FOR MARKETING PERSPECTIVE -- TUESDAY, November 4

FOR MARKETING PERSPECTIVE -- TUESDAY, November 4

Entertainment Marketing: A sweet marketing mix

Syafruddin Chan
Contributor
Jakarta

Entertainment in marketing, or what is usually succinctly
referred to as entertainment marketing, is becoming an ever more
effective tool for increasing brand awareness as it creates a
closer bond between a brand and its customers.

Clearly, as an inseparable part of the entire marketing
strategy, to achieve success the theme and implementation of
entertainment marketing should be consistent and in line with
brand positioning and personality.

Among the various options available, music concerts featuring
popular singers seem to be the foremost choice for entertainment
marketing. Using celebrities in the music world and their hit
songs are expected by marketers to produce a positive impact and
brand association.

One example is the "Livin' La Vida Loca Tour" with highly
popular singer Ricky Martin, which was sponsored by Ford Focus
and organized by one of the pioneers specializing in musical
entertainment marketing, Entertainment Marketing & Communications
International (EMCI).

To fund such musical concerts, some companies invite other
non-competing companies, those with different product categories,
to co-sponsor the events. Or, a company can leave the entire
production and coordination to a professional organizer and
remain as the main sponsor. However, to ensure the presence of
the company's brand and its personality, the company has to
insist on the relevant specific details of the entire ambience.

Here, one of the successful examples of entertainment
marketing is BCA's variety show, Gebyar BCA, aired by Indosiar.
The wide range of BCA products and their features are
communicated aggressively through the conventional media as well
as on Gebyar BCA. Having achieved a high rating within a short
period of time, this program is now chased by various
advertisers, including even another bank. Although initially the
entire cost of production and airtime blocking was borne by BCA,
the revenue from other advertisers has lightened its burden and
it is now at breakeven point.

Another positive result arises from a hit entertainment event
if it is widely covered by the media, which further increases the
brand awareness. In fact, in planning it is only natural for
marketing managers to include conventional advertising and
promotion to strengthen the entire communications effort. In this
way the total message comprising the intangible plus points of a
singer or celebrity and the personality of the brand is glued to
the consumers' minds.

Another successful example is what Sears, a major department
store in the United States, has done to attract teenagers. During
the "back to school" season some time back, Sears promoted its
stores by using Backstreet Boys to attract this potential niche
market. Apart from increasing teenager traffic or crowds in the
stores, the promotion was enhanced by broadcasting through MTV,
various radio stations and coverage in teenage magazines. The
nationwide media coverage turned out to be effective in
"recruiting" a new cluster of consumers, especially from the
teenagers group.

Some companies incorporate direct or indirect sales in the
entertainment events besides the intangible return, like high
brand exposure. The Unilever shampoo, Clear, for example,
recently used an indirect sales method in the Clear Top Ten
Awards. Tickets for the event were exchangeable for two 150
milliliter bottles or one 300 milliliter bottle of Clear shampoo.
This was one of the ways to gauge the success of the event as
well as increase sales of the product.

The world's leading retailer, Wal Mart, has another method.
Customers attending its "retailtainment" are given vouchers or
coupons with special offers. To measure the response to the event
as well as the increase in sales, the store's supervisor only has
to check the total number of vouchers or coupons used in the days
following the event. This way Wal Mart can categorize the
response rate of the event -- whether it was a hit or a failure.

Whether a marketing event, especially entertainment marketing,
incorporates sales and other promotional activities next to brand
exposure is really up to the marketing managers and how they
treat such marketing tools.

However, there are four basic elements to be taken care of.
The first is to provide entertainment that can bring the target
market closer to the brand, meaning a kind of empathy that
eventually leads to customer loyalty. The second element is
product sampling, especially in the case of new or recently
launched products. This is intended to induce trial purchases.
For products at a more mature stage, marketing-wise that is, a
sales counter with a discounted price or special offer, like "buy
two get three", is more appropriate. That is element number
three. The fourth element is the collection of data on consumers
or attendees during the event. This data will prove to be useful
for ascertaining consumer profiles, attitudes and so forth, which
are often included in a company's current and future marketing
plans.

Like any other marketing activity, entertainment marketing has
to be implemented according to a brand's intended personality and
its positioning in the large map of competing brands. Plus,
consistency in execution is a must. Otherwise, sporadic and off-
key events will only harm the brand more than anything else. The
writer is the author of Relationship Marketing: Marketing
innovation that wins the hearts of customers