Event Marketing

I’m a regular viewer of the Gruen Transfer, an ABC show that dissects the advertising and brand management industries and shows examples of both good and bad advertising. I enjoy the humour, but also the industry insider view on what makes advertising work (or fail) in its role. Frequently the funniest bits are where companies tried earnestly to make their point, but just couldn’t get their heads out of their own world and shift to the customer’s viewpoint.

What brought this up for me was an SMS I received a few weeks ago. It was on the day of the Victorian teacher’s strike. All the little darlings at government schools (including my two) were told not to go to school on the Wednesday as the teachers were having a strike. Whether or not this was justified is not my topic of discussion. What I was concerned about was what were all the parents (some/most of whom would otherwise be working on that day) going to do with their kids for the day. At about 8.30am on the day of the strike, I received a text from Hoyts, the cinema company, advising that tickets for the kid-friendly Nemo 3D were available at my local cinema theatre.

Now, I’m a member of the Hoyts rewards club, and have provided permission for Hoyts to send me SMS messages for offers, so there was no breach of privacy, nor did I feel that Hoyts was intruding. My immediate reaction was that someone in Hoyts understands that parents sometimes need help in keeping their kids occupied, and was offering a helping hand. Yes, there was a clear profit motive involved, but I felt that Hoyts understood the situation my family was in and was offering something relevant in a timely manner to help me survive the day.

Hoyts Marketing Department – I salute you! An excellent example of event marketing done right. You presented your offer from my viewpoint and did it well.