8 ideas for the branding of your event
To develop an event that stands out and touches people, you must consider your event as a brand. Its effectiveness and impact then depend on your ability to create an entity, and therefore a brand, that can live independently and in an original way. Whether it is an event that is overseen by another brand, such as Red Bull’s Crashed Ice, or an event that lives alone, such as the Festival International of Montreal, an event must find its voice and leave its mark.
Thus, like any other entity, an event has a particular identity and purpose that it is important to define and bring to life in a coherent and detailed manner in order to create a significant and effective event that will surprise and amaze. This type of event will create anticipation and greater excitement among participants and partners, a stronger desire to renew the experience and participate again, a stronger commitment, and increased visibility.
So, since the event is a privileged place, a place where all the attention of the people present is offered to us on a silver platter, we must make sure to plan it carefully and strike a big blow.
Here are 8 ideas to remember for the branding of your event:
1. Clearly define the identity and purpose of your event
As mentioned above, an event is like a person or a brand. It has a particular identity and purpose. While identity defines how the event will be expressed in detail, purpose brings something into the lives of the people who will participate and justifies its value to them. In short, it is necessary to define the identity of the event in order to know how to decorate, how to communicate, what music to use, what activities to organize, etc. It is also necessary to identify the purpose of the event to give it meaning. Why this event and not another? Why would someone participate in your event rather than another? Your event probably has an important meaning for you. Is this meaning also important for your participants? If not, you must express your purpose in a way that will reach and enrich the lives of your target audience and then communicate it effectively.
In the case of a brand that covers several events, care must be taken to avoid redundancy between these different events. To differentiate brand events and clarify these differences in the minds of your participants, organize each event around one of your brand’s attributes. The different attributes of a brand are qualitative descriptors of all the activities of a brand. For example, some of the attributes of the Apple brand are simplicity, creativity and design. So everything Apple does must be simple, creative and inspired by design. However, Apple could, to ensure that it is not redundant, use each of these attributes as the central theme for three different events.
Events led by Apple
Themes :
Event A – Simplicity
Event B – Creativity
Event C – Design
2. Make your event a destination
As with you and me, the people who will attend your event have limited finances and time. Therefore, your event must be seen as a justified and justifiable expense. That is why it must be designed in such a way as to become a pole of attraction. In short, you must give them value for their money. Your event must be significant and out of the ordinary. If these people have a choice between your event or that of your competitors, there must be no doubt that yours is no longer worth it. An exceptional experience will also transform your audience into ambassadors for your brand.
3. Tell a story first and foremost
To develop the creativity of your event, you must tell a story. Your participants must be at the heart of this story and be able to live it. This story will give you focus and make it easier for you to make choices during the organization. Take Virgin as an example: instead of making a classic launch for its new air travel to South Africa, Virgin decided to tell a story where Virgin became the champion of travel to that destination. Its CEO, Sir Richard Branson, disguised himself as a Zulu warrior and embarked on a war dance to assert his position. N’hésitez pas à repousser vos limites pour raconter une bonne histoire!
4. Offer a long life to your event: before, during and after
An event, like a product, has its own life cycle. Giving it life means preventing it from stagnating or from being just a one-time event. Although the event itself lasts only a few hours, a day or a week, the “pendant”, the event must also have a “before” and an “after”, as well as be repeated annually.
The “before” is the period when the event is planned, prepared and anticipation is created among potential participants. The “pendant” is the event itself, where participants experience it. The “after” consists of promoting the results of the event to set in motion the “before” of the next year’s event, as well as the retrospective on the event (lessons must be learned for the next edition). Thus, the life cycle of the event continues unceasingly and feeds on itself. It is the efficiency of this life cycle that will allow it to be successfully repeated from year to year and ensure a good longevity.
5. Identify your intention; don’t try to communicate everything
Since an event is costly, both financially and in terms of time and resources, it is tempting to use it to communicate as much information as possible to participants. However, you need to identify the true intent behind your event by clarifying its identity and purpose in order to know what is relevant to do or not do. In other words, define your objectives well before making choices. If you fail to do so, the end result will be an event that is misunderstood by your target audience and that may undermine your objectives.
The general message you choose to communicate must have an objective and the means used to convey it must be consistent with that objective. For example, if your event is about communicating that your brand is on the cutting edge of technology, you should avoid talking about something else on CRTs. Repeat the same message, but in a different way through different media and activities.
6. Focus on relationship and interaction
To develop your participants’ attachment and your partners’ commitment to your event, you must focus on developing the relationship and interaction with them. Don’t forget! During the “before”, “during” and “after” of your event, your audience goes well beyond your participants, since you also need to engage partners, suppliers and future participants around your event. At all times, you must nurture the relationship with them by making them experience emotions. Anticipation and excitement before the event, wonder and surprise during the event and nostalgia, commitment and pride after the event.
You must also establish a dialogue with your audience, it must not be passive. An event is not a display of your brand’s qualities, nor is it just something that participants experience. Your event will create engagement if people feel that they have some control over your event, that their presence changes something, that it is vital to its survival. Invite people to express themselves during the event, plan interactive activities, listen and react to what people are telling you. If an event has an identity and a purpose as a person then your audience, as in a couple, must be able to exchange and know your event to love it, to be attached to it. Because, as in a couple, if one of the two members speaks only of himself, the other ends up leaving by slamming the door.
7. Remember to communicate your event through the five senses
If developing your audience’s attachment to your event requires them to experience emotions, you must therefore communicate your event through the five senses for maximum impact. It is through the senses that humans perceive the world around them and the combination of stimulating more than one sense, a multi-sensory experience, will provoke tenfold emotions. In short, if you can associate the message you want to communicate with a specific music, smell or words, the reception of this message will be more positive, emotional and memorable. However, these sensory stimuli must be consistent with the identity and purpose of your event. When organizing your event, make a list that describes the elements that stimulate the five senses that could be used to communicate the identity and purpose of your event. The elements you can use to stimulate the senses are (among others):
- View: colours, patterns, lighting, written language, delimitation of spaces, type of people to invite, etc.
- Touch and sensations: textures, temperature felt, etc.
- Hearing: music, sounds, silences, verbal language, etc.
- Smell: perfumes, odours, aromas, etc.
- Taste: textures, specific food, flavours, etc.
For an event, do your best to stimulate the five senses. It is better than not enough, but make sure you know the limits of your audience. Remember that the richness of an experience is reflected in the quantity and quality of details. Many small, inexpensive details, planned in an intelligent and original way, can save you money and have a strong impact on your audience.
8. Play with subtlety in the integration of your logo and products
If your event is about promoting your brand, products and services, be subtle. They should not overshadow the identity and purpose of your event. There is no point in placing your logo on the walls or highlighting your products. Instead, integrate these elements in a natural way into your event. They must complement and enhance the experience and not become its main focus. Don’t just look to sell your products and services on site. Take advantage of this privileged moment with your audience to connect and make them live an enriching experience in their eyes. Awkward attempts to promote products or services too often result in public mistrust and damage the relationship with the brand.
To know more about branding ideas and activities or want to start branding for your event then call us on +91-124-4207905 or contact us here. Crux Creative Solutions is a No. 1 branding agency in India and we provide good branding ideas for the clients and work towards for the achievement of the Client’s goals.