Media Partnerships
Problem: An association representing the business travel industry was not effectively leveraging its relationship with the industry trade press. The association’s convention was by far the industry’s largest and most important event, and promoting the convention through the trade press was an important component of the overall convention marketing program. However, the relationship between the association and the publishers of the major industry magazines was spotty at best, and representatives of those publications expressed their dismay about how they were being treated and their lack of visibility at the trade show.
Solution: Create media partnerships to provide greatly increased visibility at the convention in exchange for advertising in trade publishers’ print and online media. Mr. Casey contacted each publisher and negotiated barter agreements where each publisher received exhibit space in the trade show and much higher visibility – on a par with paid supplier sponsorships. In exchange, the association received greatly increased advertising space that not only covered their promotional needs for the convention, but for most other major association programs as well.
Outcome: The association received more than $550,000 worth of advertising in exchange for a hard cash outlay of less than $10,000. The association’s relationship with the trade publishers improved greatly and led to further opportunities to collaborate.
Case Studies
