Table of Content

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

1.2 PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH TRADITIONAL MEDIA

12

1.3 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EVENT MEDIA AND 5Ps

13

1.4 EVOLUTION OF EVENT MARKETING

14

1.5 KEY ISSUES FOR EVENT MARKETING

17

1.6 WHY EVENT

20

1.7 SPONSORSHIP Vs EVENT MARKETING

25

1.8 SIZE OF EVENT

27

1.9 TYPES OF EVENT

28

2. CRITICAL REVIEW OF LITERATURE

33

2.1 WATERSHED EVENT

34

2.2 THE KEY TAKE-AWAY

34

2.3 ROLE OF EVENT MARKETING IN MARKETING MIX

35

2.4 ROI DELIVERD BY EVENT MARKETING

36

2.5 MEASURMENT IMPACTS ON EVENT MARKETING BUDGETS 37

2.6 TRANSITION TO EXPERIENCE MARKETING

3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

39

41

3.1 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

41

3.2 NEED OF THE PROJECT

41

3.3 SCOPE OF THE PROJECT

42

3.4 METHODOLOGY

43

4. EVENT MANAGEMENT A PROMOTIONAL TOOL

44

4.1 EVENT DESIGNING

44

4.2 COMMUNICATION EFFECTS OF EVENT MARKETING

47

4.3 EVALUATION OF EVENTS

50

4.4 REACH INTERACTION MATRIX

59

4.5 RETURN ON ONVESTMENT

60

4.6 KEY PROSPECT ANALYSIS

63

4.7 HOW TO BUILD A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS

PROMOTION AND MARKETING PLAN

64

4.8 STATEGIC ALTERNATIVES

67

4.9 RISK Vs RETURN MATRIX

74

4.10 APPICABILITY

75

4.11 ADVANTAGES OF EVENT

76

5. ANALYSIS AND RESEARCH FINDINGS

78

5.1 PRIMARY DATA ANALYSIS

78

5.2 INTERVIEWS AND DETAILED DISCUSSIONS

87

6. RECOMMENDATIONS

90

7. CONCLUSION

91

8. BIBLIOGRAPHY

92

9. ANNEXURE

94

9.1 QUESTIONNAIRE

94

9.2 KEYS TO SUCCESFULL EVENT MARKETING

95

9.3 SPONSORSHIP CHECKLIST

97

9.4 CASE STUDIES

98

1. INTRODUCTION
We GENERATE Quality Business Leads
We ENHANCE Your Profile
We CREATE New Business Opportunities
Everyone Knows Us as EVENTS

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

Though relatively small compared to the major components of the marketing
communications mix-advertising, sales promotions and P-O-P communicationsexpenditures on event sponsorship are increasing. Corporate sponsorships in India in
2001 were estimated at $3.9 billion-with 65% of this total going to sports events and
most of the remainder spent on sponsoring entertainment tours or festival and fairs.
Thousands of companies invest in some form of event sponsorship. Defined, event
marketing is a form of brand promotion that ties a brand to a meaningful athletic,
entertainment, cultural, social or other type of high-interest public activity. Event
marketing

is

distinct

from

advertising,

sales

promotion,

point-of-purchase

merchandising, or public relations, but it generally incorporates elements from all of

these promotional tools. Event promotions have an opportunity to achieve success
because, unlike other forms of marketing communications, events reach people when
they are receptive to marketing messages and capture people in a relaxed atmosphere.
Event marketing is growing rapidly because it provides companies alternatives to the
cluttered mass media, an ability to segment on a local or regional basis, and
opportunities for reaching narrow lifestyle groups whose consumption behavior can be
linked with the local event. MasterCard invested an estimated $25 million in sponsoring
the nine-city World Cup soccer championship in the United States in 1994 and will
likely sponsor other big events in many countries as well.

Olympics and its renowned five rings are the worlds most effective property in terms
of marketing tools. The Olympics sell sponsorship on a local and global basis, and every
couple of years corporations line up to pay as much as $50 million to be the lord of the
rings. The Atlanta games in 1996 have a reported $3 billion in the bank as a result of
negotiating sponsorship, broadcast, and licensee fees.
The Olympics represents the creme de la creeme of event marketing and corporate
sponsorship. Event marketing is a lucrative game of whats in a name, as consumers
purchase tickets and expose themselves to everything. The world of event marketing is a
fast growing, high profile industry worth over $20 billion annually, and one of the most
successful marketing strategies.
Event marketing integrates the corporate sponsorship of an event with a whole range of
marketing elements such as advertising, sales promotion, and public relations.
Corporations both large and small have grown this industry at a rate of 17 percent per
year, and they have achieved a high level of success.

1.1 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

What is Marketing?
Marketing can be defined as a process by which individuals and groups obtain what they
want through creating, offering and exchanging products of value with others. All sport
and recreation organizations undertake marketing, although they are often unaware that
they are actually doing so. Listing in the yellow pages, telephone directory, placing
information in the local newspaper, offering a discount and special offers etc. are all
forms of marketing.

Marketing Tools
The marketing mix or marketing tools an organization can use can be classified into
four categories:
Product
Price
Place
Promotion

Tools of Promotion
Advertising
Public Relations
Direct marketing
Word of mouth
Hospitality
Advertising

Advertising
It is the controlled method of communicating the message. The event manager can
manipulate the message. It includes the following:
Give-Away

: Leaflets, Posters, Brochures

Radio

: Commercial, Community, National

Internet

: Web Sites, Radio

Television

: Cable, Free To Air, Satellite

Press

: Newspapers, Magazines

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

Innovative
It can be done by the event manager or, if the event and promotional campaign is too
big, by an appointed advertising agency.

Public Relations
Often it is part of the event manager's job to gain maximum exposure for the event. PR is
different from advertising in that it is not self praise but carries the strength of
disinterested credibility. It communicates a more complex message than advertising. It is
free but the event manager looses control over the result. It can be publicity can be
positive or negative. To this end it is important that the event manager maintains control
over as much of the public relations as possible. A thorough knowledge of the media's
requirements and beneficial interaction with the media personnel are sensible methods.
Although PR is mostly proactive, it is important for an event to have a reactive PR
strategy as part of the event risk management. Who will make public statements to the
press when there is an emergency? The PR campaign is a plan to gain maximum positive
publicity for the event. For an entrepreneurial event it would include:
Data collection: Preparing a media list of suitable targeted media, preparing a
contact list and club list such as politicians, interested people and opinion leaders
6

- often called media talent - who can be called on to make suitable comments or
actions which promote the event.
List ideas for continuous exposure such as interesting media ready stories,
competitions, public appearances, stunts, speeches, feeding the chooks.

When these lists are prepared, the ideas prioritized and the story angles determined, the
journalist, editor or producer is contacted to ascertain the exposure potential of the item.
These publicity items are then placed into an overall promotion schedule. The critical
path is ascertained to ensure continual and growing interest in the event. Milestones such
as important editorials at critical times can also be established. Specialist magazines and
newsletters with their highly targeted audience such as in-flight magazines, business
magazines, trade publications and association newsletters, need to be included in the
lists.
Depending on the size and complexity of the event, the PR strategy can range from
organizing a media launch and handing out a press kit to just sending a out a one page
media release to selected media. News releases can be staggered over the planning
period to generate increased interest in the event.

Tips on Writing a News Release

Make sure it is released at the right time for it to be picked up by the media.
Make it clear and concise with the main features at the very beginning of the
release.
Put who, what, when, why and where in it.
Have all contact details in it and the date.
Use liftable quotes.
Pitch it at the correct level: who will write the story and who will read it.
Identify any media talent associated with the event and give their contact details.

 Make sure all the spelling is correct particularly sponsors and main
participants.
The media launch is used by most large festivals, although it can be used by 'boutique'
events that target a specific audience. If the launch takes place in an interesting area, it
can be used as an opportunity to take photos and record interviews. Television requires
special facilities such as access, power and transmission links.

What is the Media Kit?

Press release including the 5 Ws
Press ready photos or video footage
Event program
Sponsor information
Interview possibilities, times and contact details of any stars
Press gifts such as complimentary tickets, invitations or smart hooks

Although PR involves the event's relation to the public, it is the relations that the event
manager develops with the media that can create interest in the event. It implies
developing a rapport with the media - finding out what they want and how best to supply
it. Networking is possibly the best way to develop this rapport.
If the manager does not have time or the inclination to do this then the event
organization should consider hiring a PR company.

Direct Marketing
This is delivering the promotional message straight to the interested individual. The
basis of direct marketing is the establishment of a data bank and a strategy to best reach
those individuals. The mail out is the most common traditional method. The database
can be created from previous events through competitions, guest books, inquiries, point
of sale information or just by asking the participants if they would like to receive
information on other similar events.
8

The effectiveness of direct marketing can be seen in the Port Fairy Festival in southern
Victoria. The Festival has an overall budget of half a million and only spends $6,000 on
their promotion. Each person who comes to the festival is given the first rights to buy a
ticket. The tickets are sold out five months before the festival begins.

Word of Mouth
Bill Hauritz of the Woodford Festival in Southern Queensland estimates their advertising
budget at less than $1000. The ticket sales generate over one million dollars. Their
promotion strategy is just word of mouth. An annual event, they have concentrated on
the quality of their program and site. This has built up a loyal following.

Hospitality
As part of the promotion tool kit, hospitality can be powerful. The special event or
festival has to promote itself to the sponsors. The diner for sponsors, for example, can be
an inexpensive way to promote the event. A tour of the site can be an effective way of
promoting the event.

Web Sites
The latest and increasingly popular method of promoting an event is to create a web site.
The advantage is that the site can also capture enquiries and be a point of sale for tickets.
The current movement towards virtual reality sites can give the potential attendee a view
of the event. The site can give real information, such as the program and map. Used in
conjunction with a other elements of the PR campaign, a web site can be used to
distribute photos and press releases. It transfers the some of the cost to the customer.

1.2 PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH TRADITIONAL MEDIA

The problems associated with traditional media that has been used for satisfying
marketing needs discussed in the previous section are listed below:
9

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 no. of TV channels and the greater no. of programs have led to
fragmentation of the viewer-ship. Hence, the need for narrow-casting of
campaigns to the sharply defined target audience.
3. Proliferation of low intensity television viewers who view a little of each channel
leads to the need for capturing the full attention of the target audience.
4. Media cost inflation Due to rising inflation which has been eroding the
advertising budget, advertisers are demanding the beat return from every adrupee spent. Media planning has become more complex and therefore the need
for increase the effectiveness in terms of tangible impact which can be instantly
evaluated has risen.
5. Proliferation of various media channels, therefore the requirement for intelligent
media buying.

1.3 RELATION BETWEEN EVENT MARKETING AND THE 5PS

The five Ps of marketing: product, place, people, price and promotion play an essential
role in Event Marketing. To successfully use Event Marketing the marketer must
understand how Event Marketing fits together with the other parts of the marketing
strategy. Kotler describes the organizations 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.

