Some say that it’s the weather, the entertainment, or the food that separates a great event from the best one. Still, we believe that it all boils down to the experience the event manages to provide to guests, making it either a success or a colossal flop.
And in that regard, the event’s reputation and perception are also essential, and they come down to branding.
Just think about the largest and most renowned branded festival events around the world: Coachella, Burning Man, Sziget, Summerfest, Rock in Rio, Wacken Open Air – all of these festivals appeal to different crowds, but they have one thing in common, and that’s outstanding event branding.
How is event marketing valuable for brands? How to create a fabulous brand event? The team at Hangout Creations brings you the inside scoop.
Event Branding: What Is It?
When talking about an event brand, marketers usually refer to a marketing practice that organizations and companies create to distinguish the individual identity for an event. The event brand will have its own name, messaging, vision, imagery, and symbols – just like a regular business brand. Naturally, its main focus is to stick out from the rest of the competition, become memorable to the target audience, and evoke a specific emotional response from them.
Event branding works similarly to business branding, meaning that every element must be cohesive, representing a complete picture. The event’s touchpoints, like marketing elements and the on-site look, should be the same, and the event brand should tell a cohesive story.
How Is Event Marketing Valuable for Brands?
You need to create a marketing plan to get any event brand off the ground. No matter if you’ve made a totally unique brand that’s really able to speak to your target audience, if they don’t know about it, chances are, they won’t show up at your event.
On that note, marketing can help you “spread the word.” There are quite a few ways to market your ideas, but still, your best bet at this time and age would be comprehensive digital marketing. Event marketing in the digital realm is able to create a more personalized experience with the brand event and evoke certain emotions in your target audiences, even before they set foot on the event site.
And with the help of an omnichannel approach, you can ensure your event will get noticed both on online and offline surfaces.
Event Branding: Why It Matters?
Creating the right event brand is a vital part of helping understand your target audience and what the event is about. It should clearly tell them what kind of experiences they can expect when they set foot on the premises or the event site.
A good event branding strategy can do much more than that. It can impact the business in several ways:
- It will also help with gaining recognition
- Generate new interest
- Attract vendors and possible sponsors
- Create loyalty and trust
Branding Elements
Creating a captivating event brand is a stellar way to create a memorable event identity that cohesively communicates a story to your audience. To make this work, the strategy must include the necessary branding elements, which are:
- Name
- Logo
- Color palette
- Brand story
- Typography
- Imagery
- Tone of Voice
- Slogan
These elements should all be carefully assessed to form a cohesive whole. Otherwise, you will end up having a bunch of ideas instead of a coherent brand.
Event Branding in the Digital World
As we’ve already mentioned above, digital marketing is the bread and butter of your event marketing strategy. Most people visit the Internet to gather information about literally everything. Because of this, investing in digital marketing for event branding purposes is more or less a must.
That said, here are the leading digital channels you should market and promote your event brand to maximize its potential:
Your website: An event website is necessary if you want to create a powerful brand. Your platform is an ideal space to show off your brand and all its brand elements. This is where your prospective guests will first look for vital information regarding your event. Also, with a built-in payment gateway, you can sell tickets online, making your website a crucial factor in your event marketing strategy.
Event marketplaces: These are specific digital marketplaces where you can promote your event and potentially reach and gain new customers.
Social channels: Social media has become a major driving force behind successful brands as they enable organizations to reach a large audience and, at the same time, establish their voice. Your social channels are the best place to showcase your unique approach and proposition for why people should opt for your event instead of others. On that end, you can also take advantage of influencer marketing to promote your event.
Branding Elements On-site
Lastly, you don’t want to forget about on-site branding elements. The last thing you want is to invest your precious time and money into event branding and marketing only to fail to recreate the same brand atmosphere, look, and feel on the event’s site.
That said, don’t forget about things like the following:
- Branded signage: Everything should be branded, from the entrance to exit signs.
- Branded agenda and maps
- Drinks and food: Take event branding to the next level with branded drinks and food. Go even one step further: branded cutlery, cups, reusable water bottles, and more.
- Branded photo boots: A branded background in a photo booth? Simple yet effective.
Tips to Create a Compelling Event Brand
Before we conclude, here are a few stellar ideas and tips you can leverage to make your brand and your event a blast.
Stellar event graphics
Visuals matter a great deal in branding. Graphics are essential in communicating your brand’s message and story. The graphics and visuals should always follow the brand’s typography and color pallet. Make sure to tell a story that appeals to your target audience.
Make a lasting impression
You want your brand to be memorable and ensure that your visitors look forward to purchasing a ticket next year. Branded merch like t-shirts, keychains, and other things like event experience passports can help with that.
Social media interactions and games are a great way to keep your audience engaged year-long. Scavenger hunts, quiz games about your event, music challenges, gif challenges, and hashtag challenges are all fantastic options to keep your audience interested.
Consistency
As said before, creating a cohesive whole in terms of branding is essential for success. Ensure that you are consistent across all channels; merch, hand-outs, and even parking signs should all be consistent.
Take Advantage of Expert Help
Event branding isn’t an easy task. It takes knowledge, careful planning, market positioning, patience, and time. With the help of a professional team, you can speed up the process considerably and make better use of your branding.
That said, if you are looking for branding experts or a pro team to help you plan influencer events, reach out to Hangout Creations and see how the magic happens.
