24687200 event-marketing-project

Table of Content

1. INTRODUCTION 6

1.1 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 8

1.2 PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH TRADITIONAL MEDIA 12

1.3 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EVENT MEDIA AND 5P’s 13

1.4 EVOLUTION OF EVENT MARKETING 14

1.5 KEY ISSUES FOR EVENT MARKETING 17

1.6 WHY EVENT 20

1.7 SPONSORSHIP Vs EVENT MARKETING 25

1.8 SIZE OF EVENT 27

1.9 TYPES OF EVENT 28

2. CRITICAL REVIEW OF LITERATURE 33

2.1 WATERSHED EVENT 34

2.2 THE KEY TAKE-AWAY 34

2.3 ROLE OF EVENT MARKETING IN MARKETING MIX 35

2.4 ROI DELIVERD BY EVENT MARKETING 36

2.5 MEASURMENT IMPACTS ON EVENT MARKETING BUDGETS 37

2.6 TRANSITION TO EXPERIENCE MARKETING 39

3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 41

3.1 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY 41

3.2 NEED OF THE PROJECT 41

3.3 SCOPE OF THE PROJECT 42

3.4 METHODOLOGY 43

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4. EVENT MANAGEMENT A PROMOTIONAL TOOL 44

4.1 EVENT DESIGNING 44

4.2 COMMUNICATION EFFECTS OF EVENT MARKETING 47

4.3 EVALUATION OF EVENTS 50

4.4 REACH INTERACTION MATRIX 59

4.5 RETURN ON ONVESTMENT 60

4.6 KEY PROSPECT ANALYSIS 63

4.7 HOW TO BUILD A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS

PROMOTION AND MARKETING PLAN 64

4.8 STATEGIC ALTERNATIVES 67

4.9 RISK Vs RETURN MATRIX 74

4.10 APPICABILITY 75

4.11 ADVANTAGES OF EVENT 76

5. ANALYSIS AND RESEARCH FINDINGS 78

5.1 PRIMARY DATA ANALYSIS 78

5.2 INTERVIEWS AND DETAILED DISCUSSIONS 87

6. RECOMMENDATIONS 90

7. CONCLUSION 91

8. BIBLIOGRAPHY 92

9. ANNEXURE 94

9.1 QUESTIONNAIRE 94

9.2 KEYS TO SUCCESFULL EVENT MARKETING 95

9.3 SPONSORSHIP CHECKLIST 97

9.4 CASE STUDIES 98

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1. INTRODUCTION

“We GENERATE Quality Business Leads

We ENHANCE Your Profile

We CREATE New Business Opportunities

Everyone Knows Us as EVENTS”

Event marketing is growing at a rate of three times that of traditional advertising. Though

relatively small compared to the major components of the marketing communications

mix-advertising, sales promotions and P-O-P communications-expenditures on event

sponsorship are increasing. Corporate sponsorships in India in 2001 were estimated at

$3.9 billion-with 65% of this total going to sports events and most of the remainder spent

on sponsoring entertainment tours or festival and fairs. Thousands of companies invest in

some form of event sponsorship. Defined, event marketing is a form of brand promotion

that ties a brand to a meaningful athletic, entertainment, cultural, social or other type of

high-interest public activity. Event marketing is distinct from advertising, sales

promotion, point-of-purchase merchandising, or public relations, but it generally

incorporates elements from all of these promotional tools. Event promotions have an

opportunity to achieve success because, unlike other forms of marketing

communications, events reach people when they are receptive to marketing messages and

capture people in a relaxed atmosphere.

Event marketing is growing rapidly because it provides companies alternatives to the

cluttered mass media, an ability to segment on a local or regional basis, and opportunities

for reaching narrow lifestyle groups whose consumption behavior can be linked with the

local event. MasterCard invested an estimated $25 million in sponsoring the nine-city

World Cup soccer championship in the United States in 1994 and will likely sponsor

other big events in many countries as well.

Olympics and its renowned five rings are “the world’s most effective property” in terms

of marketing tools. The Olympics sell sponsorship on a local and global basis, and every

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couple of year’s corporation’s line up to pay as much as $50 million to be the lord of the

rings. The Atlanta games in 1996 have a reported $3 billion in the bank as a result of

negotiating sponsorship, broadcast, and licensee fees.

The Olympics represents the creme de la creeme of event marketing and corporate

sponsorship. Event marketing is a lucrative game of “what’s in a name”, as consumers

purchase tickets and expose themselves to everything. The world of event marketing is a

fast growing, high profile industry worth over $20 billion annually, and one of the most

successful marketing strategies.

Event marketing integrates the corporate sponsorship of an event with a whole range of

marketing elements such as advertising, sales promotion, and public relations.

Corporations both large and small have grown this industry at a rate of 17 percent per

year, and they have achieved a high level of success.

1.1 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

What is Marketing?

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Marketing can be defined as a process by which individuals and groups obtain what they

want through creating, offering and exchanging products of value with others. All sport

and recreation organizations undertake marketing, although they are often unaware that

they are actually doing so. Listing in the yellow pages, telephone directory, placing

information in the local newspaper, offering a discount and special offers etc. are all

forms of marketing.

Marketing Tools

The “marketing mix” or marketing tools an organization can use can be classified into

four categories:

Product

Price

Place

Promotion

Tools of Promotion

Advertising

Public Relations

Direct marketing

Word of mouth

Hospitality

Advertising

Advertising

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It is the controlled method of communicating the message. The event manager can

manipulate the message. It includes the following:

Give-Away : Leaflets, Posters, Brochures

Radio : Commercial, Community, National

Internet : Web Sites, Radio

Television : Cable, Free To Air, Satellite

Press : Newspapers, Magazines

Non-Media Alternatives: Outdoor Advertising, Street Banners, Aerial,

Innovative

It can be done by the event manager or, if the event and promotional campaign is too big,

by an appointed advertising agency.

Public Relations

Often it is part of the event manager's job to gain maximum exposure for the event. PR is

different from advertising in that it is not self praise but carries the strength of

disinterested credibility. It communicates a more complex message than advertising. It is

free but the event manager looses control over the result. It can be publicity can be

positive or negative. To this end it is important that the event manager maintains control

over as much of the public relations as possible. A thorough knowledge of the media's

requirements and beneficial interaction with the media personnel are sensible methods.

Although PR is mostly proactive, it is important for an event to have a reactive PR

strategy as part of the event risk management. Who will make public statements to the

press when there is an emergency? The PR campaign is a plan to gain maximum positive

publicity for the event. For an entrepreneurial event it would include:

Data collection: Preparing a media list of suitable targeted media, preparing a

contact list and club list such as politicians, interested people and opinion leaders

- often called media talent - who can be called on to make suitable comments or

actions which promote the event.

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List ideas for continuous exposure such as interesting media ready stories,

competitions, public appearances, stunts, speeches, feeding the chooks.

When these lists are prepared, the ideas prioritized and the story angles determined, the

journalist, editor or producer is contacted to ascertain the exposure potential of the item.

These publicity items are then placed into an overall promotion schedule. The critical

path is ascertained to ensure continual and growing interest in the event. Milestones such

as important editorials at critical times can also be established. Specialist magazines and

newsletters with their highly targeted audience such as in-flight magazines, business

magazines, trade publications and association newsletters, need to be included in the lists.

Depending on the size and complexity of the event, the PR strategy can range from

organizing a media launch and handing out a press kit to just sending a out a one page

media release to selected media. News releases can be staggered over the planning period

to generate increased interest in the event.

Tips on Writing a News Release

Make sure it is released at the right time for it to be picked up by the media.

Make it clear and concise with the main features at the very beginning of the

release.

Put who, what, when, why and where in it.

Have all contact details in it and the date.

Use liftable quotes.

Pitch it at the correct level: who will write the story and who will read it.

Identify any media talent associated with the event and give their contact details.

Make sure all the spelling is correct – particularly sponsors and main participants.

The media launch is used by most large festivals, although it can be used by 'boutique'

events that target a specific audience. If the launch takes place in an interesting area, it

can be used as an opportunity to take photos and record interviews. Television requires

special facilities such as access, power and transmission links.

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What is the Media Kit?

Press release including the 5 Ws

Press ready photos or video footage

Event program

Sponsor information

Interview possibilities, times and contact details of any ‘stars’

Press gifts such as complimentary tickets, invitations or smart hooks

Although PR involves the event's relation to the public, it is the relations that the event

manager develops with the media that can create interest in the event. It implies

developing a rapport with the media - finding out what they want and how best to supply

it. Networking is possibly the best way to develop this rapport.

If the manager does not have time or the inclination to do this then the event organization

should consider hiring a PR company.

Direct Marketing

This is delivering the promotional message straight to the interested individual. The basis

of direct marketing is the establishment of a data bank and a strategy to best reach those

individuals. The mail out is the most common traditional method. The database can be

created from previous events through competitions, guest books, inquiries, point of sale

information or just by asking the participants if they would like to receive information on

other similar events.

The effectiveness of direct marketing can be seen in the Port Fairy Festival in southern

Victoria. The Festival has an overall budget of half a million and only spends $6,000 on

their promotion. Each person who comes to the festival is given the first rights to buy a

ticket. The tickets are sold out five months before the festival begins.

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Word of Mouth

Bill Hauritz of the Woodford Festival in Southern Queensland estimates their advertising

budget at less than $1000. The ticket sales generate over one million dollars. Their

promotion strategy is just word of mouth. An annual event, they have concentrated on the

quality of their program and site. This has built up a loyal following.

Hospitality

As part of the promotion tool kit, hospitality can be powerful. The special event or

festival has to promote itself to the sponsors. The diner for sponsors, for example, can be

an inexpensive way to promote the event. A tour of the site can be an effective way of

promoting the event.

Web Sites

The latest and increasingly popular method of promoting an event is to create a web site.

The advantage is that the site can also capture enquiries and be a point of sale for tickets.

The current movement towards virtual reality sites can give the potential attendee a view

of the event. The site can give real information, such as the program and map. Used in

conjunction with a other elements of the PR campaign, a web site can be used to

distribute photos and press releases. It transfers the some of the cost to the customer.

1.2 PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH TRADITIONAL MEDIA

The problems associated with traditional media that has been used for satisfying

marketing needs discussed in the previous section are listed below:

1. Too many advertisements have led to a cluttering on T.V, print and other media.

This has given rise to a need for avenues, which provide exclusivity to the

sponsor while not sacrificing the benefits of reach and impact.

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2. The increasing no. of TV channels and the greater no. of programs have led to

fragmentation of the viewer-ship. Hence, the need for narrow-casting of

campaigns to the sharply defined target audience.

3. Proliferation of low intensity television viewers who view a little of each channel

leads to the need for capturing the full attention of the target audience.

4. Media cost inflation – Due to rising inflation which has been eroding the

advertising budget, advertisers are demanding the beat return from every ad-rupee

spent. Media planning has become more complex and therefore the need for

increase the effectiveness in terms of tangible impact which can be instantly

evaluated has risen.

5. Proliferation of various media channels, therefore the requirement for intelligent

media buying.

1.3 RELATION BETWEEN EVENT MARKETING AND THE 5PS

The five Ps of marketing: product, place, people, price and promotion play an essential

role in Event Marketing. To successfully use Event Marketing the marketer must

understand how Event Marketing fits together with the other parts of the marketing

strategy. Kotler describes the organization’s marketing mix as controllable variables that

are mixed so that the organization gets the response that they are asking for from the

target market. Event Marketing fits under promotion in the marketing mix. Other

marketing tools that goes under this section are advertising, sales promotion, personal

sales, direct sales, public relations, and sponsoring. Event Marketing is not a substitute

for any of the other components- it is a complement. It takes an imaginative mix of all the

communication tools available to extend the impact of the event.

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Fig 1.1: Marketing Mix vs. Event Marketing

If an organization uses Event Marketing, they still need to use the other parts of the

promotion mix before, during, and after the event. An example of this could be how a car

producer can have advertisements to inform about a new car launch, and then use events

to get people to test drive the new car, and then follow up with direct marketing with a

discount coupon. One of the main advantages with Event Marketing compared to the

other channels is that the objective can both be direct sales, and image building,

depending on how it is used.

1.4 EVOLUTION OF EVENT MARKETING

From its origins in event planning, the event marketing industry has seen great growth in

the last five years and has consistently been one of the most effective tools that marketing

professionals have at their disposal in terms of making a tangible connection to current

and potential customers. The increasing competitive pressures brought on by

globalization are forcing business professionals to find new ways to engage customers.

