B-to-C Events

When it comes to brand name recognition, it’s tough to compete with the “verbs.” Like Google, the search engine that became so synonymous with surfing the web that the Oxford English Dictionary made the company’s name a bonafide verb in 2006.

Whether you’re activating a consumer event, a trade show or a conference, Twitter can be a highly effective way to generate excitement, increase awareness and keep in touch. But that’s hardly all the social media tool is capable of. Today, event marketers are pioneering ever more innovative ways to use the power of Twitter to broaden reach, boost consumer engagement, leverage strategic partnerships and drive trial.

Read on for seven fresh ways to transform Tweets into tactics.

 Finnish tech brand Nokia brought its state-of-the-art research and development laboratory to the South by Southwest Interactive, Film and Music Festival (SXSW) last week in the form of the Nokia Lab. From the outside, the three-domed, otherworldly space evoked the brand’s Scandinavian roots, partly thanks to the very aggressive exterior bubble cannons that created a downpour of bubbles resembling snow over the long lines of eager SXSW attendees trying to get inside. Once through the doors, guests got hit with some hot music and two drink tickets for the in-house bar.

The event industry seems to already be moving faster in 2012 than it did in 2011. If that’s possible.

With strategies set and most budgets finally approved, watch for first-half action across all categories.

Though the majority of brands activating at last fall’s three-day Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival presented by Food & Wine were food and beverage products, there were a couple of non-endemic brands that took a seat at the table, too. All turned out to take their best shot at connecting with the tastemakers, and generally higher income consumers that can afford to shell out $195 a pop for a ticket to the Grand Tasting—just one of several paid experiences that were part of the festival.