Promo - January 2009 - (Page 21)

Events Voters who felt traduced by the controversial returns of the 2000 presidential election between Al Gore and George Bush have long wondered just what the paper ballots with those hanging chads were all about. When HBO commissioned Civic Entertainment Group to create a bi-coastal event to hype its “Recount” movie, which aired last year about the political machinations during and after the election, a hands-on demonstration of what Florida voters confronted at the polls seemed the most effective approach. So CEG purchased several of the infamous Votomatic machines used in Florida and set them up in mock polling places at prime locations in New York City and Los Angeles to put curious citizens in virtual polling places. Anyone who went to those polls could readily see how confusing the anachronistic paper ballots really were, and could comprehend how errant chads left the country hanging on the ultimate election result. “It’s direct delivery to the consumer,” says Stuart Ruderfer, CEG’s CEO. “People are so skeptical of big brands and companies and are trying to figure out who’s on their side.” If nothing else, this shows that creative events are still being staged, despite the economic downturn. And events still take up a good slice of the average marketing budget. Yes, some brands have cut back. Nearly 26% of the clients polled reduced their event marketing budgets in 2008, while 16.7% increased them. And 46% remained flat. Looking ahead, 20.4% project that their event budgets will decline in 2009, while 30.3% said they will rise. And 49.3% expect them to remain constant. However, nearly 21% of respondents indicated that they don’t know what to expect next year. Over 60% said that events are planned in-house, while 20.2% plan them with their agencies. A source at Jack Morton Worldwide reported that, while the firm hasn’t seen any client contracts canceled for 2009, some event promotions have been postponed. On the other hand, because so many companies are laying off employees, the firm is fielding more business from clients who no longer have the staff to facilitate activations on their own. That uncertainty represented a consensus among several executives who offered their personal perspectives on the foreseeable future. “Everybody’s kind of slowed down right now,” says Gust Kouvaris, group president of Aspen Marketing. “Because of the economic downturn, there has been some [downward] pulling on all marketing. It’s a waitand-see problem through the first quarter of 2009.” The pressure on budgets makes it incumbent on agencies to devise creative approaches that maximize efficiencies in the dollars spent on them. “There are so many messages out there, we need to cut through the clutter,” Kouvaris says. “It makes us work harder to find that right mix as well as a creative approach, Continued on page 23 Share of Marketing Budget 0% 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 34.0% 34.0% 22.3% 21.0% 12.6% None N/A 1% to 10% 11% to 20% 21% to 30% 31% to 50% 51% to 70% 3.0% 4.9% 71% or more 2.0% 4.9% 10.7% 10.7% 11.0% 19.0% ■ 2008 ■ 2007 W For more information on events, go to www.promomagazine.com. RSS Webinar Conference Podcast Newsletter Web Promo / WWW.PROMOMAGAZINE.COM / January 2009 21 http://www.promomagazine.com http://www.promomagazine.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Promo - January 2009

Promo - January 2009 Contents Editor's Note Casual Games Dr. P and the Roses Outside the Cup Geek�Chic Expresa Tu Hispanidad Jump Start Commentary The Show Must Go On Fed Up Q&A: Smart Food Agency Center Resource Center Gray Goes Green Index of Advertisers

Promo - January 2009

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