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thinking outside the book
Jeremy Greenfield & Courtney Barnes

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With digital platforms’ ever-expanding place in our minds, hearts and balance sheets, integrated marketing strategies are becoming more necessary—and more out of this world (literally). But, despite the connectivity enabled by cyber channels, there’s still nothing like a good old-fashioned face-to-face (or avatar-to-avatar, as it were) event where consumers can interact directly with brands.

The following publishing companies and titles have turned the science of these marketing platforms into an art, having hosted various events this year that gave their advertisers a bigger bang for their bucks, not to mention their audiences a whole lot more than they bargained for.

Would You Like Some Wine With Your Cheese?

The publishing industry has its reputation for enabling social parasites (present editors excluded) with its near-nightly open bar functions with free food and gift bags. But these one-off press parties pale in comparison to the handful of weekend-long events that integrate magazine brands with their advertisers and partners to create a jubilee of publicity, personalities and, of course, food.

One of the most well rounded integrated marketing efforts, then, has to be spearheaded by the masterminds at Food & Wine. The magazine partnered with Top Chef, a sort-of-reality-show in which aspiring chefs compete for the ultimate title, and subsequently created a completely new sub-brand that gave advertisers unparalleled exposure. Brands including Ziploc, GE and Kraft Foods were front-and-center at all challenges and judging rounds (as was Food & Wine head of special projects, Gail Simmons).

The sheer force of the Classic’s fame—which manages to get buzz year-round on Top Chef, at the magazine’s “Best New Chefs” party, and online—makes it an integrated marketing juggernaut.

The Evolution of Indulgence

No one can really argue about the physical, mental and emotional benefits of a day at a spa, and now advertisers have even more reasons to indulge. Spa marketing and media company SpaFinder (publishers of Global SpaFinder and Luxury SpaFinder) hosted its first-ever Spa Experience, a three-day event this fall that took place in New York City’s Grand Central Station. The advertisers present, including Avon, Ritz-Carlton New York and Jet Blue Airways, interacted with very happy people, all of whom were basking in the glow of sample spa treatments.

Beyond exposure at the actual event, where consumers could sample the wares of spas from around the world, sponsors and exhibitors enjoyed the benefits of print advertising in the publication, online promotions and radio advertising. But nothing speaks louder than the connections made with consumers on the massage table.

Get Wired

Every year, Wired magazine makes over the concept of the World’s Fair, creating a four-day festival that brings together tech nerds from every corner of the globe: The Wired NextFest. Held this year in Los Angeles, more than 160 interactive exhibits showcased leading technologies and developments, and gave consumers a glimpse into the future of communication, design, entertainment, green living and, yes, robots.

The future-is-now mentality lured advertisers like Hitachi, NASA and Northrop Grumman into Wired’s Web of what’s to come. After all, where else could sponsors and techies co-mingle and hang out with robots, have their minds read and send a hug to someone 4,000 miles away? Plus, the brands present had the added benefit of Wired’s ubiquitous name in the technology space, as they got play both online and in the print publication.

Riding in Cars with Boys

Doubledown Media’s magazines—from Trader Monthly and Dealmaker to Private Air and soon-to-be-launched The Cigar Report—target an audience of high net-worth males, a tough demographic to reach. With that challenge in mind, the company hosts swanky events that have so many marketing layers that it’s hard to keep up.

Take the Trader Monthly “30 Under 30” parties hosted this fall in New York, Chicago and London. Advertisers had ample opportunities to reach readers. Two key brand sponsors were Audi and Johnnie Walker Blue, and they both had a print presence in the “30 Under 30” issue. Events carried their brands (the Audi R8 was on display, and smooth, super-lux JWB was served, respectively) and hosted brand representatives as VIPs. Post-event coverage provided Web exposure via an online slideshow of event photos. And the ability to use Trader Monthly’s database to e-mail attendees gave sponsors a database of leads who had all experienced the products.

All in all, advertisers have unprecedented access to key consumers, all thanks to the company’s integrated approach that still considers a personal connection to be a valuable thing.

Life, Or Something Like It

With such common real-world afflictions as Struggling To Get Out Of Bed Syndrome and Trying To Be Productive Disease, it’s hard to wrap your mind around the cyber versions of these daily concerns. But thanks to Second Life (that virtual world with avatars and Linden Dollars), the hypothetical 3D Metauniverse of the Future is now a reality, and the flesh-and-blood folks at CMP Technology are leading the way into the World Wide Web-of-madness for those media mavericks with a taste for the unknown. Beginning in April 2007, the global media company expanded their brand into Second Life with the Life 2.0 Summit, a quarterly cyber-conference for “software developers and business stakeholders seeking to understand and use Second Life and other metaverse environments for customer engagement, commerce, collaboration, education, simulation and research.”

It’s the first known media conference to be held in an alternate reality, and we don’t believe there could be a more innovative approach to integrated marketing via events. Advertisers like Sun Microsystems and IBM are signing on and reaping the benefits of “face time” with the 1,000+ attendees. They get pre-show exposure on CMP’s Web site, Dr. Dobb’s Journal (ddj.com) and via mentions in e-mail blasts, but it’s the in-conference engagement with consumers that really hits home: Advertisers get in-world booths, teleports and tours for all attending avatars to see.

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