First, the concept and characteristics of event marketing
1 The concept of event marketing.
Event marketing is a means and way for enterprises to plan, organize and use people or events with celebrity effect, news value and social influence to arouse the interest and concern of media, social groups and consumers, so as to improve the visibility and reputation of enterprises or products, establish a good brand image and finally promote the sales purpose of products or services. The operation mode of enterprise event marketing can be divided into two categories: a series of activities carried out by enterprises by borrowing popular social events or topics and combining the sales or communication purposes of enterprises or products, which is called "taking advantage of the trend"; enterprises integrate their own resources by planning, organizing and manufacturing newsworthy events to attract the interest and attention of media, social groups and consumers, which is called "creating momentum".
2 The main characteristics of event marketing.
(1) depends on external events. The essence of event marketing is events. Whether the enterprise plans its own events or borrows existing social hotspots, event marketing always focuses on a theme to achieve the sales target of the enterprise and establish a good image of the enterprise.
(2) Dual purpose. Event marketing has two purposes, one is to increase product sales, and the other is to shape brand image.
(3) Third-party justice. When enterprises implement event marketing, they pass their products, services and ideas to the target market and target groups with the help of a third-party impartial organization or authoritative individual, thus enhancing their attention.
(4) Information reception interference is small. Event marketing, with the help of or creating events that can quickly attract consumers' attention, firmly grasp the public's attention, eliminate the interference of a lot of junk information, and improve the effectiveness of communication.
(5) The publicity cost is low. Event marketing avoids the high publicity expenses of other marketing methods, and can produce the publicity effect of low input and high return.
Second, the planning of event marketing
1, select the event marketing method.
Using event marketing to enhance the brand image of an enterprise, we must first determine the strategic approach suitable for the enterprise. Common ways are:
(1) Sports sponsorship. Mainly through sponsorship, title, etc., through the corresponding sports activities for marketing, such as the Olympic Games, World Cup, etc. For example, Lenovo sponsored the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, which greatly enhanced its popularity.
(2) the way of news and public opinion. Enterprises use valuable and influential news in society to link with their own brands in time to achieve the communication effect of borrowers. For example, in the first time of "July 13" successful Olympic bid, Haier invested 50 million yuan to make a congratulatory advertisement, which was then broadcast. That night, Haier Group's hotline was blasted by consumers, further enhancing Haier's image as a national brand.
(3) Star effect mode. Using the popularity of celebrities to increase the added value of products can cultivate consumers' feelings for products and win consumers' pursuit of products. For example, Jamaican usain bolt, after winning the gold medal in the men's 100 meter final of the Olympic Games and breaking the world record, excitedly took off his golden Puma running shoes for people to see, and made a very powerful publicity for the international brand Puma.
2 Select the event of event marketing.
There are many kinds of events, and not any event can become an "event" for enterprises to implement event marketing with rice. Using an event marketing that suits you is half the success of event marketing. If the core point of an event can coincide with the appeal point of the enterprise and the concern point of the public to form a three-point line, then such an event is an "event" that the enterprise can use to implement event marketing. For example, Haier smashed the refrigerator. 1985, Haier introduced a world-class refrigerator production line from Germany. A year later, some users reported the quality problems of Haier refrigerator. After replacing the goods for users, Haier Company inspected the refrigerators in the whole factory and found that 76 refrigerators in stock were scratched, although it did not affect the refrigeration function of refrigerators. Zhang Ruimin, then the factory director, decided to smash these refrigerators in public, and put forward the view that "defective products are unqualified products", which caused great shock in the society and won a good reputation for the enterprise.
3 Choose the event marketing opportunity.
Enterprise event marketing is to create momentum, so we must seize the "potential". If the "potential" has not arrived or the big "potential" has gone, there is no need for event marketing. Seize the opportunity, the effect of event marketing will get twice the result with half the effort. There are usually two opportunities for enterprises to carry out event marketing, one is created by themselves within the enterprise, and the other is provided by the external environment of the enterprise such as social environment and industrial environment. Internal opportunities include opening, anniversary celebration, new product release, special honor and other major events. External opportunities include important festivals, large-scale activities, major events at home and abroad, the introduction of new industry regulations, and the emergence of new market opportunities. For example, after the Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan in 2008, Wang Laoji, a private enterprise in China, made a one-time donation of 1 100 million yuan at the CCTV disaster relief donation party. As a result, the Chinese people "blocked" Wang Laoji, prevented Wang Laoji herbal tea from appearing on the shelves of supermarkets, bought it in cans, and resolutely bought Wang Laoji herbal tea. This matter is no less than CCTV's prime-time advertisement. Since then, Wang Laoji has been recognized by more people in China, formed a good public reputation, and greatly improved the reputation of Wang Laoji.