Not surprisingly, savvy event marketing professionals are therefore focusing the majority

of their efforts and budgetary spend on lead generation tactics such as trade shows. While

it is important to garner leads, marketing and specifically event marketing professionals

cannot lose sight of the fact that the sales cycle only begins at lead generation and that

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current and prospective customers must also be nurtured even beyond purchase.

Companies can benefit tremendously from the deeper event marketing touch points that

promote nurturing such as proprietary conferences that provide a controlled environment

for delivering messages and closing business. The nurturing process will allow the

customers to more effectively be funneled into the subsequent stages of the sales cycle

thus creating greater opportunities to develop into repeat customers.

EVENT MARKETING

An event is a live multimedia package with a preconceived concept, customized or

modified to achieve the clients objective of reaching out and suitably influencing the

sharply defined, specially gathered target audience by providing a complete sensual

experience and an avenue for two-way interaction.

Fig: 1.2: Events Definition In-Short

EVENTS

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REACH LIVE INTERACTION

Right Communication

from the client

WITHLive

Audience

CREATESDesiredImpact

This is a diagrammatic representation of the above definition. From the model it is

evident that an event is a package so organized has to provide, reach and live interaction

between the target audience and the client to achieve the desired impact.

Event marketing involves canvassing for clients and arranging feedback for the creative

concepts during and after the concept initiation so as to arrive at a customized package

for the client, keeping the brand values and target audience in mind. Marketing plays an

important role in pricing and negotiations as well as identifying opportunities to define

and retain event properties by gathering marketing intelligence with regard to pricing,

timing etc.

In fact, ideally event marketing involves simultaneous canvassing and studying the brand

prints; understanding what the brand stands for, its positioning and values, identifying the

target audience and liaison with the creative conceptualizes to create an event for a

prefect mesh with the brand’s personality.

PUBLICITY AND PROMOTION

If one knows how to organize an event he should also know how to market it. If there is

something very peculiar or special about the event then that main point has to be

highlighted. A product launch for example requires a sales promotion campaign either

before or after the launch. In that case the product is advertised through banners and

media and even door to door canvassing. Effort is taken to ensure that people sit up and

take notice of the event. Sometimes it could be an event like an award ceremony, which

is to be shown on television and different companies make a beeline for sponsoring their

respective products in the due course of the programme. This is the way publicity and

promotions work.

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1.5 KEY ISSUE FOR EVENT MARKETING

The Human Dimension

A key issue for Event Marketing is having the right human resources communicating the

brand values. The importance of having people working that truly understand the brand

was emphasized by almost all the interviewees. The human dimension of Event

Marketing is what creates the uniqueness to the brand in an event, especially for high-

involvement purchases. In the capital goods industry, where high involvement decisions

are taken and more reliable information is needed, interaction serves as a great function.

When buying a car, the consumer is making one of his/her biggest investments, the

consumer is more sensitive and might require more than one-way communication to

convert to another brand. What makes the 3D advertisement more unique is adding a

human dimension, by placing someone who is familiar with and can communicate the

company brand and product.

The Human Context

To add a human dimension might sound an easy solution in order to communicate the

brand identity. However, the human being is rather complex in her way of learning,

interpreting and understanding, since she, is characterized by her context. Everything the

human being experiences will affect the way she interprets situations. Unless she

experiences a situation, which requires new behavior and this behavior is positive, she

will not change her way of acting. However, if she is put in a situation in which she has

to experience a new way of acting and if the experience is interpreted as positive, it is

most likely that she will repeat the behavior in a similar situation.

Mental Models are deeply ingrained assumptions and generalizations that influence how

we understand the world and how we take action. The models keep us in the same pattern

of both thinking and acting. By questioning the Mental Models people see matters from a

different perspective and openness. But in order to be able to question the Mental Models

we first must realize that there has to be something to gain by questioning them.

Most managers today only see the brand as the company’s logo and corporate identity

program, but in the future the company “brand” will have to encapsulate and

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communicate what an organization is and what it stands for. Therefore the manager must

change the interpretation of the brand. It is as important to win a distinguished and

distinctive place in the perception of a company’s actual and perspective customers, as it

is the same with the employees. Since it is the human dimension that adds the value to a

customer/prospect in an event, all members and functions in the organization must not

only be market orientated in general but also market orientated in combination with the

brand values. It is a common fact that people are different and cannot adjust to all

situations.

Several interviewees supported this when mentioning that there has to be a match

between the individual values and the company values. One crucial factor might be the

individual’s ability to learn, since the individual must not only understand the added

values in the brand identity but also learn to interpret the different situations that might

occur during an event, and combine the behavior to the specific situation. It is the

individual’s perception of the current situation together with how he/she translates the

added values to fit to that specific situation that will help or not help the company.

Integrated Organization

When working with Event Marketing it is important to have a well-integrated

organization, therefore we agree, “that internal marketing builds service quality”. Internal

marketing can be defined as selling the firm to its employees, and Kotler and Armstrong

(1993) view internal marketing as the building of customer orientation among employees

by training and motivating both consumer contact and support staff as a team. These

definitions might be too static, since they are not teaching the employees; rather they are

persuading how great the business idea of the company is.

By learning how different components in a system interact will increase the

understanding of how the entire system works. Understanding just one component by

itself that is isolated from the others will not be enough. A company itself is a complex

system that is connected by a series of contacts and the components in this system are

highly integrated. Since we are a part of this network, we most often only see specific

components and are puzzled by that we cannot find good solutions to our greatest

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problems. System thinking is a term that contains knowledge and different tools, which

can help us, understand and influence the entire patterns in an organization.

Match The Event To Your Market

Choose the kind of event that appeals to your target market suits your product’s image

and fits your marketing objectives.

If, for example, you are looking for reach and you are selling a low cost product with

wide general appeal, sports sponsorship may be the avenue for you. If your product is an

up market one, artistic events could suit you better. If your have a technical product,

science-type sponsorships would be possibilities and if your main aim is to be seen as a

good corporate citizen, put your sponsorship money into good causes. The Children’s

Hospital, the Red Cross or the environment, to name three, AIDS research is another one.

The meteoric history of event marketing is based in sports marketing. In fact, music and

arts represents a combined 35 percent of event spending as compared 45 percent for

sports-related events. Event marketing also continues to thrive as traditional advertising

rate skyrocket and, really, fail to provide any guarantee of reaching a targeted audience.

Event marketing provides a cost-effective approach to making a more hard-hitting,

emotional, and tangible pitch to consumers. It also gives companies the opportunity to

cross-promote (promote with other companies that have related products or services),

offer sample products (give-always), and build strong relationship with various channels

of distribution, such as retail outlets.

Charities go out of their way to meet both their own fund-raising needs and the profit

requirements of the firms they team up with. It is a commercial relationship and the entire

better for it. Charities need funds, and the businesses need promotions, which show their

worth in extra profit.

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1.6 WHY EVENTS

1. Brand Building

Creating awareness about the launch of new products/brand

Enormous nos. of brand/product are launched every month. Similarly innumerable new

music albums, films, etc get released periodically. This tends to create clutter of product

launches. The large no. of launches also leads to need to overcome the “ooh-yet-another-

product” syndrome. The need to therefore catch the attention of the target audience at the

time of launch becomes very important. Meticulously planned events for the launch of a

product/brand seldom fail to catch the attention of the target audience.

Presentation of brand description to highlight the added features of product/services

Sometimes technological changes pave the way for manufactures or service providers to

augment their products. To convey this via traditional modes of communication to the

existing and potential customer base may sometimes be futile. Special service camps of

exhibitions are the perfect events that provide the opportunity for a two way interaction

and error free communication. For Example, IMTEX, the Industrial Machine Tools

Exhibition, is an event used by most machine tool manufactures to explain and highlight

the new and improved features of their product.

Helping in rejuvenating brands during the different stages of product life cycle

The massive amount of money that is spent during the introduction stage of products gets

drastically reduced over time. By the time the product reaches its maturity/decline stage,

the need for cutting down the budgets associated with the media campaigns, while at the

same time maintaining the customer base is felt. And events offer the best medium for

such a focused approach. It helps in generating feelings of brand loyalty in the products’

end user by treating them as royally as possible.

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Helping in communicating the repositioning of brands/products

Events help in repositioning exercises to be carried out successfully. In other words,

events can be designed to assist in changing beliefs about firms/products/services.

Associating the brand personality of clients with the personality of target market

Citibank is an elite bank where people do banking with pride. Hence, other premium

brands would like to associate themselves with the same audience so as to benefit from

the rub-off effect. An exhibition-cum-sale event organized exclusively for Citibank credit

card holders, small merchandisers get to do business with the Citibank customers, as well

as build and maintain a premium image for themselves. Here Citibank acts as the event

organizer and small merchandisers acts as participants so that they can associate the

personality of their products with the personality of Citibank customers.

Creating and maintaining brand identity

Australia-based Foster’s Brewing Group’s Asian subsidiary in its plan to launch its bear

brand Foster’s Lager in India choose the game of cricket – in which the Aussies are

known as the best team in the world. By becoming the official sponsors of Australian

cricket team on its India tour, Foster’s hoped to achieve its goal of brand identity building

and positioning itself at the premium end of the market.

Rennie Solomito, Marketing Manager for Coors Light (Beer Company) explains that in

order to increase awareness and personality of the brand, Coors Light tries to find the

distinguishing “look of the leader” in each market. Coors Light select events that are fast

paced and young minded, for example, Coors Light Silver Bullet Concert Series featuring

artists like Bryan Adams and Celin Dion

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2. Image Building

Over and above the brand identity that a company encourages, events such as The Great

Escape conceived by Mahindra and Mahindra, exclusively for the owners of their four

wheelers, the Armada, are an attempt to build a specific image of not only the corporate,

but also the product, to let owners experience the thrill of four wheel driving, M&M

charts out an off beat route that emphasizes the difference between normal and four

wheel driving, and lets the participant experience the high, one feels when steering and

navigating an Armada.

Coke is associated with Olympics since 1928, the rationale behind this is similar values

and ideologies: International peace, brotherhood, standard of excellence and fun.

Fig 1.3: Constructing the Brand Value Chain

3. Focusing the Target Market

Helping in avoidance of clutter

Even though some events do get congested with too many advertisements, events still

provide and effective means of being spotted. For example, Title sponsorship of a major

event provides the sponsor immense benefit since the sponsors name is mentioned along

with the event like Hero Cup, Femina Miss India, Lux Zee Cine Awards.

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Enabling interactive mode of communication

Events generally provide an opportunity for buyers and sellers to interact. They also

provide a foundation for exchange and sharing of knowledge between professionals.

Example: Bang!Linux2000, Auto Expo.

Unparalleled footwear company NIKE ensures that it sponsors those events which will

give it a chance to create an emotional tie with the participants through onsite brand

usage and product presentation.

4. Implementation of Marketing Plan

Enabling authentic test marketing

Events bring the target audience together, thereby creating opportunity for test marketing

of products for authentic feedback. The seller can identify exactly the traits and other

characteristics that are desired. For example, marketing events that the Frito-Lay

Company used before it launched its WOW! brand of potato chips.

Enabling focused sales and communication to a captive audience

In an event the audience is more or less bound to witnessing one particular event. In such

a situation it is very favorable for sellers to put forth their presentations without any

diversions. Such a situation is very valuable given the ineffectiveness of traditional

modes of communication in holding on to the attention of the audience.

For example, Burger King wanted to reach a young demographic in the New York area,

EMG (Event Marketing Company) helped them to create a 30-concert series at the New

York Palladium. Burger King received onsite signage and distribution of bounce back

coupons.

Increasing customer traffic in stores

Events can be conceptualized to increase customer traffic. They can be customized to

make available, concepts ranging from retail store specific events to mega events like one

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day international cricket tournament. For example, Nescafe 3-in-1 treasure hunt, co-

sponsored by McDonald’s is a combined effect in increasing the customer traffic as well

as increasing the awareness among the upper class of the existence of new McD’s outlets.

Enabling sales promotion

Weekly events conducted by Crossword Bookstore helps in generating more revenue

during the weekends as compared to the revenue generated in the weekdays.

Help in relation building and PR activities

Practitioners of this marketing function believe that event marketing campaigns have the

ability to create long lasting relationships with closely targeted market segments.

Relationship building is not restricted to end user customers but also targeted at

enhancing new distributors and sales representative relations.

