Event Marketing

Swiss Business School

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION


1.1 Conceptual Framework

Marketing

―Marketing communications are the means by which firms attempt to inform, persuade, and

remind consumers - directly or indirectly - about the products and brands that they sell." 1

Personal and non-personal communication channels can be used for marketing communications.

Within both of them there are many sub channels. The marketing communications mix is now

thought of as consisting six major modes or types of communication alternatives.

1. Advertising

2. Sales promotion

3. Events and experiences

4. Public relations and publicity

5. Direct marketing

6. Personal selling

Personal Communication Channels

Personal communication is communication between two or more persons with a specific person

communication with others. The message emanates from a specific person. It can be done face to

face, or by a person to audience, over telephone, or through post or couriers or through emails or

through mobile messages.

The personal communications in the case of marketing can also be categorized as

communications from advocate, expert and social contacts. The company salespersons‘

communication to customers is communication from advocates of the product.

An independent expert communicating to prospective buyers about the merits of the product is

classified as expert communication. A neighbor saying good things about a brand is social

channel of communication.

Companies take various steps to stimulate personal communications about their products and

brands.

1Kotler, Philip; Gary Armstrong, Veronica Wong, John Saunders (2008). "Marketing defined". Principles of marketing (5th ed.). p. 17.Retrieved 2009-10-23.


1. They identify influential individuals and devote extra effort on them.

2. Create opinion leaders by supplying possible opinion leaders with the product on attractive

terms.

3. Use influential or believable people in testimonial advertising.

4. Develop word of mouth publicity by requesting satisfied clients to promote their product

among their friends.

5. Establish online discussion groups and communities

Nonpersonal Communication Channels

They include media, atmospheres, and events.

Media channels include print media (newspaper, magazines, souvenirs, proceedings of

conferences), broadcast media (radio, television), display media (billboards, signs, posters) and

electronic media (audiotape, videotape, videodisk, CD-ROM).

Atmosphere is what firms create in their office environment. The office interiors and exteriors

have a meaning to the potential buyers.

Events are occurrences designed to communicate particular messages to target audiences.

Company arranged news conferences, opening ceremonies of various kinds, and sponsorships of

various events come under event communications channels. Communication through mass media

stimulates personal communication channels.

The Promotional Tools

The characteristics of various promotional tools are as follows:

Advertising

Advertising is a public mode of communication. Because it is communicated simultaneously to

large number of people and people know that the same communication is going to many people,

they feel their motives for buying are understood by the advertiser.


Advertising is defined as any paid form of nonpersonal communication about an

organization,product, service, or idea by an identified sponsor.

Advertising messages can be repeated number of times. Buyers also can compare advertisements

of various companies selling the same product and will choose which product meets their

requirements. The media offers the facility to add color, sound etc. to the message and dramatize

the message. But advertising cannot have dialogue with the people. People may not see and pay

attention to the advertisement.

Advertising is an efficient way to reach geographically dispersed potential buyers at a low cost

per exposure.

Advertising has two recent variants. Advertorials are offer editorial content and while it is paid

for by the advertiser and it will be difficult for the reader to easily make out that it is an

advertisement. Similarly information driven mediums are TV programs that are meant for

promoting the products of the company. They discuss the working of the product, benefits of the

products, and user experience etc. and they may convey the message to buy the product and the

address to be contacted.

Sales promotion

Sales promotion, which is generally defined as those marketing activities that provide extra value

or incentives to the sales force, the distributors, or the ultimate consumer and can stimulate

immediate sales. Sales promotion is generally broken into two major categories: consumer-

oriented and trade-oriented activities.

Sales promotion tools like coupons, contests, premiums act as communication medium and also

promote sales.

They gain attention and provide information that may lead the consumer to the product. They

include a distinct invitation to the consumer to do the transaction in a short period of time.

http://knol.google.com/k/narayana-rao/sales-promotion/2utb2lsm2k7a/144#view


Public relations and publicity

Publicity is a nonpersonal communications regarding an organization, product, service, or idea

not directly paid for or run under identified sponsorship. It usually comes in the form of a news

story, editorial, or announcement about an organization and/or its products and services. Like

advertising, publicity involves nonpersonal communication to a mass audience, but unlike

advertising, publicity is not directly paid for by the company. The company or organization

attempts to get the media to cover or run a favorable story on a product, service, cause, or event

to affect awareness, knowledge, opinions, and/or behavior.

News stories and featured articles are more authentic and credible than advertisements to readers.

The articles act as testimonials. The message gets through to the potential buyers as news and

they may not turn away from it as they turn away from the advertisements.

Example: Magazines, newsletters etc.

Public relations are defined as ―the management function which evaluates public attitudes,

identifies the policies and procedures of an individual or organization with the public interest,

and executes a program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance.‖32 Public

relations generally has a broader objective than publicity, as its purpose is to establish and

maintain a positive image of the company among its various publics.

Personal selling

Personal selling involves direct contact between buyer and seller, either face-to-face or through

some form of telecommunications such as telephone sales. This interaction gives the marketer

communication flexibility; the seller can see or hear the potential buyer‘s reactions and modify

the message accordingly. The personal, individualized communication in personal selling allows

the seller to tailor the message to the customer‘s specific needs or situation.

Personal selling also involves more immediate and precise feedback because the impact of the

sales presentation can generally be assessed from the customer‘s reactions. If the feedback is

unfavorable, the salesperson can modify the message. Personal selling efforts can also be


targeted to specific markets and customer types that are the best prospects for the company‘s

product or service.

Personal selling as a communicative channel which involves a live, immediate, and interactive

relationship between two people. Personal selling leads to relationships. The listener feels

obligated to respond to the salesman at least with a polite ―thank you.‖

Direct Marketing

Direct marketing is a sub-discipline and type of marketing. There are two main definitional

characteristics which distinguish it from other types of marketing.

The first is that it attempts to send its messages directly to consumers, without the use of

intervening media. This involves commercial communication (direct mail, e-mail, and

telemarketing) with consumers or businesses.

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, and point of sale information

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

events.

The second characteristic is that it is focused on driving a specific "call-to-action." This aspect of

direct marketing involves an emphasis on track able, measurable, positive responses from

consumers (known simply as "response" in the industry) regardless of medium.

If the advertisement asks the prospect to take a specific action, for instance call a free

phone number or visit a website, then the effort is considered to be direct response advertising.

Sponsorship

To sponsor something is to support an event, activity, person, or organization financially or

through the provision of products or services. A sponsor is the individual or group that provides

the support, similar to a benefactor.


Sponsorship is a cash and/or in-kind fee paid to a property (typically in sports, arts,

entertainment or causes) in return for access to the exploitable commercial potential associated

with that property. For example, a corporate entity may provide equipment for a famous athlete

or sports team in exchange for brand recognition. The sponsor earns popularity this way while

the sponsored can earn a lot of money. A particular form of specialized brand sponsorship where

a brand sponsors an unusual event or pastime that then becomes synonymous with that brand (to

the point where future brands may be excluded from participation) is known as 'about

sponsorship'. This provides a strong walled-garden sponsorship relationship between particular

events and the brand.

Other reasons for sponsorship include signage at sporting events, local or national media

coverage, promotional opportunities before and after the event, and the opportunity to entertain

clients and prospective customers by inviting them as VIPs to sponsored events. Other benefits

of sponsorship can include access to on-site hospitality tents or skyboxes; the opportunity to

meet athletes or teams in person, and possibly even the opportunity for sponsors and their VIP

guests to participate in a pro-am type event. Another benefit is the ability to reach a specific

demographic or target market.

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 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 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 passed, 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.2

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:

2Kotler, P. & Armstrong, G. 2003.Principles of Marketing.Moscow. Vilyams.