10

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
11

professionals cannot lose sight of the fact that the sales cycle only begins at lead
generation and that current and prospective customers must also be nurtured even
beyond purchase. Companies can benefit tremendously from the deeper event marketing
touch points that promote nurturing such as proprietary conferences that provide a
controlled environment for delivering messages and closing business. The nurturing
process will allow the customers to more effectively be funneled into the subsequent
stages of the sales cycle thus creating greater opportunities to develop into repeat
customers.

EVENT MARKETING
An event is a live multimedia package with a preconceived concept, customized or
modified to achieve the clients objective of reaching out and suitably influencing the
sharply defined, specially gathered target audience by providing a complete sensual
experience and an avenue for two-way interaction.

EVENT
S

REACH

LIVE INTERACTION

Right
Communication

from the
client

WITH

Live
Audienc
e

CREATES

Desired
Impact

Fig: 1.2: Events Definition In-Short

12

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

evident that an event is a package so organized has to provide, reach and live interaction
between the target audience and the client to achieve the desired impact.

Event marketing involves canvassing for clients and arranging feedback for the creative
concepts during and after the concept initiation so as to arrive at a customized package
for the client, keeping the brand values and target audience in mind. Marketing plays an
important role in pricing and negotiations as well as identifying opportunities to define
and retain event properties by gathering marketing intelligence with regard to pricing,
timing etc.

In fact, ideally event marketing involves simultaneous canvassing and studying the
brand prints; understanding what the brand stands for, its positioning and values,
identifying the target audience and liaison with the creative conceptualizes to create an
event for a prefect mesh with the brands personality.

PUBLICITY AND PROMOTION

If one knows how to organize an event he should also know how to market it. If there is
something very peculiar or special about the event then that main point has to be
highlighted. A product launch for example requires a sales promotion campaign either
before or after the launch. In that case the product is advertised through banners and
media and even door to door canvassing. Effort is taken to ensure that people sit up and
take notice of the event. Sometimes it could be an event like an award ceremony, which
is to be shown on television and different companies make a beeline for sponsoring their
respective products in the due course of the programme. This is the way publicity and
promotions work.

13

1.5 KEY ISSUE FOR EVENT MARKETING

The Human Dimension
A key issue for Event Marketing is having the right human resources communicating the
brand values. The importance of having people working that truly understand the brand
was emphasized by almost all the interviewees. The human dimension of Event
Marketing is what creates the uniqueness to the brand in an event, especially for highinvolvement purchases. In the capital goods industry, where high involvement decisions
are taken and more reliable information is needed, interaction serves as a great function.
When buying a car, the consumer is making one of his/her biggest investments, the
consumer is more sensitive and might require more than one-way communication to
convert to another brand. What makes the 3D advertisement more unique is adding a
human dimension, by placing someone who is familiar with and can communicate the
company brand and product.

The Human Context

To add a human dimension might sound an easy solution in order to communicate the
brand identity. However, the human being is rather complex in her way of learning,
interpreting and understanding, since she, is characterized by her context. Everything the
human being experiences will affect the way she interprets situations. Unless she
experiences a situation, which requires new behavior and this behavior is positive, she
will not change her way of acting. However, if she is put in a situation in which she has
to experience a new way of acting and if the experience is interpreted as positive, it is
most likely that she will repeat the behavior in a similar situation.
Mental Models are deeply ingrained assumptions and generalizations that influence how
we understand the world and how we take action. The models keep us in the same
pattern of both thinking and acting. By questioning the Mental Models people see
matters from a different perspective and openness. But in order to be able to question the
Mental Models we first must realize that there has to be something to gain by
questioning them.
14

Most managers today only see the brand as the companys 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 companys 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
individuals 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
individuals 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
15

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 products image
and fits your marketing objectives.
If, for example, you are looking for reach and you are selling a low cost product with
wide general appeal, sports sponsorship may be the avenue for you. If your product is
an up market one, artistic events could suit you better. If your have a technical product,
science-type sponsorships would be possibilities and if your main aim is to be seen as a
good corporate citizen, put your sponsorship money into good causes. The Childrens
Hospital, the Red Cross or the environment, to name three, AIDS research is another
one.
The meteoric history of event marketing is based in sports marketing. In fact, music and
arts represents a combined 35 percent of event spending as compared 45 percent for
sports-related events. Event marketing also continues to thrive as traditional advertising
rate skyrocket and, really, fail to provide any guarantee of reaching a targeted audience.
Event marketing provides a cost-effective approach to making a more hard-hitting,
emotional, and tangible pitch to consumers. It also gives companies the opportunity to
cross-promote (promote with other companies that have related products or services),
offer sample products (give-always), and build strong relationship with various channels
of distribution, such as retail outlets.
Charities go out of their way to meet both their own fund-raising needs and the profit
requirements of the firms they team up with. It is a commercial relationship and the
entire better for it. Charities need funds, and the businesses need promotions, which
show their worth in extra profit.

16

1.6 WHY EVENTS

1. Brand Building
Creating awareness about the launch of new products/brand
Enormous nos. of brand/product are launched every month. Similarly innumerable new
music albums, films, etc get released periodically. This tends to create clutter of product
launches. The large no. of launches also leads to need to overcome the ooh-yet-anotherproduct syndrome. The need to therefore catch the attention of the target audience at the
time of launch becomes very important. Meticulously planned events for the launch of a
product/brand seldom fail to catch the attention of the target audience.

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

Sometimes technological changes pave the way for manufactures or service providers to
augment their products. To convey this via traditional modes of communication to the
existing and potential customer base may sometimes be futile. Special service camps of
exhibitions are the perfect events that provide the opportunity for a two way interaction
and error free communication. For Example, IMTEX, the Industrial Machine Tools
Exhibition, is an event used by most machine tool manufactures to explain and highlight
the new and improved features of their product.

Helping in rejuvenating brands during the different stages of product life cycle
The massive amount of money that is spent during the introduction stage of products
gets drastically reduced over time. By the time the product reaches its maturity/decline
stage, the need for cutting down the budgets associated with the media campaigns, while
at the same time maintaining the customer base is felt. And events offer the best medium
for such a focused approach. It helps in generating feelings of brand loyalty in the
products end user by treating them as royally as possible.

17

Helping in communicating the repositioning of brands/products

Events help in repositioning exercises to be carried out successfully. In other words,
events can be designed to assist in changing beliefs about firms/products/services.

Associating the brand personality of clients with the personality of target market
Citibank is an elite bank where people do banking with pride. Hence, other premium
brands would like to associate themselves with the same audience so as to benefit from
the rub-off effect. An exhibition-cum-sale event organized exclusively for Citibank
credit card holders, small merchandisers get to do business with the Citibank customers,
as well as build and maintain a premium image for themselves. Here Citibank acts as the
event organizer and small merchandisers acts as participants so that they can associate
the personality of their products with the personality of Citibank customers.

Creating and maintaining brand identity

Australia-based Fosters Brewing Groups Asian subsidiary in its plan to launch its bear
brand Fosters 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, Fosters hoped to achieve its goal of brand identity
building and positioning itself at the premium end of the market.
Rennie Solomito, Marketing Manager for Coors Light (Beer Company) explains that in
order to increase awareness and personality of the brand, Coors Light tries to find the
distinguishing look of the leader in each market. Coors Light select events that are fast
paced and young minded, for example, Coors Light Silver Bullet Concert Series
featuring artists like Bryan Adams and Celin Dion

18

2. Image Building
Over and above the brand identity that a company encourages, events such as The Great
Escape conceived by Mahindra and Mahindra, exclusively for the owners of their four
wheelers, the Armada, are an attempt to build a specific image of not only the corporate,
but also the product, to let owners experience the thrill of four wheel driving, M&M
charts out an off beat route that emphasizes the difference between normal and four
wheel driving, and lets the participant experience the high, one feels when steering and
navigating an Armada.
Coke is associated with Olympics since 1928, the rationale behind this is similar values
and ideologies: International peace, brotherhood, standard of excellence and fun.

Fig 1.3: Constructing the Brand Value Chain

3. Focusing the Target Market

Helping in avoidance of clutter
Even though some events do get congested with too many advertisements, events still
provide and effective means of being spotted. For example, Title sponsorship of a major
19

event provides the sponsor immense benefit since the sponsors name is mentioned along
with the event like Hero Cup, Femina Miss India, Lux Zee Cine Awards.

Enabling interactive mode of communication

Events generally provide an opportunity for buyers and sellers to interact. They also
provide a foundation for exchange and sharing of knowledge between professionals.
Example: Bang!Linux2000, Auto Expo.
Unparalleled footwear company NIKE ensures that it sponsors those events which will
give it a chance to create an emotional tie with the participants through onsite brand
usage and product presentation.

4. Implementation of Marketing Plan

Enabling authentic test marketing
Events bring the target audience together, thereby creating opportunity for test marketing
of products for authentic feedback. The seller can identify exactly the traits and other
characteristics that are desired. For example, marketing events that the Frito-Lay
Company used before it launched its WOW! brand of potato chips.

Enabling focused sales and communication to a captive audience

In an event the audience is more or less bound to witnessing one particular event. In such
a situation it is very favorable for sellers to put forth their presentations without any
diversions. Such a situation is very valuable given the ineffectiveness of traditional
modes of communication in holding on to the attention of the audience.
For example, Burger King wanted to reach a young demographic in the New York area,
EMG (Event Marketing Company) helped them to create a 30-concert series at the New
York Palladium. Burger King received onsite signage and distribution of bounce back
coupons.

Increasing customer traffic in stores

20

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, cosponsored by McDonalds is a combined effect in increasing the customer traffic as well
as increasing the awareness among the upper class of the existence of new McDs
outlets.

Enabling sales promotion

Weekly events conducted by Crossword Bookstore helps in generating more revenue
during the weekends as compared to the revenue generated in the weekdays.

Help in relation building and PR activities

Practitioners of this marketing function believe that event marketing campaigns have the
ability to create long lasting relationships with closely targeted market segments.
Relationship building is not restricted to end user customers but also targeted at
enhancing new distributors and sales representative relations.
For example: Techfest organized by IIT Bombay, is an annual technological festival held
by IIT Bombay has helped the sponsors in establishing their relationship with the
Institute and ensuring that an image of being interested is created and nurtured.
Coke is sponsoring the Olympic since 1928. As coke does business in over 200
countries, the Olympics give the company the opportunity to identify its product with the
foremost special event in the world.

Motivating the sales team

The need for interaction is not restricted to external customers only and end consumers
are not always the focus of live media exercises. This is especially popular amongst
pharmaceutical and other FMCG companies. For Example, during the cricket world cup
held in England HSBC introduced a unique pattern of motivating the sales force by

21

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 start up Half.com, which wanted to sell products
such as CDs, Books, Movies and Games over the internet was up against major and
strong competition. The result of this publicity stunt started the ball rolling towards
getting this company purchased by eBay for more than $300 million.

