Traditional advertising will take a brand only so far these days. If done right, event marketing can engage all of consumers' senses and win their loyalty.

You've heard the words many times before: We work in a cluttered marketplace. This consumer-driven society offers the masses a mass of choices -toys, clothing, electronics, entertainment and, without a doubt, food and beverage.

With so many choices, it's often difficult for consumers to tell the players apart, exemplified best by the coworker who recounts a hilarious commercial, but just can't recall the name of the company that spent millions to produce it.

A recent article in The Wall Street Journal confirms that "marketers are finding it harder than in the past to reach a mass audience through advertising." Enter event or experiential marketing. It's based on the notion that consumers can best be reached by breaking away from traditional forms of advertising.

No matter how good a stylist makes a frozen entree or a smoothie look on TV or in a print ad, there's no way for a consumer to smell it, taste it or touch it. Therein lies the problem.

Bring it to Them
Getting your food or beverage in the hands -and mouths -of consumers can be an incredibly effective way to breathe life into your brand. If done well, experiential marketing can translate into increased sales. If done poorly, it can have a negative impact, and in the worst-case scenario, leave a black mark on a brand's image.

Try These Out
To maximize public and media reaction to your event, there are several simple guidelines to follow:
· Know thy message points -Advertising executives are adept at working their clients' messages into a short 30-second commercial or a one-page ad. Although experiential marketing offers the benefit of in-person consumer engagement, it also carries the risk of a live, sometimes unscripted interaction. It's best to thoroughly prepare and rehearse your staff so that it stays on message.

· Think strategically -Who is your target demographic? Once you've identified it, design an event that reaches your audience at the right time and in the right place. If you're trying to engage commuters, offering them product samples while they're rushing to make a 6 p.m. train may not produce the consumer engagement you were hoping for. Holding the event at lunch hour, however, might give them the time to linger and enable the transaction to stick.

· Think beyond sampling -Create a bigger, broader event around the sampling opportunity and there is a better chance that the public and the media will pay attention. In an event to launch the new line of Ragu Robusto! pasta sauces, the sampling of pasta with the brand's product was key. But a staged competition inviting the public to come up and give their best "mmmmm" sound after tasting the sauce made it a happening. The public and media were drawn by the fun and games on stage, and the nearby sampling, therefore, had a much bigger audience.

· Hire professional caterers -On-the-street food and beverage sampling has a long list of do's and don'ts to ensure success. First and foremost, hire an experienced team to prepare and distribute your product. In a restaurant or supermarket setting, the product is managed by professionals who deal with food and beverages every day -that level of expertise is needed in the field, as well. Beyond packaged goods, a catering partner will help to ensure that everything from temperature to consistency is given strict attention.

· Make health and safety issues a top priority -The last thing a brand wants is to make people sick. If the food is unsafe, media coverage will be abundant -but for the wrong reason. Use adequate signage to alert consumers to any potential allergens in your food or beverage sample, such as milk, nuts, eggs or wheat. Remember that the public is not choosing to come to the product -the product is coming to them -so they might not be thinking in the same careful way that they would in a restaurant or grocery store. If a heated product is served, cooking to the right temperature is essential and ensures consumers experience the food the way the marketer intends it to be experienced. Supplies should be stored under the same restrictions an established restaurant would use, and food-handling gloves should be worn by staff when applicable.

· Make a special delivery -Your event is more likely to be held in a sizeable public venue rather than a restaurant, so your audience won't have the luxury of comfortable tables and chairs or a dedicated server. The sampling experience should be a positive one, nonetheless. Pay mind to portion size and the ability of a consumer to easily pick up, hold and eat or drink your offering. Pasta with sauce calls for a heavy-duty bowl or plate. If a beverage is poured, make sure that it is not filled too high. Imagine how unhappy a consumer would be if your red fruit drink spilled all over his or her white pants. Enough napkins and garbage cans should also be on-site so that the consumers and the venue can stay clean. Word to the wise: Many venues restrict how large a sample can be, especially if traditional foodservice outlets are nearby, so do your homework before the event.

· Creativity is key -Marketers should treat an event site like any other venue where their product is served or sold. Think about what the event environment looks like and be inventive when it comes to presentation. Branded tents, props and music, for starters, go a long way to help a brand stand out in a crowded environment. Signage should clearly call out the brand's message points, be they about taste, nutrition or something as simple as a new package.

Why Not?
If you've got confidence in your product, why not bring it directly to the consumer? Remember that experiential marketing need not be reserved for new product launches. Many events are centered around product or company milestones or major updates.

In the end, it's no secret that Americans like to eat. Billions of dollars are spent on the marketing of food and drink to hungry and thirsty consumers who are passionate about what they put in their bodies, not only based on taste but on nutrition and even social status. Although traditional advertising and marketing outlets have served the industry well, there are limits to its potential. There's really no reason not to break out and directly engage your customers' taste buds and memory banks. A consumer's taste buds, after all, are the greatest sales force any marketer could dream up.  FAD

Matt Glass is a managing partner with South Orange, N.J.-based Eventage, an event production firm. Contact him at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it '; document.write( '' ); document.write( addy_text14967 ); document.write( '<\/a>' ); //-->\n This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it