Big Moments Don't Start on the Day They Happen

One of the lessons I have learned repeatedly through events and sport is that the public moment is usually only a small part of the marketing opportunity.

People see the event itself. They see the photographs, social posts, crowds and activity happening on the day. What they do not necessarily see is the thinking that should have started weeks or months earlier: identifying audiences, understanding the stories, preparing content, creating assets, organising people and deciding what the event is actually supposed to achieve.

That has been particularly relevant this year with major sporting moments on the horizon. When an organisation has athletes, staff or students involved in something significant, the marketing opportunity should not begin when someone arrives with a camera.

It starts with objectives.

What do we want this moment to do for the organisation? Are we trying to create pride among current students? Strengthen reputation externally? Demonstrate opportunity to prospective students? Support athletes? Generate content? Build relationships? Often there will be several objectives, but they should be recognised before the tactics begin.

This is where the marketing planning framework I have increasingly adopted becomes useful. Diagnosis comes first, followed by segmentation and targeting. Once we understand the audience and objective, positioning and messaging become much easier. Only then should we be deciding whether the execution requires video, photography, social content, interviews, email or something physical.

It sounds incredibly structured when written down, but the point is not to remove creativity. In my experience, structure actually gives creativity something useful to solve.

A major sporting event can create content across three broad periods. Before the event, marketing builds anticipation and introduces the people involved. During it, the focus shifts towards immediacy, emotion and participation. Afterwards, the opportunity becomes reflection, legacy and extending the value of what happened.

The biggest mistake is concentrating everything into the middle phase.

I have seen this with events throughout my career. Weeks of organisational work go into something that lasts a few hours, yet the marketing plan sometimes consists of posting photographs during the event and thanking everyone afterwards. That leaves an enormous amount of potential unused.

The same principle applies far beyond sport. A conference, opening, product launch or campaign should have a life before and after its main date. Content can introduce speakers, people and stories beforehand. Afterwards, one event can generate interviews, case studies, learning, testimonials and material that remains useful long after the physical activity has finished.

There is a connection here to brand building and activation too. Some content will have an immediate call to action, while other parts create awareness, memory and association. A strong event can do both if the marketing has been designed properly.

The day itself might be what everyone remembers.

The marketer's job is to make sure the opportunity lasts much longer.