Last week’s EN Marketing Conference explored topics such as the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on marketing, the perennial debate of sales vs marketing, and how to ‘pioneer partnerships’.
The conference, which preceded the EN Marketing Awards in the evening, included a talk by Easyfairs CMO Alison Church, who was interviewed by Sacha Frieze, managing director of The Business Narrative.
When asked what makes a good event marketer, Church said curiosity and immersing yourself in the industry that you’re marketing for is crucial. Church cited Easyfairs’ Futurebuild as a marketing campaign that she is particularly proud of.
“A marketers job is never done. It’s all about planning and thinking ahead,” she said.
During the session on ‘Future innovations for community marketing’, Simon Burton said: “We are at a transition period for event marketing. We’re understanding much more that we’re talking to a community not a series of faceless dots who we want to get to our event.
“The best mechanics for doing that are helping our audience create sharable content and endorsing that with them so we are demonstrably a part of that community.”
The session on Pioneering Partnerships, hosted by EN head of content Mina Booth, featured Roar B2B head of marketing Carrie Lee, Media 10 founder and CEO Rob Nathan, and Easyfairs marketing manager Karen Abarian.
“You have to find partnerships that align with your brand ethos,” said Lee.
Nathan, who organisers B2C and B2B events, explained how Media 10 has turned away plenty of potential partnerships, including ideas for events that never happened, such as ‘Total Wipeout Live’ and ‘The Great British Bake Off Live’.
Nathan said: “We’re a face to face industry. Real partnerships are done through face to face.
“The tough bit is getting your foot through the door and nurturing those relationships.”
Speaking about Easyfairs’ Packaging Week Paris, Abarian explained how organisers offer work opportunities to students at packaging engineering schools in France. She said one of the event’s best attended sessions is where students showcase their products to the industry.
“It’s not about partnerships, it’s about collaboration. You need to have a year round collaboration,” said Abarian. “We’ve created that link between students and those at the top of the industry.”
The evening awards, hosted by comedian Lindsey Santoro, celebrated the very best marketing and marketers in the exhibition industry, with 19 winners crowned on stage.
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