For example: Techfest organized by IIT Bombay, is an annual technological festival held

by IIT Bombay has helped the sponsors in establishing their relationship with the

Institute and ensuring that an image of being interested is created and nurtured.

Coke is sponsoring the Olympic since 1928. As coke does business in over 200 countries,

the Olympics give the company the opportunity to identify its product with the foremost

special event in the world.

Motivating the sales team

The need for interaction is not restricted to external customers only and end consumers

are not always the focus of live media exercises. This is especially popular amongst

pharmaceutical and other FMCG companies. For Example, during the cricket world cup

held in England HSBC introduced a unique pattern of motivating the sales force by

awarding them runs instead of the traditional points system. This resulted in conversion

of almost all of its employees into sales person.

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Generate immediate sales

Most events let firms install and exclusive boot and give the permission to exploit the

opportunity to merchandise. Events such as the annual limited period discount sales from

Wrangler and Van Heusen are authentic stock clearance and seconds sales aimed at

generating immediate sales.

Generating instant publicity

An event can be designed to generate instant publicity upon the implementation of

marketing strategy. The e-commerce start up Half.com, which wanted to sell products

such as CDs, Books, Movies and Games over the internet was up against major and

strong competition. The result of this publicity stunt started the ball rolling towards

getting this company purchased by eBay for more than $300 million.

Enabling market database assimilation, maintenance and updating

By keeping track of the reach and its effectiveness as well as interacting with the

audience that actually turns up for the event, event sponsors can assimilate and authentic

database. The database can be used to track various marketing trends. Events can then

help in maintaining and updating the database.

1.7 SPONSORSHIP vs. EVENT MARKETING

However, there are many other marketing tools that can build brand-awareness and create

image and not confuse them with event marketing the most common confusion will be

explained here. Authors seem to mix up the concept of Event Marketing and sponsorship,

although there is a difference between the two. When using Event Marketing, the

organization works with the event as part of the marketing strategy. When sponsoring an

event, the organization buys exposure during the event at different levels of the event

itself. International Events Group (IEG) defines sponsorship this way: “The relationship

between a sponsor and a property in which the sponsor pays a cash or in-kind fee in

return for access to the exploitable commercial potential associated with the property.”

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By using the commercial right, the sponsor could associate the brand and have an

effective selection of the target group to market themselves to. The association makes the

brand synonymous with the sponsored happening, and thereby the sponsoring has been

called association by event. Today sponsorship is one of the world’s fastest growing

forms of marketing and together with Event Marketing they begin to play a more

dominant role in many companies´ marketing budgets.

This model shows one way to look at where traditional sponsoring fits in compared to

Event Marketing.

Fig 1.4: Traditional Marketing vs. Event Marketing

When the organization is sponsoring an event, (upper left corner) there is always a

business agreement between at least two parties, which Event Marketing does not

necessarily have. Usually this is the case when there is a sport competition such as the

Olympics or a World Championship. This kind of sponsoring limits the possibilities for

the organization to market their products since they have no control over the happenings

at the event, etc. There is a concept called the double lever effect, which explains the

relationship between different events. When organizations move to EM (1), EM (2) and

EM (3) the organizations increase their control and also the risk is increased. When the

control is increased, there is also a larger possibility for organizations to use the event

integrated with the other marketing strategies. This fig 1.5 shows how it comes to be a

double lever effect:

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Fig 1.5: Control & risk depending on activity

As we can see, there is a risk in using Event Marketing. There is no possibility to test the

event for the target group, and everything has to work during the event. The risk

associated with the event could be one of the reasons why some organizations choose to

use pre-existing events instead of own events. Preexisting events are events that are

created by someone else for another purpose.

1.8 SIZE OF EVENTS

In terms of size events maybe categorized as follows:

1. Mega Events

The largest events are called mega events, which are generally targeted at international

markets. All such events have a specific yield in terms of increased tourism, media

coverage and economic impact.

Example: The Olympic Games, World Cup Soccer, Super Bowl, Maha Kumbh Mela.

2. Regional Events

Regional events are designed to increase the appeal of a specific tourism destination or

region.

Example: Delhi Half Marathon.

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3. Major Events

These events attract significant local interest and large no of participants as well as

generating significant tourism revenue.

Example: Chinese New Year Celebrations.

4. Minor Events

Most events fall into this category and it is here that most event managers gain their

experience. Annual events fall under this category. In addition to annual events, there are

many one time events including historical, cultural, musical and dance performances.

Meetings, parties, celebrations, conventions, award ceremonies, exhibitions, sporting

events and many other community and social event fit into this category.

Example: Annual Trade Fair organized in Delhi, Chandipur Beach Festival

1.9 TYPES OF EVENTS

1. Sporting Events

Sporting events are held in all towns, cities, states and throughout the nation. They attract

international sports men & women at the highest levels.

2. Entertainment Arts and Culture

Entertainment events are well known for their ability to attract large audience. This

includes musical concerts, celebrity performances, movie releases and mahurats etc

3. Commercial Marketing and Promotional Event

Promotional events tend to have high budgets and high profiles. Most frequently they

include product launches, often for computer hardware and software, perfume, alcohol or

motor cars. The aim of promotional events is generally to differentiate the product from

its competitors and to ensure that it is memorable. The audience for a promotional

activity might be sales staff such as travel agents, who would promote the tour of the

clients or potential purchasers. The media is usually invited to these events so that both

the impact and the risk are high, Success is vital.

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4. Meetings & Exhibitions

The meetings & convention industry is highly competitive. Many conventions attract

thousands of people, whereas some meetings include only a handful of high profile

participants.

5. Festivals

Various forms of festivals are increasingly popular providing a particular region the

opportunity to showcase its product. Wine and food festivals are the most common events

falling under this category. Religious festivals fall into this category as well.

6. Family

Weddings, anniversaries, divorces and funerals all provide opportunities for families

together. Funerals are increasingly are becoming big events with non traditional coffins,

speeches and even entertainment. It is important for the event manager to keep track of

these changing social trends.

7. Fund Raising

Fairs, which are common in most communities, are frequently run by enthusiastic local

committees. The effort in the organization required for these events are often

underestimated. As their general aim is raising funds, it is important that rides and other

such contracted activities contribute to, rather than reduce, revenue.

8. Miscellaneous

Some events defy categorization. Potatoes, walnuts, wild flowers, roses, dogs, horses,

teddy bears all provide the focus for an event organized in United States.

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KEY ELEMENTS OF EVENTS

Fig 1.6: Key Elements of Event Marketing

Event Organizers

Femina with

Fountainhead: Event Support

Banyan Tree: Arrangements for classical music performance

Hemant Trevedi with assistance from Noyonika Chatterjee: Choreography and

Direction

Omung Kumar Bhandula for Opus Planet Construction: Sets

Event Infrastructure

Core Concept: Search for new top class modeling talent through a contest and

pageant interspersed with entertainment.

Core People: Participants i.e., models taking part in the competition and other

performers during entertainment slots such as well known classical musicians, Pt.

Shiv Kumar Sharma accompanied by Ustad. Shafat Ali Khan and popular music

by Sweta Shetty and Stereo Nation.

Core Talent: Physical looks and proportions.

Core Structure: Annual event of beauty pageant.

EVENT

OrganizerEvent

Infrastructure

TargetAudience

Media

Venue

Client

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Importance of Infrastructure

Indian business events, particularly large trade fairs, are underdeveloped as a

result of poor infrastructure outside Delhi. New exhibition and convention centers

developed in Chennai and Hyderabad will help spur the industry’s growth. If a

new facility of international standard can finally be built in Mumbai, this will

generate a huge opportunity for business media companies. Smaller, traveling

events, road shows which move around the country’s many secondary markets

will also be significant income generators for some business media firms.

Event Venue

The two types of venue are as follows:

In-house Venue: Any event that is executed within the premises of the company

or institution or in the private homes or proprieties belonging to the client is called

an in-house venue. The use of such venue is reserved for the employees of the

company or the residents of the campus. Most in-house venues do not need to be

paid or even if a payment is involved, it may be open for favorable negotiation.

The main advantage of in-house venue is the huge saving in the costs incurred in

hiring the venue.

External Venue: Any venue over which neither the client nor the professional

organizer have any ownership rights is called an external venue. These are venues

open for the general public. Example: Hotels, Stadium etc, etc…

Importance of Event Venue

Events are venue driven. They help in increasing the customer traffic. Festivals

such as Valentines Day or Holi sea venue playing the clients’ role for the event

organizer. Venue has a say in the very feasibility of a event concept.

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Example of Key Elements of Event:

Event

L’Oreal Femina Elite Model Look’98

Venue

Shoot location: The Retreat, Marve

Official Host: Taj Mahal Hotel

Target Audience

Youth and Family though with a younger mindset or young at heart.

Media

Pre-Event: Magazines and news papers to inform about event and call for

entries with entry forms in them.

Electronic Medium: TV and FM Radio to inform target audience about

event coverage, date & time.

During Event: Live coverage on DD2 for widest coverage.

Post Event: Re-telecast on Star Plus.

Interviews and appearance of winner on shows sponsored by L’Oreal on

the electronic media.

Report on the event in the print media.

Clients

Main Sponsor: L’Oreal

Gifts Sponsors: Onida, Siemens, Bosh and Lomb, Global Tele-systems,

Akbarallys Department Store, Trussardi, Catwalk Shoes, Estelle, The

Orchids, Lakme, Sony Music.

Ground Transportation: Adarsh Rent-a-Car – an H.B Kedia/Anil Kedia

Enterprise.

Communication Convenience: Global Tele-systems

Beverages: Coca-Cola

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2. CRITICAL REVIEW OF LITERATURE

EVENT MARKETING SURVEY 2006

– conducted by

Fifth Edition of Global Study Shows Steady March of Events Business at the Dawn

of a New Era

The secret is out. Five years of research has shown that meetings and events can play a

strategic role in driving business value within every organization. Corporate executives,

both in and out of the world of meetings and events, now see the benefits that face-to-

face interactions can provide to their bottom line.

Current customers and prospects can benefit from meetings and events as they provide

the greatest opportunity to learn about a company’s brand, value proposition and (new)

products/ services. Companies can derive business value from events to strengthen

product or brand awareness; differentiate from the competition; educate or train

employees and ultimately increase sales.

Three key indicators in Chart 1 show, however, an interesting change from 2005:

1. The importance of event marketing has remained virtually constant from the prior year.

2. The proportion of the overall marketing budget dedicated to event marketing decreased

slightly from the prior year.

3. The perceived future importance of event marketing has declined less than 3% from

2005. While these results at first glance could be considered disappointing, none of these

indicators should be taken as a sign of a downward trend within the event marketing

30

industry. In fact, these are clear signs of an industry that is stabilizing and showing signs

of maturation.

2.1 A Watershed Event

While the meeting and events industry may be developing a beachhead within

companies’ marketing mixes, it continues to face increasing scrutiny as it slides under the

CFO’s budgeting microscope. Additionally, CMOs continue to face mounting pressure to

show ever-increasing value and return on their investments.

Enter the CMO’s white knight in the quest for the enigmatic and much sought after

integrated marketing campaign — the evolution from event marketing to experiential

marketing — an integrated campaign model offering the opportunity for an audience to

“live the brand.” Although it is too soon to measure how transformational the evolution

to experiential marketing will be for the meetings and events industry, high level findings

from the 2006 global research indicate that overall, awareness of and interest in

experiential marketing has the opportunity to bring the meetings and events industry to

new heights.

2.2 The Key Take-Away

Event marketing continues to play an important role in the corporate setting but has seen

some minor setbacks in growth patterns from prior years in terms of perceived

importance and value, perhaps due in part to the high visibility gained in years past. As

opposed to potentially being discouraged by these findings, event marketing

professionals should consider these early signs as an insightful call to action to innovate

and create opportunities for even greater ROI. Event marketing professionals must

therefore develop either more focused traditional tactics or adopt new approaches such as

experiential marketing. Between May and June 2006, almost 900 individuals in

marketing management positions from North America, Europe and Asia Pacific in

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industries including automotive, high technology, healthcare, and financial were

interviewed via telephone with hopes of bringing clarity to the events component of the

marketing mix as it compares to other elements in a marketer’s arsenal.

2.3 The Role of Event Marketing Remains Important In the Marketing Mix

As the world economy continues its 2006 recovery, companies face ever-increasing

financial pressures to generate additional revenues and improve profit margins.

