Hosting a Brand Building Event

Hosting an event pays off both financially and with branding opportunities. Advertising the event in and of itself provides a reason to put your company’s brand name in front of a wide local audience. Ideally, the event will generate revenue onsite, generate repeat business at a later date and generate positive word of mouth referrals that strengthen your brand in the broader community once the event is completed.

If you plan to host an event, bear in mind that customers attend events to be entertained, informed and to have fun.

To ensure your event attendee’s expectations are met, you will need to do a lot of advance planning. Start by creating a list of potential events that tie in well with your specific business. If the business sells rock climbing gear, host a rock climbing event during the summer or a series of training sessions in the winter and spring. Fall events could be multi-media shows of climbing routes you and your customers climbed over the summer or future routes in your plans for next year.

Businesses that sell intangible products or services might consider sponsoring events that have less specifically to do with their business, but will create an opportunity to do business. One example is Washington State Employees Credit Union which sponsors an RV show in Puyallup, WA every year. The recreational vehicles are the stars of the show, but the credit union’s lending officers are on-site to make vehicle loans during the show, generating immediate revenue for the credit union.

An event on the scale of a three day long auto show does require a significant amount of preparation and coordination to present smoothly. You and your staff will need to attract vendors at the show, schedule the venue, purchase event insurance, and potentially hire ticket takers and arrange for food vendors and restroom facilities. You will handle a thousand and one details before, during and after the event, but if the event draws a significant number of people, and those people are happy with their experiences at your event, you will have made money and created positive experiences for people who will remember your business, and brand.

If you want to host a large scale event, but don’t have in-house staff available to do advance preparation, consider hiring a local event coordinator to handle the details. Event coordinators will have existing contacts with venues and concessionaires, and will know which are most reliable and likely to ensure your event will go smoothly as planned. Event coordinators also handle issues that come up during the event, freeing you to work with clients or to simply be the face of your company as master of ceremonies.

About the Author: Brenda Kohlmyer is a freelance writer living and working in the Seattle metropolitan area.