Kevin Lee interviews Sheila Steinmark, CEO/CMO of MOGXP, a Plano, Texas-based agency that helps brands create memorable experiential marketing events.

Sheila and Kevin begin their conversation by addressing the concept of “brand purpose” and why it’s important for brands to make sure any events cause marketing events they organize are aligned with the particular promise represented by the brand.

They then move on to the topic of “greenwashing” and why it’s critical for brands engaged in corporate philanthropy to avoid it, and address the fact that when consumers become aware that a brand is engaged in charitable giving, this awareness can function as a “tie-breaker.”

Kevin and Sheila trade notes on mistakes often made when brands engage in these sponsorships. As Sheila notes, one critical mistake that’s often made is under-resourcing the social media teams responsible for conducting the events themselves.

Another mistake is to rely too much on “hybrid” (real + virtual) events. As Sheila observes, “consumers don't want hybrid. If you are there, it waters down the experience when you have to interact with people who are online, and the people online never get the experience that people who were there are getting. So I think there will be more segregation in those types of events where everybody's pushing for hybrid… I think it's okay to do a live event, and then do a virtual event that is similar to it so that you offer it to other people. But it really waters down the virtual event by having people live.”

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