Globalization has created a myriad of new opportunities for companies but has

simultaneously brought with it new challenges in terms of newfound competitors vying

for the same pool of clients and the inherent need to communicate one cohesive message

to the diversifying marketplace. It is not surprising therefore to see that almost one third

of the marketing professionals surveyed this year stated that their top marketing concern

currently is reaching new customers. Building brand awareness was respondents’ second

most frequent concern, coming in at a distant 13%.

Due to the increased competitive pressures, companies large and small, local and global

must therefore constantly evaluate the mix of marketing tactics to ensure the best possible

approach at reaching both current and potential customers. It is perhaps because of this

need to freshen the marketing mix that we see survey respondents’ state that event

marketing was either a lead tactic or vital component of the marketing plan slightly less

than half the time (49%) — a slight decrease from last year insofar as it was less of a vital

component and taken more under consideration with other mediums. Although the

current marketing mix shows in Chart 2 a slight decline as compared to last year, almost

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50% of respondents stated that the future importance of event marketing was either

increasing or increasing strongly. Furthermore, an additional

40% of respondents stated that the future importance would remain constant. This

stability in event marketing’s role is corroborated by the fact that event marketing

represents more than 25% of survey respondents’ overall marketing budget, which is only

slightly less than a one percent reduction from last year’s figure.

Another sign of the evolution of companies’ marketing mix appears in the budget

allocations for events. Much like in 2005, 59% of respondents stated that the majority of

their event marketing budget is currently allocated to trade shows while 35% are spent on

conferences. This latter figure shows a dramatic drop from the prior year’s figure of 47%

and further augments the current shift towards a focus on lead acquisition.

2.4 Event Marketing Continues to Deliver ROI

Although the results of this year’s survey suggest that the current role of event marketing

may have slipped slightly in companies’ marketing mix, the data also shows conflicting

information insofar as event marketing remains the marketing element that provides by

far the highest returns on investment.

Chart 3 shows that almost one in four respondents to the 2006 survey believes that event

marketing provides the greatest ROI in Marketing. Although the figure is almost identical

to last year’s estimate (and decreasing over time), it is a statistical bragging right that

event marketing has held for the last three straight years, as well as four of the five years

of this study (see Chart 4).

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The most common reasons given for event marketing’s high returns on investment come

from the fact that it provides the greatest opportunity for direct, in-person, face-to-face

contact (58%) and that it provides the best opportunity to reach a targeted audience

(45%). Survey respondents also attribute event marketing’s high ROI to the fact that it

provides one of the only opportunities to reach a large and engaged audience in one

venue (28%).

Turning to specific types of events, the survey results show that Trade shows (40%)

followed by conferences and seminars (21%) are the external events that are believed to

provide the greatest ROI due primarily to their ability to attract new customers. When

asked to look at their internal events, respondents cited education/training events (41%)

followed by sales or marketing meetings (28%) as the internal events those are deemed to

provide the greatest ROI.

2.5 Measurement Impacts Event Marketing Budgets

Seventy-one percent of respondents to this year’s survey (see Chart 5) cite that they do

engage in some post-event measurement activities. Not only is this a significant increase

from last year’s 60% mark, it is also the highest rate of measurement recorded in the

history of this study. This is a clear sign that event marketing professionals and CMOs

continue to need to demonstrate the ROI that comes from producing successful events as

greater financial scrutiny comes from corporate finance departments.

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The survey data shows that not only has the number of companies who measure increased

considerably from last year, but there has also been a slight increase in the marketing

budget allocated to measurement — up one tick from last year — to 12%. When asked

what key performance indicators (KPI) companies were measuring, over one third of

respondents (36%) cited number of qualified leads, with overall communication

effectiveness and sales increases each receiving 31% of the votes. The most common

tools used to calculate these KPI were sales reports (28%), onsite surveys (26%) and post

event surveys (24%).

Although measurement should not be considered a panacea for event marketing’s need to

demonstrate value, this year’s survey does show one striking benefit of measurement. As

can be seen in Chart 6, companies who do engage in some form of measurement are three

times more likely to see an increase in their budgets than those who do not engage in any

measurement. This data is further proof that tangibly demonstrating the value of an event

marketing program can significantly increase the chances of getting increased funding.

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2.6 TRANSITION TO EXPERIENCE MARKETING

As the event marketing industry faces continues to face mounting pressures from the

business world to demonstrate value, event marketing professionals find themselves in

need to move towards the next evolutionary, if not revolutionary step within the world of

events. CMOs and event marketing professionals are now looking for a solution that can

provide a more complete approach to interacting with customers and prospects. Senior

marketing professionals are looking beyond traditional event marketing tactics for an

integrated campaign that offers the opportunity for an audience to interact with a

company’s product/service and its brand before, during and after event(s) through the

combination of advertising, direct, interactive and traditional event marketing. Over half

of survey respondents (55%) in fact gave this definition to the term “experience

marketing.” This year’s research also shows that 80% of respondents are currently adding

experiencing marketing in some form or another to their marketing mix. Not only have a

significant number of companies tried some experience marketing strategies, but a vast

majority also feels as if there are tangible benefits to the updated approach. A remarkable

87% have said that they may eventually transition towards experiential marketing, while

74% have definitively said they will be moving forward with more experiential marketing

within the next twelve months (see Chart 7). The most common reason given by survey

respondents for moving towards experience marketing was that it provides a better

method to convey the persuasive difference between their brand and the competition’s.

The second most frequent reason given was that it provides an opportunity to leverage

marketing spend across all of a company’s marketing disciplines. Although rooted

heavily in event marketing, experience marketing should be considered a hybrid of many

disparate forms of marketing finally coming together looking to cohesively interact with

the customer. It is as evolutionary as it is revolutionary in as much as it brings new

meaning to the term “integrated marketing campaign.” Experience marketing provides a

unique opportunity to redefine the marketing landscape as well as how companies

interact with customers and prospects. Marketing and event marketing professionals who

can effectively cross this chasm and adapt to this new paradigm have a great opportunity

to become leaders within their organizations.

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About This Study

EventView, the annual and first-of-its-kind event marketing trends study for senior

marketing executives, was originated in 2002 by The George P. Johnson Company. The

MPI Foundation has co-sponsored this important research since 2003. Now in its fifth

year, EventView is the number-one published event marketing trends report globally and

the longest-running study for the event marketing industry, providing the insight and

guidance corporations and event marketing professionals within this field need to develop

strategic marketing programs.

Between May and June 2006, almost 900 individuals in marketing management positions

from North America, Europe and Asia Pacific in industries including automotive, high

technology, healthcare, and financial were interviewed via telephone with hopes of

bringing clarity to the events component of the marketing mix as it compares to other

elements in a marketer’s arsenal. The results of the 2006 survey have a +/− 3% margin of

error.

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3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

To study Event Marketing as a Generic Promotional Tool:

1. The objective of this study is to understand the concept of event marketing, its

benefits and implementation process.

2. To evaluate the effectiveness of Event Marketing as a promotional tool.

3. To identify the problems associated with event marketing in the Indian scenario.

4. To offer suggestions for improvement to make it a more productive investment.

Also to study Event Management for organizing and managing the event in best way:

1. The objective of this study is to understand the event management as a

communication tool.

2. Launching a product or a service.

3. Communicate to a particular target audience.

4. To make proper strategy , plan and execution of an event

3.2 NEED OF THE PROJECT

The need of the project is to study and analyses certain issues in event marketing and

event management, which need further attention. And some suggestions have been given

to make the Event Marketing and event management industry more effective in order to

utilize its full potential and serve the objective of an event and be mutually beneficial for

the Event agency, the Corporate and the customer.

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3.3 SCOPE OF THE PROJECT

1. To understanding the short coming of event marketing and event management.

2. How these are perceived today.

3. Problems faced by Indian event agencies.

4. Understand and manage the event in the best and effective way.

The few reasons for choosing event marketing as a promotion tool are as follows:

1. To accelerate your product into new markets.

2. To judge your products against the competition.

3. To launch new products/services.

4. To appeal to special customer interests.

5. To make more sales calls in a shorter time cycle.

6. To meet potential customers for new applications.

7. To change or improve the perception of your product.

8. To network with customers not normally called upon.

9. To present your products to buyers face-to-face.

10. To promote positive product trends.

11. To reposition your company in a market.

12. To select a new approach to marketing your product.

13. To target markets by types of visitors.

14. To understand customer attitudes.

15. To invite special customers to increase business

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3.4 METHODOLOGY

The methodology followed for the research:

Primary research detailed discussions with event management firms and the corporate

clients. Subsequent additions were made to the interview schedule to suit the specific

events under study.

The secondary information was gathered from various marketing journals and books on

event marketing, sales promotions and publicity. Daily newspaper reading in order to

keep track of various kinds of events also proved helpful.

The information gathered was studied and analyzed. It reveled certain issues in event

marketing which need further attention and some suggestions have been given to make

the Event Marketing industry more effective in order to utilize its full potential and be

mutually beneficial for the Event Marketing agency, the Corporate and the customer.

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4. EVENT MANAGEMENT AS A

PROMOTIONAL TOOL

4.1 EVENT DESIGNING

1. Conceptualization of the creative idea/ambience

2. Costing involves calculation of the cost of production and safety margins

3. Canvassing for sponsors, customers and networking components

4. Customization of the event according to brand personality, budgets, etc

5. Carrying-out involves execution of the event according to the final concept

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Fig 1.7: Event Designing Concept

Example:

Event : Holi

Event Category : Fairs & Festivals

Event Organizers : A2Z Events

Core Concept of Holi

It is a celebration to mark the onset of spring and the harvest season. It’s a

symbolic gesture, celebrating good harvest and fertility. It draws its origin from

Canvassing

InitialConcept

Costing

Customization

Conceptuali-zation

Final Concept

Carry-Out

EVENT

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the Hindu Mythological event in which Prahalad emerges unscathed from a fire

arranged by his father King Hiranyakashyap and aunt Holika to kill him.

Background

Title of the Event : RANG BARSE

Place : Mumbai

Venue : Parking lot of an amusement park

Year : 1997

Duration : 2 Days

Target Audience : City dwelling families

No. of Audience : 1500

Ambience : Rural Mela

Costing : Rs. 7 lakhs

Event Type : Partially sponsor and partially ticketed

Initial Concept For Holi 2000

A2Z wanted to repeat the previous year’s event ad verbatim

Costing

Costing for Holi 2000 worked out to Rs. 10 lakhs

Canvassing

Many corporates were approached with the initial concept to sponsor the event. The leads

generated through canvassing for sponsors and negotiation with venue owners gave a

strong impetus and indication of success for a particular variation. A leading soft drinks

company could be persuaded to fully sponsor the event.

Customization

The target audience of the soft drink company was pre-dominantly was fun-seeking

youth. The initial concept needed to be changed from a family oriented event to a

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youthful event. The budget was needed to be drastically reduced to Rs. 2lakhs per center

and the event was to be simultaneously conducted in 5 locations spread across the

country.

Final Concept and Carrying Out

Constraint of budget and specific requirement of the client changed the initial concept of

a two day program to a 3 hour forenoon program titled “HOLI GYRATIONS 2000”. The

program essentially revolved around a color rain dance and color blast for young people

with coverage on a popular youth oriented music channel on the television. It was also

decided to use the event coverage as software for future use by the channel. Now the

event was fully sponsored show for a single sponsor with invitations to a limited no. of

participants. The show was fully customized to give pre-dominant importance to the

sponsors’ colors viz. red and blue. The carry out stage involved being exceptionally

careful and prepared for eventualities such as hazards of drunken misbehavior of the

youth even though liquor was not allowed inside the venue. The interaction revolved

around a popular VJ anchoring the show and except for dancing, there would be hardly

anything else actually happening. The carry out stage gets completely taken over by the

music channel.

4.2 COMMUNICATION EFFECTS OF EVENT MARKETING

Communication is the process of moving a message that includes different elements.

Those elements include source, message, channel, receiver and the process of encoding

and decoding. The source is the organization, the message could be a new car launch, the

channel could be the event, and attendees are the receivers. A problem many marketers

have is to make sure that the noise that can disturb the message going from the sender to

the receiver does not interfere with the message, and thereby influence the effect it has on

the customer. The direct communication with the customer is one of the main advantages

with Event Marketing compared to other marketing channels. In the definition of Event

Marketing, it is said that “an event is an activity that gathers the target group in time and

room.” This means that the event is eliminated from the noise.