Enabling market database assimilation, maintenance and updating

By keeping track of the reach and its effectiveness as well as interacting with the
audience that actually turns up for the event, event sponsors can assimilate and authentic
database. The database can be used to track various marketing trends. Events can then
help in maintaining and updating the database.

1.7 SPONSORSHIP vs. EVENT MARKETING

However, there are many other marketing tools that can build brand-awareness and
create image and not confuse them with event marketing the most common confusion
will be explained here. Authors seem to mix up the concept of Event Marketing and
sponsorship, although there is a difference between the two. When using Event
Marketing, the organization works with the event as part of the marketing strategy.
22

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 worlds fastest
growing forms of marketing and together with Event Marketing they begin to play a
more dominant role in many companies marketing budgets.

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

Fig 1.4: Traditional Marketing vs. Event Marketing

When the organization is sponsoring an event, (upper left corner) there is always a
business agreement between at least two parties, which Event Marketing does not
necessarily have. Usually this is the case when there is a sport competition such as the
Olympics or a World Championship. This kind of sponsoring limits the possibilities for
the organization to market their products since they have no control over the happenings
at the event, etc. There is a concept called the double lever effect, which explains the
23

relationship between different events. When organizations move to EM (1), EM (2) and
EM (3) the organizations increase their control and also the risk is increased. When the
control is increased, there is also a larger possibility for organizations to use the event
integrated with the other marketing strategies. This fig 1.5 shows how it comes to be a
double lever effect:

Fig 1.5: Control & risk depending on activity

As we can see, there is a risk in using Event Marketing. There is no possibility to test the
event for the target group, and everything has to work during the event. The risk
associated with the event could be one of the reasons why some organizations choose to
use pre-existing events instead of own events. Preexisting events are events that are
created by someone else for another purpose.

1.8 SIZE OF EVENTS

In terms of size events maybe categorized as follows:

1. Mega Events
The largest events are called mega events, which are generally targeted at international
markets. All such events have a specific yield in terms of increased tourism, media
coverage and economic impact.
Example: The Olympic Games, World Cup Soccer, Super Bowl, Maha Kumbh Mela.

24

2. Regional Events
Regional events are designed to increase the appeal of a specific tourism destination or
region.
Example: Delhi Half Marathon.
3. Major Events
These events attract significant local interest and large no of participants as well as
generating significant tourism revenue.
Example: Chinese New Year Celebrations.
4. Minor Events
Most events fall into this category and it is here that most event managers gain their
experience. Annual events fall under this category. In addition to annual events, there are
many one time events including historical, cultural, musical and dance performances.
Meetings, parties, celebrations, conventions, award ceremonies, exhibitions, sporting
events and many other community and social event fit into this category.
Example: Annual Trade Fair organized in Delhi, Chandipur Beach Festival

1.9 TYPES OF EVENTS

1. Sporting Events
Sporting events are held in all towns, cities, states and throughout the nation. They
attract international sports men & women at the highest levels.
2. Entertainment Arts and Culture
Entertainment events are well known for their ability to attract large audience. This
includes musical concerts, celebrity performances, movie releases and mahurats etc
3. Commercial Marketing and Promotional Event
Promotional events tend to have high budgets and high profiles. Most frequently they
include product launches, often for computer hardware and software, perfume, alcohol
or motor cars. The aim of promotional events is generally to differentiate the product
25

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
Weddings, anniversaries, divorces and funerals all provide opportunities for families
together. Funerals are increasingly are becoming big events with non traditional coffins,
speeches and even entertainment. It is important for the event manager to keep track of
these changing social trends.

7. Fund Raising
Fairs, which are common in most communities, are frequently run by enthusiastic local
committees. The effort in the organization required for these events are often
underestimated. As their general aim is raising funds, it is important that rides and other
such contracted activities contribute to, rather than reduce, revenue.

8. Miscellaneous
26

Some events defy categorization. Potatoes, walnuts, wild flowers, roses, dogs, horses,
teddy bears all provide the focus for an event organized in United States.

KEY ELEMENTS OF EVENTS

Event
Infrastructure

Organizer

Venue

Target
Audience

EVENT

Media

Client
Fig 1.6: Key Elements of Event Marketing

Event Organizers
Femina with
Fountainhead: Event Support
Banyan Tree: Arrangements for classical music performance
Hemant Trevedi with assistance from Noyonika Chatterjee: Choreography and
Direction
Omung Kumar Bhandula for Opus Planet Construction: Sets

Event Infrastructure
Core Concept: Search for new top class modeling talent through a contest and
pageant interspersed with entertainment.
Core People: Participants i.e., models taking part in the competition and other
performers during entertainment slots such as well known classical musicians, Pt.
27

Shiv Kumar Sharma accompanied by Ustad. Shafat Ali Khan and popular music
by Sweta Shetty and Stereo Nation.
Core Talent: Physical looks and proportions.
Core Structure: Annual event of beauty pageant.

Importance of Infrastructure
Indian business events, particularly large trade fairs, are underdeveloped as a
result of poor infrastructure outside Delhi. New exhibition and convention
centers developed in Chennai and Hyderabad will help spur the industrys
growth. If a new facility of international standard can finally be built in Mumbai,
this will generate a huge opportunity for business media companies. Smaller,
traveling events, road shows which move around the countrys many secondary
markets will also be significant income generators for some business media
firms.

Event Venue
The two types of venue are as follows:
In-house Venue: Any event that is executed within the premises of the company
or institution or in the private homes or proprieties belonging to the client is
called an in-house venue. The use of such venue is reserved for the employees of
the company or the residents of the campus. Most in-house venues do not need to
be paid or even if a payment is involved, it may be open for favorable
negotiation. The main advantage of in-house venue is the huge saving in the
costs incurred in hiring the venue.
External Venue: Any venue over which neither the client nor the professional
organizer have any ownership rights is called an external venue. These are
venues open for the general public. Example: Hotels, Stadium etc, etc

Importance of Event Venue

28

Events are venue driven. They help in increasing the customer traffic. Festivals
such as Valentines Day or Holi sea venue playing the clients role for the event
organizer. Venue has a say in the very feasibility of a event concept.

Example of Key Elements of Event:

Event
LOreal Femina Elite Model Look98
Venue
Shoot location: The Retreat, Marve
Official Host: Taj Mahal Hotel
Target Audience
Youth and Family though with a younger mindset or young at heart.
Media
Pre-Event: Magazines and news papers to inform about event and call for
entries with entry forms in them.
Electronic Medium: TV and FM Radio to inform target audience about
event coverage, date & time.
During Event: Live coverage on DD2 for widest coverage.
Post Event: Re-telecast on Star Plus.
Interviews and appearance of winner on shows sponsored by LOreal on
the electronic media.
Report on the event in the print media.
Clients
Main Sponsor: LOreal
29

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

Akbarallys Department Store, Trussardi, Catwalk Shoes, Estelle, The
Orchids, Lakme, Sony Music.
Ground Transportation: Adarsh Rent-a-Car an H.B Kedia/Anil Kedia
Enterprise.
Communication Convenience: Global Tele-systems
Beverages: Coca-Cola

2. CRITICAL REVIEW OF LITERATURE

EVENT MARKETING SURVEY 2006

conducted by
Fifth Edition of Global Study Shows Steady March of Events Business at the Dawn
of a New Era
The secret is out. Five years of research has shown that meetings and events can play a
strategic role in driving business value within every organization. Corporate executives,
both in and out of the world of meetings and events, now see the benefits that face-toface interactions can provide to their bottom line.
Current customers and prospects can benefit from meetings and events as they provide
the greatest opportunity to learn about a companys brand, value proposition and (new)
products/ services. Companies can derive business value from events to strengthen
product or brand awareness; differentiate from the competition; educate or train
employees and ultimately increase sales.

30

Three key indicators in Chart 1 show, however, an interesting change from 2005:
1. The importance of event marketing has remained virtually constant from the prior
year.
2. The proportion of the overall marketing budget dedicated to event marketing
decreased slightly from the prior year.
3. The perceived future importance of event marketing has declined less than 3% from
2005. While these results at first glance could be considered disappointing, none of these
indicators should be taken as a sign of a downward trend within the event marketing
industry. In fact, these are clear signs of an industry that is stabilizing and showing signs
of maturation.

2.1 A Watershed Event

While the meeting and events industry may be developing a beachhead within
companies marketing mixes, it continues to face increasing scrutiny as it slides under
the CFOs budgeting microscope. Additionally, CMOs continue to face mounting
pressure to show ever-increasing value and return on their investments.
Enter the CMOs white knight in the quest for the enigmatic and much sought after
integrated marketing campaign the evolution from event marketing to experiential
marketing an integrated campaign model offering the opportunity for an audience to
live the brand. Although it is too soon to measure how transformational the evolution
to experiential marketing will be for the meetings and events industry, high level
31

findings from the 2006 global research indicate that overall, awareness of and interest in
experiential marketing has the opportunity to bring the meetings and events industry to
new heights.

2.2 The Key Take-Away

Event marketing continues to play an important role in the corporate setting but has seen
some minor setbacks in growth patterns from prior years in terms of perceived
importance and value, perhaps due in part to the high visibility gained in years past. As
opposed to potentially being discouraged by these findings, event marketing
professionals should consider these early signs as an insightful call to action to innovate
and create opportunities for even greater ROI. Event marketing professionals must
therefore develop either more focused traditional tactics or adopt new approaches such
as experiential marketing. Between May and June 2006, almost 900 individuals in
marketing management positions from North America, Europe and Asia Pacific in
industries including automotive, high technology, healthcare, and financial were
interviewed via telephone with hopes of bringing clarity to the events component of the
marketing mix as it compares to other elements in a marketers arsenal.

2.3 The Role of Event Marketing Remains Important In the Marketing Mix
As the world economy continues its 2006 recovery, companies face ever-increasing
financial pressures to generate additional revenues and improve profit margins.
Globalization has created a myriad of new opportunities for companies but has
simultaneously brought with it new challenges in terms of newfound competitors vying
for the same pool of clients and the inherent need to communicate one cohesive message
to the diversifying marketplace. It is not surprising therefore to see that almost one third
of the marketing professionals surveyed this year stated that their top marketing concern
currently is reaching new customers. Building brand awareness was respondents second
most frequent concern, coming in at a distant 13%.

32

Due to the increased competitive pressures, companies large and small, local and global
must therefore constantly evaluate the mix of marketing tactics to ensure the best
possible approach at reaching both current and potential customers. It is perhaps because
of this need to freshen the marketing mix that we see survey respondents state that event
marketing was either a lead tactic or vital component of the marketing plan slightly less
than half the time (49%) a slight decrease from last year insofar as it was less of a
vital component and taken more under consideration with other mediums. Although the
current marketing mix shows in Chart 2 a slight decline as compared to last year, almost
50% of respondents stated that the future importance of event marketing was either
increasing or increasing strongly. Furthermore, an additional
40% of respondents stated that the future importance would remain constant. This
stability in event marketings role is corroborated by the fact that event marketing
represents more than 25% of survey respondents overall marketing budget, which is
only slightly less than a one percent reduction from last years figure.
Another sign of the evolution of companies marketing mix appears in the budget
allocations for events. Much like in 2005, 59% of respondents stated that the majority of
their event marketing budget is currently allocated to trade shows while 35% are spent
on conferences. This latter figure shows a dramatic drop from the prior years figure of
47% and further augments the current shift towards a focus on lead acquisition.