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.

2. The increasing number of TV channels and the greater number 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 to 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.


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 current and prospective customer 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

The use of traditional or new media to promote, market, or advertise an event. Various forms of

marketing and advertising are used to entice people to attend an event. Event types could include

anything from not for profit fundraisers to sporting events, conventions, fundraisers, seminars,

festivals, workshops, air shows, and many more.3

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

achieve the client‘s 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.

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.

3 Event marketing by Leonard H. Hoyle, CAE, CMP, Copyright © 2002 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN 0-471-40179-X


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

program. This is the way publicity and promotions work.4

1.5 KEY ISSUES 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

4Event Marketing: How to Successfully Promote Events, Festivals, Conventions, and Expositions by Leonard H. Hoyle, CAE, CMP


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 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 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 you 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.5

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.

1.6 WHY EVENTS

1. Brand Building

Creating awareness about the launch of new products/brand

Enormous number of brands/products is launched every month. Similarly innumerable new

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

launches. The large number 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.

5Behrer, M & Larsson, Å. (1998).Event Marketing attanvända evenemang somstrategiskresurs i marknadsföringen.Göteborg: IHM Förlag AB.


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. 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.

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 them. Here Citibank acts as the event organizer and small

merchandiser‘s 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 Celine Dion.

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 offbeat 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 1.2: Constructing the Brand Value Chain


3. Focusing on 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 sponsor‘s name is mentioned along with the event. For

example: Hero cup, Idea film fare awards etc…

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! 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 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 McDonald‘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: Tech fest 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.


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 starts 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. ―Event Marketing covers business to business (B2B), business to consumer (B2C), and

business to Government (B2G) marketing. Differing from traditional marketing such as print,

radio and television, event marketing takes into consideration all of the aspects of a live

experience including, spatial design, graphic design, video, audio, web, interactive and live

talent to create a motivating and memorable experience.”


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.‖ 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.

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 1.3 shows

how it comes to be a double lever effect:


Fig 1.3: Traditional Sponsoring vs. Event Marketing

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.6

1.8 SIZE OF EVENTS

In terms of size events may be 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.

2. Regional Events

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

6Behrer, M & Larsson, Å. (1998).Event Marketing attanvända evenemang somstrategiskresurs i marknadsföringen.Göteborg: IHM Förlag AB.


Example: Marathon.

3. Major Events

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

significant tourism revenue.

Example: Common Wealth Games

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 onetime

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 Bangalore.

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 release etc. Example: Ganesh Utsava,

Bangalore

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.

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

Birthday Parties, weddings and anniversaries all provide opportunities for family get together.

Weddings are increasingly becoming big events and even entertaining. 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 such contracted activities contribute rather

than reduce revenue.


1.10 KEY ELEMENTS OF EVENTS

Fig 1.4: Key Elements of Event Marketing

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…

Importance of Event Venue

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

Valentine‘s Day or Holi see venue playing the clients‘ role for the event organizer. Venue has a

say in the very feasibility of an event concept.

Organizer Event

Infrastructure

Target

Audience

Media

Venue

Client


CHAPTER 2

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY


2.1 PROBLEM STATEMENT

With fast evolving trend of globalization the order of the day is newer, bigger and wider markets.

Hence the way in approaching the market has also changed from the old conventional style to the

modern day style. The challenge to the marketer of an event precisely is to find new ways and

means of marketing an event by using latest technology, innovative marketing techniques and

implementing the same tactically.

2.2 Objectives:

To identify emerging challenges and opportunities in event marketing.

To quantify challenges and opportunities in event marketing.

To analyze the opportunities in event marketing.

2.3 Hypothesis formulation

Well defined audience and concept of the event are not only the crucial factors leading to

a successful event.

2.4 Research Design

Sample Design

The study is limited to Bangalore city. Since it is not possible to study the whole population,

sampling technique is adopted. It will be made sure that sample is homogenous unbiased,

adequate, consistent and a true representative of the whole population

Definition of the population

The study is conducted in Bangalore city. The city encompasses good number of independent

event management companies.


Sampling Technique Adopted

The sampling technique chosen for the study is ‗convenient sampling‘. Independent event

management companies are randomly selected from the population in such a way that each

element has the same probability of being chosen.

2.5 Collection of Data

Primary Data

The data will be collected by the way of conducting an interview or a survey with the

help of an appropriate questionnaire administering to the professionals of event

management companies.

The sample would be aimed towards the event management professionals dealing with

the event marketing/promotion in Bangalore.

Secondary Data

Secondary data will be gleaned from the existing sources like published/unpublished

research journals, books, websites and so on.


CHAPTER 3

LITERATURE REVIEW


3.1 REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Events are basically leisure activities and work possibilities for individuals. Events bring people

together and make them have good time at work. They enhance the quality of an individual‘s

life; they provide significant economic benefits and can also provide revenue for special projects.

Regardless of size, events require meticulous planning, a range of skills and a lot of energy.

While organizing events, companies get the possibility to have their own-right to the consumer

during the duration of the event. This means that if a company manages to get the consumer to

attend the event, the distortion from the competitors will be gone or at least decreased during the

duration of the event. Also, events contain tangible elements, such as food, beverages and other

products sold or given away, but are essentially a service in which they consist intangible

experiences of finite duration within a temporary managed atmosphere.

3.2SunLIVE07 CRM enables event marketing for Sun Microsystems

3.2.1 Introduction:

Sun Microsystems is operating in more than 100 countries. It develops the technologies that

power the global marketplace. Sun Microsystems drives network participation through shared

innovation, community development and open source leadership.

‗SunLIVE‘ an event that is being conducted by Sun Microsystems from past few years and has

been running very successfully. This particular event by Sun was delivered on a global scale, it

took place in multiple territories and UK being second largest of its kind in the world and mainly

that was the key event for Sun Microsystems UK calendar. ‗SunLIVE‘ being an annual

operational event brings along own set of challenges.

3.2.2 Key Challenges:

Event management of SunLIVE

Including: marketing, invitees registration,

Post-event follow-up, campaign tracking

And online reporting


As the event grew in size and stature, accordingly the challenges also increased concerned to

delivering the event, managing the data and handling delegates.

The number of attendees for SunLIVE 2007 had reached up to 1400 and had become a difficult

task to handle so they decided to outsource the Management of that event so that they could

concentrate more closely on the strategic Issues related to communication like content

development and presentation.

―SunLIVE being a flagship event for Sun Microsystems and the way the event was supposed to

be delivered was as much as reflection of their quality as the event contents itself.

Sun‘s head of customer engagement and major events, Maxine Hedges expressed that they

needed to be very confident when they decided to outsource the Management of that event to an

organization which they could trust to deliver on their behalf.

From the previous SunLIVE events Sun Microsystems had understood that it was essential for

attendees to carry the highest possible impression of the company when they walked out of the

event. Critical points to create a positive impression for the delegates were, a smoothly run and

well-organised registration, attendee handling and the follow-up process.

3.2.3 Solution

An event management agency named CRM Technologies approached SunLIVE07 with a full

package of event management services, from the implementation and execution of a personalized

e-marketing campaign designed to complement existing direct marketing activity, right from

outbound email tracking, intelligent registration, post-event follow-up, campaign click-thru

tracking and online reporting facilities. All campaign data was drawn from and updated to Sun‘s

marketing database, accordingly it was delivered and managed as a hosted service.

Absence of registered attendees is a risk that has always been there, but CRM‘s aim was to

decrease this as much as possible with the provision of delegate packs - which added a sense of

‗value‘ to the registration process. Significantly, each pack contained a color and bar-coded

delegate badge so that preregistered attendees were ‗Fast-Tracked‘ into the exhibition.


