Decoding the Event Marketing Doctrine

Travel and tourism events are not merely marketing tools, they are the entire marketplaces. Event marketing can be a great way to showcase one’s products and services to a target market, to create brand awareness, to branch out to business-to-business trading; to promote products and services to a broader group; to do product and market testing, and to create customer database. The flip side of event marketing is that events eat up a lot of marketer’s time. Besides, travelling and displaying can be expensive and inadequate preparation can result in the cost of participation outweighing its gains.

During the last decade, stakeholders have developed a general change in perception regarding marketing strategy, from ‘events and promotion’ to being ‘data driven and strategic’. Yet, one thing that has actually not changed is the importance of events in the B2B marketer’s armoury of options to build a brand and convert qualified leads. Despite the emergence of Digital marketing, the growth of tourism events has been impressive, which underlines its importance in the marketing mix. ITB Berlin 2017 logged a record participation of over 180 countries, 10,000 exhibitors, 1,09,000 trade visitors and registered a turnover of €7 billion.

The story of WTM London has been almost similar. 2016 was the most successful event ever. With a joint record attendance of 51,500, WTM London witnessed the highest number of exhibitors, visitors and buyers in the event’s 37-year long history, generating more than £2.5 billion of business contracts. Event marketing still constitutes the lion’s share of a typical marketing budget. Research has shown that they still account for nearly 25 per cent of the overall B2B budget.

The notable point, however, is that while 75 per cent of the amount shelled out for PR, print ads, agencies, websites and Digital marketing is measurable with a huge amount of accuracy, event marketing still remains intangible. But for the actual business that happens on the event floor, they are generally assessed on the parameters of attendees, visitors, surveys, feedbacks and impact studies. In tourism events, the exhibitors and traders fall into diverse categories. On one hand, they include the country states, national tourism organisations, regional tourism organisations, trade associations, and on the other, the corporate and private entities belonging to accommodation, airlines, tour operation, destination management, event management and other allied sectors.

The appropriate way to evaluate would be to measure the returns on objectives and returns on investment (RoI). Returns on objectives is based on understanding what an event must accomplish for the marketer, whereas RoI would determine the effect of the event on increasing revenue or profitability. To get the most out of an event, it is important that the marketer sets their own objectives and targets for returns. It may differ from participant to participant.

OPTIMAL RETURNS

For country states and national tourism organisations, their primary target is to promote tourism, measurable in the form of an increase in the number of foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) and higher foreign exchange earnings. And the objectives are increased economic growth and creation of employment opportunities. To achieve optimal returns, the country states and national tourism bodies should focus on:

• Increasing the strength of the brand of their country
• Fostering a relationship with other country states and private stakeholders through networking
• Showcasing the USPs of their country
• Ensuring high visibility during the events through an effective display, high-level delegation, a strong contingent of participants, aggressive media strategy and by participating in convention events, conferences and seminars hosted at the trade fair.

HIGH VISIBILITY

The returns of ‘event marketing’ for the country states and national tourism bodies are generally not gauged on the event floor. They are measurable only after a period of time. For example, when India participated as an official premier partner at WTM London 2016, it earned high visibility on account of the following factors:

• Presence of India’s Tourism Minister and a strong contingent of participants comprising state governments, state tourism bodies and private co-exhibitors
• Participation in UNWTO-WTM Summit, convention events and seminar forums; by fixing planned B2B meetings with key stakeholders
• Putting up an impressive India Pavillion showcasing India as the land of eternal heritage with visual displays of 36 World Heritage sites of the country
• Extensive media coverage through PR agency

As a result, an online analysis on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and other social media forums revealed that India became the ‘second most talked-about destination’ at WTM London and was named the ‘tourism hotspot for 2017’. The dividend on India’s effective event marketing came later, in the form of an increased growth rate of 15 per cent in FTAs during the year 2017 in comparison with 10.3 per cent recorded in 2016.

There are many examples where careful planning and research, cost-benefit analysis, integrated marketing strategy, excellence in preparation for the event, attractive displays, effective business networking, good customer skills and impressive media promotion have resulted in desired returns. Recent editions of prestigious international tourism events have proved that by sheer excellence in all spheres of event marketing, a marketer can steal the limelight and maximise returns on their goals and investment.

Costa Rica was adjudged ‘best of best’ exhibitor in ITB Berlin 2016; Rwanda got the ‘best of best’ award during ITB Berlin 2015 and Maldives won the award at WTM Africa 2016. In the Asia/Australia/Oceania category, Indonesia bagged the ‘best exhibitor’ award for the second consecutive year at ITB Berlin 2017. The unique feature about Indonesia was that its presence was felt not only at the event but also throughout the city of Berlin where city buses showcased the wonders of Indonesia.

Abu Dhabi won the ‘best stand design’ award at WTM London 2017. The emirate impressed the judges with the way its pavillion stood out from the crowd. The stand was visited by over 7,000 delegates on the first day. The story of private players is more or less the same. Lufthansa was awarded the ‘best of best’ award at ITB Berlin 2017 for showcasing its huge investments made in the areas of product customisation and digitalisation, new business class rationalisation of one-way fares and pre-sales through direct channels. VisitFlanders earned the ‘best stand design’ award at WTM London 2016 for its impressive café-culture look and depiction of the typical culture of the region. Therefore, the moot point is that irrespective of the category of exhibitor or trader, every marketer at an event must aim to get their brand and business noticed. The key to gaining optimal returns lies in adhering to the following thumb rules:

PRE EVENT

• Identify goals & targets
• Cost-Benefit analysis
• Careful planning and research
• Pre-event marketing through websites, social media, virtual marketplace and B2B engagements

DURING THE EVENT

• Creative exhibition displays, enriching on-stand experience through product demonstrations, interactive touch points, engaging staff, videos and cultural events
• Interactive B2B meetings
• Organising press briefings, media interviews and ensuring optimal use of social media
• Ensuring high visibility by participating in talks, seminars, summit and conference events

POST EVENT

• Check post-show business generated
• Review visitors’ feedback
• Self-evaluation of the returns

Tourism industry across the globe is gearing up to take part in ITB Berlin 2018, starting on March 7. India will have a high-powered delegation, expected to be led by Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism and a large Indian contingent. It bagged the 3rd ‘best exhibitor’ award in Asia/Australia/Oceania category in ITB Berlin 2016, where the ‘Indian Wedding Event’ at India Pavillion was a great crowd puller. India has the potential to earn greater laurels at such events and can be the best amongst participating countries at ITB Berlin 2018 and in future events if it put its best foot forward.