2.4 Event Marketing Continues to Deliver ROI

Although the results of this years survey suggest that the current role of event marketing
may have slipped slightly in companies marketing mix, the data also shows conflicting
33

information insofar as event marketing remains the marketing element that provides by
far the highest returns on investment.

Chart 3 shows that almost one in four respondents to the 2006 survey believes that event
marketing provides the greatest ROI in Marketing. Although the figure is almost
identical to last years estimate (and decreasing over time), it is a statistical bragging
right that event marketing has held for the last three straight years, as well as four of the
five years of this study (see Chart 4).

The most common reasons given for event marketings high returns on investment come
from the fact that it provides the greatest opportunity for direct, in-person, face-to-face
contact (58%) and that it provides the best opportunity to reach a targeted audience
(45%). Survey respondents also attribute event marketings high ROI to the fact that it
provides one of the only opportunities to reach a large and engaged audience in one
venue (28%).

Turning to specific types of events, the survey results show that Trade shows (40%)
followed by conferences and seminars (21%) are the external events that are believed to
34

provide the greatest ROI due primarily to their ability to attract new customers. When
asked to look at their internal events, respondents cited education/training events (41%)
followed by sales or marketing meetings (28%) as the internal events those are deemed
to provide the greatest ROI.

2.5 Measurement Impacts Event Marketing Budgets

Seventy-one percent of respondents to this years survey (see Chart 5) cite that they do
engage in some post-event measurement activities. Not only is this a significant increase
from last years 60% mark, it is also the highest rate of measurement recorded in the
history of this study. This is a clear sign that event marketing professionals and CMOs
continue to need to demonstrate the ROI that comes from producing successful events as
greater financial scrutiny comes from corporate finance departments.

The survey data shows that not only has the number of companies who measure
increased considerably from last year, but there has also been a slight increase in the
marketing budget allocated to measurement up one tick from last year to 12%.
When asked what key performance indicators (KPI) companies were measuring, over
one third of respondents (36%) cited number of qualified leads, with overall
communication effectiveness and sales increases each receiving 31% of the votes. The
most common tools used to calculate these KPI were sales reports (28%), onsite surveys
(26%) and post event surveys (24%).

35

Although measurement should not be considered a panacea for event marketings need
to demonstrate value, this years survey does show one striking benefit of measurement.
As can be seen in Chart 6, companies who do engage in some form of measurement are
three times more likely to see an increase in their budgets than those who do not engage
in any measurement. This data is further proof that tangibly demonstrating the value of
an event marketing program can significantly increase the chances of getting increased
funding.

2.6 TRANSITION TO EXPERIENCE MARKETING

As the event marketing industry faces continues to face mounting pressures from the
business world to demonstrate value, event marketing professionals find themselves in
need to move towards the next evolutionary, if not revolutionary step within the world of
events. CMOs and event marketing professionals are now looking for a solution that can
provide a more complete approach to interacting with customers and prospects. Senior
marketing professionals are looking beyond traditional event marketing tactics for an
integrated campaign that offers the opportunity for an audience to interact with a
companys product/service and its brand before, during and after event(s) through the
combination of advertising, direct, interactive and traditional event marketing. Over half
of survey respondents (55%) in fact gave this definition to the term experience
marketing. This years research also shows that 80% of respondents are currently
adding experiencing marketing in some form or another to their marketing mix. Not only
have a significant number of companies tried some experience marketing strategies, but
36

a vast majority also feels as if there are tangible benefits to the updated approach. A
remarkable 87% have said that they may eventually transition towards experiential
marketing, while 74% have definitively said they will be moving forward with more
experiential marketing within the next twelve months (see Chart 7). The most common
reason given by survey respondents for moving towards experience marketing was that it
provides a better method to convey the persuasive difference between their brand and the
competitions. The second most frequent reason given was that it provides an
opportunity to leverage marketing spend across all of a companys marketing
disciplines. Although rooted heavily in event marketing, experience marketing should be
considered a hybrid of many disparate forms of marketing finally coming together
looking to cohesively interact with the customer. It is as evolutionary as it is
revolutionary in as much as it brings new meaning to the term integrated marketing
campaign. Experience marketing provides a unique opportunity to redefine the
marketing landscape as well as how companies interact with customers and prospects.
Marketing and event marketing professionals who can effectively cross this chasm and
adapt to this new paradigm have a great opportunity to become leaders within their
organizations.

About This Study

EventView, the annual and first-of-its-kind event marketing trends study for senior
marketing executives, was originated in 2002 by The George P. Johnson Company. The
MPI Foundation has co-sponsored this important research since 2003. Now in its fifth
year, EventView is the number-one published event marketing trends report globally and
the longest-running study for the event marketing industry, providing the insight and
37

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

Between May and June 2006, almost 900 individuals in marketing management
positions from North America, Europe and Asia Pacific in industries including
automotive, high technology, healthcare, and financial were interviewed via telephone
with hopes of bringing clarity to the events component of the marketing mix as it
compares to other elements in a marketers arsenal. The results of the 2006 survey have
a +/ 3% margin of error.

3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
To study Event Marketing as a Generic Promotional Tool:
1. The objective of this study is to understand the concept of event marketing, its
benefits and implementation process.
2. To evaluate the effectiveness of Event Marketing as a promotional tool.
3. To identify the problems associated with event marketing in the Indian scenario.
4. To offer suggestions for improvement to make it a more productive investment.

Also to study Event Management for organizing and managing the event in best way:
38

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

communication tool.
2. Launching a product or a service.
3. Communicate to a particular target audience.
4. To make proper strategy , plan and execution of an event

3.2 NEED OF THE PROJECT

The need of the project is to study and analyses certain issues in event marketing and
event management, which need further attention. And some suggestions have been given
to make the Event Marketing and event management industry more effective in order to
utilize its full potential and serve the objective of an event and be mutually beneficial for
the Event agency, the Corporate and the customer.

3.3 SCOPE OF THE PROJECT

1. To understanding the short coming of event marketing and event management.
2. How these are perceived today.
3. Problems faced by Indian event agencies.
4. Understand and manage the event in the best and effective way.

The few reasons for choosing event marketing as a promotion tool are as follows:
1. To accelerate your product into new markets.
2. To judge your products against the competition.
3. To launch new products/services.
4. To appeal to special customer interests.
39

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

6. To meet potential customers for new applications.
7. To change or improve the perception of your product.
8. To network with customers not normally called upon.
9. To present your products to buyers face-to-face.
10. To promote positive product trends.
11. To reposition your company in a market.
12. To select a new approach to marketing your product.
13. To target markets by types of visitors.
14. To understand customer attitudes.
15. To invite special customers to increase business

3.4 METHODOLOGY

The methodology followed for the research:

Primary research detailed discussions with event management firms and the corporate
clients. Subsequent additions were made to the interview schedule to suit the specific
events under study.
The secondary information was gathered from various marketing journals and books on
event marketing, sales promotions and publicity. Daily newspaper reading in order to
keep track of various kinds of events also proved helpful.
The information gathered was studied and analyzed. It reveled certain issues in event
marketing which need further attention and some suggestions have been given to make
40

the Event Marketing industry more effective in order to utilize its full potential and be
mutually beneficial for the Event Marketing agency, the Corporate and the customer.

4. EVENT MANAGEMENT AS A
PROMOTIONAL TOOL
4.1 EVENT DESIGNING
1. Conceptualization of the creative idea/ambience
2. Costing involves calculation of the cost of production and safety margins
3. Canvassing for sponsors, customers and networking components
4. Customization of the event according to brand personality, budgets, etc
5. Carrying-out involves execution of the event according to the final concept

41

Initial
Concept

Canvassing

Conceptuali
-zation
Customization

Costing

Final Concept

Carry-Out

EVENT

Fig 1.7: Event Designing Concept

Example:
Event

: Holi

Event Category

: Fairs & Festivals

Event Organizers

: A2Z Events

Core Concept of Holi

42

It is a celebration to mark the onset of spring and the harvest season. Its a
symbolic gesture, celebrating good harvest and fertility. It draws its origin from
the Hindu Mythological event in which Prahalad emerges unscathed from a fire
arranged by his father King Hiranyakashyap and aunt Holika to kill him.
Background
Title of the Event

: RANG BARSE

Place

: Mumbai

Venue

: Parking lot of an amusement park

Year

: 1997

Duration

: 2 Days

Target Audience

: City dwelling families

No. of Audience

: 1500

Ambience

: Rural Mela

Costing

: Rs. 7 lakhs

Event Type

: Partially sponsor and partially ticketed

Initial Concept For Holi 2000

A2Z wanted to repeat the previous years event ad verbatim
Costing
Costing for Holi 2000 worked out to Rs. 10 lakhs

Canvassing
Many corporates were approached with the initial concept to sponsor the event. The
leads generated through canvassing for sponsors and negotiation with venue owners
gave a strong impetus and indication of success for a particular variation. A leading soft
drinks company could be persuaded to fully sponsor the event.

43

Customization
The target audience of the soft drink company was pre-dominantly was fun-seeking
youth. The initial concept needed to be changed from a family oriented event to a
youthful event. The budget was needed to be drastically reduced to Rs. 2lakhs per center
and the event was to be simultaneously conducted in 5 locations spread across the
country.

Final Concept and Carrying Out

Constraint of budget and specific requirement of the client changed the initial concept of
a two day program to a 3 hour forenoon program titled HOLI GYRATIONS 2000.
The program essentially revolved around a color rain dance and color blast for young
people with coverage on a popular youth oriented music channel on the television. It was
also decided to use the event coverage as software for future use by the channel. Now
the event was fully sponsored show for a single sponsor with invitations to a limited no.
of participants. The show was fully customized to give pre-dominant importance to the
sponsors colors viz. red and blue. The carry out stage involved being exceptionally
careful and prepared for eventualities such as hazards of drunken misbehavior of the
youth even though liquor was not allowed inside the venue. The interaction revolved
around a popular VJ anchoring the show and except for dancing, there would be hardly
anything else actually happening. The carry out stage gets completely taken over by the
music channel.

4.2 COMMUNICATION EFFECTS OF EVENT MARKETING

Communication is the process of moving a message that includes different elements.
Those elements include source, message, channel, receiver and the process of encoding
and decoding. The source is the organization, the message could be a new car launch, the
channel could be the event, and attendees are the receivers. A problem many marketers
have is to make sure that the noise that can disturb the message going from the sender to
the receiver does not interfere with the message, and thereby influence the effect it has
on the customer. The direct communication with the customer is one of the main
44

advantages with Event Marketing compared to other marketing channels. In the

definition of Event Marketing, it is said that an event is an activity that gathers the
target group in time and room. This means that the event is eliminated from the noise.