The bar codes themselves also tracked back into CRM‘s managed database and provided a full

record of attendee activity at the event, including details of any specific break-out sessions

attended. This information would also be extremely useful for post-event follow-up activities,

including a series of SunLIVE road shows.

3.2.4 Conclusion

By outsourcing the Management of that event to CRM Technologies the event grew and got

good feedback. Supporting data obtained through CRM‘s data management services helped Sun

Microsystems to take SunLIVE on the road. . In that sense, it has become much easier for Sun to

identify specific areas of the country where there is focused interest - in particular topic areas or

sector specializations.

The ability to analyze the customer information gleaned from the SunLIVE registration and

event attendance processes now makes the prospect of delivering a successful regional event

more or less assured, according to the company.

Sun Microsystems‘ reputation is now built around quality and reliability and these facets needed

to be reflected in the events it delivers to its customers and partners. The event management and

managed data services, delivered by CRM Technologies, ensured that Sun‘s customer

engagement processes enhanced its strong reputation and required minimal involvement from

Sun‘s resources.

3.3 Special event management and event marketing: A case study of TKBL all-star 2011 in

Turkey

3.3.1 Summary

The aim of the study is to show the dimensions applied while managing and marketing a

successful special sports event, Which made several contributions to the sports event managers

and sports marketing managers about how to use event management dimensions effectively and

shape strategies based on this perspective. Case study has been taken up to analyze a sports event

based on event management and event marketing perspectives. Data in the study was collected

from primary as well as secondary data sources. This study focuses on the dimensions of event


management named ticketing, transportation, human resources (volunteers and trained staff),

budgeting, marketing and PR and risk management.

3.3.2 Introduction

The event industry is one of the world‘s largest employers and contributes major positive

economic growth. The event is all about individuals coming together to create, operate, and

participate in an experience. It is an activity that gathers the target group in a particular frame of

time and place, a meeting where a message is communicated and possibility is created.7 The term

event is used for describing different activities designed for different purposes. These activities

can be art, sports, tourism and social activities, and can also be activities organized by giant

organizers more professional and more formal. Events are ‗a unique moment in time‘ and very

much different from everyday occurrences. Public or private, commercial or charitable,

celebratory or commemorative events bring people together to share an experience and produce a

measurable outcome. Civic events, conventions, expositions, fairs and festivals, hallmark events,

hospitality, incentive travel, meetings and conferences, retail events, reunions, social life-cycle

events, sport events8, and tourism are the examples of subfields of events. Every event has an

organization behind it like, managing activities, organizing funding, administering staff and

voluntary personnel, undertaking marketing and public relations, organizing security, printing

leaflets and tickets, hiring performers, arranging decorations, sorting out parking and many other

activities. The way in which an organization deals with events is known as event management. It

may include the organization‘s objectives for managing events, assigning roles and

responsibilities, ownership of tools and processes, critical success factors, standards, and event-

handling procedures.9 The linkages between the various departments within the organization

need to be handling events and the flow of this information between them which is the focus of

event management. Event management and event marketing have emerged over the past decade

as a vibrant sector of the tourism and leisure industries. The number, diversity and popularity of

events have also been growing throughout this period. As the number of events has been

7AFL Publishing, Australia.Andersson, M. and Wesslau, A. (2000). ―Organizing for Event Marketing in Order to Change Brand Image and

Increase Sales‖

8Masterman, G. (2004). Strategic Sports Event Management, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford.

9AFL Club Management Program, (2004)


increasing, there has been a growing realization about the continuing need to be developing

event management professionals who could be able to create, organize, and manage events.

Based on the above-mentioned dimensions and focusing on the event management and event

marketing literatures, this study aims to understand about how to manage and market the

events successfully and get a sense of satisfaction in the participants.

3.3.3 Ticketing

Ticketing an event is an highly complicated task, involving millions of tickets. Hence, ticketing

is one of the most significant programs of mega events like Olympic Games. The ticketing that is

in concern with customers becomes, directly or indirectly a critical factor for the success of the

event and, consequently it must be set up and obtained in more and more professional and

balanced way with the context of which it is to be situated. With regards to this, an evolved and

more advanced definition can be proposed for the meaning of ticketing: a whole of activities,

(programmed, organized and controlled) that start from the input of the strategy of the event

(objectives, targets, service concept) and come to being through price integration, distribution

and communication of tickets in order to obtain the attendance of individuals in amount and

quality, suitable to favor the attainment of its objects and goals, that the various stakeholders

wish to meet with the same event.

3.3.4 Transportation

Traffic management in a special event is any planned activity that is fully or partly conducted on

a road. It requires multiple agency involvement includes special traffic management

arrangements and may also involve large numbers of participants or spectators. The definition

also applies to events conducted in their own venue if the event requires special traffic

management arrangements and multiple agency support. From a traffic and transport perspective,

a special event needs to be ensuring the safe separation of event patrons, participants and

volunteers from traffic, and manage the limited capacity of the road system and control the

traffic impact on the non-event community and manage the emergency services and also work

on costs effectiveness at the same time.


3.3.5 Human Resources

Human resource management is much more than recruitment and selection of staff and

volunteers. It is a wide-ranging activity, involving the long-term strategic development of the

event organization. The expected outcome of this is a positive culture of commitment and

cooperation developed in the process of managing the work force. Volunteers are representatives

from the community who selflessly choose to give their time and skills to support club activities

for no payment other than reimbursement of their pocket expenses. Volunteers come from all age

groups, educational backgrounds and genders. People generally volunteer to have fun, socialize,

learn new skills, help others, develop new friends, explore career opportunities etc. Working

with volunteers requires their special contribution to the success of the event that is to be

acknowledged and shared. Working with volunteers requires consideration, flexibility and

enthusiasm because volunteers often work for the fun or for charitable purposes. Volunteers

require just as much management and coordination as employees.

3.3.6 Budgeting

Budget represents an action plan that each successful event manager must carefully develop and

it is the most important tool to use the financial decisions within the event management business.

Since different events are designed for different purposes, they may be considered in three

different categories named, ―Profit-oriented events, Break-even events, lost leaders or hosted

events.‖

3.3.7 Marketing and PR

Being most popular in the present, event marketing is however not a new phenomenon. In the US

and in the whole world, event marketing has existed as long as traditional marketing has been

there. It is a natural part of the marketing mix, and now goes under the name special events.

Effective marketing can attract both ‗right‘ and ‗wrong‘ individuals to an event. However, it is

even more crucial to ensure that the event is supported by sufficient numbers of participants to

make it successful. When marketing something purely intangible like sporting a contest, there is

a large service component. In some respects it is far more difficult to market something that the

customer cannot take home or physically consume. Thus promotional efforts might suggest that

the audience will be entertained and can have fun at the event. In management of the events,


public relations have two roles. On one hand it supports marketing activity in the form of

promotions; on the other hand it is also the tool that disseminates non-promotional information to

other target publics that are important to the organization. An event‘s leading aim is to achieve

positive coverage on the media for the event without paying for the space or air-time it occupies.

Strong relationships with the key media and a range of innovative techniques and tools in order

to evoke an attraction are important when trying to create the desired media exposure. Also,

media relations and publicity should be given a lot of attention. A well-planned publicity

campaign should run alongside any advertising campaign. Ideally this drive should be spread

over the period of months, building up to a peak shortly before the event. Early warning allows

potential participants and spectators to book the event in to their diaries and prevents potential

clashes with rival attractions.

