Events MarketingWeek 9 - Branding and brand experiences

The coming weeks• Week 10: Marketing Evaluation and

Control • Week 11: no lecture/seminar –

individual tutorials by appointment• Week 12 – no postgraduate teaching• Week 13: Case study report (due

21/1/16 at 3pm)• Week 15: Unseen exam (date will be

released around 9/12/15)

Session Objectives:Lecture:• Present the elements of branding as a marketing

communications strategy• Discuss the relevance of branding in the context

of events• Explore branding through experiential marketing/

brand activationSeminar: • Understanding and communicating the brand –

experiential

What is a Brand?‘Brands are promises which set up customer expectations. Successful brands deliver on their promises, by meeting or exceeding expectations, consistently.’

Fill (2011:141)Watch this video (ca 2:45 mins.)

Definitions of a BrandAuthor Definition

Alexander (1960) American Marketing Association

‘A name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors’.

Assael (1990) ‘…name, symbol, packaging and service reputation’.

Schmitt (1999) ‘a rich source of sensory, affective and cognitive associations that result in memorable and rewarding brand experiences’.

Riezebos (2003) ‘…every sign that is capable of distinguishing the goods or services of a company and that can have a certain meaning for consumers both in material and in immaterial terms’.

Keller (2008) ‘…something that has actually created a certain amount of awareness, reputation, prominence…in the marketplace’.

Source: Fill (2011)

Some “disconcerting facts” about brands (based on Bullmore 2003, cited in Sherrington 2003: 69-70)

• Products are owned by companies, brands are owned by people

• The image of a brand is a subjective thing• A global brand is therefore a contradiction• A brand is difficult to control• Brands are organic entities• Although the brand is a company’s most

valuable asset, it is near impossible to measure that value

What is a Brand?

• 3 main components of a brand: 1. Brand elements2. What the brand stands for3. Associations one has with the brand

• Brand elementsA name, Logo & Symbols, Packaging, Slogan

• Expectations• Perceptions (regardless of the purchase)• Lasting impressions • Value

What is a Brand?

• What does the brand stand for? – Perceptions (regardless of the purchase) – Perception of value– Reputation (lasting impressions – positive or

negative)– History (heritage)

• Associations that one has of the brand– Individual vs Group– Societal (religious, ethnic, ethical, etc.)– Global

Sherrington’s 5 simple questions for developing a branding strategy1. What is our purpose – or mission? To put it

another way, what is the mark we want to leave on the world?

2. What is our market?3. Who are our competitors?4. Who are our buyers?5. What are we good at and how does this stack

up against the success factors in our market?(Sherrington 2003: 56)

Anatomy of a brand

• Internal vs external branding• Brand promise• Brand theme, values and/or storyline (see

Cornelissen, Christensen & Kinuthia, 2012)• Brand equity• Brand ambassadorship• Brand consistency

Why brand?• Differentiation• Source of competitive advantage• Building brand equity (awareness,

satisfaction & loyalty, image and resonance)• Emphasising quality• Highlighting uniqueness of products• Source of customer satisfaction and loyalty

that leads to higher returns

Source: Keller (2008)

What makes a strong brand?

• Distinctiveness/Uniqueness

• Brand ‘platform’ – positive associations in stakeholders’ minds

• Full sensory and emotional experience (Lindstrom, 2010)

• Effective use of new media in creating conversations and allowing the process of co-creation

Brand Management

• The process of building and creating the consumer’s image of a brand before their buying decision

• The process of building brand equity

• The process of creating and enhancing the brand reputation now and in the future

• The process of sustaining the brand in the market forever

Source: Melewar and Syed Alwi (2012)

Event Branding

• Corporate event branding through the creation a sponsorship vehicle, e.g. Tennents Lager and the “T” in the Park festival

• Sponsor taking ownership of existing event so that it becomes synonymous with the brand, e.g. Vans and Warped Tour

• Sponsor’s name in the event title, e.g. Virgin Money London Marathon

Event branding

• More than a logo• The event brand must not obscure the

“parent brand” – but it must still have its “own” brand identity

• Event branding should be flexible

Delivering Brand Experiences

• The totality of interactions between the brand and its target audiences, supporting the brand identity

• Needs to be well thought out and designed strategically

• Must be supported with the appropriate marketing communications mix elements

What about experiential marketing?