Fig 1.8: Communication Process in Event Marketing

Event Marketing is marketing communication in four different dimensions. The first one
is the emotional communication method. The Event Marketing is a form of pull
marketing, where the organizations try to get closer to the feelings and emotions of the
customers. They do this not by pushing their products at the customers, but by
touching the customers emotional feelings.
The second dimension touches the customers by involving them in activities. When the
customer gets a feeling from a product, he/she is informed of the value of the product.
An example of this in the car industry is the test-driving of new cars. The third
dimension is the intellectual dimension and it regards the relevance of the event for the
customers. The fourth dimension is the spatial dimension, how to get the three prior
dimensions into action and to inform the customers through all marketing channels.
Some researchers say that in the future, customers will not buy just the product, but the

45

meaning, the event and the character, which in turn give the customers the possibility to
create their own value for the product.

Relative Importance Of Events As A Marketing Communication Tool

Dominant

Relative Position

Strong
Favorable
Tentative
Weak
Introduction

Growth

Maturity

Decline

Life Cycle Stages

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

Events
Traditional Modes of Communication

With Regard to the competitive position of events as a medium and the life cycle stage it
is in vis--vis other marketing communication media, it is clear that:
Traditional ways of marketing communication in the Fig 1.9 are moving from the
growth phase into the maturity stage. Their effectiveness is lost due to cut throat
competition which is leading to undesirable clutter in all kinds of media including
internet.
An event as a medium is in a tentative/favorable position now and will continue to
remain so in the near future and tend towards becoming stronger. Event as a strategic
46

marketing communication tool would gain significant followers and will bite into a
much larger portion of the marketing budget.

4.3 EVALUATION OF EVENTS

1. Measuring Reach
Reach is of two types external and actual, since events require massive external
publicity, press, radio, television and other media are needed to ensure that the event
is noticed and the benefit of reach is provided to the client. External reach can be
measured by using the circulation figures of newspapers and promotion on television
and radio. The DART & TRP ratings that rate the popularity of programs on air and
around which the promotion is slotted. Measurement of external reach should be
tempered with the timings of the promotions as effectiveness of recall and action
initiated among the target audience is highly dependent on this important variable.
A ratio of the external reach to the actual event reach is a very tangible and useful
measurement criteria.
Ideally,
External Reach
Actual Reach

=1

The ideal situation in real life is very rare since the external reach gets drastically
reduced in terms of reaching out to the target audience and is therefore impractical in
most cases. This is because the target audience is derived from the target population
which is invariably very large. It is impractical to assume that all the constituents of
the target population can make it to the event. The above ratio is usually found to be
greater than 1 in practice.
External Reach
Actual Reach

>1

2. Measuring Interaction
47

In most event categories, compared to reach, it is much more difficult to access the
interaction between the audience and the event and the benefit that accrues to the
client. A certain amount of quantifiable data can be of help in measuring interaction
for an event from the clients point of view.
These are as follows:
No. of interaction points
The no. of direct and indirect interaction points that have been planned and
arranged for an event provide the first important measurement tool. The
greater the no. of interaction points the better for the client.
No. of interactions
The opportunity for interaction between the client and the audience before,
during and after the event is also a very tangible measurement criterion. The
greater the opportunity for increasing the no. of interaction, the better for the
client.
Quality of interactions
One-way or two-way communication during interaction has a profound
impact on the quality of interaction that takes place. The quality of interaction
is perceived as good when there is an avenue for two-way interaction
Time duration of interaction
Every event has a limited time period within which both benefits the other
issues such as controversies are effective. The amount of time that is
available for interaction is very important in that the greater the duration of
the interaction, more are the chances that there are some meaningful and
decisive interaction between the client and the audience.

Important Points To Consider When Evaluating Event Marketing

1. Quantified Objectives
48

The reason why some people think that it is not possible to evaluate events is that
they have used Event Marketing without a specific purpose or objective. The one
reason why Event Marketing is not measured also depends on the objectives, but that
they are short-time objectives. The cornerstone in the evaluation of events lies in the
objective of the event. Event Marketing can have different objectives and it is
usually not directly to increase direct sales. Whatever the goal is, the easiest one to
evaluate is the one that is expressed and quantified.
The most common criteria for a goal to be valid is that it has a time limit, is
challenging, measurable, realistic, result oriented, clear and that it could be followed.
If the goal is challenging, it is more interesting to try to reach it. If it is too, simple it
is not inspiring to work for, but at the same time it has to be realistic. Time limit and
measurable goals give a possibility to do a qualitative study. It is important that they
are clear so that everyone understands them and that they can easily be followed by
developing a strategy for how to reach

2. Identity, Image, Positioning vs. Evaluation

Event Marketing is often used to create brand awareness, image and identity for the
products. This section shows that depending on the brand-awareness and how the
product is positioned, they can sell more products. Event Marketing can have both a
communicative as well as a teaching approach for the customer.
Identity
Identity is what the organization wants to stand for. The differences between identity
and image are that identity is as mentioned earlier what the franchiser intends to
represent, while the image is how the consumers experience the brand. The Image is
on the receivers side, while the identity is on the senders side. Image focuses on
how certain groups perceive a product or brand and refers to the way these groups
decode the signals transmitted by the product service and communication of the
brand. The purpose of identity, on the other hand, is to specify the brands meaning,
aim and self-image. In regards to Event Marketing it could be said that the

49

organization sends away an Identity at the event and the customers receive it as an
image of the product or organization.
Using Event Marketing can also differentiate the product for the customer by making
the value of the brand stronger for the customers identity. Identity comes from Latin
and means same. The identity for a customer means, who am I in regards to the
surroundings, and to myself? The brand of a product can symbolize a part of the
individual customers identity. The brand can create a promise for the customer, and
the product gives the brand the physical proof of that promise. The event in Event
Marketing can be seen as a value community. In regards to Maslows thoughts,
humans have needs that need to be satisfied. The Value community creates groups,
where three concepts for group development need to be filled in order to create
group belonging. Event Marketing can offer the individual a short-track to belonging
by letting the individual attend an event. Through the event, the happening and the
message will give the individual a picture of him/herself, and a sense of belonging
with other individuals.
This shows that part of the brand advantages lies in the possibility to influence the
individuals identity, and to make possible his/her relation to other individuals and in
this way strengthen their value community. By doing this, there is a possibility to
differentiate the brand from other brands. The brand is seen as an independent
method of competition.

Image
Image is how the customer understands and looks upon the product, and a definition
is how the consumers experience the brand. An event can give the customer a clear
picture of the corporate identity that the company is striving for. Usually the image
consists of different key factors that the customer receives during different times and
in different places. These key factors could be the communication that the
organization has the physical environment, products, service, ethics, social
responsibility, engagement in social and local happenings, and the behavior of
representatives from the organization
50

Fig 2.0: Image Building

The experience at the event may of course result in direct sales, but normally they
help to build image and create positive associations around the brand that will lead to
more sales later on. Image can create lots of competitive advantages compared to
other brands. This is especially true when the differences between the brands are
small. A positive image can lead to not only increased sales, but it can also
strengthen the relationships with all interesting parties within and outside the
organization, facilitate new employment, increase the tolerance of customers, and
facilitate crises. However, even though the main objective with the event is not to
change or build image, there is always a possibility for the customer to change
his/her opinion and image of the organization.
Exposure Rate: A way to measure the Image that the event has created could be done
by looking at their exposure rate. However before using and trying to get media
attention to an event it requires a careful analysis of the purpose, benefits and to see
if the media is available to deliver the appropriate message. There are many different
organizations that are working with observing the media and can deliver the exact
amount of times a name of a brand or product figured in the media.

Positioning & Branding

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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 customers 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 consumers 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.

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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 past, the
consumers will simplify their buying detour through the product and the connection
between the brand and the target audience is strengthened. The third step is where
brand recognition is created, which is important for creating the long-term brand
loyalty.

Events Less Complex To Evaluate

According to the interviewees, depending on the purpose and objective of the event,
some of them are easier to evaluate than others. The interviewed people said that the
depending on the relationship between event and the customer, the contact and
knowledge of whom exactly attended the event decides weather it is easy or not to
evaluate the event.
Most brand-awareness events focus on the long-term success of the organization. Events
that are easier to evaluate are, according to Orreving, events where you know exactly
who was there, and where you can control the environment.
If it is a VIP event at a dealership where it is possible to see who was actually there, it is
easier to follow up with questionnaires and to see if they actually bought a product.

The Complexity Of Evaluating Event Marketing

An event is concerned with a message, an interaction and integration. A message creates
something valuable for the customer, and gives the customer some kind of experience.
The interaction between the organization and the customer will create a relationship. The
integration part is concerned with how the Event Marketing is part of the other
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marketing strategies. Event Marketing are not being evaluated to full extent due to lackof time, ignorance and due to the fact that it is hard to evaluate it. Some of the
interviewed persons agreed with this theory, and believed that ignorance made
evaluation complicated. Furthermore, evaluations not conducted due to lack of time. The
interviews also discussed that Event Marketing is only one of the possible marketing
channels that can be used when marketing a product, and therefore it is hard to evaluate
it separately from the other marketing tools. The more complex the marketing strategy,
the harder it is to see what influenced the customer to buy the product. Other reasons
why it could be hard to evaluate the event is because someones experience cannot be
valued on a scale, and the interaction as a relation is not measurable. Furthermore,
depending on all other marketing aspects it is hard to see why the customer has a
specific feeling for a product. Kotler claims that the easiest marketing channel to
evaluate is direct marketing. By using direct marketing it is easy to follow up exactly
where the customers have seen the coupons, brochures etc. However, none of the
interviewed persons mentioned that it would be easier to evaluate direct marketing than
Event Marketing.
It is as easy to argue against direct marketing as being the perfect measurable evaluation
technique as it is to argue that Event Marketing should be trickier to evaluate. This is due
to the fact that there is a possibility that the customers could be affected by other parts of
the marketing as they are when it looks like it is the direct marketing that has made them
buy a product. As long as more than one tool of the marketing mix is used, there is
always a possibility that the customers can be affected by them, and thereby there is no
100% accurate evaluation tool.
The reason why it might be considered hard to evaluate an event depends on the fact that
it is hard to evaluate the intangible aspects of the event. When asking the interviewed
people to elaborate on intangible factors, such as the weather affecting the event, most of
them were sure that that just the weather was not of importance for the success of the
event, and therefore there was no need to try to evaluate it. There are factors that can not
be evaluated, and that instead the focus should be on the factors that can be evaluated.

54

This could be interpreted in the following way: since there is no possibility to evaluate
the event comparing to the external social happenings, the only way to elaborate on the
example weather is to work with the weather and use it. If possible, the external factors
should be eliminated, but if that is not possible the event should try to use them and
thereby work for the event.

