As BlueCross BlueShield of Florida’s 2007 event marketing calendar heats up the company is scaling up its sports sponsorships launching a new mobile marketing tour and spreading out its presence at lifestyle and small-business events. With the flurry of new activity the company is now spending roughly 25 percent of its budget on event marketing—more than double the percentage of the budget from last year.

Now that obesity is one of America’s top-of-mind issues brands that make fitness a creative part of their event programs can win mindshare change perception and even help their targets shed a few pounds. Putting some muscle behind your commitment to healthy living isn’t always a walk in the park though.

Tourist destinations can be attractive marketing venues especially when they’re home to tournaments festivals and annual events that boost attendance.
But executing events at resorts requires a hands-on year-round commitment even if the focus is making connections during high-traffic season. Keeping things as fresh and creative off-peak is as important as during the main events. Whether it’s snow bunnies or  snowbirds you’re targeting here are six ways to make it cook.

Some events like sales-based programs or sampling-focused initiatives are easier to measure than others. But it can be particularly difficult to determine the ROI of an internal event or initiative where the objective is often delivering a message or product knowledge. But just because it’s tricky doesn’t mean it’s impossible. In fact some of the easiest ways to measure internal events pull from standard metrics used to determine the value of other b-to-b or consumer programs. Four tips that will show you how it’s done.

Getting customers excited about your brand can be tricky. But getting approval for an event marketing program from corporate decision makers and budget gatekeepers can be even harder.