Experiential Marketing1. Experiential marketing is an integrated methodology,

always engaging target audiences at their will through brand-relevant communications that add value.

2. The experiential marketing campaign is built around one big idea that should involve two way communication between the brand and the target audience in real time, therefore featuring a live brand experience at its core

3. The other marketing communications channels that are selected and integrated are the amplification channels, which amplify the impact of the big idea (the live brand experience)

Smilansky 2009: 6

Smilansky 2009: 6

The big ideaLive brand experience

Face 2 Face or remote technology

Digital

Live broadcast TV/Radio/onlin

e

Advertising

Public Relations

Amplification Channels

Sense amplification example

Why experiential?The consumer perspective• Trying before buying• Memorable experiences (the surprise effect)The brand perspective• Memorable experiences – brand association• Creating and maintaining relationships• Testing products and marketing approaches

• Field Marketing:Face-to-face sales promotion (often “one-way”)• Event Marketing:Can be, but doesn’t have to be, experiential• Live Brand Experiences:“Face-to-face” or remote two-way communication – always experiential

Formulating the brand experience: The BETTER Model

Smilansky 2009: 52

Brand personality Three brand values that sum up the brands' human-like characteristics

Emotional Connection Multi-sensory and/or authentic, positively connected and personally meaningful

Target Audience What they like, their lifestyle, their aspirations, the time they have available

Two-way interaction A live brand expereience [F2F/remote] that combines the above B,E & T

Exponential element A trigger mechanism that encourages participants to pass on their experience

Reach Two way interaction, word of mouth and amplification channels

Experiential strategy• Strategies should be based on achieving

a two-way interaction between the brand and the customer

• Live brand experience• The STRATEGIES acronym (Smilansky

2009)

STRATEGIES (Smilansky, 2009: 123ff)Service

Theatre

Research

Adverts

Televised or Broadcast

Entertainment

Game (or Competition)

Interactive technology

Education

Set

Integrating selected elements of STRATEGIES

Educational+service+research+set

Smilansky, 2009:129)

The brand experience staff• Recruitment is key• ”Brand Warriors” –

Tribe experiential event agency training session

• Is this only for a certain type of people?• Front line sales versus experiential –

what is the difference?

Measure, measure, measure…• Price reduction codes, offers etc linked

directly to the experiential event• Social media linkage• Surveys on the website (and on site

feedback)• Separating different campaignsNote: Sometimes companies collect feedback

and data without actually analysing it!

Useful resourcesKeller, L.K. (2008) Strategic brand management: Building, measuring and managing brand equity, 3rd Edition, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice-Hall (hard copy available in the library)

Kotler, P., Kartajaja, H. and Setiawan, I. 2010. Marketing 3.0: From Products to Customers to the Human Spirit, Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons (available as ebook)

Lindstrom, M. 2010. Brand Sense: Sensory Secrets Behind the Stuff We Buy, London: Kogan Page (hard copy available in the library)

Melewar, T. and Syed Alwi, S.F. (2012), "Branding and brand management", in Baker, M.J. (ed.), Principles of Marketing: Guidelines for effective practice, The Marketing & Management Collection, Henry Stewart Talks Ltd, London (online at http://0-hstalks.com.emu.londonmet.ac.uk/go)

Sherrington, M. 2003, Added Value: The Alchemy of Brand-led Growth, London: Palgrave

Useful resources• Smilansky, Shaz (2009) Experiential Marketing

Online newspapers and magazines:• Event Magazine (do sign up for their newsletter)• Experiential Magazine• Huffington Post• Marketing Week

Also:• Most events agencies publish case studies and share

results (the positive side) and videos online