Example:

Event

: Olympic Games 2000

Venue

: Sydney, Australia

Category

: Competitive Sports

Event Organizer

: IOC

Client

: General Electric, NBC

Theme

: Amateur sports competition to promote world peace.

Measurement Criteria: Reach increase for cable mediums MSNBC & CNBC, %
increase
revenues for client.
Reach
External

: Global (over 197 countries)

Actual

: Prime time audience (approx. 18.25 million)

Event Evaluation
Advertisements sales increase from $ 680 million at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games to
$ 900 million for the Sydney Olympic Games 2000. MSNBCs reach in terms of the
subscriber base expected to increase from 59 million to 70 million. CNBCs reach in
terms of the subscriber base expected to increase from 74 million to 80 million.

55

4.4 REACH INTERACTION MATRIX

The reach interaction matrix summarizes the generic characteristics of each of the
category to enable a birds eye view on events. However, each category can be designed
in such a way as to change the degree of reach and interaction.

REACH

INTERACTION
Low
High

High

Low

Exhibition
Cultural
Special Business

Competitive
Charitable
Artistic
Fig 2.1: Reach Interaction Matrix

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Amongst the various categories corporate interest have been concentrated on competitive
events, especially so on cricket in India. Such events have a broad based character and
high media coverage. This implies high reach and added excitement through live
coverage on various popular channels. Post-event benefits trough highlights aid in the
event recall over and above the normal benefits that an event can offer. The fact that
interaction is given short shrift is an anomaly that needs to be corrected. Competitive
events are closely followed by events for artistic expression, then by exhibitions, special
business events, cultural & charitable events in that order for popularity with eventsavvy sponsors.

4.5 RETURN ON INVESTMENT

Solely coming up with the sponsorship fee (cash expenditure paid out to be associated
with the event) for a specific event is not nearly enough of a guarantee for tangible
business results. The need to leverage the maximum benefits of the sponsorship is of the
highest priority. As a rule, this can be accomplished by spending at least two or three
rupees per rupee invested in the sponsorship. In other words, the sponsorship fee is just
a mere ante, and you must budget to properly exploit the product that you have just
purchased. Too many companies spend the big bucks to get into the event marketing
business and then never do anything with it. Leveraging your sponsorship includes an
integrated marketing program involving product sampling, on-site signage, event logo
usage, and myriad multilevel cross-promotions.

ROI MEASUREMENT TOOLS:

1. Quantitative
In the world of trade shows and corporate events, surveys are a frequent choice for
evaluating results. Even if you use lead generation forecasts or gross margin from show
sales to measure ROI on an event, a survey can help you understand the reasons why the
business event performed the way it did.
Pre-Post Show Surveys

57

Often used to measure less tangible variables like brand awareness or perceived
competitive positioning, pre-post surveys sample a group of attendees on their
way into the exhibit hall at the beginning of the trade show, and then sample
another batch as they are leaving the exhibit hall toward the end of the event.
Pre-post surveys are effective in measuring changes in variables such as:

Brand awareness
Memorability or recall of key messages
Attitude or image change
Message impact
New product consideration
Audience profile

Booth Exit Interviews

To measure the immediate effectiveness of the booth and attendee experience
there, an exit interview can be helpful, especially for exhibitors using a sizable
booth footprint. An interviewer intercepts visitors on their way out of the booth,
and requests that they answer some quick questions. Exit interviews can explore
such areas as:
What prompted you to visit the booth?
Were you treated well by the staff?
Did someone approach you right away?
How useful was the product demo?
As a result of your visit to the booth, how likely are you to add the
company to your short list of considered vendors?
One of the big advantages of the exit interview, when done early in the business
event, is that it allows mid-course correction of any problems uncovered.
58

Post-Event Surveys
Contacting a sample of show attendees to ask questions about their experience is
another method of evaluating trade show and corporate event results. Depending
on your information needs, you may want to survey the entire attendee
population, the people who visited your booth, or the group that participated in a
certain activity at the business event. Surveys typically support the following
event objectives:
Perform detailed reporting and benchmarking of the attendee profile
Obtain feedback on your exhibits ability to attract and communicate with
high-potential prospects
Benchmark your performance against the competition
Provide clues as to the value of your investment in events compared to
other elements in the marketing mix

Post-show surveys can be used to explore such issues as:

Audience quality
Audience motivation for attending the trade show
Attendee activity at the trade show
Strengths and weaknesses of your exhibit, staff, design, signage
Competitive comparisons
Which products are most effective to exhibit or demonstrate
Effectiveness of promotions and premiums
Audience attendance/experience at other trade shows

2. Qualitative Tools:

59

Qualitative metrics, while not projectable to the entire population, can be helpful in
assessing your performance. Following are a few of the more beneficial qualitative
approaches.
Mystery Shopping
If youre looking for an objective means of analyzing your booths effectiveness,
consider hiring a professional evaluator to mystery shop your booth and assess
the experience from the point of view of a customer or prospect. Many trade
show consultants offer this service.
Staff Feedback
The booth staff is your first line of customer contact, and a rich source of data on
most elements of interest. Staff feedback forms can be used for continuous
improvement in training, exhibit effectiveness, placement, and other marketing
tactics during the trade show.
One Word of Caution
Dont rely too heavily on informal feedback from booth staff and senior
management when assessing the value of the trade show. Such comments as
Booth was crowded, Mostly junior people, and Felt light to me can do
more harm than good.

4.6 KEY ACCOUNT OR KEY PROSPECT ANALYSIS

Keeping track of key account attendance can be an important success metric, especially
at trade shows where you expect a relatively high level of current customer attendance.
Make a list of key accounts, noting which were invited in advance by the sales team to
visit the booth or attend a business event. Distribute the list to booth staff and other
company representatives at the trade show. Ask them to check off any who were
engaged in conversation, and make other comments. Subsequent analysis of customer
spending correlated to contact points can often then help identify the relative importance
of the trade show visit in helping to secure orders from specific customers.

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Competitive Analysis
Assessing the presence of the competition is best approached qualitatively. Check the
trade show guide to see who among your competitors is exhibiting, speaking, or
sponsoring events. Assign competitive sleuthing duty to several of your booth staff and
other company attendees, if possible. Provide them with a form to fill out that covers
such items as booth size and location, products featured, staff size, visitor experience,
etc.

Fig 2.2: Business Event Objectives and Associated Metrics

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4.7 HOW BUILD A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS PROMOTION AND

MARKETING PLAN
A good marketing plan summarizes the who, what, where, when, and how much
questions of the company:
Who are the target buyers?
What sources of uniqueness or positioning in the market does your product
have?
Where will you implement your marketing spending plans?
When will marketing spending plans occur?
How much sales, spending, and profits will you achieve?
The financial projections contained in your business plan are based on the assumptions
contained in your marketing plan. It is the marketing plan that details when expenditures
will be made, what level of sales will be achieved, and how and when advertising and
promotional expenditures will be made.
The major elements of a marketing plan:
The situation analysis describes the total marketing environment in which the
company competes and the status of company products and distribution
channels.
The opportunity and issue analysis analyses the major external opportunities and
threats to the company and the internal strengths and weaknesses of the
company, along with a discussion of key issues facing the company.
The goals and objectives section outlines major company goals and the
marketing and financial objectives.
The marketing strategy section provides the company's marketing strategy
statement, summarizing the key target buyer description, competitive market
segments the company will compete in, the unique positioning of the company
and its products compared to the competition, the reasons why it is unique or
compelling to buyers, price strategy versus the competition, marketing spending
62

strategy with advertising and promotion, and possible R&D and market research
expenditure strategies.
The sales and marketing plan outlines each specific marketing event or action plan to
increase sales. For example, it may contain a summary of quarterly promotion and
advertising plans, with spending, timing, and share or shipment goals for each program.
The sales and marketing plan outlines each specific marketing event or action plan to
increase sales. For example, it may contain a summary of quarterly promotion and
advertising plans, with spending, timing, and share or shipment goals for each program.

Some of the ways to market your product or service are

Write letters (on issues and news items that have SOME relation to your
business) to the editors of local papers.
Have give-aways (e.g. bookmarks or pens) that are useful and give details of
your business.
Send news releases about your products and your business to local papers, radio
and TV shows.
Take out an ad in a publication of a local group.
Offer to make presentations, on a topic related to your product or service at
appropriate fora.
Keep your eyes open for "specialized" newsletters, newspapers, or other
publications which might welcome an article written by you.
Get on the Internet and connect to the world with your own home page.

63

Remember marketing is the face you show to public, highlighting uniqueness and quality
of the product. Check the content and layout before releasing an advertisement or
distributing pamphlet. Marketing is becoming an ever important tool in the present
competitive scenario, tell what your product or services can do, but don't promise what
you can not deliver.

4.8 STRAGEGIC ALTERNATIVES:

STRAGEGIC

ALTERNATIVES

ARISING

FROM

ENVIRONMENTAL

ANALYSES

64

INTERNAL

OPPORTUNITIES
THREATS

EXTERNAL

STRENGTHS
Maintenance Strategy
Utilizing companys strengths
to take maximum
advantage of opportunity

Pre-Emptive Strategy
Maximizing strengths
and their usage to
overcome threats

WEAKNESSES

Developmental Strategy
Maximize Opportunities
by minimizing weaknesses

Survival Strategy
Minimizing both weaknesses and
threats by considering options
such as:
Joint Ventures, Retrenchment,
Liquidation, etc

Fig 2.3: SWOT Based Strategy Matrix

Maintenance Strategy
Arising from a situation of strength and favorable opportunities, the maintenance
strategy provides reasons to carry out activities that maximize available advantages. This
is the perfect position to be in. Beyond this, every activity gets focused on maintaining
the winning edge and the lead over competitors. The event company here can well afford
to be aggressive knowing very well that it has the relevant strengths to back its claim on
the opportunity.

Developmental Strategy
To gin advantage of potential opportunities while not having sufficient strengths calls for
gaining a winning edge by using tactical retreats where irrelevant yet not giving up. It
requires passive and defensive strategy, which attacks relevant opportunities in such a
65

way as to cover up on inherent weakness. Analogy here could be from the game of test
cricket where a side that knows victory is impossible also knows that it can ward off a
defeat by trying for a draw. This can be called a developmental strategy where one tries
to make the most of the opportunity by not giving in to weakness.

Pre-emptive Strategy
This strategy is usually used by entrenched market leaders on new entrants on their turf.
Potential threats are nipped in the bird by exercising the full power of the companys
strength. This is a very powerful and aggressive strategy as it requires foresight to fully
understand the threats looming on the horizon. Selecting which one to tackle requires
careful study since some points of strength could get eroded if used unnecessarily.

Survival Strategy
This strategy is used to ensure that the company is alive for a battle on another day when
it will have the requisite strengths to grab its share of opportunities in the market. This
strategy gives license to take decisions like leasing ones soul to the devil if only with an
intent to retrieve it later. In plain words, it allows one to make drastic decisions in the
face of harsh environment.

