How to Define Your Event's Brand Experience before the Beautiful Floral Arrangements
I LOVE events! Rather its a corporate meeting or a birthday soiree, they are a joy for me. I always get to meet someone new and learn a new bit of information. While I’ve had the privilege of being an attendee, I’ve also had the task of planning my own events and creative directing and producing content for large corporate events. This is REAL WORK, because events are extensions and vehicles of our brands.
Your event tells a story, which provides an experience. Every moment in the story must be thoughtfully and strategically executed. Sometimes we get excited and jump to the beautiful decor, delicious food, entertainment, our dream location, and more; which is absolutely a critical part of the story, but there's some work to do before exploring those components. I am NOT an event planner. They are amazingly, gifted people and I recommend hiring one for your next event. But just like event planners, I am a brand storyteller.
What I’ve learned is that it is not your event planner’s job to set brand goals and expected outcomes. These key details define your event’s success. Your event planner and creative teams help to amplify your brand story NOT define it.
“Event planners are very fluid. We step into every planning session ready to face any upcoming challenges. It becomes difficult when we have clients that may not have a sense of direction of where they would like their event to go or have not solidified their goal. It slows the process down as we should be moving two steps forward in our planning. “
~Erika Jones, A Social Life (@asociallife)
So if you are reading this, you are going to have a role in an event next year. Congratulations! If you’re in the Chicagoland area, you might want to hire Erika, but FIRST let’s discuss those details I mentioned earlier that will make your working relationship with her successful.
HERE ARE MY FIVE QUESTIONS (and supporting questions) to ask yourself and/or your internal planning team to help define your event’s brand story and reach your organization’s 2020 goals.
What does success look like? We all define success differently. Think about what how you and/or team define a successful event. Rather it’s sold out ticket sales, getting a specific influencer in the room, or perhaps getting media coverage – no matter the size of your event, goals and objectives should be set early on. These goals and objectives should be aligned with you and/or your organizational’s annual goals.
Who is your audience and what appeals to them? Audiences respond to event experiences in different ways. Knowing your target audience and what attracts them to and engages them during and post your event is crucial to meeting your event’s goals and sharing your brand’s story effectively. Your target audience should be defined before finalizing your budget and expenses. This helps with planning and investing in your event’s content strategy. Think about what pre-event, during event, and post-event content is valuable to your target audience. Consider what drives RSVP’s, what satisfies them during the event, and what makes them spread the word about you and/or your organization.
How do you want your attendees to feel? Emotions motivate behaviors. Do you want your attendees to feel joy, confidence, or a feeling of prestige at your event? What is the vibe that you’re going for? It’s important to know how you want attendees to feel when they experience your event. Feelings provoke actions. Your event planner, creative and content teams can help translate those emotions into experiences.
What do you want attendees to do and what are you doing for them? Do you want your audience to donate? Help build brand awareness? Buy your product? These are a few functional benefits that can occur from an event. It’s also important to think about what you are doing for them as well. Are you literally satisfying their appetite with delicious hors d'oeuvres? Are they making meaningful connections that will help build their own brands? Always think about the mutual functional benefits of attending your event and your event’s value proposition.
What is the event’s mission? Yes, your event has a mission. Events are a financial and emotional investment, so it’s important to know why you are making this investment. A mission statement creates a solid foundation for your event planner to build upon.