Event Branding 101: How to Create a Memorable Brand

Full Platform Overview Chat With Us
Full Platform Overview Chat With Us
What separates a good event from the best event of the summer? Some people will say the food; others will say entertainment. When you think about it, it’s all about providing an exceptional experience to everyone involved and standing out from the crowd. The perception and reputation of the event all come down to its brand.
Think of what all significant events have in common from Coachella and VidCon to Dreamforce and Relay For Life. While they serve wildly different purposes and appeal to different audiences, they all have expectational event branding.
Bloomerang Volunteer has worked with many top event producers, from large festivals and conferences to sports tournaments and fundraising events. We understand what it takes to plan an exceptional event that’s fully branded and optimized to engage the right audiences. This guide will provide you with everything you need to create memorable event branding that drives higher attendance and engagement.
An event brand is simply a marketing practice in which a company or organization creates a name, symbols, colors, messaging, and imagery that distinguish a unique identity for an event. The event brand should stand out from its competition to make it memorable to its target audience.
All elements should join together to create a cohesive experience across all of the event’s touchpoints, including the onsite look and feel as well as the marketing elements. Overall, an event’s brand tells a story and says a lot about the organization that’s hosting it.
An event brand is an incredibly important method for communicating what your event is to your target audience. To make sense of many competing priorities, an event brand should indicate what kind of experience an attendee should expect based on their first impression of your brand.
In addition to revenue, a well-rounded strategy can impact a business or organization in multiple ways. At its core, these are the most common event branding goals:
An effective brand will be memorable and have long-term appeal. When it’s all said and done, the experience and underlying message will be what guests remember, and an outstanding event brand will help attendees recall positive emotions related to your event.
Creating an event brand is an exciting opportunity to create a recognizable identity for your event that communicates a cohesive and interesting story to your audience. A brand’s DNA is made up of a number of elements that effectively tell a clear story about your event. This section will explore what elements go into an event brand’s DNA.
Your event brand is all about communication. How you communicate information is through a collection of visual elements and messaging that work together to deliver your message. As we touched on, these elements are your logo, slogan, colors, graphics, and fonts; they make up your brand’s DNA. By combining all these elements, you can create a cohesive story and identity that resonates with your audience and makes your brand stand out from the crowd.
Digital marketing channels have become the most important part of any event marketing strategy over the past decade. Most people receive all their information digitally now, which is why investing in exceptional digital event branding and marketing content is so important to your event’s success.
Here are the primary digital marketing channels to consider investing in for your event branding and promotions:
Spending the time to solidify your online event brand allows you to expand to larger audiences and successfully amp up excitement among your community. Spreading your brand across the right digital channels will prove invaluable in the long run, helping you to make meaningful connections that extend beyond the event itself.
Now that you have created your digital brand identity, it is important to deliver on that brand during your event. People will expect an exceptional experience, and part of that is the look and feel of your event itself.
Your event should bring your brand life and make it an experience in and of itself. That’s where print media comes into play during your event. Don’t underestimate the power of beautiful signage and event swag to your brand and event experience.
Here is a list of onsite event brand elements to include in your event:
Your onsite experience is the prime opportunity for showcasing your event’s brand. A cohesive onsite experience that’s fully in line with your vision will be what resonates with attendees and makes a lasting impression.
Now that you have a good idea of what goes into creating an event band and how you can leverage it to make your event successful, start considering how you will create a successful strategy. Here are some tips to help you start off on the right foot and create a truly standout event brand.
Visuals matter. You want every graphic you use to communicate what type of experience your event is going to deliver to your attendees. If you are planning a tech conference, you may want to communicate that there will be great speakers at the cutting edge of technological innovation and that people will leave having learned a lot. In that case, you will likely want to promote your keynote speakers in your event graphics.
No matter the type of event, your graphics should follow your event’s color pallet and typography. When choosing any stock images, make sure to pick ones that are high quality and that you can use it throughout all your event promotions and advertisements.
As an event, you want all your attendees to leave with something that reminds them of the great time they had and to make sure to purchase a ticket again next year. That is when a novel experience captured through a photo or a cool hat can make all the difference. For example, most events provide swag bags and t-shirts to their team of volunteers not only to thank them but to act as a reminder to come back next year. This strategy can be applied to your attendees; you can simply build it into the ticket cost.
Here are a few ideas to spark some inspiration:
These extra elements can impact engagement tremendously and directly impact your event brand. In turn, this extra effort up front can go a long way in securing long-term engagement and boosting future attendance.
Previously, branding was seen as a novelty, but recent studies indicate just how vital cohesive event branding is for an organization. According to this branding statistics report from Forbes, consistent branding across all channels increases revenue by up to 23%, and delivering a cohesive event brand is rewarding for your audience and your organization.
No matter if it is a sign for parking or a simple social media post, everything your event communicates has to be on-brand. A brand means a consistent look, tone, and style on everything your event communicates.
This is important to maintain a high-quality level of professionalism and brand recognition. The last thing you want to do is make a bad impression on a promotional Instagram post after all the work that went into crafting the perfect event brand.
Now it’s time to get out there and start planning your event’s brand. Remember to start by doing a competitive analysis to ensure that the brand you create stands out from your competitors and to find event management software to fit your nonprofit’s needs. From here, you’ll have a good sense of what you need to do to refine your branding and create an exceptional experience.
Remember, Bloomerang Volunteer is here to help you every step of the way. Our volunteer staff management software takes care of all the backend processes, so you can refocus your energy on strategizing. Explore our features page or get a free demo to see how our platform can empower your team to create an exceptional event.
Comments
Bunkerintegrated