3.3.8 Risk Management

The intention of risk management in events includes the protection of assets, to minimize legal

and financial liabilities, to control potential loss, properly manage growth, and to manage

responsibility. Risk management has been recognized in varying degrees as a key component of

the responsibilities associated with the planning and producing an event. It is often perceived as a

function that is carried out once an event has been conceived, designed, and organized. It should

be thoroughly embedded in the event design and throughout its development and production

process to ensure the risks associated with the event are managed effectively and cost

efficiently.

3.3.9 Method

The purpose of this study is to analyze a special event based on event marketing and event

management perspectives as a case study. The purpose is divided between two research

questions: What were the applications of All Star Basketball Event based on event marketing and

event management approaches? How these applications were implemented in the event. TKBL

All Star 2011 sport event was selected case study under investigation for the purpose of this

research.


In this study, the research method adopted was the case study because this type of approach was

useful to investigate contemporary phenomena within a real life context, especially when the

boundaries between the phenomenon and the context are not clearly evident. Research by case

study was more suited to how and why questions which can be explanatory in nature. Case

research allowed the researcher the opportunity to tease out and disentangle a complex set of

factors and relationships, albeit in one or a small number of instances it defines a case study as

‗‗an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context

when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident and in which

multiple sources of evidence are used. It has been stated that a case method can sharpen existing

theory by identifying gaps and fill them in, and also provide theoretical contributions when

employed as illustrations. Research based cases have been used to investigate activities or

complex processes that are not easily separated from the social context within which they occur.

To select a sample to this study, researchers have chosen to use judgmental sample which is a

non-probably sampling method that allows us to select the case that seems most suitable to

answer our research questions. Based on this method, a special sport event in Turkey, All Stars,

was chosen as a case. Case research can employ many data collection methods, either

quantitative or qualitative, depending on the variables being studied. While some researchers

have used only one method, others have used multiple methods for the purpose of ―triangulation‖

of data from different sources. It was pointed out that employing multiple data sources elicits

increased reliability of data and stronger substantiation of constructs and propositions. Data in

the study was collected from primary as well as secondary data sources. The main data collection

techniques employed was personal semi-structured interviewing, and observations. The

researchers carried out five group interviews, with key informants in the special sport event. The

interviews were held with event director of Turkish Basketball Federation, director of School of

Physical Education and Sports, School Secretary, managers of public relations department of

Anadolu University, manager of a special security firm, and spectators. Other valuable

information to this study was collected through unstructured conversations with other employees

of the firms and through direct observation during the sport facility visits. Secondary data was

acquired through web sites of Turkish Basketball Federation, publications of local media,

newspapers, newsletter, and specialized journals. Using multi investigators is another form of


triangulation. It has been suggested that the use of multiple investigators leads to a better ability

to handle the richness of the contextual data and more confidence in research findings.

3.3.10 FINDINGS AND RESULTS

Planning Before the Event

While planning the All Star 2011 Event, a professional team had decided what to do in only 1-2

hours. Planning for popular and mega events like Universiade 2011 Erzurum 1-2 years‘ work is

being conducted. Any problem could have aroused while the planning process of the event. In

addition to the staff of the organization company, a lot of people were assigned by the TBF and

also took part voluntarily. Painters and computer programmers have contributed while designs

were being done.

Determining Objectives

When assessing the objectives of the All Star 2011 from TBF‘s perspective, TBF had organized

the event for the target mass to endear basketball sport to people. For this purpose, TBF had

created a slogan ―Our burden is Basketball, our route is Eskisehir‖. Eskisehir Anadolu

University‘s objective, the house owner of the event, was to open the facility with such a

glorious event. The target audience was university students, families living in the city, audiences

like watching basketball aged five years or more. The number of the people who had planned to

watch the show went up to a capacity of 5.500 seats of the hall.

Facility Decision

When deciding the venue of the organization some important points come forward. Determining

a facility for reputation of the event, worthy of the subject and the purpose of the event is

important for the success of the event. After TBF‘s decision, All Star 2011 was going to be held

in Eskisehir, the important issues are as listed below:

-Suitable to the standards of the TBF

-Equipment‘s inputs and outputs to be easy

-An environment that emergency health care units can easily reach

-Venue and the rooms to be used relevant


Transportation

On Saturday, January 15 at 9.15 am the basketball train had moved from Istanbul to Eskisehir

with 150 people including former and All Star 2011 players, representatives of the clubs and

managers of Turkish Basketball Federation. Team members from Ankara had moved to

Eskisehir at 12.00 with a high-speed train. All the team ate lunch together with Anadolu

University team at a famous restaurant called Stone Building and at the same evening a Women

All Star Cocktail was held at Anemon Hotel. On the event day all the teams were transported

from the hotel to the venue with special vehicles. After the event, people were transported to

Istanbul by plane, to Ankara by high-speed train at 18.00 pm.

Budgeting

The costs and expenses that had arisen while regulating the All Star 2011 budget were provided

by Turkish Basketball Federation. As being an event for social purposes ticket prices were

determined low. Biletix had the largest share of ticket sales. Tickets could be obtained online,

from the stands at the entrances of the shopping malls and event venue. In addition, a portion of

the tickets were sent to some special guests personally.

Event Staff as Volunteers

To successfully produce All Star 2011, there was a need for adequate, competent and well-

qualified human resources to achieve the goals of the event. In this sense, the staff employed in

the All Star Event consisted of Turkish Basketball Federation personnel, Anadolu University

personnel and organization company‘s staff. These people had responsibilities from the

beginning to the end of the event. Also, during the staging of the event the personnel in charge

were assigned to serve the participants and the audience.

In the All Star 2011 event, a total of 38 employees were assigned including 13 employees in

organization, 15 for stage setup and enter-exit controlling, 6 people in branding, 4 people in

promotional and advertising business. The personnel were trained people and were selected

according to the job requirements. Volunteers were 33 people and students from Anadolu

University School of Physical Education. The students were assigned to meet the needs of the

audiences and provide the necessary assistance in the hall during the event. In addition, to meet

the VIP audience, from Civil Aviation and Cabin Services Program students were assigned.


Marketing and PR

To promote the All Star 2011 event, various activities were organized in the city centre, in

shopping malls and in university campus. In shopping malls 3 point shootout contests were done.

Brochures and leaflets were distributed in areas of heavy pedestrian traffic. In addition outdoor

advertisements were done. Some of the All Stars were determined by online voting by public

people from the official web site of Turkish Basketball Federation www.tbl.org.tr. By carrying

out e-mail based subscription system of voting basketball fans also achieved the chance to win

various gifts. In public voting; the 100th voter had won 2 tickets for 2 TKBL organizations,

2100th

voter had won a DVD player, 4100th voter had won 2 days accommodation in Eskisehir

and also had chance to sit on the bench with the players. In addition, it was announced some

surprise awards would be distributed to the lucky spectators by choosing during the event. Wide

coverage to reports on the subject were given in the local and national press, on web pages and

official web site of the Basketball team‘s within the scope of public relations.

Risk Management

To reduce the risks that may occur during staging of the event, ambulances and medical teams

were ready before the start of the event. In addition, to ensure the security of the event

professional security staffs were assigned.

The Preparations for Staging the Event

Under the scope of the program that was to be held during the event, opening speech, Face Team

show, dance shows, talent contests, All Star Basketball game, award ceremonies and concert

took place. Event duration was determined 5.5 hours between 13.30 to 17.00 pm. and then the

concert for 1.5 hours. In this sense, tasks like the preparation of the sports hall, hall decorating,

stage establishment, rehearsals and sound adjustment were carried out into two days.

Event Participants Meeting, Receptions and Hospitality

To welcome the participants in to the hall, controllers, routing attendants volunteers met the

people and guided them. Also, for the audience to be kept entertained, all time shows were done.

