Event and Experiential Marketing: Entertainment, Ticketing and Sponsorship Activation – Barcelona, 5–9 Apr 2027

Programme overview

Technical depth: Practitioner · Practical mode: Case study

Introduction

Concerts, festivals, exhibitions, sporting events, attractions and brand activations compete for the same audiences, budgets and sponsors, and many still sell late, discount heavily or cannot show sponsors what their investment achieved. Marketing effort is often concentrated in the final weeks before opening, with little use of audience data or post-event evidence. This course equips marketers to position an event or experience, build demand across the attendee journey, price and sell tickets, activate sponsorship and measure results. Participants work on cases from several sectors and leave with an Event and Experience Marketing Plan.

Course Objectives

• Position an event, entertainment offer or brand experience for defined audience segments using experience economy and experiential marketing models
• Plan an integrated campaign across the attendee journey from announcement to post-event advocacy
• Set ticketing, pricing and release strategies that build early demand and protect yield
• Design sponsorship packages and activations that deliver measurable value to sponsors
• Measure attendance, engagement, sponsor return and sustainability performance using the Phillips ROI Methodology and ISO 20121
• Produce an Event and Experience Marketing Plan ready for approval by organisers and sponsors

Target Audience

• Event and festival marketing managers
• Marketing managers at venues, attractions, theme parks and entertainment destinations
• Brand experience and activation managers in consumer and corporate brands
• Sponsorship and partnership managers who sell and service event sponsorship
• Ticketing and audience development managers
• Exhibition, conference and business event marketing managers

Course Outline

Day 1: The Events and Experience Economy

• Event, Entertainment and Brand Experience Typology
• Pine and Gilmore Experience Economy: Four Realms of Experience
• Audience Segmentation Using Attendee Data and Personas
• Competitive Event Calendar and Leisure-Spend Analysis
• Current-State Audit of Event Marketing Performance

Day 2: Experiential Marketing Frameworks

• Schmitt Strategic Experiential Modules: Sense, Feel, Think, Act and Relate
• Attendee Journey Mapping from Awareness to Advocacy
• Event Brand Positioning Statement and Proposition Hierarchy
• ISO 20121:2024 Event Sustainability Management and Marketing Claims
• ICC Advertising and Marketing Communications Code: Influencer and AI Content Rules

Day 3: Building Demand and Revenue

• Launch, Early-Bird and Countdown Campaign Calendar
• Ticket Pricing Tiers, Release Phases and Dynamic Pricing Rules
• Influencer, Creator and Community Partnership Plan
• Sponsorship Package Design and Activation Planning
• CRM and Email Journeys for Repeat Attendance

Day 4: Risks, Measurement and Optimisation

• Slow Sales Recovery Playbook and Discounting Controls
• Crisis Communications for Cancellations, Safety Incidents and Negative Reviews
• Phillips ROI Methodology Evaluation Levels for Events
• Sponsor Return Reporting: Exposure, Engagement and Lead Metrics
• Post-Event Survey Design and Net Promoter Score Analysis

Day 5: Case Work and the Marketing Plan

• Music Festival Case Study: Recovering Slow Ticket Sales
• Trade Exhibition Case Study: Exhibitor and Visitor Acquisition
• Brand Pop-Up Activation Case Study: Measuring Sponsor Value
• Event and Experience Marketing Plan Drafting
• Organiser and Sponsor Panel Review and Plan Defence

Skills You Will Gain

• Experiential Marketing Design
• Audience Segmentation
• Ticket Pricing Strategy
• Sponsorship Activation
• Campaign Calendar Planning
• Event Performance Measurement
• Marketing Crisis Communication
• Sustainable Event Communication

Why Attend This Course

• Leave with an Event and Experience Marketing Plan for a real event or attraction, tested by an organiser and sponsor panel
• Build demand earlier and rely less on last-minute discounting
• Show sponsors evidence of return that supports renewal
• Borrow tactics from festivals, exhibitions, sport, attractions and brand activations

Conclusion

Events and experiences succeed commercially when audiences commit early, attend, share and return, and when sponsors can see what they gained. This Core Concept course moves from the experience economy and audience insight, through experiential marketing frameworks, to campaign timing, ticket pricing, sponsorship activation and the measurement and recovery tools that protect results. The final day produces an Event and Experience Marketing Plan that participants can present to organisers and sponsors and use to run their next season or launch.