Marketing Principles for Event Marketers: Foundational Frameworks to Build an Event Strategy for Stronger Measurement
When it comes to measurement for event marketing, we, event marketers, are not short of tactics, approaches, technology, or new formats to help us solve the riddle. I was in the same boat as many of us find ourselves, trying to decipher how to provide my clients with better metrics. When I was on the brand side, I made sure to give my team and partner agencies clear direction on the brand objectives and goals, beyond smiles and thank-yous. I consumed as much content as I could find, searching for the easiest way to measure and track ROI* (usually used interchangeably with measurement).
The truth is: There is no easy way. It wasn't until I made the jump to media and went back to school that I discovered proven strategic marketing foundations, and then learned how to adapt them to my sponsorship investments and event marketing strategy.
Without a strategic foundation, measurement is likely to be haphazard.
Logistics, production, and the activation chaos get in the way of measurement. But if we learn to apply strategic foundations, we will have the ingredients to measure effectively.
To build that foundation, we don't need to reinvent the wheel. There are proven frameworks created by marketing experts to be adopted and adapted to event marketing planning.
When applying these frameworks and tracking results consistently, we will be able to achieve collective business objectives, set realistic expectations for our cross-functional brand partners, and provide clear quantifiable benchmarks for agency partners.
So what are these frameworks?
Marketing science offers several foundational models: Kotler's 4Ps, Lauterborn's 4Cs, the 3Cs, STP, and more recently Rajamannar's Quantum Marketing. These frameworks approach the same challenge from different angles, and their principles overlap. For this article, I'm focusing on the 7Ps, the extended marketing mix, because they translate directly to how event marketers plan and execute. I leaned on Alexander Chernev's Strategic Marketing Management from Northwestern's Kellogg School to ground this piece. These aren't opinions, they're frameworks built on decades of marketing science.
The 7Ps: The Extended Marketing Mix Adopted to Event Marketing
The original 4Ps (Product, Price, Place, Promotion) were developed for physical goods. But services and experiences require more. Booms and Bitner extended the framework, adding People, Process, and Physical Evidence, becoming the 7Ps.
[P1] Product/Brand — The Protagonist
The product or brand being showcased is the protagonist. The way the brand shows up must be designed at the center of the activation, but in true symbiosis with its intended target audience. Alignment of brand and audience goes hand in hand.
Questions to consider:
What value will this activation deliver to its core target audience?
What do we want to express in order to spark interest with people the brand is targeting, without losing what needs to be conveyed?
What promise do we make to attendees that will pique their interest?
What to track:
Brand Perception Shift
Check EMMC's Core Metrics & Survey Questions
[P2] People — The Target Audience & Stakeholders
I break this into two groups.
Target Audience: Who do we want to attract? Is our experience designed authentically? Is it in-culture or in-language? Is it intentionally designed to attract the desired target audience?
In a recent podcast, Jason Bunge, CMO of Hasbro, was asked if he would use non-marketing colleagues as an internal focus group. He answered: "As well-intended as their feedback may be, they may not be the intended target audience the brand message was created for."
If the intended target audience of an event matches the brand's target audience, it should be a no-brainer—just keep tracking it, as there is always room for optimization.
Stakeholders: Your staff, brand ambassadors, and spokespeople are the human expression of the brand. Their knowledge, attitude, appearance, and behavior shape the experience more than any designed element. This group is critical for collecting feedback to optimize on-site or for the next activation. We should be our worst critics.
Questions to consider:
How many people of our target audience were present during our event activation?
Did our staff reflect the demographics of the people we intended to connect with? Were they equipped to share the promise of the brand with our core customer?
What to track:
Target audience demographics, psychographic, and behavioral descriptors.
[P3] Place — Where the Event Happens
This goes beyond logistics. The physical place communicates positioning. The city, the venue, and even if you are exhibiting relative to other sponsors. Align your activation planning and group events accordingly (e.g., core priority markets, west coast sampling events at Kroger, healthcare conferences, hospitality events).
Questions to consider:
Is my product available in that venue or in the market where the activation is taking place? Will I face market restrictions? Could this location harm my reputation?
Is the activation taking place in a priority geographic area?
What to track:
Performance of events in the chosen market over time.
[P4] Promotion — The Spark & The Experience
The Spark: Events don't promote themselves. Event organizers use media channels to attract their audiences, and often the brand is part of that promotion. As sponsors, this is the first spark of presence your intended audience will experience.
