Who Won the 2016 Political Conventions?
With the two major party conventions behind us, #Eventprofs are left asking one thing. Who will be the next president of the United States? Which party held the better event? What went wrong? What went right? Who came out on top? In what ways did the conventions support each party’s goals?
Even if we stayed away from politics altogether, comparing the events themselves is a topic ripe for debate. So we decided to come down with the definitive answer to; Who got the most out the Republican and Democratic National Conventions?
The answer? Event Sponsors. While the politicians spent their time hurling insults, tweets, and blasting each other in the media, three bi-partisan brands doubled down on their sponsorship marketing efforts. Here’s how CNN, Facebook, and AT&T took over this year’s conventions.
CNN
The 24-hour Cable News Network took each convention as an opportunity to open pop-up branded restaurants outside each convention venue. The CNN Grill was born out of a partnership with STARR Catering to create a massive space for food, meetings, and branded games. The pop-up grill served select VIP press partners and attendees of both conventions with a variety meals local to Cleveland and Philly.
That’s where the CNN Grill gets sponsorship marketing right. Every time you’re evaluating sponsorship marketing as a revenue driver for your event, you run the risk that the sponsor will veer too far off message and distract from your event’s goals. With July’s conventions both parties chose to host the event in key swing states. Part of the goal of each event was to highlight exactly what makes each of those cities unique, and showcase their culture.
CNN did just that by offering a customized menu in each city. For example, in Cleveland, CNN reached out to local favorites like Pierogi of Cleveland, Mitchell’s Ice Cream and, the Humble Pie Baking Company – each of which contributed classic Cleveland stapes to the pop-up grill. In Philly they sourced beer from Victory Beer Hall and invited Federal Donuts and Little Baby’s Ice Cream to contribute to the menu. It’s an effective way to bring the brand closer to the people of Philadelphia, but it still leaves us ‘wit’ one question for CNN, event marketing team. Pat’s or Geno’s?
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Facebook (and Instagram)
If there’s one thing that Facebook’s events team has mastered, it’s creating experiences that get attendees to share content to social channels. That was abundantly clear in their sponsorship marketing strategy at the Republican National Convention.
In Cleveland, Facebook focused on boosting engagement with the Instagram hashtag, #RNCinCLE. That’s why they built a tiny replica of the Oval Office to serve as a photo booth where attendees could jump in, take a photo, and share it with their community on Instagram and Facebook. Sponsored engagements like this are tricky. Sure, sponsors can create an engaging experience for attendees, but if doesn’t add to your events goals they can be very distracting. Facebook managed to drive attendees to their photo booth and keep the message on target.
Major political events are swarmed by media coverage, but now Facebook wants users to turn to its platform to get their news. To that end, they sponsored panel discussions, interviews and real-time reactions at the RNC. The conversations were streamed to Facebook Live, which makes it possible for any user to broadcast video. As news was made at the RNC Facebook made the case that “Live” can be just as viable a resource as traditional news networks.
AT&T
The after-party is always better than the party itself, right? AT&T worked with the event coordinators at YourBash! to prove just that. The telco company booked ballrooms at Hyatt at the Bellevue hotel in downtown Philly to close out the DNC for select guests. Designed to cap off Thursday’s convention events, AT&T invited MC Lyte and DJ Damage to host the party and help attendees let off a little steam.
The branding event contrasted with AT&T’s sponsorship marketing at the event itself, which was a far more practical approach. The company branded charging stations, and co-working areas so that press teams wouldn’t have to worry about their data plans before publishing their hot takes.
Creating an opportunity for sponsorship marketing can be a major revenue driver for your event. When done right, you’ll see that your event sponsors can create value and can help drive attendees. Treat your event sponsors as partners, not just customers. Help each other win by working together to create experiences that attendees actually want to be a part of. Like, for example, some of the winners from this year’s political conventions.
How do you like to work with event sponsors? Share your best sponsorship efforts with us on twitter: @SocialTables.
Learn more about securing sponsors for your next event:
6 Innovative Ways to Attract Sponsors to Your Event
How to Increase Your Event Sponsors’ ROI
How to Write an Effective Sponsor Prospectus
Event Sponsorship: 4 Ways to Court a Sponsor
The post How 3 Brands Dominated Sponsorship Marketing at the RNC and DNC appeared first on The Social Tables Blog.
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