B-to-B Events

Managing a trade show exhibit with 70 percent less than last year’s budget is become a reality for some marketers. At a time when cfos are slashing marketing dollars like the tails off shrimp on a sizzling Hibachi grill one exhibitor—Chase—not only worked with the slashed budget; it achieved a two-to-one return on its trade show investment.

For many event marketers and their customers taking the leap into virtual events can feel like a trip to a foreign land. Whether they are using a virtual platform to complement or replace a live event marketers worry that their attendees won’t sign up won’t show up or won’t know how to participate once they get there. But what they may not know is that virtual events are strikingly similar to live events. Yep that’s right Dorothy. It may feel like you’re not in Kansas anymore but rest assured there’s no wizard behind the virtual curtain.

At a time when many brand marketers are struggling to keep their portfolios afloat Hispanic marketing programs are flourishing. Walmart this year unveiled a new concept store Supermercado de Walmart in Houston as part of a strategy to become more relevant to Hispanic customers. The Milk Mustache Mobile Tour is traveling to 10 cities to introduce Hispanic families to the benefits of drinking low-fat or fat-free milk. And Kellogg’s began adding a touch of honey to its Corn Flakes (and noting a “toque de miel” on the cereal boxes) to appeal to Hispanic taste buds.

The conventional wisdom about green-screen photo activation says that it needs to be stationary within the footprint and should feature a large well green screen. Today’s green-screen activations however are growing up and moving out in some cases losing the screen altogether. Photos don’t have to be still to be custom anymore thanks to green-screen video and the ubiquitous neon green backdrop can stay at home now too thanks to custom environments and CGI.

Three examples:

If you’re not making Twitter an integral part of your events’ lifecycles you’re just flocking around. Here are eight ways you can add value to your events via the Twitter-verse.

Part 1: The Mechanics of Flight
Before you can become a tweeter of renown who makes every event a conversation there are some basics to be mastered.