Abstract
This chapter reviews the event marketing literature to show how events play a crucial strategic role in the new mediascape. In the context of new media, events could be used to amplify a brand communication strategy at all event stages: before-during-after. In particular, this chapter explains how companies realize augmented and adaptive marketing experiences in omni-channel environments, thanks to the positive effect of digitalization. The chapter employs the Why-How-What framework and the Hero model to analyze a successful event case-study, the Ferragnez wedding, which has become a brand itself. The authors make the case for using events to communicate companies' value propositions within their sectors and to advertise their brands, products and services.
TopIntroduction
In today’s business world, an increasing number of brands are competing to gain market share. According to Liu et al. (2018), the only critical factor that distinguishes a company’s value proposition from that of its competitors is their ability to establish a dialogue with their target audience, starting with their advertising campaigns. As a result, alternative types of marketing promotion - including new media marketing, experiential marketing, event marketing, and digital advertising - have become more and more crucial to raise brand awareness and reach target customers.
Within this dynamic scenario, so-called event marketing plays a significant role. Event marketing has been defined as a “communication tool whose purpose is to disseminate a company’s marketing messages by involving the target groups in experiential activity” (Drenger et al., 2008, p. 138), and as “the practice of promoting the interest of an organization and its brands by associating the organization with a specific activity” (Tafasse, 2016, p. 40). As companies are continually searching for new methods to appeal to customers and to position their products and services, the use of events has emerged as a strategic dimension to leverage on (Wu, 2016; Zarantonello & Schmitt, 2013). This is due to the ability of an event to create authentic experiences that generate high levels of audience engagement (Tafasse, 2016), not only during the event itself but also in the ‘before’ and ‘after’ event stages.
Event marketing can be combined with experiential marketing to produce a unique outcome.
While event marketing is unidirectional (employing one-way communication), experiential marketing uses two-way communication whereby brands interact with a customer to inform them about the brand’s products and services, and where customers have the opportunity to share their reactions. Experiential marketing offers customers an opportunity to engage with the brand and create a strong relationship with it.
For the purpose of this study, this chapter will deal with the use of experiential marketing as a strategic tool in order to advertise, in a more interactive way, brand promotion activities. The chapter is organized as follows. First, it reviews the literature on event marketing, with a focus on experiential events. Second, it presents the Ferragnez case. Finally, it presents managerial implications.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Digital Transformation: The term indicates a set of technological, cultural, organizational, social, creative and managerial changes associated with digital technology applications.
Digital Advertising: The term indicates the use of digital tools to target promotional marketing messages to consumers through the web.
Fedez: Pseudonym of Federico Leonardo Lucia, is an Italian rapper.
The Ferragnez: It is the personal brand created by Chiara Ferragni and Fedez in occasion of their wedding.
Chiara Ferragni: She is an Italian entrepreneur, blogger, designer and the most famous influencer in the world.
Experiential marketing: Memorable events that engage them in an inherently personal way.
Event Marketing: A communication tool whose purpose is to spread a company’s marketing messages by involving the target groups in experiential activity.