Many meeting planners are working more closely with marketing departments to identify the most appropriate event atmosphere, develop a consistent message and deliver the right experience to generate the highest return on meeting investment.

Some planning departments have been converging with their marketing counterparts for years, but heavy scrutiny of marketing strategies and the dollars spent to execute them has prompted others to demonstrate new value or adapt their practices to new marketing environments. The breakdown of the barriers between the two organizations is a fundamental change in the way they manage their meetings.

"There is a move from mass marketing to one-to-one customized marketing," according to Carlson Marketing president of engagement and events for the United States Fay Beauchine, adding the trend drives not only group performance but also individual reaction to an event. "Are they going to sell more because you spent $1 million putting on an event? If they are not, then you probably didn't put your event on in the right way or you didn't break through or meet their needs," said Beauchine.

Although new tactics enable marketers to reach people in new and at times more cost effective ways, meetings still are seen by some marketers as the paramount platform to reach customers, and they need to adapt as well.

"Meetings are the best form of word of mouth and the best form of reaching people on a face-to-face basis," said Aflac senior vice president and chief marketing officer Jeff Charney. "Those have to be improved. As marketing has improved, so should meetings."

As event marketers use social media and online targeted messaging tools throughout an event's lifecycle, some planners are adapting their programs accordingly and delivering key metrics on attendees to help guide marketers' efforts.

Wolters Kluwer Corporate Legal Services now is incorporating its event marketing strategies into the earliest stages of planning, said senior events manager Phyl Monroe. "It starts during the creation of the event with the thought process of what the event is going to be, what the layout is, where the staff is going to be, how they are going to interact and what opportunities are given to them so they can get ROI," said Monroe, who resides within her company's marketing department.

Monroe manages about 25 half-day seminars and oversees several trade shows and their related events, which are tailored to deliver a consistent message and generate the best use of company attendees' time.

Recently, the company's sales team asked Monroe and her team to help organize local customer relationship-building events of about 10 to 15 people. Monroe aligned the logistical planning with the company's marketing campaign, which featured a superhero theme, by selecting appropriate venues and incorporating bold color schemes into the meeting's environment.

Her efforts to adapt the overarching marketing strategy into Wolters Kluwer's events has given the planning department a new dimension.

"They can use a coordinator or secretary to call a restaurant and reserve a space for 25 people, but what that other person doesn't have is access to the registration tools as well as that creative twist of thinking about the ad campaigns," she said.

The meeting planning and marketing convergence also has aided in tracking and measuring meetings performance and identifying which attendees bring the most value to that organization and determining how best to interact with them. With the new measurement tactics, "the sponsor of the event can be certain that the people they are tracking will have greater meaning to their business model long-term," said George P. Johnson senior vice president of worldwide program strategy David Rich.

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion recently implemented radio-frequency identification technology at its meetings to track attendees and their behavior at BlackBerry booths and other venues. From the RFID scans, the marketing and meetings teams are able to see which information attendees read, the products they are most interested in and how they consume information.

RIM then uses that information to develop targeted communications to attendees before, during and after events. According to RIM senior marketing manager of corporate events Christine Doherty, those RFID-enabled tailored messages help the company select ideal meeting invitees and build the right event experience.

"The Holy Grail is to map out that information with certain job titles," said Doherty, who oversees several large trade shows annually and manages some of the company's client activation and event sponsorship programs. "Feasibly, you can map out what type of scans they undertook and what information they are looking for on a regular basis and map it out to IT administrators."

As event marketers track an increasing amount of metrics around events, Doherty said planners should begin to undertake their own efforts, which can help with future planning. "Meeting planners should measure everything and know intimately their own show metrics and start comparing them to what other people are doing in the industry," she said.

While some organizations have seen silo walls between them break down, it is important for both marketing and meeting planning departments to keep in mind their respective subject matter expertise, said Brad Weaber, executive vice president of event services for association management company SmithBucklin and president of its subsidiary Courtesy Associations.

"Event marketing is not logistics and logistics is not necessarily marketing," according to Weaber. "You have to keep these somewhat exclusive, but also bring them together for collaboration."

Originally published Jan. 25, 2010 This page is protected by Copyright laws. Do Not Copy