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By Dev Sharma
Director Global Accounts -
Meeting Events
is Alive”
“The
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2. hat reasons
motivate
measure-
ments today?
Is it to gauge
the satisfac-
tion of the
attendees or is it due to the ever-increas-
ing influence from procurement? Clearly
the results (see fig 1) are reflecting times
have changed dramatically and after
a period of relative freedom of spend-
ing over the last twenty years, the last
18 months of economic instability has
changed most managements’ attitude to
wanting to know what they can
expect as a return on the money they
invest in events.
Furthermore, in the financial statements
of most publicly-traded companies, after
Cost of Goods Sold and Talent, usually
the “Travel, Meetings and Events” line
up shows up quite soon. As companies
continue to streamline their overall
operations to deliver maximum share-
holder value, larger spend areas quickly
fall under the microscope.
Measure before you get measured
Even the most basic of measurement
programs are better than no measure-
ment at all. Measure proactively and
enhance your measurement approach
step by step. Value generated from
measurement is not only figures but also
learnings and identification of areas of
optimization (fig 2).
Lastly, measure where it matters the
most, frequently on the large spend are-
as, for example your largest events. The
“Event Measurement Today” chart (fig 3)
shows data from a survey conducted in
Germany and illustrates that the tenden-
cy to use simplistic versus professional
or complex tools was most prevalent.
With the crescendo of the economic
crunch having come late 2008, we feel
certain that the use and implementation
of more evolved tools was accelerated.
Regardless of the level of measurement
methodologies you may have in place,
when you measure you are always one
step ahead.
Establishing a decisional framework
Giving all the variables a number helps
quantify what success looks like and
reduces decisions based on intuition.
Furthermore measurement needs a
custodian in the company, establishing
who owns and is accountable for meas-
urements will bring the program to life.
If you are in the early stages of a
measurement system, getting started
can be difficult, but you must start
somewhere. Like any journey it always
starts with a first few steps - below our
recommendations:
1. Gauging your company culture:
Does the company make data driven
decisions or do other criteria come
into play?
2. Establishing a clear vision for what
successful measurement looks like for
the company and the functional de-
partments: While “One size” doesn’t
fit all and critical success factors vary
between Marketing, Travel, Meeting
and Events, an integrated perform-
ance measurement approach will
accelerate internal alignment.
3. Embedding measurement at the be-
ginning of the business planning proc-
ess: Measurement should become a
way of working. Key performance indi-
cators established in the design phase
invariably leads to event planning and
execution that meets the mark.
4. Keep it simple: Adoption of simple
and streamlined measurement sys-
tems have the highest likelihood of
becoming part of your company DNA.
• Caution: Collecting large amounts
of data might look great in the report
but it needs to be balanced with infor-
mation overload that hinders versus
helps decision making.
5. Help is out there: Consider and collabo-
rate with event management agencies
which understand the business rele-
vance and importance of measurement.
Alternatively, complement internal plan-
ning teams with specialist measure-
ment companies or event management
companies that can audit, evaluate and
optimize your strategy.
Value retention through effective
measurement
The value chain can be influenced by
many steps in the process. Interestingly
enough the opportunity of value reten-
tion is best illustrated in the chart “Value
Loss” (see fig 2). By establishing clear
Key Performance Indicators for each
step of the event life cycle, the optimiza-
tion potential learnt through a measure-
ment management system can signifi-
cantly improve the overall performance
picture. Done repeatedly and over time,
it can prognosticate a success DNA –
which evolves the value of measurement
from cost justification to mitigating risk
and allowing better budget allocation
decisions to be made. Rationale being:
invest on the activities that bring the
most value to the business, whilst reduc-
ing or eliminating activities that do not.
The example shown is a real case of a
global brand – needless to say any event
with a 92% bleed rate on value is far
from desirable.
Measurement and information add
value only if they change our actions
in the process
If the Wright brothers had known in 1903
that measurement had shown that at
high altitudes a plane encounters less
air resistance and can fly faster with less
power consumption they may have been
inclined to build a different kind of flying
machine and today’s aeronautics may
have looked very different.
Event marketing is about uniting internal
and external stakeholders and
engaging with them in live experiences.
By successfully shaping, managing and
measuring those experiences and rela-
tionships, value is created for the organi-
zations, brands, products and services.
INVPIRE
W
Fig 3 Event Measurement Today3
0 10 20 30 40
16
41
18
44
24
15
8
no measurement
internal basic
meas.
prof. internal
tools
surveys
business analysis
prof. external
tools
ROI model
(survey Germany 2008 - n 850)
Fig 2 Value Loss2
Strategy X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
No clear strategy
From 100% down to 8%
Planning Wrong strategic planning
Budget Lack of budget to achieve impact and sustainability
Target group Low level target group
Business impact No business impact - just a nice event
Sustainability No sustainability link/follow-up activities
Brand impact Bad communication and brand presence
Implementation Implementation problems
100%
8%
220 Corporations Surveyed:
Best in Class: 5% of corporations had
a 80% value retention
Average: 54% value retention
Laggard: 12% of corporations had 20%
value retention
Procurement Influence
5%
Marketing
Best Practice
5%
To Demonstrate Marketing ROI
37%
To Improve Attendee
Experience
17%
To Protect or
Increase Budget
4%
To Justify Expenditure
10%
Other 22%
Fig 1 Measurement Motivation1
Question: Why do you measure the impact
of event marketing?
1
Source: EventView 2009 Global
2
Source: Reflection Marketing
3
Source: Reflection Marketing
_