STRATEGIC ALTERNATIVES ARISING FROM COMPETITIVE ALANYSIS

Further to the strategy from the environmental analysis a mapping of event concepts can
be used as a variable component along with decisions on facing competition, which can
lead to more detailed and in-depth strategic alternatives.
66

EVENT CONCEPTS

COMPETE
AVOID HEAD -ON
CONFLICT

COMPETITION

USE EXISTING

CREATE NEW

Sustenance Strategy

Rebuttal Strategy

Manage critical success factors

more effectively

Respond to new initiatives by

competition with a similar move

Venture Strategy
Accomplishment Strategy
Relative superiority
Exploit competitors weakness

Maximize user benefits by using

path breaking, trend setting
initiatives to take a lead vis--vis
competition by being first in the
market.

Fig 2.4: Concept vs. Competition Matrix

Sustenance Strategy
This is a strategy to be used when faced with no options but to take on the adversary
with the existing arsenal of event concepts that may be out dated or still current but
nearing the end of its life cycle. It becomes essential that the event company manage its
resources and advantages in terms of CSFs that have been identified with greater
efficacy. Successful concepts need to be brushed up and revamped to meet customer
expectations in the face of competitive offerings.

Rebuttal Strategy
If the competition forces new concepts first than the rebuttal strategy should be used. In
this, the event company can launch its own new concepts of a similar vein and regain its
67

dominant position by aggressively promoting the same as a better alternative. This way
the education of the market about the new concept is left to the new competition and an
advantage gained is that market reaction to certain new concepts is fore known. The
disadvantage lies in the fact that the first mover advantage is lost.

Accomplishment Strategy
This strategy is viable when an existing concept is doing better than any of the
competitors equivalent offering. This strategy, therefore, essentially says that stick to
the winning concepts and exploit the fact that competition cannot offer a similar quality
concept and thereby wants to avoid a head-on conflict by itself. The danger here is that
competition may use any of the other strategic alternatives available to a challenger to
combat the situation.

Venture Strategy
This strategy envisages making use of the first mover advantage by creating new
concepts ahead of competition thereby creating niche markets. This may even involve a
re-definition of market segmentation. By maximizing user benefits and creating path
breaking trend setting concepts the event company positions itself to take a lead vis--vis
competition by being first in the market. This is a double-edge strategy in that failure is
as devastating as the benefits of a successful launch.

STRATEGIC ALTERNATIVES ARISING FROM DEFINED OBJECTIVES

68

EXISTING

NEW

EXISTING

RETAIN CLIENTS

INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY
OF CLIENTS

NEW

CLIENTS

EVENT CONCEPTS

INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY
OF CONCEPTS

MARKET DEVELOPMENT

Fig 2.5: Client/Concept Fit Matrix

The above matrix provides options that event organizers have an offer in terms of
concepts and their market. The basic strategic alternatives here revolve around whether
the objective is to retain customers or market development. These objectives further lead
to the strategic options of achieving them either to customization or new concept
development. By offering new concepts to a existing customers, a strategy of increasing
business from increasing clients can be discerned. Similarly by offering an existing event
to a new client, a strategy of increasing productivity of the event concept can be
followed.

PREP MODEL
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This framework has its roots, in the fact that, events as a business proposition for
corporatisation is relatively nascent in nature. Therefore, the concept of strategic
perspective to growth through and along with clients is a major decision to be taken by
an event agency having major growth plans. This model deals with the strategic options
available by playing off objectives relating to market development against growth in
competition.

EXISTING

NEW

EXISTING

Enrichment Strategy

Predatorial Strategy

NEW

COMPETITION

CLIENTS

Retaliatory Strategy

Proactive Strategy

Fig 2.6: PREP Matrix

The above matrix provides the choices before the event company when it comes to a
trade off between clients and competition in terms of assigning priorities in decision
making.

Predatorial Market Development Strategy

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If the development of new clients from existing competitors is the need of the situation
then the event company would be adopting this strategy. This is essentially an offensive
through focused strategy wherein clients of other event companies are targeted.

Enrichment Strategy
In a market situation where the event company is forced to compete fiercely for retaining
its market this strategy is followed. It is used where the need to maintain an improve the
quality of service becomes predominant.

Retaliatory Strategy
This is basically a defense mechanism wherein the event company tries to defend it self
from preditorial strategies of essentially new entrants. This strategy involves taking
action aimed at retaining its existing clientele and potential client base.

Pro-active Strategy
The event company here can explore new client bases and stretch the limit of its
concepts across untried event categories. Every event category has its own special
environmental and competitive structures.

4.9 RISK VERSUS RETURN MATRIX

71

Partially
Fully
Sponsored
Sponsored
& Ticketed
Fully
Ticketed

Type of Finance for Funds & Revenue

Time
Pre-Planned

Ad-hoe

Zero Risk
Assured Returns

Low Risk
Assured Returns
(can charge extra
since chances of
failure are high)

Medium Risk
Assured Returns
to cover costs +
chances of loss
are low

High Risk
Assured Returns
to cover costs but
lower chances of
profit

High Risk
Chances of high
profits with equal
chances of losses

Very High Risk

Very less time to
ensure reach
Chances of failure
& loss are high

Fig 2.7: Risk vs. Return Matrix

The above matrix considers two of the most important risk factors as well as the degree
to which it can affect the events company Planning Lead Time and Type of Finance.
Events based on time can be divided into pre-planned i.e., events carried out after
thorough planning with enough time for taking conscious decisions and ad-hoc events
i.e., those that are taken up on the spur of the moment. On the basis of finance, events
can be fully sponsored, fully ticketed or partially ticketed and sponsored. Each decision
carries with it an element of risk, the gradations of which can vary from zero risk to very
high risk as shown in the Fig 2.7.

72

4.10 APPLICABILITY
Differentiation and Focus in Event Marketing
Event Marketing has several advantages with multiple purposes, which normal
marketing media do not have. For example, when advertising in a magazine, a company
needs to decide which message they want to communicate as well as with whom they
want to communicate. For companies using differentiation as a competitive advantage,
spreading several messages in many different magazines, the result might not cover
investment. On the other hand, for companies using focus as a basic strategy, the cost for
gathering information about the specific target group must match the possibility to
actually reach the right segment. Depending on how Event Marketing is used both
differentiation and focus can be achieved.

There are two major differences when using events. The events are pre-communicated;
the companies have a possibility to control who will attend, or the event just happens;
whoever is there has an opportunity to be a part of the event. Of course, depending on
which place the company selects for the event, different types of consumers will be
reached. When using general events; meaning that no single target group is invited, the
company can still gain on the situation since they have a chance to adjust the added
value to specific customers during the event. The employees working during the event
read the situation and adjust his/her behavior. Further the event itself might also
communicate an added value to other people, although they might not be interested in
the specific event.
On the other hand mean that Event Marketing can also be used when focusing on
specific target groups.

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4.11 ADVANTAGES OFFERED BY EVENTS

As is clear from the preceding section, use of events as a marketing communication tool
not only take care of the problems associated with traditional media but also offer certain
advantages because of which events are gaining importance over them. Some of the
advantages are detailed below:
1. Events have the ability to bring together sharply defined participants since the
capacity for a particular event is usually limited. A specific no. of the target
audience could be invited of enticed to buy tickets for a show especially created
for a particular profile of the target audience.
2. Since the audience is actively targeted, the option of control reach can be
exercised and ideal audience for narrow-casting of information can be gathered.
This leads to lowering of the media networking budgets and focused
communication with the specially gathered audience. The audience that has been
specially invited invariably is an ideal audience.
3. An event carried out professionally and cleanly is invariably a memorable
experience. The word-of-mouth publicity that this generates is an advantage that
lingers on a long time after the event is actually been carried out. This provides
an advantage of higher brand recall to the client.
4. The involvement of all the senses in experiencing the event is one of the greatest
advantages that events can offer. Events can be designed such that the audience is
actively involved in every part of the event and made to feel good. Thus, events
as a live media offer a certain amount of immediacy to the experience of being
there while its happening. For the audience, it is undoubtedly a thrilling
situation.
5. Live media also enables interactive communication. Live media scores over
conventional advertising in terms of reach, impact and tangible immediacy of
measurement. Live media communication is a complete sensual experience as
compared to a press advertisement or TV/Radio commercial. This is so because
of press ad is basically a flat piece of paper and a commercial is just an
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audiovisual experience. The high recall value of live media communication is

also a major factor.
6. No other media can boast of the ability to provide such massive collection of
feed back instantly as events. Being a live media, it is possible to feel and deduce
the reactions of the audience to the aim or objective that the event was conceived
for.
7. Easily customizable nature of events, mean that specific traits of the local
inhabitants can be incorporated in the big picture to ensure that the event is
socially and culturally in tune with the local culture. Thus, the localization of
events is very easy.
8. The advantage in terms of post-event publicity that events can offer over and
above the paid or bartered media is the benefit associated with reports of the
event in the newspaper and news on the electronic media. For such reports there
is no extra cost to be borne neither by the sponsor nor by the event organizer.
This is a double edged sword because, in case the event is not up to the mark or
is dogged y controversies, then the same is also reported impartially.
9. The conversion of good events into television software for future use either by
the sponsors for their commercials or by media house for programming is also a
unique benefit that events offer. Such software become products by themselves
and can be used profitability in the future.

75

5.ANALYSIS & RESEARCH FINDINGS

5.1 PRIMARY DATA ANALYSIS
The present study has been undertaken to get the first hand exposure on the mindset of
people towards Event Marketing concept and their involvement in events as and when
they come across, if any.

A questionnaire was designed keeping in mind the requirements for study & analysis of
my thesis for comparing the hypothesis with the outcome of this survey.

A general survey conducted with a sample size of 100 respondents revealed the
following facts regarding the mindset of people towards the Event Marketing concept.
This survey also gave scope to take necessary steps for organizing an event at right
place, right time and in front of the right target audience.

Event Marketing companies were also targeted and their response was also taken which
added value to my thesis.

Lets have a look at what people feel about Event Marketing.

When people were asked what they feel about a particular company which promotes its
product/service through Event Marketing 82% of the respondents replied that it gives a
positive impression about the company and establishes the quality of their
product/service.

76

When people were asked about the reasons for which they have participated 53% replied
that the event appeared amusing which was followed by reasons like a powerful brand or
eye catching signs & banners.

Graph A: Buying Behavior after a positive experience of an EVENT

90

88
78

80

69

70
60
50
40

29

30
20

16

10

10

0
More
likely

less neither
likely
a

More
likely

less neither
likely
b

More
likely

less neither
likely
c

Where,
a = Product/service you have heard but not checked out yet
b = Product/service you have never heard of
c = Product/service you already use
Interpretation

77

If people had a positive experience, about the event 88% are more likely to buy a
product just when they were aware of it. Surprisingly, 78% are more likely to enter into
the buying process even if its a new product.

