LEXICON ESSAY: HOW DIRECT MARKETING CAN SUPPORT EVENT PLANNING AND CREATE EFFECTIVE RESPONSE RATES

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1 1 How direct marketing can support event planning and create effective response rates Sophie Navarro AAD 610 Marketing, Media and Communications II John Fenn and Darrel Kau Winter Term 2015 University of Oregon

2 2 Direct Marketing is a type of advertising that directly communicates straight to the customer which allows businesses and nonprofit agencies to communicate to the customers, with specific advertising techniques that includes , catalog distribution, promotional letters, targeted television commercials, response generated newspaper/magazine advertisements, outdoor advertising, phone, newsletters, postcards, fliers, cell phone text messaging, e-cards, e-invites and interactive consumer websites. Direct Marketing focuses on their customers, data and accountability. It is fundamental for any good marketing campaign that there is a system in place that measures results during pre and post campaign analytics. The lexicon words I have chosen are quality, communication, choice, experience, relationship and technology. Choice is a decision that is up to an individual and gives them the right or an opportunity to choose an option. When they choose a preference that brings them inspiration, joy and a valuable experience, they will decide to come back again and again. A good database of contacts supports a business with information that creates strong connections between the business and the clients. Direct marketing can support event planning and create effective response rates by keeping a consistent log of data entries documenting communication between the event planner and the prospective client. The consistent reminder in a direct manner allows the client to choose to respond whether it is through mail or . For example, MECCA (Materials Exchange Center For Community Arts) a nonprofit art center in Eugene, Oregon. They communicate directly with their community through an E-Newsletter by , social media platforms which are Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram. Their goal is to acquire 300 people to attend their upcoming event Raise A Glass To Mecca and it s a make it or break it event for their organization. The total budget for marketing is $300. The budget allows for minimal print based marketing, music, food and beverages. Heather Campbell (Director at Mecca) stated It is important to leverage partnerships with artists in the community to attend the

3 3 event and support the artists by purchasing their high quality work. The goals are to honor their current members, increase visibility for talented artists, create connections between partners and raise money for Mecca. They would like to raise $5,000 with this fundraiser. The money raised will support programs at Mecca and leverage connections between other art organizations like Lane Arts Council, the Watershed and other collaborative studios for example. The value in creating connections between artists and community partners is essential to both Mecca and to local artists. The board has a list of well-known artists within the community that will be contacted and invited to participate in the event. The artists will have the option to donate 100% to MECCA and when they do sell a piece, MECCA will receive 50% of the sales. The event offers these artists exposure to the wider community and Mecca receives a portion of the art sales to support their programs. The sale of high quality art can validate artists and respect their approach to creating their art. Quality represents how an artist uses the materials in such a way that delivers a piece with a conscious effort to composition, intent and aesthetics. Quality can relate to direct marketing in that if a community knows that there will be quality art in a gallery for a fundraiser, it gives prospective customers an opportunity to experience the art from a professional perspective. How the community experiences the art can impact the non-profit in a positive light by reviews by local newspapers, radio advertisements and/or word of mouth. The goals of Mecca for Raise A Glass to Mecca is to also market local businesses, attempt to bridge partnerships with artists, offer them a supportive environment where they can show their high quality art and develop strong networking opportunities with the community. It becomes an exchange of support back to the non-profit to support educational programs, Selco Saturday art workshops and environmental goals. Our eclectic collection of "junk" provides an abundant resource for all manner of creative endeavor. At a MECCA workshop, you might learn to make scarves out of fleece scraps, weave baskets out of telephone wire, turn Altoids tins into pocket shrines, or forge jewelry out of bottle caps. By encouraging the creative

4 4 reuse of scraps and discards, MECCA offers a low-cost and environmentally friendly way for people to express themselves artistically. ~Mecca Quality shows value, introspection and impacts potential buyers. How can direct marketing help Mecca bring 300 visitors to this event? This can be implemented by , word of mouth, phone, direct mail, radio advertisements, TV interviews, and postcards, E-Newsletters and within social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. What is in the value that a partnership brings? The value is in building relationships across the community in a consistent, professional and active approach. Communication is key to facilitating connection. With direct marketing, communication is active and participatory. It validates the customer. Without regular communication, there is no participation and no way to measure efforts to increase response rates. Therefore, it is important to stay in contact with prospective clients and form a relationship with them that creates trust and loyalty. According to The New Media Consortium s Series of Online Conferences article is designed to explore emerging topics in education and technology, using current communication technologies to bring people together online in a way that offers many of the same affordances of a face-to-face conference. Of particular importance are opportunities for the kind of social interactions that make in person conferences so valuable: hallway conversations, end of the day, informal gatherings, and opportunities to speak with presenters in between sessions, and highly interactive breakout sessions that invite participation from the audience. Our premise is that technology has not only mediated communication in countless ways, but also that the very ways we communicate and even the ways we talk and think about communication are changing as a result. (2007, The New Media Consortium; released under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 3.0 United States License.) This knowledge regarding how we communicate in general with one another offers new ideas on how we can reach new prospects faster and within a more efficient system. Technology is

