How did one Pennsylvania law firm break through the clutter of client holiday parties, save money on planning, build brand loyalty, and increase revenue?  By injecting professional event marketing into its marketing mix.  In order to entertain and market to the Firm's clients in a relaxed and unconventional message vehicle, LAFFADAVIT, a fictional comedy club, was created in the Whitaker Center for the Law Offices of Cipriani & Werner. 

"We wanted something different and fun," stated Dennis Cullen, Esq., Managing Partner at the Harrisburg Cipriani & Werner Office. "Our clients go to so many competitors' holiday networking events that we needed to stand out from the uncomfortable office open house or hotel dinner."  

Like many businesses, Cipriani & Werner historically assigned event planning duties to administrative staff, legal staff or attorneys.  The events were mostly produced because it was the "expected thing" to do.  After meeting with IMPACT Events Group, Cipriani & Werner realized it could not only save money by hiring an outside agency to plan and produce its events, but also add to the Firm's bottom-line by incorporating event marketing into its current marketing efforts.

IMPACT Events Group met with Partners of Cipriani & Werner to discuss the Firm's marketing objectives with this event and set goals against which its marketing investment would be measured.  Of course, the Firm could not invite all of its clients, so using its event goals, IMPACT Events Group strategically narrowed its invite list to equally embrace three unique, but related markets: 

1.      Allied clients to deepen their brand loyalty and to attest to the Firm's reputation and product to other guests;

2.      Clients who, through research, have revenue/projects to offer, but use other law firms;

3.      Clients who are being introduced to the Cipriani & Werner brand and are being sold on the corporate environment along with the superior product.

(Do you know how the 80/20 rule affects your event target markets and cause you to lose money?  Read Event Marketing Tip #16 here.)

With the markets defined, IMPACT Events Group designed special creative to promote and advertise the event.  A nightclub style logo for the LAFFADAVIT Comedy Club was created with collateral advertisements and an electronic/HTML email invitation.  IMPACT also wrote and produced a four minute video to give the background of how the Comedy Club came into being with Cipriani & Werner.  It was a fun piece where the current partners started LAFFADAVIT in a pizza parlor on the first floor of their original office.  The video was shown on plasma screens after the cocktail hour and before guests entered the "club."

Working directly with the client, I enjoyed creating an exciting and entertaining experience in which we could embed the marketing message.  I wanted that gritty, New York City in the 70's flavor. I scouted a lot of area locations but the best locations for the budget we had was the Whitaker Sunoco Theater.  In order to get that nightclub feel I had to hide all of the elegance the theater.  The guests entered the club through a side, black draped hallway, and, rather than sitting in the house seats, were escorted directly onto the stage which was transformed into the LAFFADAVIT nightclub.  (see photos here) We really took time to get that feel and WOW effect, night club cocktail tables, LAFFADAVIT gobo lights, City skyline gobos, and tons of intelligent lighting really brought the nightclub experience to the guests. I knew IMPACT achieved its objective for our client after I heard one guest saying "...it really felt like I was in a nightclub."

Two great comedians were secured with help from BRP Entertainment and IMPACT Events Group developed an event marketing program for the evening.

One of the biggest mistakes I see companies make is producing events without clear marketing objectives.  Whether it is introducing a new product, selling existing lines, or just building awareness and loyalty, event marketing is another vehicle for getting your message to the people.  IMPACT Events Group helped the Firm hone their message, and incorporated it into various segments of the event.

The goal of event experiential marketing is to marry your product or brand with a positive emotional experience delivered by the event.  It is adding a visceral element to the purchase point that your competitor does not have.

Follow-up is always a key element with event marketing, as with any marketing.  Phone calls and personal visits will be the next step with this law firm.  But with comments like "...C&W really outdid themselves this year! Don't know how you'll top that!" from a few guests, IMPACT Events Group knows it is about breaking through the clutter of today's marketing messages to make your product the one people think of when it comes time to buy.

Sources & Special Thanks:

Dennis Cullen, Managing Partner Cipriani & Werner 717-975-9600