Hybrid Marketing: Intuitive, Relevant and Challenging

In recent years, seismic shifts in technology and economics, has resulted in sweeping changes across the socio-political spectrum as well. Unpredictability of this sort has been unprecedented; for these days, paradigms shift at an accelerated speed. The business and marketing worlds have been acutely sensitive to these shifts and beating the curve has never been more vital, particularly, in the sphere of customer behavior. A specific strand of marketing has gained ground in the current environment, which helps new-age marketers retool their strategy to befit our complex times and the ‘hybrid’ infotainment consumption trends of customers today. Hybrid Marketing is a thriving marketing strategy that takes into account online, offline, and various spectrums that intersect between the two.

A small instance of how reaching out to consumers should be adapted to their changing behavior is the way books are accessed. A 2012 survey demonstrated that people, who regularly bought 10 or more books each year, intended to buy a mix of digital e-books and printed books. The survey also revealed that regular book buyers across various demographic segments were not limiting their purchase choices to either print or e-books but were actively exploring purchase options across media. Given the micro scale of trend-shifts, as compared to the earlier macro scale, where typical consumer behavior trends shifted in the span of months and years, marketers are tracking this hybrid consumption trend closely, for within a matter of days consumption patterns could alter. Indeed the nature of change in today’s world is fleeting and rapid. This is a technology-inspired trend where the rapid innovation in technology is creating a world where ‘trends’ have an incredibly small window of opportunity to thrive. Even consumers have shown a rather great appetite for this scale of change.

Dollars spends are also an indication of the growing influence of Hybrid Marketing. For better or for worse, the floundering of the print industry in the West shows how advertising spends have declined, not only due to the economic crisis, but also because consumers have transitioned to reading online. Ad dollars are now spread across the internet and perhaps advertising using digital media will dominate in the years to come. The major driving force for the shift in spends onto Web 2.0 came with the revolution of social media. People were not just reading or listening to music or playing games in the virtual world but also began to live there – in a sense – thanks to Social Media. This became a differentiator between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0, where static consumption has led to a user-driven and interacted-led experience. Users are generating and distributing content, just as much as content-creators do. This requires marketers to remain on their toes, watch out for trends not just in one or two forms of media like before, but across several media and sub-media. For instance, online marketing could involve ads on search engines as much they could involve creating buzz-worthy user-apps on social media. In fact, this multi-dimensional marketing style defines Hybrid Marketing.

Another online trend that forms a component of Hybrid Marketing is ‘crowdsourcing’ that is using mass collaboration – a defining aspect on Web 2.0 – to realize business goals. This is not just a trend that marketers tap into but an unavoidable strategic need, for in many, multi-layer ways, consumers drive business goals today. They have to be included in creating strategies that will eventually be marketed to them, for without this inclusion, their unpredictable ‘mix and match’ style consumption becomes hard to keep track. It is not just consumption trends across media that reflect this ‘pick, choose and customize’ pattern, like the book buyer example mentioned earlier, but within media as well. An example of this is how users customize their TV-viewing needs with the help of Direct-to-Home services.

Even research shows the direction in which Hybrid Marketing, as far as TV consumption is concerned, is defining marketers’ hybrid strategy. A consumer behavior study of South Korean TV users unveiled a hybrid viewing trend, which included a combination of DTH and IPTV (Internet-driven television).

This mixed-style of TV-viewing is taking over most developed and developing countries. Taking into account the fluid consumption trends these days is a must among marketers, as they find that a hybrid marketing strategy has to be adopted across market segments. In fact, the merging of the market segments is another aspect of hybrid marketing. This transcends the consumption of media and into the product space. An example is Toyota’s Hybrid cars, each car caters to dual segments, reflective of the consumer that wants a bit of the Hatchback and the Sedan, a bit of this and that.

Hybrid Marketing has emerged in a substantial way and crowd-sourcing is poised to take on greater momentum. The ‘wisdom of the crowds’ is set to have an impact on the global market, as mass collaboration seems a real possibility, this too will revolutionize marketing strategies. Traditional perception of pricing, place and promotion will weaken and in its place will emerge an ‘anywhere location’ concept, fuelled by a seamless internet and user-driven social media. This will be accompanied by the trend of quality, invariably trumping price.

While in terms of business strategies the emergence of Hybrid Marketing makes an exciting case study, it poses a challenge for those who have to carefully tailor this strategy to reach consumers across media and in sub-spaces within specific media. Consumer segments blur as wealth is created in unprecedented ways and means, with hidden connections and dynamism, the kind of wealth-creation that’s revolutionary and surprises traditional strategists and economists

http://www.designdamage.com/the-emerging-trend-of-hybrid-marketing-model/

Event Marketing

The activity of designing or developing a themed activity, occasion, display, or exhibit (such as a sporting event, music festival, fair, or concert) to promote a product, cause, or organization. Also called event creation.Read more: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/event-marketing.html#ixzz1tB06sKzqEvent management is the application of project management to the creation and development of festivals, events and conferences.

