Five Principles That Guide Groupon's Event Marketing Strategy

Looking to cut a good deal with the web's hottest daily deals website? The good news is, as a fast growing newly minted public company the Chicago-based daily deals site is actively seeking new event marketing and sponsorship opportunities. The bad news is that Groupon as you might imagine sees a lot of opportunities and only a few fit their event marketing criteria (see below).

So what kind of opportunities have made the cut so far? Everything from stunt marketing programs such as flash mobs to more conventional deals with music festivals and sports teams.

Sponsorship decisions are made by the Experiential Marketing team, which pursues opportunities based on their fit with five key criteria:

1) Fit with the Groupon brand's mission purpose of “making life less boring".

2) Have some sense of scalability and/or sustainability.

3) Provide the ability to drive revenue (or pay for themselves).

4) Drive positive brand perceptions & quality exposure (promotional, media & viral).

5) Provide quality opportunities for customer engagement (both merchant & consumer).

To get a deal, expect some push back on price and be prepared to discuss the value-in-kind (i.e. value in lieu of cash) that Groupon can provide. We hear the daily deals site uses their sales/negotiation chops to play up the exposure Groupon can give partners in an effort to defray event costs.

Now that you're armed with a few extra tips, don't forget to head over to Groupon's Sponsor Page to learn more about their deals, decision makers and more.