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Fig 1.8: Communication Process in Event Marketing

Event Marketing is marketing communication in four different dimensions. The first one

is the emotional communication method. The Event Marketing is a form of “pull”

marketing, where the organizations try to get closer to the feelings and emotions of the

customers. They do this not by “pushing” their products at the customers, but by touching

the customers’ emotional feelings.

The second dimension touches the customers by involving them in activities. When the

customer gets a feeling from a product, he/she is informed of the value of the product. An

example of this in the car industry is the test-driving of new cars. The third dimension is

the intellectual dimension and it regards the relevance of the event for the customers. The

fourth dimension is the spatial dimension, how to get the three prior dimensions into

action and to inform the customers through all marketing channels. Some researchers say

that in the future, customers will not buy just the product, but the meaning, the event and

the character, which in turn give the customers the possibility to create their own value

for the product.

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Relative Importance Of Events As A Marketing Communication Tool

Dominant

Strong

Favorable

Tentative

Weak

Introduction Growth Maturity Decline

Life Cycle Stages

Fig 1.9: Position of Events and traditional modes of communication vis-à-vis the life cycle stage

With Regard to the competitive position of events as a medium and the life cycle stage it

is in vis-à-vis other marketing communication media, it is clear that:

Traditional ways of marketing communication in the Fig 1.9 are moving from the growth

phase into the maturity stage. Their effectiveness is lost due to cut throat competition

which is leading to undesirable clutter in all kinds of media including internet.

An event as a medium is in a tentative/favorable position now and will continue to

remain so in the near future and tend towards becoming stronger. Event as a strategic

marketing communication tool would gain significant followers and will bite into a much

larger portion of the marketing budget.

Events

Traditional Modes of Communication

46

Relative P

osition

4.3 EVALUATION OF EVENTS

1. Measuring Reach

Reach is of two types – external and actual, since events require massive external

publicity, press, radio, television and other media are needed to ensure that the event

is noticed and the benefit of reach is provided to the client. External reach can be

measured by using the circulation figures of newspapers and promotion on television

and radio. The DART & TRP ratings that rate the popularity of programs on air and

around which the promotion is slotted. Measurement of external reach should be

tempered with the timings of the promotions as effectiveness of recall and action

initiated among the target audience is highly dependent on this important variable.

A ratio of the external reach to the actual event reach is a very tangible and useful

measurement criteria.

Ideally,

The ideal situation in real life is very rare since the external reach gets drastically

reduced in terms of reaching out to the target audience and is therefore impractical in

most cases. This is because the target audience is derived from the target population

which is invariably very large. It is impractical to assume that all the constituents of

the target population can make it to the event. The above ratio is usually found to be

greater than 1 in practice.

2. Measuring Interaction

In most event categories, compared to reach, it is much more difficult to access the

interaction between the audience and the event and the benefit that accrues to the

client. A certain amount of quantifiable data can be of help in measuring interaction

for an event from the clients’ point of view.

These are as follows:

External Reach

Actual Reach= 1

External Reach

Actual Reach> 1

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No. of interaction points

The no. of direct and indirect interaction points that have been planned and

arranged for an event provide the first important measurement tool. The

greater the no. of interaction points the better for the client.

No. of interactions

The opportunity for interaction between the client and the audience before,

during and after the event is also a very tangible measurement criterion. The

greater the opportunity for increasing the no. of interaction, the better for the

client.

Quality of interactions

One-way or two-way communication during interaction has a profound

impact on the quality of interaction that takes place. The quality of interaction

is perceived as good when there is an avenue for two-way interaction

Time duration of interaction

Every event has a limited time period within which both benefits the other

issues such as controversies are effective. The amount of time that is available

for interaction is very important in that the greater the duration of the

interaction, more are the chances that there are some meaningful and decisive

interaction between the client and the audience.

Important Points To Consider When Evaluating Event Marketing

1. Quantified Objectives

The reason why some people think that it is not possible to evaluate events is that

they have used Event Marketing without a specific purpose or objective. The one

reason why Event Marketing is not measured also depends on the objectives, but that

they are short-time objectives. The cornerstone in the evaluation of events lies in the

objective of the event. Event Marketing can have different objectives and it is usually

48

not directly to increase direct sales. Whatever the goal is, the easiest one to evaluate is

the one that is expressed and quantified.

The most common criteria for a goal to be valid is that it has a time limit, is

challenging, measurable, realistic, result oriented, clear and that it could be followed.

If the goal is challenging, it is more interesting to try to reach it. If it is too, simple it

is not inspiring to work for, but at the same time it has to be realistic. Time limit and

measurable goals give a possibility to do a qualitative study. It is important that they

are clear so that everyone understands them and that they can easily be followed by

developing a strategy for how to reach

2. Identity, Image, Positioning vs. Evaluation

Event Marketing is often used to create brand awareness, image and identity for the

products. This section shows that depending on the brand-awareness and how the

product is positioned, they can sell more products. Event Marketing can have both a

communicative as well as a teaching approach for the customer.

Identity

Identity is what the organization wants to stand for. The differences between identity

and image are that identity is as mentioned earlier what the franchiser intends to

represent, while the image is how the consumers experience the brand. The Image is

on the receiver’s side, while the identity is on the sender’s side. Image focuses on

how certain groups perceive a product or brand and refers to the way these groups

decode the signals transmitted by the product service and communication of the

brand. The purpose of identity, on the other hand, is to specify the brand’s meaning,

aim and self-image. In regards to Event Marketing it could be said that the

organization sends away an Identity at the event and the customers receive it as an

image of the product or organization.

Using Event Marketing can also differentiate the product for the customer by making

the value of the brand stronger for the customer’s identity. Identity comes from Latin

and means “same”. The identity for a customer means, “who am I in regards to the

surroundings, and to myself?” The brand of a product can symbolize a part of the

49

individual customer’s identity. The brand can create a promise for the customer, and

the product gives the brand the physical proof of that promise. The event in Event

Marketing can be seen as a value community. In regards to Maslow’s thoughts,

humans have needs that need to be satisfied. The Value community creates groups,

where three concepts for group development need to be filled in order to create group

belonging. Event Marketing can offer the individual a short-track to belonging by

letting the individual attend an event. Through the event, the happening and the

message will give the individual a picture of him/herself, and a sense of belonging

with other individuals.

This shows that part of the brand advantages lies in the possibility to influence the

individual’s identity, and to make possible his/her relation to other individuals and in

this way strengthen their value community. By doing this, there is a possibility to

differentiate the brand from other brands. The brand is seen as an independent method

of competition.

Image

Image is how the customer understands and looks upon the product, and a definition

is “how the consumers experience the brand.” An event can give the customer a clear

picture of the corporate identity that the company is striving for. Usually the image

consists of different key factors that the customer receives during different times and

in different places. These key factors could be the communication that the

organization has the physical environment, products, service, ethics, social

responsibility, engagement in social and local happenings, and the behavior of

representatives from the organization

50

Fig 2.0: Image Building

The experience at the event may of course result in direct sales, but normally they

help to build image and create positive associations around the brand that will lead to

more sales later on. Image can create lots of competitive advantages compared to

other brands. This is especially true when the differences between the brands are

small. A positive image can lead to not only increased sales, but it can also strengthen

the relationships with all interesting parties within and outside the organization,

facilitate new employment, increase the tolerance of customers, and facilitate crises.

However, even though the main objective with the event is not to change or build

image, there is always a possibility for the customer to change his/her opinion and

image of the organization.

Exposure Rate: A way to measure the Image that the event has created could be done

by looking at their exposure rate. However before using and trying to get media

attention to an event it requires a careful analysis of the purpose, benefits and to see if

the media is available to deliver the appropriate message. There are many different

organizations that are working with observing the media and can deliver the exact

amount of times a name of a brand or product figured in the media.

Positioning & Branding

When a company has decided to use Event Marketing they need to understand how

Event Marketing can change the perception of the product in the customers mind, and

51

the positioning of the product. According to Kotler, it is extremely important to have

a specific positioning in the customer’s mind, due to the fact that if a similar product

has the same positioning there is no need for the customer to buy your product. It is

important to create an image and a correct positioning for customers that create

differentiation between products. The positioning distinguishes brands from each

other and creates a place on the market and in the consumer’s minds for a particular

project. The idea behind positioning is to create brand awareness, which ideally leads

to long-term brand loyalty. The positioning is a two-stage process, indicating which

category the brand should be placed in and the differences between the brands in this

category.

Products are becoming more and more alike. A company needs to diversify its

product from competitors´ products. An organization has three main perspectives for

differentiation. They are: total perspective, more value for money, produces

trustworthy products at a reasonable price, product perspective, offer a better product

that is newer, faster, cheaper, with unique selling attributes, and customer perspective,

to know the customer better, and thereby reply to their needs faster. The last

perspective, the customer perspective, involves the relationship between the customer

and the organization. An event is the physical meeting between customer and

organization, and thereby Event Marketing can be used as a tool to build relationships

and create differentiation. The idea behind positioning is to create brand awareness.

Direct advantage of using Event Marketing is that it creates high brand awareness

around the product. The value of the brand lies in the mind of the potential buyers,

and not with the business itself. Branding is part of the marketing strategy and

product differentiation. The brand can communicate more directly with the consumer

than the product itself can; if the brand is seen as having a personality and

symbolizing certain values. This is due to the fact that the brand has an emotional

appeal to the consumers. A trend within Event Marketing is to involve more cultural

aspects at events.

The cultural aspects of events are not used extensively today. He further argues that

culture and brand strategy go hand in hand. Over time, a relationship between the

customer and the product can be developed into brand loyalty. This loyalty is

52

characterized by a positive attitude towards the brand, and over time continued

purchase of the same brand. A company seeks high brand loyalty because it creates

stability and provides an opportunity to gain high market share and profit. The

development of brand loyalty can be seen as a three-step model. The first step is to

create an interest for the product in the consumer. When time has past, the consumers

will simplify their buying detour through the product and the connection between the

brand and the target audience is strengthened. The third step is where brand

recognition is created, which is important for creating the long-term brand loyalty.

Events Less Complex To Evaluate

According to the interviewees, depending on the purpose and objective of the event,

some of them are easier to evaluate than others. The interviewed people said that the

depending on the relationship between event and the customer, the contact and

knowledge of whom exactly attended the event decides weather it is easy or not to

evaluate the event.

Most brand-awareness events focus on the long-term success of the organization. Events

that are easier to evaluate are, according to Orreving, events where you know exactly

who was there, and where you can control the environment.

If it is a VIP event at a dealership where it is possible to see who was actually there, it is

easier to follow up with questionnaires and to see if they actually bought a product.

The Complexity Of Evaluating Event Marketing

An event is concerned with a message, an interaction and integration. A message creates

something valuable for the customer, and gives the customer some kind of experience.

The interaction between the organization and the customer will create a relationship. The

integration part is concerned with how the Event Marketing is part of the other marketing

strategies. Event Marketing are not being evaluated to full extent due to lack-of time,

ignorance and due to the fact that it is hard to evaluate it. Some of the interviewed

persons agreed with this theory, and believed that ignorance made evaluation

complicated. Furthermore, evaluations not conducted due to lack of time. The interviews

53

also discussed that Event Marketing is only one of the possible marketing channels that

can be used when marketing a product, and therefore it is hard to evaluate it separately

from the other marketing tools. The more complex the marketing strategy, the harder it is

to see what influenced the customer to buy the product. Other reasons why it could be

hard to evaluate the event is because someone’s experience cannot be valued on a scale,

and the interaction as a relation is not measurable. Furthermore, depending on all other

marketing aspects it is hard to see why the customer has a specific feeling for a product.

Kotler claims that the easiest marketing channel to evaluate is direct marketing. By using

direct marketing it is easy to follow up exactly where the customers have seen the

coupons, brochures etc. However, none of the interviewed persons mentioned that it

would be easier to evaluate direct marketing than Event Marketing.

It is as easy to argue against direct marketing as being the perfect measurable evaluation

technique as it is to argue that Event Marketing should be trickier to evaluate. This is due

to the fact that there is a possibility that the customers could be affected by other parts of

the marketing as they are when it looks like it is the direct marketing that has made them

buy a product. As long as more than one tool of the marketing mix is used, there is

always a possibility that the customers can be affected by them, and thereby there is no

100% accurate evaluation tool.

