Event Marketing = Brand Awareness

When some companies and organizations hear the term “Event marketing,” they might assume it means marketing for an event. Yes, it can mean this, but Event Marketing has transformed into a multitude of facets. For decades, national brands have been using events to increase awareness about their particular product/brand and have even tried to place their products at highly visible events.
Recently, Subaru was looking for an exciting way to launch their new 2012 Impreza crossover vehicle. The vehicle has been described as, “The perfect vehicle for a person or family with an active lifestyle.”
To assist Subaru in promoting this vehicle they created personas of the target event audiences.
The Balance Seeker finds harmony in the fresh air and on the yoga mat.  While they are successful at their jobs, they never live to work.  A typical Saturday might include a visit to the farmer’s market, a walk with the dog and the tree pose in a nearby city park.  In short, they know how to breathe.
Favorite Impreza features: fuel efficiency and moonroof
The Urbaneer is an explorer of both cement jungles and tucked-away neighborhoods.  Come rain or shine, workload or deadline, they always make time to get out and play.  Their car might be filled with flea market finds, bike tubes, restaurant guides and backpacks.  That’s because their curiosity cannot be contained and they are up for anything.
Favorite Impreza features: zippy handling and built-in Bluetooth
The Fresh Air Follower loves having a pack on their back and a challenge in their sights.  Whether its mountain biking to a hidden spot or camping under the stars, they escape to the trees every chance they get.
Favorite Impreza features: all-wheel drive and major cargo space
This created a fun platform for Subaru to target those with an “active” lifestyle. To do this, they created an events team to visit national companies valued for healthy work/life balance, and treated their employees to a few hours of play. This was a part of their, “Subaru Work Play Love Tour.” The tour encouraged employees to take a break and enjoy the activities that ranged from tetherball to cartwheels…all for prizes.
Employees also had the chance to pose for a photo at the Workday Warrior booth. The booth allowed employees to select outdoor backdrops, such as the mountains or the beach, and could top it off with fun props. The photos were instantly uploaded to a custom iPad application where participants could generate emails with links to the photos, download, share and upload to Facebook on-site.
Event Marketing can be a very unique and extremely viral way to elevate a brand or highlight a product, service to your key audience. These events and the marketing around the event can strengthen a brands credibility and also create positive buzz about their service or product.