Robbie Thain
Founder, CEO
AI-generated illustrative image. Not an official campaign image.
A corporate-events survey points to an evidence gap. Makai examines the implications for CPG field staffing, logistics and event measurement.
On 2026-10-29, industry coverage detailed findings from the ICEN Corporate Events Benchmarking Report 2026/2027, supported by Cvent. Among respondents, 45% identified difficulty measuring Return on Investment (ROI) as their most common challenge when seeking budget approval. The findings put a measurement problem directly into the conversation about funding live events.
The report describes a gap between leadership support and budget approval. While 79% rated senior stakeholders’ belief in events’ strategic value at 4 or 5 out of 5, only 13% said event budgets were easy to approve. Believing in live experiences and approving their next budget are different decisions.
The reported measures show where that disconnect sits:
The ICEN report also associates documented engagement scoring with stronger self-rated commercial evidence. Respondents using a documented model rated their ability to evidence pipeline or revenue at 3.71 out of 5, compared with 2.82 among those without one. Respondents reporting seamless CRM integration rated that ability at 3.78, compared with 2.48 among those transferring data manually.
The coverage does not disclose sample size, geography or detailed methodology, and the corporate-events sample is not established as representative of U.S. consumer activations. The scoring and CRM comparisons are associations rather than proof of causation or consumer sales lift. Evidence of pipeline or revenue contribution also does not establish incremental revenue.
For CPG leaders, the useful question is whether an event program collects evidence that answers the business question behind its budget. Attendance and satisfaction remain useful. They describe participation and experience rather than serving as substitutes for commercial contribution.
Our view at Makai is straightforward: keep the welcome warm and the operating brief precise. People should feel invited to try a product rather than treated as a record to complete. Marketing leaders still need a business purpose for that invitation.
We create face-to-face experiences designed to capture attention and generate measurable sales pipeline. Our work includes festival zones and pop-ups where crews manage execution and track reach and response. Creative participation and commercial evidence belong in the same plan without being mistaken for the same thing.
That distinction matters for beverage and CPG brands whose physical marketing must support product launches or retail expansion. A trial can be valuable without being a qualified lead. A qualified lead can be valuable without yet being a sale.
We provide reporting on reach, trials, leads and sales to guide campaign optimization. Our recommendation is to preserve those distinctions when connecting field reporting to pipeline. A leadership team should be able to see what each measure establishes and which business question it answers.
The operational response starts before anyone enters the booth or accepts a sample.
For field teams, the practical implication is to bring measurement decisions into execution planning. Objectives affect what ambassadors need to understand and how people move through an experience. They also shape which information must remain usable after the event.
Event Marketer’s coverage of GPJ describes an approach that includes aligning objectives, selecting KPIs and planning data capture before an event. That practitioner approach offers a useful planning principle: reporting requirements belong in the brief before the experience begins.
For a consumer program, the business question might concern trial or qualified opt-ins. For another activation, it might concern retail sell-through or follow-up conversion. The objective should determine the evidence rather than the reporting template determining the objective.
Our recommendation is to agree with marketing, sales and finance on what counts as success. That agreement should distinguish observed activity from commercial contribution. It gives the field team a purpose for collecting information beyond filling out a dashboard.
At Makai, trained brand ambassadors drive in-store sales through real conversations and product trials. Measurement planning should respect that human role. The person introducing a product should understand the intended outcome without having to treat every conversation as a data-entry task.
For brands choosing to capture qualified opt-ins, the staffing brief should explain what qualifies and how the agreed information moves toward follow-up. Those definitions belong alongside the product story. Otherwise, a polished introduction and a usable commercial record can remain disconnected.
This is an argument for clearer responsibilities rather than automatically adding people. The field brief should distinguish the product conversation from the capture task and the later follow-up. Staffing decisions can then reflect the intended experience instead of an assumption that everyone will handle everything.
In an ANA interview, Makers president Roma Ahi cautioned that over-engineered data capture can alienate consumers and undermine the experience. That warning belongs in the footprint discussion as much as the technology discussion.
Our view is that a sampling zone or trade show space should support participation without letting the capture process dominate the encounter. Product trial and an optional next step have different purposes. The layout and staff brief should make that distinction understandable.
We integrate QR codes and mobile technology across retail, event and tour experiences. For us, those tools belong within the live experience rather than competing with it. The practical question is whether each interaction supports the consumer’s participation and the agreed measurement purpose.
The ICEN comparisons make documented scoring and CRM connections worth examining during planning. Our recommendation is to define what recorded engagement means before presenting it as commercial evidence. A score should have an agreed interpretation rather than becoming an unexplained label in the final report.
Where engagement scoring is appropriate, document the behaviors being scored. Where event interactions connect to CRM records, agree how those records will be used by the teams responsible for follow-up. The objective is a shared interpretation of the interaction.
Keep the reporting language equally disciplined. A product trial is a product trial. An opt-in is an opt-in. Calling both “engagement” may simplify a presentation while leaving leadership without the distinction needed to assess the program.
Measurement planning also belongs beside the coordination behind the live experience. At Makai, we store sampling products and event gear, then coordinate nationwide shipping and tracking through delivery. That physical work is part of making the planned activation possible.
Our recommendation is to evaluate operational completion alongside commercial response without merging them. A delivery confirmation establishes something different from a trial count. A trial count establishes something different from a qualified lead or sale.
That separation gives logistics its proper place in the discussion. Product and equipment movement support the experience, while reporting examines what the experience produced. Neither needs to borrow the other’s measures to justify its role.
For marketing leaders assessing ROI, the point is to connect the operating plan with the evidence plan from the beginning. Logistics should not sit in one conversation while commercial expectations remain in another. Both belong in the assessment of what the brand funded and what it received.
The next planning cycle offers a practical place to align the business question with the field brief. Agree on the evidence with sales and finance before choosing how to capture it. Then preserve the welcome that gives people a reason to participate.
At your next budget review, will you be able to explain how the field operation supported a defined commercial outcome, or will leadership still have to take a busy floor on faith?
Pressure to demonstrate ROI does not replace physical delivery work; Makai stores sampling stock and event equipment while coordinating shipments and tracking nationwide deliveries. For CPG marketers seeking commercial evidence from live engagement, its experiential campaigns and trade show activations are designed to turn brief consumer contact into qualified leads.
30 Years Experiential & Retail Activation Partner for CPG & Beverage Brands | Multi-Market Demos, Roadshows & Costco/Club Programs That Actually Sell