The reason why it might be considered hard to evaluate an event depends on the fact that

it is hard to evaluate the intangible aspects of the event. When asking the interviewed

people to elaborate on intangible factors, such as the weather affecting the event, most of

them were sure that that just the weather was not of importance for the success of the

event, and therefore there was no need to try to evaluate it. There are factors that can not

be evaluated, and that instead the focus should be on the factors that can be evaluated.

This could be interpreted in the following way: since there is no possibility to evaluate

the event comparing to the external social happenings, the only way to elaborate on the

example weather is to work with the weather and use it. If possible, the external factors

should be eliminated, but if that is not possible the event should try to use them and

thereby work for the event.

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Example:

Event : Olympic Games 2000

Venue : Sydney, Australia

Category : Competitive – Sports

Event Organizer : IOC

Client : General Electric, NBC

Theme : Amateur sports competition to promote world peace.

Measurement Criteria: Reach increase for cable mediums MSNBC & CNBC, % increase

revenues for client.

Reach

External : Global (over 197 countries)

Actual : Prime time audience (approx. 18.25 million)

Event Evaluation

Advertisements sales increase from $ 680 million at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games to

$ 900 million for the Sydney Olympic Games 2000. MSNBC’s reach in terms of the

subscriber base expected to increase from 59 million to 70 million. CNBC’s reach in

terms of the subscriber base expected to increase from 74 million to 80 million.

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4.4 REACH INTERACTION MATRIX

The reach interaction matrix summarizes the generic characteristics of each of the

category to enable a bird’s eye view on events. However, each category can be designed

in such a way as to change the degree of reach and interaction.

Exhibition

Special BusinessCultural

Competitive

ArtisticCharitable

High Low

Hig

hLo

w

REACH

INT

ER

AC

TIO

N

Exhibition

Special BusinessCultural

Competitive

ArtisticCharitable

High Low

Hig

hLo

w

REACH

INT

ER

AC

TIO

N

Fig 2.1: Reach Interaction Matrix

Amongst the various categories corporate interest have been concentrated on competitive

events, especially so on cricket in India. Such events have a broad based character and

high media coverage. This implies high reach and added excitement through live

coverage on various popular channels. Post-event benefits trough highlights aid in the

event recall over and above the normal benefits that an event can offer. The fact that

interaction is given short shrift is an anomaly that needs to be corrected. Competitive

events are closely followed by events for artistic expression, then by exhibitions, special

business events, cultural & charitable events in that order for popularity with event-savvy

sponsors.

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4.5 RETURN ON INVESTMENT

Solely coming up with the sponsorship fee (cash expenditure paid out to be associated

with the event) for a specific event is not nearly enough of a guarantee for tangible

business results. The need to leverage the maximum benefits of the sponsorship is of the

highest priority. As a rule, this can be accomplished by spending at least two or three

rupees per rupee invested in the sponsorship. In other words, the sponsorship fee is just a

mere ante, and you must budget to properly exploit the product that you have just

purchased. Too many companies spend the big bucks to get into the event marketing

business and then never do anything with it. Leveraging your sponsorship includes an

integrated marketing program involving product sampling, on-site signage, event logo

usage, and myriad multilevel cross-promotions.

ROI MEASUREMENT TOOLS:

1. Quantitative

In the world of trade shows and corporate events, surveys are a frequent choice for

evaluating results. Even if you use lead generation forecasts or gross margin from show

sales to measure ROI on an event, a survey can help you understand the reasons why the

business event performed the way it did.

Pre-Post Show Surveys

Often used to measure less tangible variables like brand awareness or perceived

competitive positioning, pre-post surveys sample a group of attendees on their

way into the exhibit hall at the beginning of the trade show, and then sample

another batch as they are leaving the exhibit hall toward the end of the event. Pre-

post surveys are effective in measuring changes in variables such as:

Brand awareness

Memorability or recall of key messages

Attitude or image change

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Message impact

New product consideration

Audience profile

Booth Exit Interviews

To measure the immediate effectiveness of the booth and attendee experience

there, an exit interview can be helpful, especially for exhibitors using a sizable

booth footprint. An interviewer intercepts visitors on their way out of the booth,

and requests that they answer some quick questions. Exit interviews can explore

such areas as:

What prompted you to visit the booth?

Were you treated well by the staff?

Did someone approach you right away?

How useful was the product demo?

As a result of your visit to the booth, how likely are you to add the

company to your short list of considered vendors?

One of the big advantages of the exit interview, when done early in the business

event, is that it allows mid-course correction of any problems uncovered.

Post-Event Surveys

Contacting a sample of show attendees to ask questions about their experience is

another method of evaluating trade show and corporate event results. Depending

on your information needs, you may want to survey the entire attendee

population, the people who visited your booth, or the group that participated in a

certain activity at the business event. Surveys typically support the following

event objectives:

Perform detailed reporting and benchmarking of the attendee profile

58

Obtain feedback on your exhibit’s ability to attract and communicate with

high-potential prospects

Benchmark your performance against the competition

Provide clues as to the value of your investment in events compared to

other elements in the marketing mix

Post-show surveys can be used to explore such issues as:

Audience quality

Audience motivation for attending the trade show

Attendee activity at the trade show

Strengths and weaknesses of your exhibit, staff, design, signage

Competitive comparisons

Which products are most effective to exhibit or demonstrate

Effectiveness of promotions and premiums

Audience attendance/experience at other trade shows

2. Qualitative Tools:

Qualitative metrics, while not projectable to the entire population, can be helpful in

assessing your performance. Following are a few of the more beneficial qualitative

approaches.

Mystery Shopping

If you’re looking for an objective means of analyzing your booth’s effectiveness,

consider hiring a professional evaluator to “mystery shop” your booth and assess

the experience from the point of view of a customer or prospect. Many trade show

consultants offer this service.

Staff Feedback

The booth staff is your first line of customer contact, and a rich source of data on

most elements of interest. Staff feedback forms can be used for continuous

59

improvement in training, exhibit effectiveness, placement, and other marketing

tactics during the trade show.

One Word of Caution

Don’t rely too heavily on informal feedback from booth staff and senior

management when assessing the value of the trade show. Such comments as

“Booth was crowded,” “Mostly junior people,” and “Felt light to me” can do

more harm than good.

4.6 KEY ACCOUNT OR KEY PROSPECT ANALYSIS

Keeping track of key account attendance can be an important success metric, especially at

trade shows where you expect a relatively high level of current customer attendance.

Make a list of key accounts, noting which were invited in advance by the sales team to

visit the booth or attend a business event. Distribute the list to booth staff and other

company representatives at the trade show. Ask them to check off any who were engaged

in conversation, and make other comments. Subsequent analysis of customer spending

correlated to contact points can often then help identify the relative importance of the

trade show visit in helping to secure orders from specific customers.

Competitive Analysis

Assessing the presence of the competition is best approached qualitatively. Check the

trade show guide to see who among your competitors is exhibiting, speaking, or

sponsoring events. Assign competitive sleuthing duty to several of your booth staff and

other company attendees, if possible. Provide them with a form to fill out that covers

such items as booth size and location, products featured, staff size, visitor experience, etc.

60

Fig 2.2: Business Event Objectives and Associated Metrics

4.7 HOW BUILD A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS PROMOTION AND

MARKETING PLAN 

A good marketing plan summarizes the who, what, where, when, and how much

questions of the company: 

Who are the target buyers? 

What sources of uniqueness or positioning in the market does your product have? 

Where will you implement your marketing spending plans? 

When will marketing spending plans occur? 

How much sales, spending, and profits will you achieve? 

The financial projections contained in your business plan are based on the assumptions

contained in your marketing plan. It is the marketing plan that details when expenditures

61

will be made, what level of sales will be achieved, and how and when advertising and

promotional expenditures will be made. 

The major elements of a marketing plan: 

The situation analysis describes the total marketing environment in which the

company competes and the status of company products and distribution

channels.  

The opportunity and issue analysis analyses the major external opportunities and

threats to the company and the internal strengths and weaknesses of the company,

along with a discussion of key issues facing the company.  

The goals and objectives section outlines major company goals and the marketing

and financial objectives.  

The marketing strategy section provides the company's marketing strategy

statement, summarizing the key target buyer description, competitive market

segments the company will compete in, the unique positioning of the company

and its products compared to the competition, the reasons why it is unique or

compelling to buyers, price strategy versus the competition, marketing spending

strategy with advertising and promotion, and possible R&D and market research

expenditure strategies.  

The sales and marketing plan outlines each specific marketing event or action plan to

increase sales. For example, it may contain a summary of quarterly promotion and

advertising plans, with spending, timing, and share or shipment goals for each program.

The sales and marketing plan outlines each specific marketing event or action plan to

increase sales. For example, it may contain a summary of quarterly promotion and

advertising plans, with spending, timing, and share or shipment goals for each program.

62

Some of the ways to market your product or service are 

Write letters (on issues and news items that have SOME relation to your business)

to the editors of local papers. 

Have give-aways (e.g. bookmarks or pens) that are useful and give details of your

business. 

Send news releases about your products and your business to local papers, radio

and TV shows. 

Take out an ad in a publication of a local group.

Offer to make presentations, on a topic related to your product or service at

appropriate fora.

Keep your eyes open for "specialized" newsletters, newspapers, or other

publications which might welcome an article written by you. 

Get on the Internet and connect to the world with your own home page. 

Remember marketing is the face you show to public, highlighting uniqueness and quality

of the product. Check the content and layout before releasing an advertisement or

distributing pamphlet. Marketing is becoming an ever important tool in the present

competitive scenario, tell what your product or services can do, but don't promise what

you can not deliver.

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4.8 STRAGEGIC ALTERNATIVES:

STRAGEGIC ALTERNATIVES ARISING FROM ENVIRONMENTAL

ANALYSES

Developmental Strategy

Maximize Opportunities by minimizing weaknesses

Maintenance Strategy

Utilizing company’s strengths to take maximum advantage of opportunity

Survival Strategy

Minimizing both weaknesses andthreats by considering optionssuch as:Joint Ventures, Retrenchment,Liquidation, etc

Pre-Emptive Strategy

Maximizing strengths and their usage to overcome threats

STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES

OP

PO

RT

UN

ITIE

ST

HR

EA

TS

INTERNAL

EX

TE

RN

AL

Developmental Strategy

Maximize Opportunities by minimizing weaknesses

Maintenance Strategy

Utilizing company’s strengths to take maximum advantage of opportunity

Survival Strategy

Minimizing both weaknesses andthreats by considering optionssuch as:Joint Ventures, Retrenchment,Liquidation, etc

Pre-Emptive Strategy

Maximizing strengths and their usage to overcome threats

STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES

OP

PO

RT

UN

ITIE

ST

HR

EA

TS

INTERNAL

EX

TE

RN

AL

Fig 2.3: SWOT Based Strategy Matrix

Maintenance Strategy

Arising from a situation of strength and favorable opportunities, the maintenance strategy

provides reasons to carry out activities that maximize available advantages. This is the

perfect position to be in. Beyond this, every activity gets focused on maintaining the

winning edge and the lead over competitors. The event company here can well afford to

be aggressive knowing very well that it has the relevant strengths to back its claim on the

opportunity.

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Developmental Strategy

To gin advantage of potential opportunities while not having sufficient strengths calls for

gaining a winning edge by using tactical retreats where irrelevant yet not giving up. It

requires passive and defensive strategy, which attacks relevant opportunities in such a

way as to cover up on inherent weakness. Analogy here could be from the game of test

cricket where a side that knows victory is impossible also knows that it can ward off a

defeat by trying for a draw. This can be called a developmental strategy where one tries

to make the most of the opportunity by not giving in to weakness.

Pre-emptive Strategy

This strategy is usually used by entrenched market leaders on new entrants on their turf.

Potential threats are nipped in the bird by exercising the full power of the company’s

strength. This is a very powerful and aggressive strategy as it requires foresight to fully

understand the threats looming on the horizon. Selecting which one to tackle requires

careful study since some points of strength could get eroded if used unnecessarily.

Survival Strategy

This strategy is used to ensure that the company is alive for a battle on another day when

it will have the requisite strengths to grab its share of opportunities in the market. This

strategy gives license to take decisions like leasing one’s soul to the devil if only with an

intent to retrieve it later. In plain words, it allows one to make drastic decisions in the

face of harsh environment.