Giant screens placed throughout the event hall and national TV channel TRT 3 broadcasted. In

order to provide employee communication, intercom, wireless radio and mobiles were used.


Staging the Event

Before the event time audiences were taken in by ticket controlling on a regular basis. Entries

were provided in to two different doors. Assigned people directed the audience to their seats by

checking the tickets. In the VIP entrance the audiences were taken into same way. Front part of

the VIP section was devoted to protocol. Private catering was treated for the guests in the VIP.

The event started at the scheduled time and magnificent show of Face Team was presented after

the opening speech. After the show, Lithuanian Dance Team presented the first one of the five

dance shows during the event. Talent competitions were done after the first dance show and then

the All Star Teams took to the stage with the concert of Gripin music group. Rewards were given

to the winners after the match and the event was ended with the concert of the Gripin.

Throughout the event time any problem or breakdown were taken care. The desired capacity was

provided with the seating layout and number of participants. Stands established at the entrance

met the needs of the audience. There was any problem with the transportation where the event

was held. Public transport services were provided directly to the hall. Adequate parking areas

were provided. Also no trouble happened at the ending time and the exit of the audience was

provided on a regular basis.

Assessing the Event

The majority of the audience was satisfied with both the demonstration and the facility after the

event. The audiences were especially pleased with the demonstration of Face Team and dance

shows. All Star show, however, played friendly and no contentious left the game behind the

shows. According to a spectators‘ view about the event, the event was reallyentertaining and

successful. They expressed saying this is the first event ever so well managed in this venue

becauseit had recently opened. It gave them great feeling after comparing with the other facilities

in Eskisehir. Thecrowd was also well. 3 point shootout, the talent competition and the concert

kept them entertained. The match was not so contentious but quite good.

But, by drawing in the audience knew the victorious team, a gift was given, and then the teams

formed their own fans. Red and White team's players were introduced at the beginning of the

match one by one and when every player in the field greeted the audience by sending them

basketball balls. In addition, distribution of the small balls between periods also excited the

audience. After the game the lucky participants were determined by drawing and present


ceremony were celebrated by confetti‘s. Then the winner team‘s award was given. After all

Gripin was met with the audience by a concert. The interest of the media should be evaluated

when evaluating the event. After the event was performed within the next week (January 17-21)

news about All Star 2011 were published in the local, national and sports newspapers and also on

Internet pages.

Discussion and Conclusion

This study has presented the findings of a case study about dimensions of event management and

event marketing. While most of the literature focuses on the entire event management, this case

study focuses on the dimensions of event management named ticketing, transportation, human

resources (volunteers and trained staff), budgeting, marketing and PR and risk management.

The study illustrates that the event management dimensions in the literature had been applied in

to the All Star 2011 organization and the event was successfully managed and marketed. Any

problem or trouble that aroused during the event was taken care and the target audience was

managed satisfactorily. The organization owners and the house owners had reached their

objective and reached the number of people.

After evaluating some criteria like being suitable to the standards of the TBF and relevantly

using rooms TBF have chosen the facility of Anadolu University. It can be stated that all the

costs and expenses that had arisen had been provided by Turkish Basketball Federation. All the

human resources (adequate, competent and well-qualified) had been provided. For organizational

needs, stage setup, controlling, branding, promoting and advertising the event and for guiding

many people were assigned as employees and volunteers. As a marketing strategy in addition to

do outdoor advertisements and distributing brochures and leaflets, organizing competitions (e.g.

3 point shootout) about the event was a great idea for promoting a sports event. Overall, the most

important thing in an event was the risk management dimension. To reduce the risks that may

occur during an event, managers should do risk management well and it can be stated that in this

event; ambulances, medical teams and security staff were always ready. After applying the

dimensions of the event management everything went well, both organizers and participants

were pleased after the event. And through the research findings and informal interview with

audiences they found out that it indicated over of average satisfaction about performance of

whole event management and marketing. The study has made several contributions for the sport


event managers and sport marketing managers about how to use event management dimensions

effectively and shape strategies based on this perspective. It can be stated that the research results

were very useful for presenting the detailed information about managing and marketing an event.

3.4 IBM Global Business Services Marketing event optimization:

Improving the financial effectiveness of direct marketing campaigns

Introduction

Marketing event optimization observes a company‘s proposed direct marketing events over a

given time period — such as mailings, telemarketing campaigns, e-mail marketing — and builds

an optimal promotional stream that helps improve overall financial results, Mean while

reducing costs and avoiding customer saturation. Utilizing advanced analytics, the solution

develops a contact plan by customer based on marketer-defined resource constraints, which

include:

• Expected returns

• Individual customer budget

• Event cost

• Promotional interaction between events

• Minimum and maximum offers per event

• Overall marketing budget.

Purchase history, demographics and aggregate patterns of predicted behaviors are used to

calculate each customer‘s ―risk/return‖ relationship so that an optimal set of events can be

directed at the customer up until the point of diminishing returns. Risk is defined, for instance, as

the act of mailing a promotion to a customer given the return on that particular mailing may be

zero. Marketers can see the impact of various optimization scenarios, determine the ―best‖

investment strategy, and then capture results to continually refine and adjust their contact

strategy for each customer under consideration. Contacts with customers had increased to

unfathomable proportions, with some customers receiving as many as 60 catalog mailings per


year. In addition, the amount of stored customer data was skyrocketing. Profits and customer

satisfaction were at risk, with saturation levels reaching as high as 60 percent.

As a result of marketing event optimization, the retailer reported an additional $3.5 million in

new profit while reducing its mailings by more than 7 percent. In fact, the solution paid for itself

during the first year of use

Turning analytics into action

Marketing event optimization has been part of the IBM Center for Business Optimization

solutions portfolio. The center deploys a team of consultants who combine their industry and

process expertise with IBM‘s capabilities and resources in advanced mathematical research,

business performance management, business intelligence systems, software and deep computing

to provide a significantly differentiated service to clients. In addition to marketing event

optimization, the center offers optimization solutions in the areas of risk management, pricing

and complex supply chains.

Faced with mounting pressure to deliver quantifiable results to the bottom line, chief marketing

officers (CMOs) were looking for solutions that can help them decide how best to invest their

direct marketing dollars. Even in today‘s advanced marketing management systems, streamlining

the campaign execution process provide limited help to executives when it comes to allocating

their budgets among customers. Contributing to quarterly earnings, however, It isn‘t the CMO‘s

only concern. Marketing must also manage its direct marketing activities in a way that

continually enhances the customer relationship — a daunting challenge in its own right. As the

average number of promotions received by each household continue to climb, capturing the

attention of customers grows increasingly difficult. To address these challenges, IBM has

developed a solution that can help marketers determine the most profitable and effective mix of

direct marketing spends among a set of campaign events across multiple channels.


Approaching customers as an investment

Marketing event optimization is based on IBM‘s horizontal marketing methodology, which

views customers as a portfolio of financial instruments to be invested in over time, much the

same way financial advisors manage their clients‘ assets. Why spend all of your budget on your

best customers, if the same or less budget, when better directed, provides the opportunity to yield

more profitable results. Horizontal marketing shifts the focus from optimizing events to

optimizing customer relationships by advocating a more balanced spending approach — one

which does not:

• Over invest in the ―best‖ customers

• Under invest in ―underperforming‖ customers

• Ignore ―rising stars.‖

Conclusion

Marketing event optimization helps bring an entirely new level of sophistication to the way

marketing departments plan and manage their direct marketing activities. To add more, the

solution is designed to interface with a number of third-party tools and databases, allowing the

analysis and reporting of results to flow seamlessly into a client‘s existing environment. IBM has

always been ready to work with different organizations to integrate marketing event optimization

into their marketing process flow. For example, IBM consultants collaborated with a large

multichannel retailer that needed to improve the quality of its customer contacts by providing the

right offer at the right time.


