Being There

Visit a Wal-Mart Supercenter on any Saturday and you are bound to encounter at least one brand-sponsored marketing event.While the world's largest retailer typically has little interest in supporting the consumer promotions staged by its vendors, it is extremely fond of in-store events that give shoppers a dose of "retailtainment" (a word the chain once tried to trademark) as they slog through the aisles.Event Marketer, a monthly trade magazine "for creators of the brand experience," conducts an annual Ex Awards program to recognize excellence in mobile and event-based marketing campaigns. While some of the campaigns focus exclusively on enhancing the brand in question, many are structured either to:deliver an event for retailers that will increase merchandising activity and sales while delivering the brand message to shoppers,accommodate a secondary schedule of retail visits that can provide additional (and measurable) ROI to the primary campaign by increasing merchandising and sales, orfacilitate retail overlays using creative components from the program that increase merchandising and sales.The following is a review of some noteworthy entries to Event Marketer's 2005 awards program. The phrases in boldface represent a basic strategy for developing retail events that marketers should consider when developing their promotions.Entertain them. (The "them" refers to both retailers and their customers.) The demographics of NASCAR fans align quite nicely with those of Wal-Mart shoppers. So an event program that united three of the chain's top product vendors with racing sponsorships -- Coca-Cola, Kellogg and Mars Inc. -- was destined for both approval and success. Called "NASCAR Comes to Wal-Mart," the ambitious tour operated on three levels: a massive parking-lot event for stores close to racetracks, a smaller lot program for outlets within a 75-mile radius, and an in-store merchandising component executable in all Wal-Marts. The campaign was staged again in 2005 with two additional sponsors. Pierce Promotions & Event Management, Portland, Maine, handled for Wal-Mart.Follow the retailer's lead. Or take its handoff, as the case may be: Scotts Co. bought into The Home Depot's annual sponsorship of "ESPN College GameDay" by hosting an in-store/online sweepstakes awarding, among other prizes, hundreds of store gift cards. Activation included football-themed spectaculars that significantly raised the brand's profile in home centers. Results included an 11.2% sales lift. Octagon, New York, coordinated the promotion for The Home Depot.Find the right fit. The 32-store Bass Pro Shops chain usually isn't among the first names considered by brands seeking a retail partner. But marketers for the Toyota Tundra knew that the sports-enthusiast chain was the perfect place to reach the U.S. flag-waving, pick-up driving men it needed to win over. Parking-lot events in 16 locations attracted more than 15,000 test drivers, nearly a third of whom also requested a call from a Toyota dealer. AMCI (Automotive Marketing Consultants Inc.), Detroit, handled. Give it local flavor. Polaroid negotiated arrangements with 20 Minor League Baseball teams to bring Wal-Mart a localized promotion giving families an inexpensive night out via discount tickets on-pack. The campaign earned incremental display space and generated a 5% sales increase for Polaroid 600 film and an unexpected 6.5% lift for the accompanying cameras. Euro RSCG 4DImpact, Atlanta, handled. Help educate customers. After learning that Hispanics were uninformed about heartburn -- largely due to a dearth of Spanish-language information -- Johnson & Johnson's Pepcid launched a tour designed to foster a better understanding of remedies. Called "Dale Duro a la Acidez" ("Strike Out Heartburn"), the tour distributed more than 750,000 samples of Pepcid Complete in six key markets, and also served as a platform for retail tie-ins with such chains as H-E-B, Publix, Longs and Walgreens. AIM (Alternative & Innovative Marketing), Escondido, CA, handled.

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