B-to-C Events

Hush Puppies in August kicked off a six-week Off the Leash mobile tour that is taking its fall 2012 footwear collection—and its iconic basset hound mascot—to retailers, universities and music festivals throughout the Southeast. The effort marks the first mobile tour for the 54-year-old footwear brand, which is sold in more than 160 countries, as it seeks to update its brand awareness among a younger, hipper consumer base.

In life, change is constant. In event marketing, the same. And though the industry certainly continues to evolve, one quest never slows: the data chase.

Marketers across the industry need data from event attendees in order to prove performance, generate leads, push digital communication and ignore post-experience communication. And they’re upgrading age-old tactics to goose their chances of getting it.

Cotton Incorporated, the research and marketing organization for U.S. cotton growers, this fall is setting out to visit college campuses as part of its From Blue to Green campaign. The program is a call to action to get students to recycle their old jeans for reuse as donated housing insulation for in need communities, often affected by natural disasters.

The NFL last week got New York City retailers and fans to show their team spirit with a Back to Football shopping event held along 34th Street’s retail row. Storefronts showcased NFL apparel and other products and consumers, who were encouraged to wear NFL-licensed gear, participated in activities including the New Era Scavenger Hunt, player meet and greets and more. The fan events took place on Tuesday, Sept. 4. The shop window displays continued through the weekend.

The “hyper-local” catchphrase is almost cliché these days, mostly because every time event marketers get together, they discuss how consumers want “authentic,” “endemic” experiences that “speak to them.” Of course, many of those same people (they’re such “360-degree marketers,” who think “outside the box,” and they’re trying to “create tribes” of influencers who “fuse” with a brand) will go out and design a tour that will hit 35 different markets all over the continent, and eac