CHAPTER 4

DATA ANALYSIS


4.1 ANALYSIS& INTERPRETATION:

4.1.1 Emerging opportunities in event marketing.

Table: 1

Particulars Number of respondents Percentage

Enables direct contact with prospective customers 5 16.13

Enables up-close demonstration of products/ solutions 2 6.45

Enables one-on-one understanding of customer‘s

requirements 3 9.68

Enables better brand registration/ recognition by

customers 3 9.68

All the above 18 58.06

Others 0 0.00

Total 31 100.00

INTERPRETATION:

From the above table, it has been understood that, most of the respondents selected all the

options that have been provided. To be precise 58.06% respondents have opted ―all the above‖

option, 16.13% respondents feel it enables direct contact with prospective customers, 9.68%

respondents feel it enables one-on one understanding of customer‘s requirements, again 9.68%

respondents feel it enables better brand registration/ recognition by customers, and lastly 6.45%

respondents feel it enables up-close demonstration of products/ solutions. And the same is shown

in the below graph


4.1.2Overflowing challenges in event marketing.

Table: 2


Defining prospective target audience 1 3.23

Reaching out to them with desired communication 8 25.81

Getting the audience to events amidst their busy

schedules 9 29.03

Sustaining quality attention of audience throughout the

program 8 25.81


Others 0 0.00

Total 31 100.00

Enables direct contact with prospective customers

Enables up-close demonstration of products/ solutions

Enables one-on-one understanding of customer’s requirements

Enables better brand registration/ recognition bycustomers

All the above

Others

5

2

3

3

18

0

16.13

6.45

9.68

9.68

58.06

0.00

Number of respondents Percentage


INTERPRETATION:

From the above table, it has been learnt that, three of the options have majorly been opted by

most of the respondents out of all the options that have been provided. To be precise 29.03%

respondents have opted that getting the audience to events amidst their busy schedules is a

challenge, 25.81% respondents feel that sustaining quality attention of audience throughout the

program is also a challenge to an extent, 25.81% respondents feel reaching out to the target

audience with desired communication is even a challenge faced, 16.13% respondents feel All the

above points mentioned are the challenges faced, and lastly 3.23% respondents feel defining

prospective target audience is definitely one of the challenges faced in event marketing. And the

same has been shown below in the graph form.

1

8 9 8 5

0

3.23

25.81

29.03

25.81

16.13

0.00 0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Definingprospective

target audience

Reaching out tothem with

desiredcommunication

Getting theaudience to

events amidsttheir busyschedules

Sustaining qualityattention of

audiencethroughout the

program

All the above others



4.1.3 Events those organizations conduct currently.

Table: 3


Product launch and promotion 16 51.61

Conferences/summits/seminars/workshops/training 19 61.29

Product sampling 4 12.90

Publicity events 11 35.48

Road shows 6 19.35

Press conferences 9 29.03

Customer contest 4 12.90

Exhibitions or tradeshows 10 32.26

Corporate events 16 51.61

Employee engagement/internal events 14 45.16

Charity fundraisers 6 19.35

Other 3 9.68

People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add upto more than 100%out of

31 respondents.

INTERPRETATION:

From the above table, it has been observed that, the respondents selected multiple check boxes

depending on the events their organizations conduct. Most of the organizations conduct multiple

events depending on the requirement. Majority of the organizations conduct

conferences/summits/seminars/workshops/training events, 51.61% for product launch and

promotional events, 51.61% for corporate events, 45.16% for employee engagement/internal

events and 35.48% of respondents for publicity events more often. And the same is shown in the

below graph.


4.1.4 Basis for earmarking budgets for different events.

Table: 4


Cost of concept, design and development 2 6.45

Cost of planning and producing an event (logistics) 8 25.81

Cost of venue 2 6.45

Cost of F & B 1 3.23


Total 31 100.00

16

19

4

11

6

9

4

10

16

14

6

3

51.61

61.29

12.90

35.48

19.35

29.03

12.90

32.26

51.61

45.16

19.35

9.68

Product launch and promotion

Conferences/summits/seminars/workshops/training

Product sampling

Publicity events

Road shows

Press conferences

Customer contest

Exhibitions ot tradeshows

Corporate events

Employee engagement/internal events

Charity fundraisers

Other

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Number of respondents

Percentage


INTERPRETATION:

From the above table, it has been observed that, most of the respondents have selected all the

options that have been provided. To elaborate, 58.06 % respondents have opted ―All the above‖

option, 25.81% respondents feel it is cost of planning and producing an event (logistics), 6.45%

respondents feel it is cost of concept, design and development, 6.45% respondents feel it iscost

of venue , and lastly 3.23% respondents feel it is cost of F & B. And the same has been shown

below in the graph form.

2

8

2

1

18

6.45

25.81

6.45

3.23

58.06

Cost of concept, design and development

Cost of planning and producing an event (logistics)

Cost of venue

Cost of F & B

All the above



4.1.5 Best concept and design are crucial for marketing an event.

Table: 5


Very important 19 61.29

Important 10 32.26

Average 1 3.23

Less important 1 3.23

Not at all important 0 0.00

Total 31 100.00

INTERPRETATION:

From the above table, it has been inferred that, most of the respondents feel it‘s a very important

aspect in marketing an event. For any event to be successful, best concept and design is very

important. It brings audience to attend the event as well as make the event successful by

providing good feedback for the event.

To analyze the same closely, 61.29 % respondents have opted very important, 32.26%

respondents feel it is important and it should be taken care, 3.23% respondents feel it is an

average point to be kept in view, 3.23% respondents feel it is not so important, and lastly 0.00%

(none of the) respondents feel it is not all important, that means it does hold some importance

overall. And the same has been shown below in the graph form.


4.1.6 Communication plays a major role in marketing an event.

Table: 6


Strongly disagree 5 16.13

Disagree 0 0.00

Neutral 0 0.00

Agree 10 32.26

Strongly agree 16 51.61

Total 31 100.00

19

10

1 1 0

61.29

32.26

3.23 3.23

0.00 0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Very important Important Average Less important Not at allimportant


Percentage


INTERPRETATION:

From the above table, it has been learnt that, most of the respondents strongly agree that

communication does play a major role in marketing an event. To be precise, 51.61%

respondents have stated they strongly agree, 32.26% respondents just agree to the point, 16.13%

respondents Strongly disagree, rest of the points have not been opted by any respondents. And

the same has been shown below in the graph form.

5

0 0

10

16

16.13

0.00 0.00

32.26

51.61

Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree



4.1.7 The great media channels or options to market an event

Table: 7


Advertisement 16 51.61

News release 10 32.26

Company website 14 45.16

Direct mailers 14 45.16

Telemarketing 3 9.68

Social media 17 54.84


Others 1 3.23

Total

People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add upto more than 100%out of

31 respondents.

INTERPRETATION:

From the above table, it has been understood that, most of the respondents feel advertisements,

social media, company website, direct mailers and news releases are most important media

channels to market an event and telemarketing has been given the least importance of all. To

analyze the same closely, 54.84% respondents have opted Social media, 51.61% respondents feel

it is advertisement, 45.16% respondents have stated it is Company website, 45.16% respondents

have expressed it is direct mailers, 32.26% respondents feel it is news releases, 19.35%

respondents feel it is all the above points, 9.68% respondents have opted Telemarketing and

lastly 3.23% respondents have said ―others‖ that means almost all the media channels have been

considered important in common. And the same has been shown below in the graph form.


