The Power of Live And Takeaways From ANA Annual Conference
Posted: 11/12/2009 12:08:23 PM by
Lesa Ukman | with 0 comments
Live events still are flourishing, despite the economy.
The Metropolitan Opera released its individual ticket sales figures for the ’09-‘10 season after its opening night: $2.5 million, up $500,000 from last year. Meanwhile, Seattle Opera has sold out its season.
Norm Langill’s fantastic Teatro ZinZanni, which just had its 10th anniversary in Seattle, fed and entertained one million people in the last 12 months. Anyone in the business of promoting or sponsoring entertainment and live events needs to experience Teatro ZinZanni, a dinner theater experience that combines circus, comedy and cabaret. With permanent locations in Seattle and San Francisco, its jaw-dropping tent holds 200 people.
Additionally, over the last two months, we’ve noticed attendance starting to come back at business meetings. Early registration for the IEG conference is at record levels, and in Phoenix, the Assn. of National Advertisers Annual Conference drew a record 1,200 attendees last weekend, including me.
Speaking at ANA, Google chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt confirmed the increasing interest in entertainment. Over the last three months, search queries for “clubs,” dancing,” and “tickets” are way up, as people are going out again, which Schmidt says is an indicator that the worst of the financial crisis is over.
Two points made by virtually every speaker were: 1) the increasing importance of social media; and 2) the need for brand authenticity. “Your brand has to be who it is” was the common refrain.
Examples:
- Walmart’s brand promise is ”Save Money, Live Better”
- Verizon’s brand story is about its commitment to its network
- Coors Light represents Rocky Mountain cold refreshment
Perhaps because so many presentations were stories of companies coming back from the brink of failure and successfully reinventing—including talks by Kodak, Walmart and McDonald’s—the emphasis was on the customer rather than the brand. Partnerships were far less prominent in this year’s presentations than in 2008.
Companies are not sponsoring less, but they are shifting dollars into niche properties. It’s a portfolio approach. McDonald’s, for example, has high profile alliances such as the NHL, Olympics and FIFA World Cup, but it was partnerships with Essence Music Festival, Latin Grammys, Cherry Blossom Festival and Historically Black Colleges and Universities that CMO Neil Golden mentioned to illustrate how the company was building loyalty among multicultural audiences.
The need for high profile partnerships may be diminishing as brands build their own media. For example, in less than 18 months, 2.5 million people joined Dairy Queen’s Blizzard Fan Club. However, the long-term sustainability of sponsorship is clear. Even Walmart CMO Stephen Quinn acknowledged that “merely standing for great prices is not enough to sustain relationships.”
That’s where sponsorship comes in. Quinn continued: “We must also support our customers’ values. For example, education is really important to our Hispanic shoppers, so we sponsor the Hispanic Scholarship Fund. With African-Americans, heritage is important, so we support the African-American Imprint tour.”
Not only are partnerships more niche, they are deeper. For example, I see a move from short-term cause marketing to longer-term promotion of social change.
More learnings from ANA in my next blog.
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Filed under: entertainment, events, IEG conference, strategic philanthropy, trends, cause marketing