65

STRATEGIC ALTERNATIVES ARISING FROM COMPETITIVE ALANYSIS

Further to the strategy from the environmental analysis a mapping of event concepts can

be used as a variable component along with decisions on facing competition, which can

lead to more detailed and in-depth strategic alternatives.

Rebuttal Strategy

Respond to new initiatives bycompetition with a similar move

Sustenance Strategy

Manage critical success factorsmore effectively

Venture Strategy

Maximize user benefits by usingpath breaking, trend settinginitiatives to take a lead vis-à-viscompetition by being first in themarket.

Accomplishment Strategy

Relative superiorityExploit competitor’s weakness

USE EXISTING CREATE NEW

CO

MP

ET

EA

VO

ID H

EA

D-O

N

CO

NF

LIC

T

EVENT CONCEPTS

CO

MP

ET

ITIO

N

Rebuttal Strategy

Respond to new initiatives bycompetition with a similar move

Sustenance Strategy

Manage critical success factorsmore effectively

Venture Strategy

Maximize user benefits by usingpath breaking, trend settinginitiatives to take a lead vis-à-viscompetition by being first in themarket.

Accomplishment Strategy

Relative superiorityExploit competitor’s weakness

USE EXISTING CREATE NEW

CO

MP

ET

EA

VO

ID H

EA

D-O

N

CO

NF

LIC

T

EVENT CONCEPTS

CO

MP

ET

ITIO

N

Fig 2.4: Concept vs. Competition Matrix

Sustenance Strategy

This is a strategy to be used when faced with no options but to take on the adversary with

the existing arsenal of event concepts that may be out dated or still current but nearing the

end of its life cycle. It becomes essential that the event company manage its resources

and advantages in terms of CSFs that have been identified with greater efficacy.

Successful concepts need to be brushed up and revamped to meet customer expectations

in the face of competitive offerings.

66

Rebuttal Strategy

If the competition forces new concepts first than the rebuttal strategy should be used. In

this, the event company can launch its own new concepts of a similar vein and regain its

dominant position by aggressively promoting the same as a better alternative. This way

the education of the market about the new concept is left to the new competition and an

advantage gained is that market reaction to certain new concepts is fore known. The

disadvantage lies in the fact that the first mover advantage is lost.

Accomplishment Strategy

This strategy is viable when an existing concept is doing better than any of the

competitors’ equivalent offering. This strategy, therefore, essentially says that stick to the

winning concepts and exploit the fact that competition cannot offer a similar quality

concept and thereby wants to avoid a head-on conflict by itself. The danger here is that

competition may use any of the other strategic alternatives available to a challenger to

combat the situation.

Venture Strategy

This strategy envisages making use of the first mover advantage by creating new

concepts ahead of competition thereby creating niche markets. This may even involve a

re-definition of market segmentation. By maximizing user benefits and creating path

breaking trend setting concepts the event company positions itself to take a lead vis-à-vis

competition by being first in the market. This is a double-edge strategy in that failure is

as devastating as the benefits of a successful launch.

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STRATEGIC ALTERNATIVES ARISING FROM DEFINED OBJECTIVES

INCREASE PRODUCTIVITYOF CLIENTS

RETAIN CLIENTS

MARKET DEVELOPMENTINCREASE PRODUCTIVITY

OF CONCEPTS

EXISTING NEW

EX

IST

ING

NE

W

EVENT CONCEPTS

CL

IEN

TS

INCREASE PRODUCTIVITYOF CLIENTS

RETAIN CLIENTS

MARKET DEVELOPMENTINCREASE PRODUCTIVITY

OF CONCEPTS

EXISTING NEW

EX

IST

ING

NE

W

EVENT CONCEPTS

CL

IEN

TS

Fig 2.5: Client/Concept Fit Matrix

The above matrix provides options that event organizers have an offer in terms of

concepts and their market. The basic strategic alternatives here revolve around whether

the objective is to retain customers or market development. These objectives further lead

to the strategic options of achieving them either to customization or new concept

development. By offering new concepts to a existing customers, a strategy of increasing

business from increasing clients can be discerned. Similarly by offering an existing event

to a new client, a strategy of increasing productivity of the event concept can be

followed.

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PREP MODEL

This framework has its roots, in the fact that, events as a business proposition for

corporatisation is relatively nascent in nature. Therefore, the concept of strategic

perspective to growth through and along with clients is a major decision to be taken by an

event agency having major growth plans. This model deals with the strategic options

available by playing off objectives relating to market development against growth in

competition.

Predatorial StrategyEnrichment Strategy

Proactive StrategyRetaliatory Strategy

EXISTING NEW

EX

IST

ING

NE

W

CLIENTS

CO

MP

ET

ITIO

N

Predatorial StrategyEnrichment Strategy

Proactive StrategyRetaliatory Strategy

EXISTING NEW

EX

IST

ING

NE

W

CLIENTS

CO

MP

ET

ITIO

N

Fig 2.6: PREP Matrix

The above matrix provides the choices before the event company when it comes to a

trade off between clients and competition in terms of assigning priorities in decision

making.

69

Predatorial Market Development Strategy

If the development of new clients from existing competitors is the need of the situation

then the event company would be adopting this strategy. This is essentially an offensive

through focused strategy wherein clients of other event companies are targeted.

Enrichment Strategy

In a market situation where the event company is forced to compete fiercely for retaining

its market this strategy is followed. It is used where the need to maintain an improve the

quality of service becomes predominant.

Retaliatory Strategy

This is basically a defense mechanism wherein the event company tries to defend it self

from preditorial strategies of essentially new entrants. This strategy involves taking

action aimed at retaining its existing clientele and potential client base.

Pro-active Strategy

The event company here can explore new client bases and stretch the limit of its concepts

across untried event categories. Every event category has its own special environmental

and competitive structures.

70

4.9 RISK VERSUS RETURN MATRIX

Zero RiskAssured Returns

Low RiskAssured Returns(can charge extrasince chances of failure are high)

Medium RiskAssured Returnsto cover costs +chances of loss

are low

High RiskAssured Returnsto cover costs butlower chances of

profit

High RiskChances of highprofits with equalchances of losses

Very High RiskVery less time to

ensure reachChances of failure

& loss are high

Pre-Planned Ad-hoe

TimeF

ull

y S

po

nso

red

Par

tial

ly

Sp

on

sore

d

& T

icke

ted

Fu

lly

Tic

kete

d

Typ

e of

Fin

ance

for

Fu

nds

& R

even

ue

Zero RiskAssured Returns

Low RiskAssured Returns(can charge extrasince chances of failure are high)

Medium RiskAssured Returnsto cover costs +chances of loss

are low

High RiskAssured Returnsto cover costs butlower chances of

profit

High RiskChances of highprofits with equalchances of losses

Very High RiskVery less time to

ensure reachChances of failure

& loss are high

Pre-Planned Ad-hoe

TimeF

ull

y S

po

nso

red

Par

tial

ly

Sp

on

sore

d

& T

icke

ted

Fu

lly

Tic

kete

d

Typ

e of

Fin

ance

for

Fu

nds

& R

even

ue

Fig 2.7: Risk vs. Return Matrix

The above matrix considers two of the most important risk factors as well as the degree to

which it can affect the events company – Planning Lead Time and Type of Finance.

Events based on time can be divided into pre-planned i.e., events carried out after

thorough planning with enough time for taking conscious decisions and ad-hoc events

i.e., those that are taken up on the spur of the moment. On the basis of finance, events can

be fully sponsored, fully ticketed or partially ticketed and sponsored. Each decision

carries with it an element of risk, the gradations of which can vary from zero risk to very

high risk as shown in the Fig 2.7.

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4.10 APPLICABILITY

Differentiation and Focus in Event Marketing

Event Marketing has several advantages with multiple purposes, which normal marketing

media do not have. For example, when advertising in a magazine, a company needs to

decide which message they want to communicate as well as with whom they want to

communicate. For companies using differentiation as a competitive advantage, spreading

several messages in many different magazines, the result might not cover investment. On

the other hand, for companies using focus as a basic strategy, the cost for gathering

information about the specific target group must match the possibility to actually reach

the right segment. Depending on how Event Marketing is used both differentiation and

focus can be achieved.

There are two major differences when using events. The events are pre-communicated;

the companies have a possibility to control who will attend, or the event just happens;

whoever is there has an opportunity to be a part of the event. Of course, depending on

which place the company selects for the event, different types of consumers will be

reached. When using general events; meaning that no single target group is invited, the

company can still gain on the situation since they have a chance to adjust the added value

to specific customers during the event. The employees working during the event “read”

the situation and adjust his/her behavior. Further the event itself might also communicate

an added value to other people, although they might not be interested in the specific

event.

On the other hand mean that Event Marketing can also be used when focusing on specific

target groups.

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4.11 ADVANTAGES OFFERED BY EVENTS

As is clear from the preceding section, use of events as a marketing communication tool

not only take care of the problems associated with traditional media but also offer certain

advantages because of which events are gaining importance over them. Some of the

advantages are detailed below:

1. Events have the ability to bring together sharply defined participants since the

capacity for a particular event is usually limited. A specific no. of the target

audience could be invited of enticed to buy tickets for a show especially created

for a particular profile of the target audience.

2. Since the audience is actively targeted, the option of control reach can be

exercised and ideal audience for narrow-casting of information can be gathered.

This leads to lowering of the media networking budgets and focused

communication with the specially gathered audience. The audience that has been

specially invited invariably is an ideal audience.

3. An event carried out professionally and cleanly is invariably a memorable

experience. The word-of-mouth publicity that this generates is an advantage that

lingers on a long time after the event is actually been carried out. This provides an

advantage of higher brand recall to the client.

4. The involvement of all the senses in experiencing the event is one of the greatest

advantages that events can offer. Events can be designed such that the audience is

actively involved in every part of the event and made to feel good. Thus, events as

a live media offer a certain amount of immediacy to the experience – of being

there while it‘s happening. For the audience, it is undoubtedly a thrilling situation.

5. Live media also enables interactive communication. Live media scores over

conventional advertising in terms of reach, impact and tangible immediacy of

measurement. Live media communication is a complete sensual experience as

compared to a press advertisement or TV/Radio commercial. This is so because of

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press ad is basically a flat piece of paper and a commercial is just an audiovisual

experience. The high recall value of live media communication is also a major

factor.

6. No other media can boast of the ability to provide such massive collection of feed

back instantly as events. Being a live media, it is possible to feel and deduce the

reactions of the audience to the aim or objective that the event was conceived for.

7. Easily customizable nature of events, mean that specific traits of the local

inhabitants can be incorporated in the big picture to ensure that the event is

socially and culturally in tune with the local culture. Thus, the localization of

events is very easy.

8. The advantage in terms of post-event publicity that events can offer over and

above the paid or bartered media is the benefit associated with reports of the event

in the newspaper and news on the electronic media. For such reports there is no

extra cost to be borne – neither by the sponsor nor by the event organizer. This is

a double edged sword because, in case the event is not up to the mark or is dogged

y controversies, then the same is also reported impartially.

9. The conversion of good events into television software for future use either by the

sponsors for their commercials or by media house for programming is also a

unique benefit that events offer. Such software become products by themselves

and can be used profitability in the future.

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5.ANALYSIS & RESEARCH FINDINGS

5.1 PRIMARY DATA ANALYSIS

The present study has been undertaken to get the first hand exposure on the mindset of

people towards Event Marketing concept and their involvement in events as and when

they come across, if any.

A questionnaire was designed keeping in mind the requirements for study & analysis of

my thesis for comparing the hypothesis with the outcome of this survey.

A general survey conducted with a sample size of 100 respondents revealed the following

facts regarding the mindset of people towards the Event Marketing concept.

This survey also gave scope to take necessary steps for organizing an event at right place,

right time and in front of the right target audience.

Event Marketing companies were also targeted and their response was also taken which

added value to my thesis.

Let’s have a look at what people feel about Event Marketing.

When people were asked what they feel about a particular company which promotes its

product/service through Event Marketing 82% of the respondents replied that it gives a

positive impression about the company and establishes the quality of their

product/service.

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When people were asked about the reasons for which they have participated 53% replied

that the event appeared amusing which was followed by reasons like a powerful brand or

eye catching signs & banners.

Graph A: Buying Behavior after a positive experience of an EVENT

88

310

78

6

16

69

3

29

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Morelikely

lesslikely

neither Morelikely

lesslikely

neither Morelikely

lesslikely

neither

a b c

Where,

a = Product/service you have heard but not checked out yet

b = Product/service you have never heard of

c = Product/service you already use

Interpretation

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If people had a positive experience, about the event 88% are more likely to buy a product

just when they were aware of it. Surprisingly, 78% are more likely to enter into the

buying process even if it’s a new product.

