Event Marketing

Every four years a city gets chosen to adopt the Olympic Games. Hosting an event that attracts more attention globally than any other event comes at no small cost. The most recent Olympics in Rio had the heavy price tag of $20 million dollars. So how do you market an event that is as expensive as the net worth of Snapchat? To reach every household in the world is no easy task, but let’s take a look into what marketing tricks are used for the customers actually attending the games.

The marketing director from the Rio Olympics, David Giglio, was asked to give three tips for fan engagement that were utilized from the Olympics that could be applied to the marketing of other events. His first tip was to “Let them live vicariously.” At the Rio Olympics there was an event centered on an activity that was a green screen that allowed the fans to use props and backgrounds that allowed them to get in the mind set of an athlete. It gave them the competitive drive that the Olympics is built on. What this means for your company is that you should put the customer in the shoes of the athlete, product user, or actor that you are trying to market.

The second tip that Giglio provided was “Bring in the talent.” What can better market your event than the athletes participating at it? The event marketing team pushed the Olympians to attend as many meet and greets and other sessions as they could to both benefit the event and the promotion of themselves. This method could easily transition to your event by utilizing your celebrity endorsers or even current loyal customers.

The final tip that Giglio provided was “Educate them.” With an event having such a deep history as the Olympics, there is plenty to learn. Marketing with information is a great tool to utilize because the customer actively wants to learn more about what you are selling. This method can easily be transferred to any type of business. In the end, customers want to learn more about the product that they are buying. It is the job of event marketing to ensure that nobody leaves an event just as educated as they came in.

http://www.eventmarketer.com/article/tips-on-fan-engagement-road-to-rio/