Sounds great? However, if there was someone from the sunglass company in attendance they did make their presence known, there were no sunglasses on display, and the venue was so dark that if anyone had indeed thought to bring information or the actual products to the event, (imagine that), it would have been extremely difficult to see them.

Forget about brand awareness for the spirits brand, you could not even see the spirits bottles at the bar, so if the bartenders wanted they could have been pouring the house brand for the cocktails.

At the end of the evening, there was no requisite "goody bag" with information on the sunglass collection or on the spirits brand, no contact information on the products, no token gifts to inspire future purchases, and I left the "launch" wondering, "What was the ROI (Return on Investment)?"

For the guests who came for the sole purpose of drinking, who did not care about the sunglass launch, they had three hours of drinking cocktails at a nice club, and with the hefty price of cocktails at upscale bars in New York, that may have been ROI enough.

For the spirits brand, I wonder what their ROI was, and for the sunglass collection, I beg to wonder, what was their ROI? Perhaps the company simply had some extra money left over so they decided to have a party, invite strangers to a trendy (think expensive) club, and not bother to have anyone host the party, bring the collection, or bring any information.

As I, along with most the guests there had gone to the sunglass launch with the idea of actually seeing the collection, I felt that my ROI for the evening was decidedly negligent, although I did enjoy the view and the free cocktails.

With planning, this event could have worked. All that was needed was to adjust the lighting a bit, have the designer or someone from the company there to introduce the sunglasses, have the products on display, have a spirits brand ambassador there to ensure that the brand was recognized, and at the end of the evening, hand each guest a "goody bag" with contact information on where to purchase the products.

Marketing, like every aspect of your business, needs to be carefully planned and not approached haphazardly. After you have spent your hard-earned marketing dollars on a plan or an event, you should not have to wonder, what was your ROI.

If you would like to learn more about our services, please contact Luxury Experience Company (www.L-E-Company.com) on how we can make a marketing difference for your company.

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© April 2012. Luxury Experience. www.LuxuryExperience.com . All rights reserved.