Questions to consider:
What role does the brand play in paid, owned, shared, or earned channels to create anticipation? Should the brand create its own promotion?
The Experience: This is where creativity can be unleashed, and where we must flex. Unlike any other marketing channel, we have the privilege to engage all five senses. Media only has fractions of a second to convey a message; we have the individual attention of an audience.
Building the experience is where we shine. This is our domain. All other Ps are equally important, but this is what we control and where we must overwhelmingly prove our worth.
Promotion in this case is expressing the core brand value, creative idea, or key message through a live experience.
Questions to consider:
What assets will drive awareness? Which will engage our target audience? How do we expect attendees to try, test, or demo our product? What action do we want them to take?
What to track:
Message resonance. Brand/product recall.
Asset engagement (for experiential & immersive areas).
Trial or Demo interactions.
Purchase intent. Lead Captures
[P5] Process — The Mapped Journey
Process is how we map our audience's journey: before, during, and after.
Before: How will attendees learn about the brand's presence? What builds anticipation?
During: From arrival to departure, what is the flow? Every moment should be intentional.
After: What do we want them to take away: a memory, a branded tchotchke, a follow-up, or the feeling that a brand authentically spoke to them?
Every process touchpoint either reinforces or undermines the brand's presence. Mapping the journey in advance separates flawless execution from hopeful improvisation.
What to track:
Flow consistency [throughput]
Capacity
Time per station
Wait-times
Dwell time
[P6] Physical Evidence — The Proof
We're already good at documenting our activations. We take tons of photos because we are proud of our work. We include them in our recaps. But here's where the property, the agency, and the brand must align: what evidence is required to track consistently, rigorously, and quantifiably?
Physical evidence is more than photos for a recap deck. It's documentation that validates execution and accelerates reporting. Was every asset activated as planned? Were brand standards met? [sponsorship specific] Did the property deliver on each asset in the term sheet? Were objectives met?
When physical evidence is planned from the start, not scrambled after the fact, measurement becomes tangible.
The evidence lies in tracking each P consistently, rigorously, and quantifiably. Each P is interconnected, and one without the other will not provide the evidence to know what worked, and what could be improved upon.
[P7] Price — The Investment / Resources
It is a fact that agencies and brands put rigor into tracking activation costs. What I suggest is to track sponsorship fees separately, and include measurement as a non-negotiable line item. Being diligent provides a clear picture when calculating ROI*. If you don't have access to all the numbers in the formula, don't calculate ROI. The answer to whether the investment was worth it lies in whether the other Ps achieved their expected outcomes.
Ignoring the impact or failing to optimize each P can put the entire investment at risk.
The investment should also be considered in terms of resources, a sponsorship can be offered to a brand for free, yet people's time, travel, and activation costs must be factored in.
From the perspective of the event organizer or property, this is where true ROI* can come in, and applying the mathematical equation will work, because the cost to promote, the price charged for attendance, and the investment to activate are known to generate the return on investment*.
What to track:
Sponsorship investment
Activation costs
Attendance of desired target audience
Cost per lead.
Direct sales.
When applying the 7Ps, you will start thinking like a brand marketer, learn to speak the common language of CMOs and brand leaders, and earn yourself a seat at the strategic table.
In closing, answer these questions to identify where to optimize on each P:
Product: Did the brand show up authentically and deliver its intended value?
People: Was the target audience present in meaningful numbers, and were stakeholders equipped to represent the brand?
Place: Was the brand strategically placed for maximum impact?
Promotion: Did the media and experience create the anticipated spark and engagement?
Process: Did the mapped journey flow as planned?
Physical Evidence: Was documentation collected to enable agile reporting?
Price (Resources): Based on outcomes across all Ps, was the investment justified?
"Yes" to all seven? The event or sponsorship was a success. One or more "no"? You know exactly where to optimize.
Welcome the year with creativity and new learnings, and build your strategic muscle to deliver on measurable objectives to leave no doubt why the investment should continue or be increased.
Notes:
*The formula for ROI = (Gain − Cost) / Cost × 100
ROI is a financial formula. Without customer revenue data, it cannot be calculated. In event marketing, the term "ROI" is widely used when what's really meant is performance measurement — tracking reach, engagement, and brand impact. Unless the math is being applied, measurement is the more accurate and honest term.
For Further Reading:
● Marketing Theories — The Marketing Mix — From 4 Ps to 7 Ps
● Strategic Marketing Management — Alexander Chernev
● Marketing Management — Philip Kotler
● Quantum Marketing — Raja Rajamannar