How Sponsored Events Fulfill Warhol’s Prediction of Disruption

Executives at brands and agencies are so busy today that the days of taking meetings and con calls all day from the publisher and vendor communities has been reduced due to more pressing issuesamp160 Companies still have amp8220Media Daysamp8221 wherein they give various potential vendors the opportunity to pitch their storiesamp160facetoface after an RFP that they receive which details the desired specs of a potential investmentamp160However the days of working with a small handful of trusted amp8220partnersamp8221 haveamp160been disrupted by the crushing pace of technology resulting from startups which are offering solutions that challenge if not antiquate what used to be the amp8220usual suspectsamp8221 which got 80 of everythingLegendary artist Andy Warhol knew the power of brandingamp160 Who else was able to take icons ranging from Campbellamp8217s Soup to Marilyn Monroe and turn them into artamp160 But everything old is not new again especially as it relates to business or industry events which we believe are the amp8220New 15 Minutesamp8221 to borrow from Warholamp8217s famous declaration more than 40 years ago that amp8220in the future everyone will be worldfamous for 15 minutesamp8221Andyamp8217s prediction epitomized disruption at its core since it separated itself from the other 23 hours and 45 minutes on a given dayamp160 Media companies have leveraged thisamp160for fun and profit for the last several years as detailed in this 2013amp160New York Times article Media Outlets Embrace Conferences as Profits Riseamp160 Since this was published events have exploded in virtually all business and publishing segments most notably ours the advertising sectorSo it begs the question amp8220How does a marketer of any type evaluate the increasing number of sponsorable events being pitchedamp8221amp160 Thatamp8217s not as easy as it might seemamp160 The reason is that an event sponsorship of consequence comes with myriad elements that are essentially mashups of other things that were once standalone media investmentsamp160 And some eventamp8217s 15 minutes have a longer tail than othersTake for example the Taste of Home Cooking School Road Show TOHamp160 Launched over 40 years ago by Trusted Media Brands Inc TMBI formerly known as the Readeramp8217s Digest Association Inc today each TOH sponsor receives a multitude of elements including inevent content inevent videos demonstrations and signageamp160 The sponsor is essentially the amp8220Main Attractionamp8221However their sponsorship packages go much furtheramp160 They include the opportunity to set up networking booths to interact with attendees at almost all of TOHamp8217s 200 events each year plus use of the TOH email database of its attendees for postevent email CRM content and advertising in its sister magazineamp8217s digital mobile and social outlets amp8211 as well as research for sponsors to find out what attendees thought and opportunities for sponsors to distribute coupons samples or other tchotchkes that go into quotgoody bagsquotamp160 Itamp8217s essentially a 360degree program which takes experiential media to a new levelAs a media evaluation the wholesaleretail relationship to events can be amazingamp160 If one breaks down the individual value of each of these elements the collective value can reach to over 40 more than what the individual cost would beThatamp8217s not to say that events are easyamp160 They are not They require a support team on each side of the deal The event producer and the sponsor must have event teams who know how to leverage each element properlyamp160 We believe one needs a amp8220generalistlikeamp8221 approach to sizing up the value of eventsamp160 With so many to choose from the key to determining which event to sponsor is by looking at the event producerSome producers offer the world and frankly hope that the sponsor doesnamp8217t have the support on their side to take advantage of all the deal elementsamp160 Having attended spoken at sponsored andor produced literally hundreds of them by now I know that an event offers participants amp8211 including attendees speakers and sponsors the opportunity to shine but only if the sponsor is sophisticated enough to know the value of each element that the deal comes with and has the team to make sure they get what they are paying forThere are other thingsamp160like exclusivity sampling signage location quality of database where you are on the agenda the profile of the attendees and what other sponsors will also be on the stage with your brand or spokesperson or CEO which will determine if an event is truly worthy of the 15 minutes that Warhol said is coming to youSome people absorb information better from hearing it others from viewing it or reading itamp160 There are some of us who are better showpeople than othersamp160 Look at your events team and see if you have the right stuffamp160 After all they didnamp8217t let everybody into Studio 54 did theyFull disclosure Taste of Home Cooking School is a client of Madison Avenue ConsultingImage at top courtesy of Corbis The opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillageMyersBizNet management or associated bloggers

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How Sponsored Events Fulfill Warhol’s Prediction of Disruption

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How Sponsored Events Fulfill Warhol’s Prediction of Disruption

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