At Sequence Events, we’re passionate believers in the transformative power of live events. That’s why we love partnering with clients like AI-driven digital advertising leader GumGum, who share our enthusiasm and invest heavily in creating experiences that make a lasting impact. Whether it’s attention-grabbing activations at major festivals like POSSIBLE and Cannes Lions, or intimate gatherings for VIPs in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Dallas, we’ve been thrilled to collaborate with this innovative brand.
Recently, we sat down with Shannon Scanlin, GumGum’s Senior Manager, Global Marketing, to explore why live events have become such a cornerstone of the brand’s marketing approach. “The way we see events is twofold: It's about trying to reach and make connections with new audiences within our industry, and also about keeping and having fun with our existing clients,” Scanlin shared. “There’s no substitute for the meaningful connections in-person events facilitate.”
Here’s how GumGum leverages live events to elevate its marketing strategy.
1. Use events to connect with multiple audiences.
Tailoring events to meet the needs of diverse audience groups ensures every attendee feels seen and valued. GumGum, for instance, broke its audience into two main sectors—day-to-day buyers and senior decision-makers—and works with SEQ to plan different localized events for each group.
“The [day-to-day buyers] are usually younger, between 20 and 35, trendy, and very into pop culture,” Scanlin explained. “For them, we organize parties with fun themes where we can incorporate our brand and solutions in engaging ways. We aim to host these at least once a quarter to stay top of mind.”
For the decision-makers, it’s all about creating more intimate experiences, like dinners or activities that can foster meaningful conversations. “It’s not just about us talking at them; we create a forum where like-minded professionals can connect and discuss topics of interest,” she said. “These two approaches have both proven extremely successful for different purposes.”
2. Balance large events with intimate gatherings.
Striking the right mix of high-impact activations and smaller-scale engagements ensures consistent touchpoints throughout the year. “Of course, we need to have a presence at the big tentpole events like POSSIBLE, Cannes Lions, and Advertising Week New York,” Scanlin noted. But, she added, the team has found equal success with smaller events that can offer memorable moments, conversations, and experiences.
GumGum’s formula includes at least one to two events per region per quarter, ranging from large gatherings like a rooftop roller-skating party in LA to smaller dinners or activities. “For us, it’s about touchpoints—having enough moments throughout the year to foster connections and stay top of mind for our clients,” she said.
3. Always put the audience's experience first.
Regardless of the size of the event, planning with the audience in mind is crucial. “For tentpole events, we never want to be just another booth or space that feels very corporate,” Scanlin said. “For example, at POSSIBLE, we thought about how people were going to be there for three days and attending a lot of speaking sessions. Why don’t we create a space where people can come and hang out, relax, mingle, and re-energize?”
The team opted for a vibrant-but-relaxing activation that offered hand massages, custom-branded martinis, rehydration stations, and more.
“We put our audience front and center on everything that we do,” she said. “It’s always about thinking about what our audience is going to be experiencing or what they’ll need, and providing it in a way that is differentiated.”
4. Thoughtful details make a big impact.
Choose venues, gifts, and experiences that align with your brand while standing out as unique. Scanlin, for instance, always puts a lot of thought into finding a venue that can feel intimate and foster conversations.
“Branding should be subtle but present, and we try to include premium, thoughtful gifts—keeping in mind that these people get swag all the time,” she added. “For instance, this year, we’re working with Sequence to give branded Polaroid cameras as holiday gifts and encouraging them to capture meaningful moments with their loved ones this holiday season.”
The key is to find something interesting and useful that they’re unlikely to buy themselves, Scanlin explained. “With the Polaroids, they can capture a cool moment with it—and they’ll always connect that with GumGum!”
5. Measure success with both short- and long-term metrics.
Tracking immediate engagement and long-term ROI can help you evaluate your event strategy. Before and during the event, Scanlin likes to track metrics like RSVPs, number of attendees, drop-off and no-show rates, and engagement levels.
“Post-event, we look at the number of follow-ups and the number of touchpoints that our sales team is able to make after the event, whether it’s a call, a meeting, or a meaningful conversation,” she added. “As the marketing team, we want to enable as many of those moments as we can. The event is the anchor, and pre-event and post-event we can have those conversations and stay top of mind.”
GumGum’s event-forward strategy has had a major impact, she noted. “From regional hosted events so far this year, we’ve actually seen about a nine to 10x ROI! It’s absolutely fantastic.”
6. Invest in a long-term event partner.
Collaborating with an experienced event expert can enhance your strategy and execution. “Having a long-term partner like Sequence that knows us, that we can rely on—and that collaboration, communication, and having them as an extension of our team—really makes a difference,” Scanlin shared.
This approach allows the teams to build a long-term strategy, and spend time really examining the event once it’s over and implementing any learnings into the next one. “I think a long-term partnership like ours with Sequence is key to being successful,” she said.