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Sinking its Teeth into Marketing An Old Port events firm offers big-city quality as it sails 'on a rising tide of business' nationwide. By TUX TURKEL, Staff Writer Sensitive teeth don't top the list of America's most pressing health concerns. But under the right conditions, people might decide that it's a problem in need of attention. Cooling water fountains gurgle inside the blue tent-like structure. Visitors rest on vibrating massage chairs. As the guests relax, dentists and hygenists counsel them about tooth sensitivity and hand out samples of Sensodyne toothpaste. The dental spa is the invention of emg3, a fast-growing event- marketing firm in Portland's Old Port. During a recent 30-week tour around the country, the spa hosted 25,000 consultations and distributed 200,000 samples. And research suggests that sales generated through the event will greatly exceed the cost of producing it. Creating and staging activities that immerse consumers in a brand-associated experience is the hallmark of event marketing. The industry generated an estimated $150 billion in spending last year, according to Event Marketer magazine, and is growing at more than 20 percent a year. Advertisers are embracing the concept as they look for ways to slice through media clutter and form face-to-face, emotional connections with customers. Emg3 is the latest example of the trend in Maine. The 2003 startup has 67 employees and will gross more than $30 million in sales this year. Next year, emg3 will need 40 new workers to handle pending contracts. "We're sailing on a rising tide of business," said Stephen Woods, emg3's president and founder. Emg3 clients include Levi Strauss, Olympus, Ace Hardware, Wal- Mart and GlaxoSmithKline, the maker of Sensodyne. Its only Maine-based contract is Hannaford Supermarkets. The value of these contracts is confidential, but some typically top $1 million. Within three years, Woods wants emg3 to be the first independently owned events firm in New England with annual gross sales of $100 million. The biggest challenge, he said, is finding enough skilled workers committed to careers in Maine. Event marketing is about excitement, fun, energy and emotion -- and making money. The trick is transferring the excitement surrounding a sporting event, for instance, into a brand loyalty, or at least a brand awareness. To sell toothpaste for people with sensitive teeth, emg3 came up with the dental spa. Curious and thirsty visitors at the annual "Taste of Chicago" festival and other events nationwide had their potential tooth sensitivity primed with ice-cold drinks, making them more receptive to the message from hired dentists and hygenists, delivered in a soothing, nonthreatening environment. These techniques borrow from theaters and theme parks. They create what the industry calls experiential marketing, meant to give consumers "a 360-degree emotional experience," according to Dan Hanover, editor of Event Marketer. "Companies are trying to turn their brands into destinations," he said. Woods' decision to start emg3 in Portland came through a convergence of personal and professional decisions. Woods grew up outside Boston and visited Maine as a child. Career changes took him around the country as an account executive with Coca-Cola, an agent representing professional athletes and a tennis tournament director. He met his future wife, a Bangor native, while living in Atlanta. When the couple had small children, they decided Maine was the right place to raise a family. In 2001, Woods was recruited as vice president at Pierce Promotions, a Portland-based event-marketing pioneer. He served as president until soon after Pierce was sold in 2003 to New York media conglomerate Omnicom Group. Consolidation is common in the event-marketing business. But Woods said his time in Portland convinced him that he could run a successful independent agency, supported by creative talent from residents who, like him, picked Maine for lifestyle reasons. Roughly half his staff has since migrated from Pierce Promotions, Woods estimated, and emg3 has had very little turnover. That continuity is helpful for managing the thousands of moving pieces that make up a major event, and it gives emg3 an advantage in a typically transient industry. Consistency is important for managing Olympus OnSite. OnSite is a 53-foot trailer that carries a simulated operating room and diagnostic labs packed with millions of dollars of medical equipment. The mobile unit and its staff are on the road every week, visiting hospitals and doctor offices. Olympus is best known for cameras, but more than half its revenue comes from medical and scientific instruments. The operating room, which is so realistic that doctors train in it, indicates how sophisticated business marketing has become. "Emg3 has been a great business partner for Olympus," said Dave Willard, director of corporate marketing for the company. Olympus is a prime sponsor of the U.S. Open tennis tournament, held recently in New York City. More than 700,000 people attended, and emg3 ran a demonstration tent for Olympus at the stadium entrance, loaning and selling cameras and taking visitor photos. More than 83,000 visitors had face-to-face encounters with the products, according to Woods. Research suggests that a certain percentage will buy Olympus cameras for themselves, or perhaps as a present. The value of these encounters is measured by proprietary return-on-investment calculations that capture current and future business. Woods' contacts in the sports world and his skill at staging these so-called sponsorship activation events have helped make emg3 one of the country's fastest-growing agencies, Hanover said. Woods has been able to position his company as a less- expensive alternative to corporate shops, and he has assembled a talent pool that rivals big-city competitors. "It's a New York-grade marketing agency in the state of Maine," Hanover said. "There's a vibe and mojo at emg3 that's detectable from the lobby." As emg3 prepares for growth, it faces competition not only from New York agencies, but also from some in its backyard, including Pierce and Gigunda Group in Manchester, N.H. But emg3, which Woods said is profitable, is expanding. It recently opened a warehouse in Westbrook to handle tents, generators and equipment needed for mobile marketing. Emg3 is running out of room in its office that overlooks the Portland waterfront, but Woods said he plans to stay in the Old Port area. His biggest challenges, he said, are finding the right employees in a shallow labor pool and servicing clients through the Portland Jetport. He said he has had offers but has declined to sell emg3. "I have no interest in selling emg3," he said. "I started it because I wanted to live and work in Maine." Staff Writer Tux Turkel can be contacted at 791-6462 or at: Copyright © 2007 Blethen Maine Newspapers |
