Tips for Better Festival Marketing, Part Two

Marketing lessons made obvious at the Scottsdale Culinary Festival’s “Great American Picnic”:

Last Saturday, 4/17/10, I attended the Great American Picnic (GAP) in Scottsdale AZ, and came back with more than just a sunburn …I came back with a couple of festival marketing truths that were really obvious that day. (Yes I know, these come under the heading of “yeah, of course!”, but it’s always good to remind ourselves). Besides, if someone as big as Bacardi (as you’ll read) forgets it, then maybe it’s not as obvious as we might think.

Lesson #2: Select your booth’s location very carefully.

There are two parts to this one:
1. Select where you booth will be.
2. Carefully examine the surrounding area for anything detrimental.

This was demonstrated very well by two different spirits vendors: Bacardi Rum and Absolut Vodka. Both had set up areas where the event visitors could congregate, purchase cocktails, and have some good times with their friends. Both of the areas were on main walkways, so the visitors had to pass by them while walking around the event.

The two pavilions were vastly different.

• Absolut had roped off an area, put up some open-air booth covers, a couple of tables and no place to sit. Nothing special.
• Bacardi had set up an area called “Bacardi Beach”. It had water fountains, beach balls, umbrellas, and thatched-roof booth-covers to give it that “beach party” theme.
  

Which area had more people? Absolut! The place was packed! People were spilling onto the sidewalk in front, and there was a line to get in (see the photo below).


Bacardi, on the other hand, was surprisingly empty (see the photo below).

Why? You would think that Bacardi would be getting more people. After all, it had water and fun and chairs and tables. Why wasn’t it crowded?

Here’s why: Directly across from Bacardi Beach (20 feet away, maximum) was a really LOUD band, with the speakers pointing directly at Bacardi Beach. It was so loud that it made your ears hurt. They were a good band, (they really knew their stuff), and I’m a fan of rock music, but man alive! You literally couldn’t hear yourself think. It was really, really LOUD.


And that probably drove the people away from Bacardi Beach. People were attending the Great American Picnic for some fun with their friends. That means talking and interacting. At Bacardi Beach, you would have had to shout loudly to be heard above the din from the band. At Absolut, there was normal noise, but no louder than anything at a crowded bar.

When Bacardi selected the location of Bacardi Beach, it would have been wise for them to check the surroundings and ask specifically what else was there. A quick check of the layout of the event showed the location of the band pavilion. That would have been a red flag because bands at events tend to play loudly.


I’ve experienced something similar. When I worked for a high tech company back in 2001, our event planner decided to position our booth “close to a door” so we could get more traffic. The planner, however, didn’t ask what the door was *for* - it was assumed to be an entrance, so the planner didn’t look at the building layout. The door wasn’t an entrance. It was a door to the kitchen area where only the convention center employees went in and out. So our booth was stuck off in a corner where nobody went. We had to come up with some clever methods of drawing people over to the booth to get some decent traffic.


Bonus! Good Marketing Technique by Bacardi:
On the positive side, though, Bacardi Beach did do something that was smart. They had a person handing out coupons for the cantina/grill that was sponsoring Bacardi Beach. The coupon is very clever: the holder has 1.5 months to redeem it, and they get 2-for-1 Bacardi drinks plus a free taco. This is clever because:

1. You get a chance to taste the food. This can create upsell.
2. 2-for-1 drinks means most people will bring a friend.
   

Even though they may not have gotten as many people to their booth as they would have liked, they still had a plan to get people to the cantina/grill later. And the beauty of it is: nobody else was handing out coupons - so the visitors went home with a reason to return to only one place: Barrio Cantina, which serves Bacardi. That helps people remember your business.


So let’s remember these lessons the next time we’re selecting a booth for an event.

1. Know the demographics of the people who will be attending.
2. Know the location of your booth and what’s surrounding it.

Again, yes, we all should know this, but it’s always good to remind ourselves. Because every step we take toward improving our position, no matter how small, is still a positive step that leads to more sales.