4.1.8 The best way to encourage or ensure consumer feedback at an event

Table: 8


By repeated announcements during the event 2 6.45

Incentivizing audience with goodies 9 29.03

Through interactive Q & A quiz 6 19.35

Through one-on-one conversations and discussions 8 25.81


Total 31 100.00

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Advertisement

News release

Company website

Direct mailers

Telemarketing

Social media

All the above

Others

Advertisement

Newsrelease

Companywebsite

Directmailers

Telemarketing

Socialmedia

All theabove

Others

Number of respondents 16 10 14 14 3 17 6 1

Percentage 51.61 32.26 45.16 45.16 9.68 54.84 19.35 3.23


INTERPRETATION:

From the above table, it has been observed that, the best way to ensure consumer feedback at an

event is by incentivizing audience with goodies, because this point has been opted by 29.03% of

respondents, next best opted is through one-on-one conversations and discussions which has

been opted by 25.81% of respondents, later opted is interactive Q & A quiz opted by 19.35% of

respondents, and lastly 19.35% of respondents feel it is all of the above point are important to

encourage or ensure consumer feedback at an event. Andthe same has been shown below in the

graph form.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

2 9

6 8 6

6.45

29.03

19.35

25.81

19.35



4.1.9 Challenges facing in getting the right target-audience for an event

Table: 9


Lack of internal database 3 9.68

Lack of qualified internal database 10 32.26

Lack of verifiable external database 9 29.03

Lack of general interest in the target audience 8 25.81

Others 1 3.23

Total 31 100.00

INTERPRETATION:

From the above table, it has been learnt that, the challenge that is faced in getting the right target-

audience for an event is mostly lack of qualified internal database which has been stated by

32.26% respondents, 29.03% respondents feel it is lack of verifiable external database, 25.81%

respondents expressed that it is lack of general interest in the target audience, 9.68% respondents

suggested it is lack of internal database and lastly 3.23% respondents said it is ―others‖. And the

same has been shown below in the graph form.


4.1.10 Demonstration of product or solution, impact the success of the event

Table: 10


Never 2 6.45

Rarely 2 6.45

Sometimes 12 38.71

Often 9 29.03

Always 6 19.35

Total 31 100.00

INTERPRETATION:

From the above table, it‘s known that, it is only sometimes that demonstration of product or

solutionmatters for the success of an event and to justify that we have 38.71% respondents who

have opted ―Sometimes‖, 29.03% respondents have opted ―Often‖,19.35% respondents have

Lack of internal database

Lack of qualified internal database

Lack of verifiable external database

Lack of general interest in the targetaudience

Others

0 10 20 30 40 50

3

10

9

8

1

9.68

32.26

29.03

25.81

3.23


Percentage


opted ―Always‖, 6.45% respondents have opted ―Rarely‖ and 6.45% respondents have opted

―Never‖. And the same has been shown below in the graph form.

4.1.11 Challenges faced in planning and developing a complete and successful event.

Table: 11


Budgets 3 9.68

Right audience 9 29.03

Concept 9 29.03

Marketing message 10 32.26

Total 31 100.00

INTERPRETATION:

From the above table, it has been found out that, the message that is sent out to market an event

is the main challenge faced in planning and developing a complete and successful event. To

analyze this point precisely, 32.26% respondents have stated it is the Marketing message,

7% 6%

39% 29%

19%

Never

Rarely

Sometimes

Often

Always


29.03% respondents have expressed it is the Concept, 29.03% respondents have opted Right

audience and lastly 9.68% respondents say it is Budgets.And the same has been shown below in

the graph form.

4.1.12 Measurement attributes of the success of an event.

Table: 12


No. of audience responses 4 12.90

No. of feedbacks 6 19.35

No. of qualified marketing leads 11 35.48

No. of qualified sales leads 8 25.81

No. of cost per order 2 6.45

Total 31 100.00

10%

29%

29%

32%

Budgets

Right audience

Concept

Marketing message


INTERPRETATION:

From the above table, it has been inferred that, number of marketing leads is the majority

attribute for the success of an event. Precisely to analyze the above mentioned point, 35.48%

respondents have opted No. of qualified marketing leads, 25.81% respondents have optedNo. of

qualified sales leads, 19.35% respondents have opted No. of feedbacks, 12.90% respondents

have opted No. of audience responses and lastly 6.45% respondents have opted No. of cost per

order. And the same has been shown below in the graph form.

4.1.13 Expected time that customers purchase products after attending the event.

Table: 13


Immediately 1 3.23

Within a week 18 58.06

Within a month 5 16.13

Within 3 months 7 22.58

Total 31 100.00

No. ofaudienceresponses

No. offeedbacks

No. ofqualified

marketingleads

No. ofqualified

sales leads

No. of costper order

Total

Percentage 12.90 19.35 35.48 25.81 6.45 100.00

Number of respondents 4 6 11 8 2 31

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

Axi

s Ti

tle


INTERPRETATION:

From the above table, it has been observed that, mostly respondents expect their products to be

purchased within a week. Justifying the point,58.06% respondents feel Within a week, 22.58 %

respondents have opted Within 3 months, 16.13% respondents have stated Within a month,

3.23% respondents said Immediately. And the same has been shown below in the graph form.

4.1.14 Importance of event marketing in this current era.

Table: 14


Rank 1 1 3.23

Rank 2 3 9.68

Rank 3 3 9.68

Rank 4 17 54.84

Rank 5 7 22.58

Total 31 100.00


Percentage0

10

20

30

40

50

60

1

18

5 7

3.23

58.06

16.13 22.58


Percentage


Questions answered on scale of 1-5 with 1 representing minimal influence and 5

representing Strong influence.

INTERPRETATION:

From the above table, it has been understood that, concept of event marketing is important but

not very important as most respondents have rated it at fourth place. Analyzing the point, 54.84%

of respondents rated four, 22.58% of respondents rated five, 9.68% of respondents rated three,

9.68% of respondents rated two and lastly 3.23% of respondents rated1. And the same has been

shown below in the graph form.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Rank 1 Rank 2 Rank 3 Rank 4 Rank 5

1 3 3 17 7

3.23 9.68 9.68 54.84 22.58



4.1.15Importance of timing for success of an event.

Table: 15


Rank 1 0 0.00

Rank 2 1 3.23

Rank 3 6 19.35

Rank 4 11 35.48

Rank 5 13 41.94

Total 31 100.00



INTERPRETATION:

From the above table, it has been inferred that timing of an event is the most important part as

most respondents have rated 5; Success of an event completely depends on the same. To

elaborate the statement, 41.94% of respondents rated five, 35.48% of respondents rated four,

19.35% of respondents rated three, 3.23% of respondents rated two and 0.00% of respondents

rated one. And the same has been shown below in the graph form.


4.1.16 Importance of well-defined target audience for an event.

Table: 16


Rank 1 1 3.23

Rank 2 1 3.23

Rank 3 3 9.68

Rank 4 11 35.48

Rank 5 15 48.39

Total 31 100.00

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Rank 1

Rank 2

Rank 3

Rank 4

Rank 5


Number of respondents 0 1 6 11 13

Percentage 0.00 3.23 19.35 35.48 41.94




INTERPRETATION:

From the above table, it has been a observed that a well-defined target audience is very important

for the success of an event, as majority of the respondents rated 5. To explain precisely, 48.39%

of respondents rated five, 35.48% of respondents rated four, 9.68% of respondents rated three,

3.23% of respondents rated two and 3.23% of respondents rated one. And the same has been

shown below in the graph form.