Graph B: Gender influence on purchase

67

70

2

3 32

27 90

87

2

38

11

82

76

7

6

11

18

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

Female 70 3 27 87 3 11 76 6 18

Male 67 2 32 90 2 8 82 7 11

More likelyless likely neither More likelyless likely neither More likelyless likely neither

a b c

Where,

a = Product/service you already use

b = Product/service you have heard but not checked out yet

c = Product/service you have never heard of

Interpretation

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After a positive experience of the events, women are more likely to purchase a product

they already use while men are a bit more adventures and may even be inclined to

purchase a product that they are not using or haven’t yet heard about that product.

Graph C: Men are explorers whereas women love samples

24

12

18

8 9

5

36

68

128

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

I get to touch andfeel a

product/services

I get to learnmore about a

product/services

I get to askquestions about aproduct/services

I get a freesample of a

product/services

I get to have funby participating in

activities

Male Female

Interpretation

The female folk are drawn towards the event because they love samples which was

confirmed when 68% out of the female respondents gave the same reply where as the

male counter part are more interested in exploring the product inside out.

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Graph D: Create events for right ages

12

14

21

25

7

10

13

21

45

910

70

60

52

38

8

12

6 6

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

I get to touch andfeel a

product/services

I get to learn moreabout a

product/services

I get to askquestions about aproduct/services

I get a freesample of a

product/services

I get to have funby participating in

activities

22-29 yrs 30-44 yrs 45-54 yrs 55+ yrs

Interpretation

Fun and free best describes the motivation of younger event attendees while education

and interaction are what the older crowd is looking for.

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Graph E: Events spur immediate sales

25%24%

26%

4%

4%

2%

15%

immediately within a week within a month

within 3 months within 6 months more than 6 months

Do not purchase

Interpretation

26% of the attendees are ready to purchase a product immediately after the event, 25%

within a month and 15% wont purchase the product at all.

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Graph F: Reasons for participation in any event

6063

66

80

9

1316

3

107

2 3

18

14 13

73 3 3

10

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Theproduct/services

matched myinterest

The product orcompany wassponsoring anactivity I enjoy

My friend/relativehad a positive

experience

The event offeredan activity I could

participate

Other

22-29 yrs 30-44 yrs 45-54 yrs 55+ yrs

Interpretation

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Over all the age groups it was observed that if the product/service is of interest to the

attendees they are more likely to participate in an event. The next best reason for

participation across all age groups is the activity which the attendees enjoy.

Graph G: People spend time at mobile events

68%

8%

24%

1-15 mins 15-30 mins over 30 mins

Interpretation

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68% of the total respondents spend approximately 15 mins on a mobile event and every

less people spend over 30 mins.

Graph H: Mobile events create better product understanding

75%

1%

24%

better same less

Interpretation

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Mobile events which demonstrate product features are more likely to generate better

understanding about a company or its product.

5.2 INTERVIEWS AND DETAILED DISCUSSIONS with various event managers

and corporate helped me identify the problems in the event marketing industry.

1. The event marketing industry in India is highly unorganized.

2. Corporate are not fully aware of the concept, implementation process and

effectiveness of event marketing.

3. No post-event analysis is carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of an event. As

a result of which a lot of money is wasted and nothing productive happens.

4. Lately, event marketing has become a fad and even small entrepreneurs are

blindly following the multinationals such as Coke and Pepsi that have presence all

over in the event marketing industry (cricket, music, movies & road shows)

5. Even when large sums of money are involved, sponsorships have too often been

handed out on nothing stronger than the managing director’s whim. In such

cases, virtually no thought is given to their likely benefit to the company, or even

how such a benefit could be measured.

In the late 1980s, the Hill & Knowlton sports marketing division conducted a

survey of Western Australian companies involved in sponsorship. Many were

giving more than $100,000 a year. Yet a staggering 68% of them had no

procedures in place to check the value of their sponsorships. How many of those

companies would spend $100,000 on advertising without monitoring every year

stage of the campaign? How many would pay an executive $100,000 a year

without demanding accountability for performance.

6. Sponsorship today should be made as accountable as any other part of the

marketing mix. Some forms of sponsorship have long-term networking goals that

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don’t lend themselves to immediate measurement. But if sponsorship is linked

directly to a product, measurement should be possible through the only criteria

that ultimately matter, Sales.

7. T.V. and press coverage of the event cannot be equated with success-even if a

company’s logo appears often and prominently. Instead, we need to take a close

look at the sales results and see if they go up during the sponsorship period.

8. Not all sponsorships are readily measurable. There are many, especially in the

non-sporting field, where it’s almost impossible to establish a direct cause-and-

effect relationship between sponsorship and sales. Carefully planned

sponsorships can be a cost-efficient way to enhance corporate profile. They can

link a company and brand with their customers’ lifestyles and aspirations. They

can create a difference for the product, boost the effectiveness of the total

promotional program, and put one in touch with people who can do a great deal

for the business.

9. Sponsorship itself never is a major communications thrust. It is always and only a

complement to it. For every Rs. 100,000 you spend on sponsorship, you need to

spend at least another Rs. 100,000 on more conventional promotional activities.

And your sponsorship venture must not happen in isolation from them. It must be

an integral part of your total promotional program. It must tie in closely in theme

and message with everything else you are doing. Only then, will you get real

benefit from your sponsorship investment.

10. Commit large amounts of time and marketing expertise to it as well in order to

bring about a long-term product association with the event. It means monitoring

the event constantly, to ensure that your name, logo, product and so on are being

featured, exactly as agreed. It means developing reliable ways of measuring its

results, if that’s possible. It means thinking about extensions-spin-off consumer

and trade promotions, staff motivation programs, hospitality functions and so on.

11. It also means being willing to keep it going for several years at least. The longer

you stay with your sponsorship, the better the results you can expect-and the

better, for the event too. If its name chops and changes from one year to the next,

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its image will become confused and tarnished. Then its value as a sponsorship

property will drop.

12. There is no consistency of operations and quality of events on the part of event

management firms. Event marketing firms in India are very unprofessional and

lack integrated marketing expertise.

13. Situation analysis and TOMA effect which are done by advertising agencies is not

done by event marketing agencies.

14. Event marketing firms do not have retained accounts as advertising agencies.

15. They also provide poor services as compared to advertising agencies. Hence

corporate prefer to give their accounts for event marketing also to their own

advertising agencies. These advertising agencies may further forward the contract

to the event management firms in case they do not have the infrastructure and

facilities for event management themselves. This results in lesser profits for the

event management firms as a cut off percentage of at least 13.5% is retained by

the advertising agency itself. Hence there is a need to build a more qualified and

professional image of the event-marketing firms to gain corporate trust, and

remove this intermediary to achieve higher profits.

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6. RECOMMENDATIONS

To improve the condition of the event marketing industry and make it more professional

and profitable, the following recommendations have been listed:

1. Understand the corporate objectives, target audience, brand image and positioning

clearly.

2. Do not go overboard with your concept or preference for a certain event.

3. Conduct a situational analysis for appropriate event selection which synergies

with the company objective and brand personality.

4. Create extensive databases of the target consumers in order to conduct pre- and

post-event analysis and evaluation to check the success of the event and consumer

perception, also to assess the top of mind awareness and brand recall.

5. Conduct extensive market research to establish which parts of the program are

working and which ones are not. Those in the first category should be maintained

and strengthened. Those in the second should be relinquished.

6. In all sponsorship activities, it is important to protect the integrity of the activity

being supported. If it is cheapened or its identity threatened, the sponsorship

could rebound on the sponsor’s head.

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7. CONCLUSION

Event marketing allows a company to break through the advertising clutter

and target an audience by enhancing or creating an image through an

association to a particular event.

Brand awareness reinforces the product or service, and drives sales.

Property or event, also profits, a financial partner, a supplemented

advertising budget, and added leverage.

Event marketing also offers companies the flexibility to reach specific

geographic and demographic audiences. It is a benefit that allows depth of

exposure, as opposed to the breadth of exposure.

As CMOs continue to face increasing financial pressures, they must

continuously provide higher levels of value, both in pure financial terms

and overall measurement of ROI.

When considering the entire sales cycle, marketing professionals must

think beyond traditional methods and bring transparency and measurement

to their activities in order to demonstrate the fundamental value of their

field. To answer this challenge, the event marketing industry must redefine

itself to recognize the power of the “brand” to forge deep connections, as

well as also adapt events to contribute to branding in more sophisticated

ways.

The perception of events as a form of media is quickly moving away from

standalone activities to integrated forms of communication. These forms

of communication synchronize with overall marketing goals through new

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applications of techniques rooted in traditional event marketing that

project the brand more powerfully. Defining what an organization stands

for, mapping out a clear brand strategy, and then formulating event

activities that align with overall marketing goals is the next great step in

the evolution of the industry.

8. BIBLIOGRAPHY

BASIC COVERAGE

Event Management Lynn Van Der Wagen & Brenda R. Carlos

Principles of Marketing Kotler & Amstrong

Marketing Management Philip Kotler

Marketing is Business Walter E. Vieira

The Fundamentals & Practice of Marketing John Wilmshurst

WEBSITES

www.indiatradepromotion.org

www.exhibitionsindia.com

www.supercommindia2004.com

www.branders.com

www.viewcentral.com

www.eventmarketer.com

www.marketersadvantage.net/articles.htm?k=Network%20Marketing

www.mobilemarketingjoblist.com

www.flugsimulatoren.de/strategic-marketing.htm

www.global-electronics.net

www.indianchild.com/marketing/india-marketing-scenario.htm

www.fundsmanagementworld.com/india

www.hedgefundsworld.com 

www.sbinfocanada.about.com/cs/marketing/g/promotion.htm

www.wilsonweb.com

www.TradeshowDisplayPRO.com

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www.clk.about.com

www.inventors.about.com

www.marketingnpv.com

www.businessknowhow.com

www.3rdfloorup.com

www.exchange4media.com

www.exhibitmanagement.com

www.dmoz.org/Sports/Events

www.biztradeshows.com/india/

www.classifieds.sulekha.com

www.pib.nic.in

www.india.gov.in/business/growing_business.php

www.blonnet.com

www.belowtheline.org/

www.frost.com/prod/servlet/events-asia-pac.pag

www.indialine.com/events/automotive.html

www.hindustantimes.com/3g/

www.informatm.com

www.asia.advertising.msn.com

www.ibef.org

www.tradeshowplaza.com

PERIODICALS

Business & Economy

4Ps Business & Marketing

Business World

NEWSPAPERS

Times of India

Economic Times

Mint

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9. ANNEXURE

9.1 Annexure.1

Questionnaire

Name :Age : Gender :Occupation :

1. What are your feelings about a company that creates or sponsors events?□ They are willing to let people try them out□ Support activities that I enjoy□ They understand my interests and needs□ They like to have fun with me□ They want to know more about me

2. Assuming you had a positive experience, would you be more or less inclined to purchase a product or service after having participated in an event?

a) Product/service you have heard but not checked out yet More likely Less likely Neither more nor less

b) Product/service you have never heard of More likely Less likely Neither more nor less

c) Product/service you already use More likely Less likely Neither more nor less

3. What was it that got you to notice or participate in the event?□ It looked like fun□ I recognize the company/brand running the event□ Signs and Banners□ Somebody invited me to participate□ The crowd that was already taking part in the event□ Others

4. Which of the following is your favorite part of marketing events?□ I get to touch and feel a product/services

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□ I get to learn more about a product/services□ I get to ask questions about a product/services□ I get a free sample of a product/services□ I get to have fun by participating in activities

5. Which would most likely cause you to participate in a product demonstration or event?□ The product/services matched my interest□ The product or company was sponsoring an activity I enjoy □ My friend/relative had a positive experience□ The event offered an activity I could participate□ Other

6. How long did you stay at the mobile event?□ 1-15 minutes□ 15-30 minutes□ over 30 minutes

7. Which of the following is true? After leaving the mobile event I understood the company/product…

□ better□ same □ less

8. How soon after attending a company-sponsored event at/near a store did you purchase the product or service being offered?

□ Immediately□ Within a month□ Within a week□ Did not purchase□ Within 3 months□ Within 6 month□ More than 6 months

Thank you for your cooperation

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