Branded marketing events: facilitating customer brand engagement

◦ Purpose: Many wineries host branded marketing events to initiate memorable experiences for their consumers. This method of experiential consumption provides benefits to wineries from event revenue through to product trial, brand exposure and increased awareness; all anchored in consumer memory with the experience consumed. However, little is known about which aspects of the experience builds engagement with the event and ultimately with the brand. To gain a more comprehensive understanding of branded marketing events, this conceptual paper provides a framework that outlines how the various dimensions of an experience facilitate customer engagement. ◦ Design/methodology/approach: Drawing on academic literature in service dominant logic, engagement, consumer experience, and event marketing, a conceptual framework is introduced that explicates the relationship between branded marketing events and customer brand engagement through the customer engagement with the event. ◦ Findings: This paper outlines how the sensorial, emotional, cognitive, pragmatic, lifestyle and relational components of a branded marketing event facilitate customer engagement with the event and the brand. Customer brand engagement is both directly impacted through the experiences, but also indirectly influenced by greater event engagement and co-creation of the experience. In turn, this level of engagement fosters an increased intention to purchase the brand in the future. ◦ Practical implications: The wine industry commonly uses branded marketing events; with greater knowledge of the process of facilitating engagement, wineries will be able to design these events to more effectively engage their customers.