Event management

Involves studying the intricacies of the brand, identifying the target audience, devising the event concept, planning the logistics and coordinating the technical aspects before actually executing the modalities of the proposed event. Post-event analysis and ensuring a return on investment have become significant drivers for the event industry.The recent growth of festivals and events as an industry around the world means that the management can no longer be ad hoc. Events and festivals, such as the Asian Games, have a large impact on their communities and, in some cases, the whole country.The industry now includes events of all sizes from the Olympics down to a breakfast meeting for ten business people. Many industries, charitable organizations, and interest groups will hold events of some size in order to market themselves, build business relationships, raise money or celebrate.

Marketing tool

Event management is considered one of the strategic marketing and communication tools by companies of all sizes. From product launches to press conferences, companies create promotional events to help them communicate with clients and potential clients. They might target their audience

by using the news media, hoping to generate media coverage which will reach thousands or millions of people. They can also invite their audience to their events and reach them at the actual event.

Services

Event management companies and organizations service a variety of areas including corporate events (product launches, press conferences, corporate meetings and conferences), marketing programs (road shows, grand opening events), and special corporate hospitality events like concerts, award ceremonies, film premieres, launch/release parties, fashion shows, commercial events, private (personal) events such as weddings and bar mitzvahs.Clients hire event management companies to handle a specific scope of services for the given event, which at its maximum may include all creative, technical and logistical elements of the event. (Or just a subset of these, depending on the client's needs, expertise and budget).

Event manager

The event manager is the person who plans and executes the event. Event managers and their teams are often behind-the-scenes running the event. Event managers may also be involved in more than just the planning and execution of the event, but also brand building, marketing and communication strategy. The event manager is an expert at the creative, technical and logistical elements that help an event succeed. This includes event design, audio-visual production, scriptwriting, logistics, budgeting, negotiation and, of course, client service. It is a multi-dimensional profession.An event architect is an event manager that becomes involved at the early initiation stages of the event. Specially for larger public events, at the initiation stage, the event architect needs to make crucial choices and decisions related to the creative concept and design of the event. In depth technical design knowledge and full understanding of how to communicate a company´s message across a public are needed in order to make the event effective.If the event manager has budget responsibilities at this early stage they may be termed an event or production executive. The early event development stages include:

Site surveying Client Service Brief clarification Budget drafting Cash flow management Supply chain identification Procurement Scheduling Site design Technical design Health & Safety Environmental and ecological management Risk management

An event manager who becomes involved closer to the event will often have a more limited brief. The key disciplines closer to the event are:

Health & Safety including crowd management Logistics and vehicle selection Rigging Sound Light Video Detailed scheduling and agenda planning Security

Sustainability

Sustainable event management (also known as event greening) is the process used to produce an event with particular concern for environmental, economic and social issues. Sustainability in event management incorporates socially and environmentally responsible decision making into the planning, organisation and implementation of, and participation in, an event. It involves including sustainable development principles and practices in all levels of event organisation, and aims to ensure that an event is hosted responsibly. It represents the total package of interventions at an event, and needs to be done in an integrated manner. Event greening should start at the inception of the project, and should involve all the key role players, such as clients, organisers, venues, sub-contractors and suppliers.

Technology

Event management software companies provide event planners with software tools to handle many common activities such as delegate registration, hotel booking, travel booking or allocation of exhibition floorspace.

Education

There are an increasing number of universities which offer courses in event management, including diplomas and graduate degrees. In addition to these academic courses, there are many associations and societies that provide courses on the various aspects of the industry. Study includes organizational skills, technical knowledge, P.R., marketing, advertising, catering, logistics, decor, glamor identity, human relations, study of law and licenses, risk management, budgeting, study of allied industries like television, other media and several other areas. Certification can be acquired from various sources to obtain designations such as Certified Trade Show Marketer (CTSM), Certified Manager of Exhibits (CME), Certified in Exhibition Management (CEM), Global Certification in Meeting Management (CMM), Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) and the Certified Special Event Professional (CSEP).

Career opportunities are in the following Industries :1. Event Management2. Event Management Consultancy3. Hotel, travel and hospitality Industries4. Advertising Agencies5. Public Relations Firms6. Corporations7. News Media8. Non-profit organization9. Integrated Marketing & Communications10. Event Budgeting and Accounting

Categories of Events

Events can be classified into four broad categories based on their purpose and objective:1. Leisure events e.g. leisure sport, music, recreation.2. Cultural events e.g. ceremonial, religious, art, heritage, and folklore.3. Personal events e.g. weddings, birthdays, anniversaries.4. Organizational events e.g. commercial, political, charitable, sales, product launch,expo.