Have you ever wondered why you see so many more large brands at the live events you attend? From concerts to sporting events, the biggest brands in the world are buying more and more marketing space to reach audiences. Sometimes the matches don’t quite make sense; like when a car insurance company sponsors a race car. That is not exactly the best way to promote safe driving. But there is a broad-reaching reason why these brands are spending billions on live events, and you might find that reason very interesting.
In our new virtual world, most of the marketing dollars spent today are showing up on the Internet, television, and even in magazines. Advertisers are spending millions on print advertising that automatically interacts with your smartphone to create a very different experience.
But the fact is that every possible marketing distribution channel is over-saturated. There are still plenty of ways for digital marketing companies to reach target audiences, but the fact is that messages need to be more focused than ever to get through.
At the same time that the marketing world is bombarding target audiences through a variety of mediums, people are getting out more and more. The most popular mobile apps deal with restaurant reviews, buying movie tickets, and getting a ride from someone using their personal vehicle as a taxi. People are stepping out more and more, and brands see that as a huge opportunity.
When digital marketing first started, the idea of throwing it up against the wall to see what would stick was used a lot. These days, big data has made digital marketing more focused and effective as ever. But at live events, the idea of using that wall has resurfaced.
Brands are realizing that people are moving targets, and that is why brands are investing in live events. It is all a matter of putting as many eyes on the marketing collateral as possible to advance the brand.
Investing in live events is a tie-in to the rest of the marketing that big brands are doing. When 40,000 people at a baseball game constantly see ads for ABC, Corporation, they company name and logo stick in their heads. They don’t know what ABC, Corporation does, but they know that name and logo.
When some of those same people later go looking online for a product and see a product made or sold by ABC, Corporation, instantly that recognizable entity is going to have little more credibility than the others. With that investment in live events, big brands are using an old marketing tactic to make their new digital advertising more effective.
The next time you go to a sporting event or concert and wonder why that big brand is advertising there, start to think about the bigger picture. A live event audience is a captive audience that will see these advertisements all day long. In most cases, the experience at a live event is very positive, and that puts those brands in a positive light.
Later on, when you are shopping online and see that brand’s product, you are more likely to buy it because the name of the company is associated in your mind with that live event. It is an old marketing tactic that was thought to be outdated, but live events are making mass marketing popular again.