4.1.17 Importance of generating qualified leads at an event

Table: 17


Rank 1 0 0.00

Rank 2 2 6.45

Rank 3 2 6.45

Rank 4 15 48.39

Rank 5 12 38.71

Total 31 100.00

3% 3%

10%

36%

48%

Rank 1

Rank 2

Rank 3

Rank 4

Rank 5




INTERPRETATION:

From the above table, it has been viewed that generating qualified leads at an event is important.

Most of the respondents suggested that its important but not very important for the qualified

leads. To explain in detail, 38.71% of respondents rated five, 48.39% of respondents rated four,




Percentage 0.00 6.45 6.45 48.39 38.71

Number of respondents 0 2 2 15 12

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70


4.1.18 Importance of producing most exciting event for audience.

Table: 18


Rank 1 0 0.00

Rank 2 1 3.23

Rank 3 5 16.13

Rank 4 10 32.26

Rank 5 15 48.39

Total 31 100.00



INTERPRETATION:

From the above table, it has been understood that creating very exciting event for the audience is

most important aspect as highest percentage of respondents have rated it five. To elaborate,

48.39% of respondents rated five, 32.26% of respondents rated four, 16.13% of respondents

rated three, 3.23% of respondents rated two and 0.00% of respondents rated one. And the same

has been shown below in the graph form.


4.1.19 Importance of the speaker for the success of an event

Table: 19


Rank 1 1 3.23

Rank 2 1 3.23

Rank 3 5 16.13

Rank 4 13 41.94

Rank 5 11 35.48

Total 31 100.00



0%

3%

16%

32%

49%

Rank 1

Rank 2

Rank 3

Rank 4

Rank 5


INTERPRETATION:

From the above table, it has been inferred that for the success of an event a speaker is not the

most important aspect but it is important as highest percentage of respondents have rated it four.

To justify the statement, 41.94% of respondents rated four, 35.48% of respondents rated five,



3% 3%

16%

42%

36%

Rank 1

Rank 2

Rank 3

Rank 4

Rank 5


4.1.20 Rating the future of event marketing.

Table: 20


Rank 1 0 0.00

Rank 2 2 6.45

Rank 3 3 9.68

Rank 4 13 41.94

Rank 5 13 41.94

Total 31 100.00



INTERPRETATION:

From the above table, it has been observed that event marketing does have great future going

forward as highest percentage of respondents have rated it four and five. To be precise in the

analysis, 41.94% of respondents rated five, 41.94% of respondents rated four, 9.68% of

respondents rated three, 6.45% of respondents rated two and 0.00% of respondents rated one.

And the same has been shown below in the graph form.

0%

6% 10%

42%

42% Rank 1

Rank 2

Rank 3

Rank 4

Rank 5


CHAPTER 5

HYPOTHESIS TESTING


5.1 Hypothesis Statement:

Ho: Well defined audience and concept of the event are not the only crucial factors leading to a

successful event.

5.2 Chi-square test:

The Chi-square test is the most popular non-parametric test of significance in social science

research. It is used to make comparisons between two or more nominal variables. Unlike the

other tests of significance, the chi-square is used to make comparisons between frequencies

rather than between mean scores. This test evaluated whether the difference between the

observed frequencies and the expected frequencies under the null hypothesis can be attributed to

chance or actual population.

= ∑(fo-fe)/fe

Where fo= the observed frequency

fe= the expected frequency in terms of the null hypothesis.

Table 21:

Crucial factors for successful

event

Rankings by the organizations Total


Well defined audience 1 1 3 11 15 31.00

Generating qualified leads 0 2 2 15 12 31.00

Concept of event marketing 1 3 3 17 7 31.00

Timing impact 0 1 6 11 13 31.00

Most exciting event 0 1 5 10 15 31.00

Total 2 8 19 64 62 155.00


Table 22:

Particulars Fo Fe Fo-Fe (Fo-Fe)2 (Fo-Fe)

2/Fe

Well defined audience

Rank

1 1 0.4 0.6 0.36 0.90

Rank

2 1 1.6 -0.6 0.36 0.23

Rank

3 3 3.8 -0.8 0.64 0.17

Rank

4 11 19.84 -8.84 78.15 3.94

Rank

5 15 12.4 2.6 6.76 0.55

Generating qualified leads

Rank

1 0 0.4 -0.4 0.16 0.40

Rank

2 2 1.6 0.4 0.16 0.10

Rank

3 2 3.8 -1.8 3.24 0.85

Rank

4 15 19.84 -4.84 23.43 1.18

Rank

5 12 12.4 -0.4 0.16 0.01

Concept of event marketing

Rank

1 1 0.4 0.6 0.36 0.90

Rank

2 3 1.6 1.4 1.96 1.23

Rank

3 3 3.8 -0.8 0.64 0.17

Rank

4 17 19.84 -2.84 8.07 0.41


Rank

5 7 12.4 -5.4 29.16 2.35

Timing impact

Rank

1 0 0.4 -0.4 0.16 0.40

Rank

2 1 1.6 -0.6 0.36 0.23

Rank

3 6 3.8 2.2 4.84 1.27

Rank

4 11 19.84 -8.84 78.15 3.94

Rank

5 13 12.4 0.6 0.36 0.03

Most exciting event

Rank

1 0 0.4 -0.4 0.16 0.40

Rank

2 1 1.6 -0.6 0.36 0.23

Rank

3 5 3.8 1.2 1.44 0.38

Rank

4 10 19.84 -9.84 96.83 4.88

Rank

5 15 12.4 2.6 6.76 0.55

Value of Chi-Square (X2) 25.67

df 4*4 16

level of significance 0.005 26.296


5.3: Conclusion

Chi-Square analysis is considered as test statistics

Chi-Square value is derived as 25.67

Chi-square table value at 5% level of significance with a degree of freedom of 16 are

26.296

Since the Chi-square table value > Chi-square calculated value, the Ho is accepted.

Hence it can be inferred that: ―Well defined audience and concept of the event are not the

only crucial factors leading to a successful event.‖


CHAPTER 6

FINDINGS & CONCLUSION


6.1 Findings

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. 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.

5. 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.

6.2 Conclusion

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.


4. 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 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.

6.3 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.

7. Event-marketing firms require a more qualified and professional workforce to prevent

them from losing business to their substitutes that is the advertising firms.


6.4. Lessons learned/learning aspects

Thanks to the organizations that helped in providing their valuable suggestions and

recommendations on, challenges that the companies facing and the upcoming opportunities that

event marketing has in future.

The major problem that the event manager faces while conducting the event is while the time of

registration. People who are not registered also attend the event, which may cause lot of issues

for the event marketer to manage the whole event.

Events are held only to grasp the attention of the specific set of audience who can help in

promoting marketers brand and also giving them the leads.

6.5. Ethical implications

The research was in line with the ethical guidelines in that the participation was voluntary and

confidential. Participation was voluntary, the organizations were free to participate or not and

answer the questionnaire. The responses were kept confidential and are not disclosed the report

to keep the interest of the participants.

No company‘s rules or regulations were broken and permission‘s from the organizations were

taken prior to conducting the research.


7. Bibliography

Books:

Event Management: Lynn Van Der Wagen & Brenda R. Carlos (2004), ISBN:

0131149385.

Principles of Marketing: Kotler & Amstrong (2010),Pearson education, ISBN:

0137006691, 9780137006694

Marketing Management: Philip Kotler 13th edition, Pearson education, ISBN:

9788131716830

Marketing is Business: Walter E. Vieira

The Fundamentals & Practice of Marketing: John Wilmshurst

Event Management: Tassiopoulos, D. (2005). A Professional and Developmental

Approach, 2nd Ed., Juta Academic, Lansdowne.

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

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


Appendix:

Event Marketing

Documents

Transcript of Event Marketing