The Punchbowl Trends Blog

The celebrations industry is a thriving market worth $38 billion. When paired with consumer brands, the celebrations market helps consumer brands increase their revenue by impressive measures. However, there are many aspects of party planning and celebrations for brands to consider marketing order to successfully reach this audience. Here we’ve broken down and identified each piece of a celebration to help your consumer brand develop a marketing strategy that targets the celebrations industry.

Types of Events: There are plenty of reasons to celebrate including 11 federal holidays, 33 traditional/religious holidays, as well as numerous birthdays, anniversaries, engagements, showers, and weddings. Every event lends itself to a party and people are always looking for an excuse to get together and celebrate, whether for New Year’s Eve or the Super Bowl. If you know which holidays and events are most popular to celebrate and who plans events, your brand can generate marketing activity around this valuable industry.

Hosts: Women, especially moms, plan the majority of celebrations from start to finish. There are hosts who plan their special party down to the very last detail to guarantee a memorable celebration and some hosts who plan an event because they have to, The first type is the primary target audience for brands. Hosts plan everything. They plan and choose the theme, invitations, decorations, and menu, coordinate favors, and do the shopping. Hosts are essential to the celebrations industry and the overall center of the party.

Timing: The average host spends an average of 4-6 weeks planning an event. The date and venue are the first two details arranged, followed by invitations. Smaller but crucial details like decorations, favors, and menu planning follow. The actual shopping for food and favors occurs anywhere from 1 day to 2 weeks in advance, according to a survey of Punchbowl hosts. For holiday celebrations like Christmas and Hanukkah, gifts are crucial. There is a wide range of timing for holiday and birthday gift shopping. In 2012 only 18% of shoppers were done with their shopping lists by the first week in December. However, shopping habits are different for everyone. Organized party hosts try to complete gift shopping well before the date of the event.

Preparation of Tasks: In today’s world, everything needed for party planning can be found online. In fact, 53% of moms say they use technology to help plan special occasions like holidays and birthdays. Hosts have transitioned from the world of paper to digital when it comes to online invitations. Today’s modern party host relies on the Internet to plan a majority of her party. She researches her decisions and purchases well in advance. She also turns to Pinterest for inspiration and decoration ideas. Hosts also scour through a numerous amount of blogs, websites, and social media to look for time-saving tips, recipes, and creative DIY party ideas.

Guests: Each party usually has 1-2 hosts, but many guests. Depending on the event, every host sends 30-40 invitations. Guests play a critical role in the party planning process because they almost always contribute to the celebration. Guests bring dips, hor d’oeuvres and beverages, and bear presents for birthday and holiday celebrations. Moreover, memorable parties inspire guests to utilize a similar menu, decoration or favor at their next event.

Consumer brands can leverage some of the $38 billion revenue that the celebrations industry offers. To reach hosts and guests, your brand must develop a marketing strategy that considers elements such as timing, guests, and planning, and work with publishers to get online at the opportune time, when hosts first start to plan a party. For more insights on the celebrations industry, download this free white paper.

Posted by Chelsea Amaral