Three, the implementation of event marketing should pay attention to the problem
1 Determine whether it is necessary to implement event marketing.
The implementation of event marketing may not bring benefits to enterprises. When weighing, enterprises can consider the following aspects:
(1) Evaluate the impact of sponsorship on the target customer base. Whether marketing events can have a unique opportunity to influence consumers is something that the general media can't provide. Toyota sponsored the Aichi World Expo in 2005. Through the robot high-tech performance in the Toyota Enterprise Pavilion, Toyota's technical strength was demonstrated to nearly 3 million tourists, which enhanced consumers' goodwill and recognition of Toyota. Moreover, the venues built by Toyota can be preserved for a long time and become the best brand display point. These publicity opportunities are unique opportunities for Toyota to sponsor the Aichi World Expo.
(2) Judge the coincidence degree between sponsors and corporate brands. Every big event has its own brand characteristics. Only when the brand characteristics of an event are consistent with the brand image that the enterprise wants to establish can the enterprise borrow it. The research results of McKinsey & Company show that the brand feature of the Expo is "innovation", because every Expo shows the highest achievements and latest development of mankind in science and technology, culture and economy, and people closely associate the Expo with "innovation". If an enterprise wants to establish the image of an innovative enterprise, then the World Expo is an excellent stage.
(3) Evaluate the influence of the brand image of the sponsorship activities. Lenovo, Samsung and other brands hope to use the strong global brand effect of the Olympic Games to enhance their global influence. Deutsche Telekom and Korea Telecom sponsored the World Cup with the help of the brand vitality and innovative elements of the World Cup to enhance the relevant image of corporate brands.
Mckinsey believes that if the incident does not affect the liver of the target customer of the enterprise, the enterprise should not sponsor it; If the activity is inconsistent with the brand image of the enterprise, the enterprise should not sponsor it; If the brand image of the enterprise is stronger than the sponsorship event, the enterprise should not sponsor it.
2. We should make full preparations before implementation.
Enterprises should implement event marketing in stages according to the stage of the event and the ever-changing public excitement. Before the event officially takes place, there is usually a long time to sponsor enterprises to carry out marketing activities. Because the target audience has different understandings and expectations of major events in different time periods, the sponsoring enterprises should implement them in stages according to the stage of the event itself and the ever-changing public excitement.
For example, Coca-Cola's sponsorship of the Beijing Olympic Games is to show its overall goal through three stages. Based on the overall goal of further enhancing its brand influence in China market, Coca-Cola divides Olympic marketing into three stages: ① pride and blessing; ② concern; ③ participation and celebration. In the stage of "Pride and Blessing", the public's excitement is immersed in the joy of successful Olympic bid. Coca-Cola launched the "Golden Cheer" commemorative jar at the first time, which closely combined the brand with the Olympic Games and enhanced the brand's influence. In the stage of "attention and participation", with the approaching of the Olympic Games, the public is eager to participate in the Olympic Games. To this end, Coca-Cola has designed the marketing theme of "Cheer up" to create a warm atmosphere through Olympic stars. In the "celebration" stage, the public's excitement is to cheer for the gold medal athletes. Coca-Cola has launched marketing activities with the theme of "celebration", such as inviting Olympic champions to hold a gold medal awarding ceremony in the Happy Zone.
Event marketing should be consistent with the staged business objectives and marketing strategies of enterprises.
Event marketing is an integral part of enterprise's overall marketing, which should serve the realization of enterprise's overall business objectives and be consistent with enterprise's phased business objectives and marketing strategies. For example, in the 1990s, Samsung's main goal was to make the Samsung brand a household name and become a top brand in the world. As an important means of marketing, Samsung sponsored the 1998 Winter Olympics and launched a series of publicity activities to strengthen its global brand image. Since 2000. Samsung's goal is to accelerate business localization and strengthen sales in key countries and regions. In order to achieve this marketing goal, Samsung sponsored the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The core of its marketing plan is to enhance Samsung's brand image in China market, create business opportunities and promote sales.
4. Establish a consistent and stable marketing theme.
Event marketing must always have a marketing theme. For example, at the Winter Olympics in Yancheng Lake, VISA created a theme "You've got what it needs", and all marketing activities were carried out around this theme.
There should be enough funds to prepare.
Many enterprises have invested a huge amount of money in sponsorship fees, so they think that they just need to make good use of the free rights they have obtained. The survey results of McKinsey & Company show that most enterprises spend most of their expenses on sponsorship and ignore the investment in activating marketing plans. To make a comprehensive and integrated marketing plan and make full use of the event, sponsors usually have to invest about twice the sponsorship fee to ensure the success of the event marketing. Sponsoring the Olympic Games, the proportion is even greater.
Four. conclusion
As an inevitable product of the new economic era, event marketing has been in a rapid development stage in China. Event marketing is a sharp weapon for brand promotion. It can expand the brand's popularity and enhance its reputation. However, event marketing itself is also a "double-edged sword": although event marketing can bring great attention to enterprises in a short, flat and fast way, it may also have the opposite effect. Therefore, when using event marketing to enhance the brand image of an enterprise, we should grasp the pulse of the enterprise and plan and implement it according to the actual situation, so as to achieve the expected effect.