Bringing people through the door is one of the biggest challenges faced by event organisers. Whether you’re hosting a university open day, staging a food festival or preparing for a B2B expo, the success of your event hinges on visibility and footfall. That’s where event advertising and location-based advertising come in.
At MEERKATworks, we’re a friendly, can-do team of experts who have helped clients, from universities to international shows, plan and buy media campaigns that don’t just build awareness, they get people physically to the venue.
Event advertising: Turning awareness into attendees
An event can only deliver on its objectives – recruitment, ticket sales, brand awareness, networking – if people actually show up. Effective digital event advertising and traditional media placement ensure your message cuts through the noise and reaches the right audience, in the right location.
This is where the MEERKATs’ media expertise is invaluable, delivering successful campaigns that use precision and smart targeting. A scattergun approach might raise awareness, but location-based advertising and tailored media planning drive tangible results by targeting audiences where they live, work, travel and socialise.
Location-based advertising for events
Location-based campaigns allow you to place messages directly in front of potential attendees when they’re most likely to act. This might mean:
Outdoor advertising around venues – Bus stops, billboards and posters that catch the eye of passers-by in high-footfall areas.
Transport advertising – Bus or taxi advertising that puts your message on the move in the right vicinity.
Geo-targeted digital ads – Reaching mobile users within a set radius of the event venue.
For example, during the Southampton Boat Show, the MEERKATs worked with organisers to combine traditional outdoor formats with digital targeting to create a seamless awareness journey.
Tailoring event advertising to event types
Different events require different media planning and buying strategies. Here’s how to approach them:
1. University open days
Prospective students and parents need early nudges and practical reminders. Outdoor advertising around key catchment areas works well, supported by transport advertising in key feeder towns or regions.
CASE STUDY: University of Sussex Open Day
2. Food and drink
With so many leisure options competing for attention, experiential marketing and strong visual formats help events stand out. Billboards in neighbourhood hotspots, busy outdoor sites near train stations and geo-targeted ads around local attractions help capture both residents and visitors.
CASE STUDY: Explore Louisiana Tabasco Ice Cream Activation
3. Sports events advertising
Sports draw in passionate, engaged audiences, but fans need compelling visual cues to convert interest into attendance. Digital campaigns combined with transport advertising build anticipation. Imagine fans seeing creative on their train ride to work, then again in their newsfeeds within the same postcode – it’s reinforcement that drives footfall.
For Brighton & Hove Albion FC, the MEERKATs ran an outdoor campaign across key city transport hubs to keep the team top of mind locally. Paired with geo-targeted digital out-of-home (DOOH) ads in fan neighbourhoods, this consistent presence helped boost kit sales.
4. Conferences and B2B events
We don’t just plan campaigns for conferences and B2B events — we’re part of the circuit ourselves. The MEERKAT team has delivered paid campaigns such as BrightonSEO OOH media placements to capture industry attention, while also showing up with paws on the ground as attendees and sponsors at leading events.
From exploring digital media trends at Eastbourne DigiFest 2025 to supporting the health and wellness sector at the Bread & Jam Feelgood Summit, we understand conferences from both sides. This perspective means we know how to promote B2B events effectively because we’ve stood in the shoes of the brands and delegates you want to reach.
Building a location-based event advertising campaign
Define your audience: Are you targeting students, families, business leaders or cultural enthusiasts?
Pinpoint locations: Map out the venues, transport links, hotels and leisure areas your audience interacts with.
Select channels: Every brief is different, which is why every plan at MEERKATworks is bespoke. Combining outdoor formats (billboards, buses, taxis) with digital advertising creates maximum impact. Digital audio and Video on Demand (VoD) VoD can also be planned to postcode level, reaching the coverage area of the event while minimising wastage.
Phase your campaign: Plan early awareness, conversion-driving reminders and real-time updates during the event.
Measure and adapt: Track ticket sales, footfall and digital engagement to refine your strategy.
At MEERKATworks, we use media planning to connect these dots, ensuring every placement – digital or physical – works seamlessly together to guide audiences from awareness to attendance.
Event advertising real-world case studies
Southampton Boat Show
Our work over numerous years with the Southampton Boat Show is a good example of how the MEERKATs successfully boost event attendance, in this case for a highly regarded festival of boating and watersports. With meticulous MEERKAT planning, the campaigns comprised Programmatic, PPC, radio promotion and OOH. The results showed that we significantly overdelivered – achieving footfall of more than 85,000 people.
Adrien Burnand, Southampton International Boat Show Head of Marketing, highlighted our service, attention to detail and event advertising expertise. He summed up the positive impact of MEERKAT’s media planning and buying:
“Our target footfall of over 85,000 for each event was achieved and this success is testament to the plans they negotiated and managed for us.”
University of Sussex
At MEERKATworks we are well known for our university advertising and ability to increase footfall to events. Our ongoing advertising campaigns for the University of Sussex provide a noteworthy example.
The MEERKATs have successfully promoted the University of Sussex’s annual Degree and Masters courses and boosted attendance at university Open Day events using a variety of methods. These have included, amongst others, smart geo-targeted OOH based on precise postcodes and locations of feeder schools, geo-targeted digital audio on Spotify and DAX, Train Car Panels and billboards across the London Underground network, and cinema advertising for film releases relevant for the target demographic.
This holistic approach, mixing formats and locations, has achieved maximum reach at the right level of frequency, meeting prospective students as they travel, study or socialise.
St Raphael’s Hospice
An example of the footfall boosting work we have carried out in the charity sector is the campaign we planned and bought for St Raphael’s. The MEERKATs worked with the hospice on a strategically planned OOH campaign to launch their ‘Super Hero Family Fun Day’, which brought families together for a fundraising event.
The OOH campaign included geo-targeted OOH formats, reaching families and individuals out-and-about in key coverage areas. It demonstrated how carefully interwoven OOH environments, such as Rail, Roadside, Bus and Leisure, can be economically combined with inspiring creative, to encourage people to pull on the spandex and join in the fun.
These examples highlight how media buying for events isn’t about spending more, but spending smarter – placing messages exactly where they matter.
Driving footfall to your event
From festivals and cultural events to conferences and B2B expos, the right blend of location-based advertising and experiential media can transform attendance numbers. When audiences see your brand across multiple touchpoints, such as on the commute and outside the venue, they’re far more likely to engage and attend.
At MEERKATworks, we specialise in stitching these strategies together through smart, cost-effective media planning and buying. We’re natural team players who thrive on supporting marketing teams – digging deep and tackling every brief with integrity and innovative thinking. If you’re ready to boost attendance at your next event, get in touch – we’d love to help you make it a success.