A successful promotion/event program should include all the communication tools that can deliver a message to a target audience. A promotion program should include five components: advertising, sales promotion, public relations, sales force, and direct marketing.

60% of US Consumers have purchased a brand due to a promotion.*80% of online consumers have entered a sweepstakes.**82% of consumers will provide personal information in exchange for a chance to win.***

*IMI International **eMarketer ***Jupiter Research: Online Privacy Report

Establish Your Objectives

Who you are trying to reach? What do you want to accomplish? What do you want people to do because

of your promotion/event? (i.e. increase participation by 10%, increase sales by 15%, etc.)

How much time will it take to accomplish your objectives?

Lay the Groundwork

Use available resources (i.e. ESRI, Leisure Market Survey, Survey of Army Families, demographic data, FAMS database, sales data from local AAFES/DeCA, RecTrac, mwrbrandcentral.com, etc.)

Research and identify popular trends

Know your customer! Conduct local research (i.e.

exit surveys and focus groups)

Do Research Identify Your Target Market BE CREATIVE!

Develop a Plan and Theme

A promotion/event plan outlines the strategy, promotional tools or tactics you plan to use to accomplish your marketing objectives. Need to identify the promotional/event tactics.Project costsHow will your promotion/event tactics support your marketing objectives?

Develop Your Messages

Less is more – Focus on your call to action Target messages that speak to your audience and are

consistent Pay close attention to the non-verbal aspects of the

message Images, graphics, fonts should relate to your overall

theme, message, and audience for the maximum effect

Choose Your Delivery System Formal delivery system vs informal

delivery system Customers are spending less time in

“traditional media” (Radio usage is down 19%, TV viewing is down 33%, and

newspaper/magazine readership is

down 30%) – Arbitron Research: internet and multimedia study

and more time here…

Customers Are Engaged Online

Digital Consumers are shifting from passive shoppers to active brand participants 200 million US consumers have shopped online –

over 875 million worldwide*** 36 million download music or videos* 40 million browse the web from their mobile

phone** 50 million have created online content* 95 million participate in online Contests &

Sweepstakes 110 million participate in Social Networks*

U.S. Social Network usage* (All Adults - 35%, Adults 18-24 - 75%)

* Pew Internet and American Life **Nielson Mobile Study ***ComScore ****NY Times E-Commerce Report

http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=lFZ0z5Fm-Ng&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=lFZ0z5Fm-Ng&NR=1

Evaluate, Evaluate, Evaluate Measure and evaluate the success of the

promotion/event. Conduct customer feedback surveys and after action reports!

FMWRC Promotion Result Examples: 2010 Texas Hold’em promotion provided 101 additional nights to sell food

and beverage at garrison facilities Approximately half of all garrisons that participated in Texas Hold’em

stated more than 50% of the participants were new customers 2010 Operation Rising Star reports indicated an average increase of 18%

in daily revenue compared to 2009 results Eighty-seven percent of garrisons reported that the Operation Rising Star

Program is either valuable or very valuable in its ability to increase morale The 2010 www.Oprisingstar.com webpage increased views by 40,768 over

2009.

Case Study

Imagine you’re the head of marketing at a theme park, and you’re charged with announcing a major new attraction. What would you do?

Cindy Gordon, vice president of new media and marketing partnerships at

Universal Orlando Resort, told 7 people about The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

…and those 7 people told tens of thousands