Applying Classic Marketing Principles to Events

Have you noticed that our lives are increasingly surrounded by events of all sizes? Local festivals, corporate promotions, charity fundraisers, and more. When events replace traditional advertising as the new favorite for companies, governments, or organizations to promote themselves, their marketing characteristics become increasingly prominent. Indeed, in the post-advertising era, choosing events as a marketing tool is the right direction. But how can you maximize this tool? It's worth borrowing a page from classic marketing theory.

Recently, I came across an article about marketing that was very insightful. The gist was this: any company aiming to effectively market its products or services must address three questions: "What to produce?", "Value scarcity", and "Brand building". "What to produce" is the primary proposition of marketing, "value scarcity" is the core mindset, and "brand building" is the ultimate goal. Similarly, a successful event must deeply understand and fully implement these three aspects.

First, consider the primary proposition of marketing: "What to produce." For event marketing, this translates to: What kind of event should you hold? Product sales should start with consumer behavior research and market surveys; likewise, event sales should start with the needs and preferences of the audience. Before organizing an event, you must be clear about who the event is for and who needs to participate. Only by defining the target audience and fully exploring and creating value propositions for them can you define the event's nature. Just as customer value must be integrated into the body and blood of a product, the audience's needs and preferences must be deeply embedded in every element of the event—this is the soul of a successful event. Wang Wei, a leading figure in the events industry, described it in his new book The Power of Events: "For a ship without a destination, any wind is a headwind. For an event lacking clear positioning, any format is doomed to fail." This highlights the importance of event positioning.

Second is the core mindset of marketing: "value scarcity." How to tap into value scarcity and craft around customer value is the essence of marketing. As the saying goes, "What is scarce is precious." Any product, when scarce, will see its value multiply. Similarly, any event, only by breaking free from the homogeneity trap and fully leveraging its unique features, can attract widespread participation and attention. Looking at the current festival market, there's a food festival here, a cultural festival there, all grand in scale, but most lack clear themes, have empty content, and attract few participants, ultimately degenerating into self-entertaining government farces. Truly successful events must create scarce value that is unique, innovative, and distinctive. "Urban events should make great efforts to integrate with local distinctive resources, striving to make each event's theme more distinct and highlight local characteristics" (quoted from The Power of Events). Only events that fully reflect local characteristics possess value scarcity. Any event that blindly follows trends or imitates others without independent value will be short-lived and unable to withstand the test of time and society.

Finally, the ultimate goal of marketing is "brand building." In the past, when entertainment was monotonous and the economy underdeveloped, any event held in a place would attract crowds. With the proliferation of media, especially the internet, and increasingly fierce market competition, people have become more discerning about events. Even if an event attracts a momentary audience with a lively scene and a couple of big-name stars, it cannot win their long-term favor and loyalty. For an event to be sustainable and create anticipation, it cannot be a one-shot deal; it must build a mature brand. Internationally renowned events have histories spanning decades, centuries, or even millennia. As of 2011, the Olympics were 2787 years old, the World Cup 71, the World Expo 160, the Nice Carnival over 100, the Sapporo Snow Festival 61, and Munich's Oktoberfest 201... Events are an "attention economy," and the phenomenon of diminishing marginal utility of their appeal is very common. No one likes to attend the same event year after year; if the same event is staged again without innovation, its appeal will inevitably decline. This is why many domestic events with similar themes, stuck in cookie-cutter formats like opening ceremonies, exhibitions, negotiations, and investment fairs, mostly fizzle out after a brief appearance. In events, organizers should correctly handle the dialectical relationship between the event and the brand; the event's value and emotional value should not be artificially separated.

Tuoyuan believes that a good event planning proposal is only the first step. From "manufacturing products" to "manufacturing brands" is a marketing issue that Chinese companies urgently need to solve today. Similarly, from holding an event to establishing its brand value is an urgent issue for the events industry. A brand is the competitiveness of an event and its vitality. Finally, let me conclude with a quote from The Power of Events: "Building an event brand is a long-term endeavor, not a one-time spectacle. It requires not only a good planning proposal, long-term government policy support, and careful cultivation of the local market, but also stable operating models, consistent and persistent event themes, continuous innovation, and even risk-taking!" Market events like brand products to create value with lasting appeal!