5 5 facilitating information more rapidly and into a multitude of channels, which creates active direct marketing on a consistent basis. In order for this event to succeed, it is imperative that the non-profit stays on schedule with excellent communication with local businesses, on their social media platforms, create dialogue, within the board, outside the board, delegate tasks to all volunteers and hits all deadlines. All of these relationships create professional connections simultaneously and it is an incentive to building new relationships into new communities and can bring people from other cities too. A relationship in terms of direct marketing is how a volunteer or a fundraiser reaches out to prospective clients. The way that relationship is built should be based on trust, integrity and an exchange of values. Without these essential requirements, a relationship can be challenging to maintain. For Raise A Glass To Mecca, it will be important to honor members that are currently supporting Mecca with donations and to acknowledge them at the event itself. This creates a bond with the members and networking among the artists that are featuring their art. The lexicon words I chose weave into this direct marketing strategy in a symbiotic approach that brings a new concept of how to connect with people on a new level, with technology and learning how to stay consistent with how we communicate and also when we communicate. It impacts how and when a person will respond. Technology is an art form that expresses an idea on an industrial level and can involve machinery such as a computer, fax machine, video mobile units, videoconference phones and Skype technologies. The concept of skyping someone into your computer intrigues me- the idea that you can see someone you know talking to you visually on your computer screen during a live conversation rather than on the phone seems futuristic and progressive. According to Marika Lüders Conceptualizing Personal Media from New Media and Society 2008 SAGE Publications, The article can be placed within a discourse associated with concepts such as architecture of participation, creative industries, collective intelligence, and participatory culture (Hartley, 2005; Jenkins, 2006; O Reilly,

6 6 2005), referring to active and creative media users and a media system characterized by increasingly complex relations between the media industry and users as consumers and citizens. The focus here is deliberately on personal media as a contrast with mass media, in order to develop a critical discussion of two endpoints on a scale. The main analytical challenge emerges from the observation that the same technologies are used for personal as well as mass communication purposes. s are used not only as a private means of communication, but also sent as newsletters from institutions and corporations in a mass communication way. (Lüders, 2008 SAGE Publications) Technology is an incredibly rich system and if used on multiple levels can assist a non-profit with more exposure by networking on a global platform. For example, Mecca uses Instagram to post photos of community members creating work at Mecca and interacts with their users and artists through this social media platform. It is also useful to post fliers regarding upcoming events that promote creativity for example Learn to Make Steampunk Jewelry. This is an event that is on March 5 th from 4-6 PM and is co-hosted by the Shelton McMurpy Johnson House. How does Instagram act as a vessel of direct marketing? It creates dialogue among users and their friends invite their friends to the event. This is free marketing and accessible by anyone who has Internet access. It markets MECCA instantly online, by phone, ipod or by computer. 18 hours ago MECCA: Materials Exchange Center for the Community Arts Learn to make steampunk jewelry. Sponsored by our friends and neighbors at The Shelton McMurphey Johnson House, hosted by us at MECCA. March 5th, 4-6pm. $5 suggested donation. Call for more information. #meccaeugene

7 7 #sheltonmcmurpheyjohnsonhouse #eugeneoregon #steampunk #steampunkjewelry#recycledjeelry #recycledart #artclass #artworkshop The experience a user has from participating with Instagram becomes an exchange and a form of networking develops instantaneously. If a person has an experience that is positive on social media, this can benefit the non-profit organization by the number of likes a particular posting has generated but not limited to this awareness. It is crucial that there is a variety of channels taking place to ensure the information is getting out on time and follow up calls are taking place. Direct marketing through the use of technology and postcard invitations can impact the number of prospective customers that will attend an event. The more consistent the reminders are about the event and with follow up calls to local businesses for in-kind donations, there is more of a chance to get more visitors to an event. Music, wine, beer and raffles baskets also have an impact on prospects as these are fun ways to experience an event that both supports the artists, MECCA and their fundraising goals. It is clear that creating a relationship building strategy assists direct marketing efforts become more effective and dynamic. The ultimate goal is to achieve more visitors who are willing to buy high quality art, purchase raffle tickets, buy wine and beer. Each art sale will create a revenue stream that will benefit MECCA, local artists and in turn validate the relationships between partners and the artists.

8 8 References (Lüders, 2008 SAGE Publications) , The New Media Consortium; released under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Communication.pdf