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