Graph B: Gender influence on purchase

180
160
140

87
76

120
70

100
80
60

27

40

82

11

20
0

90

67
32

More likelyless likely neither

More likely less likely neither

18

11

More likely less likely neither

Female

70

27

87

11

76

18

Male

67

32

90

82

11

Where,
a = Product/service you already use
b = Product/service you have heard but not checked out yet
c = Product/service you have never heard of
Interpretation
78

After a positive experience of the events, women are more likely to purchase a product
they already use while men are a bit more adventures and may even be inclined to
purchase a product that they are not using or havent yet heard about that product.

Graph C: Men are explorers whereas women love samples

68

70
60
50
40

36

30

24
18

20
12

12

10

8
5

0
I get to touch and
I get to learn
I get to ask
I get a free
I get to have fun
feel a
more about a questions about a
sample of a
by participating in
product/services product/services product/services product/services
activities

Male

Female

Interpretation

79

The female folk are drawn towards the event because they love samples which was
confirmed when 68% out of the female respondents gave the same reply where as the
male counter part are more interested in exploring the product inside out.

Graph D: Create events for right ages

80

70

70

60

60

52
50

38

40

30
25
21

21

20
14
10

12

13
10
7

9
4

12

10
8

I get to touch and I get to learn more

I get to ask
I get a free
feel a
about a
questions about a
sample of a
product/services product/services product/services product/services

22-29 yrs

30-44 yrs

45-54 yrs

I get to have fun

by participating in
activities

55+ yrs

Interpretation
Fun and free best describes the motivation of younger event attendees while education
and interaction are what the older crowd is looking for.

81

Graph E: Events spur immediate sales

15%
26%
2%
4%
4%

25%

immediately
within 3 months
Do not purchase

24%

within a week
within 6 months

within a month
more than 6 months

Interpretation
26% of the attendees are ready to purchase a product immediately after the event, 25%
within a month and 15% wont purchase the product at all.

82

Graph F: Reasons for participation in any event

80

80

70
60

60

63

66

50
40
30
20
13

18

16
10

10

14 13
7

7
2

0
The
product/services
matched my
interest

The product or
company was
sponsoring an
activity I enjoy

22-29 yrs

My friend/relative
had a positive
experience

30-44 yrs

The event offered

an activity I could
participate

45-54 yrs

Other

55+ yrs

Interpretation
Over all the age groups it was observed that if the product/service is of interest to the
attendees they are more likely to participate in an event. The next best reason for
participation across all age groups is the activity which the attendees enjoy.

83

Graph G: People spend time at mobile events

8%

24%

68%

1-15 mins

15-30 mins

over 30 mins

Interpretation
68% of the total respondents spend approximately 15 mins on a mobile event and every
less people spend over 30 mins.

84

Graph H: Mobile events create better product understanding

1%

24%

75%

better

same

less

Interpretation
Mobile events which demonstrate product features are more likely to generate better
understanding about a company or its product.

85

5.2 INTERVIEWS AND DETAILED DISCUSSIONS with various event managers

and corporate helped me identify the problems in the event marketing industry.
1. The event marketing industry in India is highly unorganized.
2. Corporate are not fully aware of the concept, implementation process and
effectiveness of event marketing.
3. No post-event analysis is carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of an event. As
a result of which a lot of money is wasted and nothing productive happens.
4. Lately, event marketing has become a fad and even small entrepreneurs are
blindly following the multinationals such as Coke and Pepsi that have presence
all over in the event marketing industry (cricket, music, movies & road shows)
5. Even when large sums of money are involved, sponsorships have too often been
handed out on nothing stronger than the managing directors whim. In such
cases, virtually no thought is given to their likely benefit to the company, or even
how such a benefit could be measured.
In the late 1980s, the Hill & Knowlton sports marketing division conducted a
survey of Western Australian companies involved in sponsorship. Many were
giving more than $100,000 a year. Yet a staggering 68% of them had no
procedures in place to check the value of their sponsorships. How many of those
companies would spend $100,000 on advertising without monitoring every year
stage of the campaign? How many would pay an executive $100,000 a year
without demanding accountability for performance.
6. Sponsorship today should be made as accountable as any other part of the
marketing mix. Some forms of sponsorship have long-term networking goals that
dont lend themselves to immediate measurement. But if sponsorship is linked
directly to a product, measurement should be possible through the only criteria
that ultimately matter, Sales.

86

7. T.V. and press coverage of the event cannot be equated with success-even if a
companys logo appears often and prominently. Instead, we need to take a close
look at the sales results and see if they go up during the sponsorship period.
8. Not all sponsorships are readily measurable. There are many, especially in the
non-sporting field, where its almost impossible to establish a direct cause-andeffect relationship between sponsorship and sales.

Carefully planned

sponsorships can be a cost-efficient way to enhance corporate profile. They can

link a company and brand with their customers lifestyles and aspirations. They
can create a difference for the product, boost the effectiveness of the total
promotional program, and put one in touch with people who can do a great deal
for the business.
9. Sponsorship itself never is a major communications thrust. It is always and only
a complement to it. For every Rs. 100,000 you spend on sponsorship, you need
to spend at least another Rs. 100,000 on more conventional promotional
activities. And your sponsorship venture must not happen in isolation from them.
It must be an integral part of your total promotional program. It must tie in
closely in theme and message with everything else you are doing. Only then, will
you get real benefit from your sponsorship investment.
10. Commit large amounts of time and marketing expertise to it as well in order to
bring about a long-term product association with the event. It means monitoring
the event constantly, to ensure that your name, logo, product and so on are being
featured, exactly as agreed. It means developing reliable ways of measuring its
results, if thats possible. It means thinking about extensions-spin-off consumer
and trade promotions, staff motivation programs, hospitality functions and so on.
11. It also means being willing to keep it going for several years at least. The longer
you stay with your sponsorship, the better the results you can expect-and the
better, for the event too. If its name chops and changes from one year to the
next, its image will become confused and tarnished. Then its value as a
sponsorship property will drop.

87

12. There is no consistency of operations and quality of events on the part of event
management firms. Event marketing firms in India are very unprofessional and
lack integrated marketing expertise.
13. Situation analysis and TOMA effect which are done by advertising agencies is
not done by event marketing agencies.
14. Event marketing firms do not have retained accounts as advertising agencies.
15. They also provide poor services as compared to advertising agencies. Hence
corporate prefer to give their accounts for event marketing also to their own
advertising agencies. These advertising agencies may further forward the contract
to the event management firms in case they do not have the infrastructure and
facilities for event management themselves. This results in lesser profits for the
event management firms as a cut off percentage of at least 13.5% is retained by
the advertising agency itself. Hence there is a need to build a more qualified and
professional image of the event-marketing firms to gain corporate trust, and
remove this intermediary to achieve higher profits.

88

6. RECOMMENDATIONS
To improve the condition of the event marketing industry and make it more professional
and profitable, the following recommendations have been listed:
1. Understand the corporate objectives, target audience, brand image and
positioning clearly.
2. Do not go overboard with your concept or preference for a certain event.
3. Conduct a situational analysis for appropriate event selection which synergies
with the company objective and brand personality.
4. Create extensive databases of the target consumers in order to conduct pre- and
post-event analysis and evaluation to check the success of the event and
consumer perception, also to assess the top of mind awareness and brand recall.
5. Conduct extensive market research to establish which parts of the program are
working and which ones are not.

Those in the first category should be

maintained and strengthened. Those in the second should be relinquished.

6. In all sponsorship activities, it is important to protect the integrity of the activity
being supported. If it is cheapened or its identity threatened, the sponsorship
could rebound on the sponsors head.

89

7. CONCLUSION

Event marketing allows a company to break through the advertising

clutter and target an audience by enhancing or creating an image through
an association to a particular event.

Brand awareness reinforces the product or service, and drives sales.

Property or event, also profits, a financial partner, a supplemented

advertising budget, and added leverage.

Event marketing also offers companies the flexibility to reach specific

geographic and demographic audiences. It is a benefit that allows depth
of exposure, as opposed to the breadth of exposure.

As CMOs continue to face increasing financial pressures, they must

continuously provide higher levels of value, both in pure financial terms
and overall measurement of ROI.

When considering the entire sales cycle, marketing professionals must

think

beyond

traditional

methods

and

bring

transparency

and

measurement to their activities in order to demonstrate the fundamental

value of their field. To answer this challenge, the event marketing
industry must redefine itself to recognize the power of the brand to
forge deep connections, as well as also adapt events to contribute to
branding in more sophisticated ways.

The perception of events as a form of media is quickly moving away from

standalone activities to integrated forms of communication. These forms
of communication synchronize with overall marketing goals through new
applications of techniques rooted in traditional event marketing that
project the brand more powerfully. Defining what an organization stands
90

for, mapping out a clear brand strategy, and then formulating event
activities that align with overall marketing goals is the next great step in
the evolution of the industry.

8. BIBLIOGRAPHY
BASIC COVERAGE
Event Management

Lynn Van Der Wagen & Brenda R. Carlos

Principles of Marketing

Kotler & Amstrong

Marketing Management

Philip Kotler

Marketing is Business

Walter E. Vieira

The Fundamentals & Practice of Marketing John Wilmshurst

WEBSITES
www.indiatradepromotion.org
www.exhibitionsindia.com
www.supercommindia2004.com
www.branders.com
www.viewcentral.com
www.eventmarketer.com
www.marketersadvantage.net/articles.htm?k=Network%20Marketing
www.mobilemarketingjoblist.com
www.flugsimulatoren.de/strategic-marketing.htm
www.global-electronics.net
www.indianchild.com/marketing/india-marketing-scenario.htm
www.fundsmanagementworld.com/india
www.hedgefundsworld.com
www.sbinfocanada.about.com/cs/marketing/g/promotion.htm
www.wilsonweb.com
www.TradeshowDisplayPRO.com
91

 www.clk.about.com
www.inventors.about.com
www.marketingnpv.com
www.businessknowhow.com
www.3rdfloorup.com
www.exchange4media.com
www.exhibitmanagement.com
www.dmoz.org/Sports/Events
www.biztradeshows.com/india/
www.classifieds.sulekha.com
www.pib.nic.in
www.india.gov.in/business/growing_business.php
www.blonnet.com
www.belowtheline.org/
www.frost.com/prod/servlet/events-asia-pac.pag
www.indialine.com/events/automotive.html
www.hindustantimes.com/3g/
www.informatm.com
www.asia.advertising.msn.com
www.ibef.org
www.tradeshowplaza.com

PERIODICALS
Business & Economy
4Ps Business & Marketing
Business World

NEWSPAPERS
Times of India
Economic Times
Mint
92

9. ANNEXURE
9.1 Annexure.1
Questionnaire
Name
Age
Gender
Occupation

:
:
:
:

1. What are your feelings about a company that creates or sponsors events?
They are willing to let people try them out
Support activities that I enjoy
They understand my interests and needs
They like to have fun with me
They want to know more about me
2. Assuming you had a positive experience, would you be more or less inclined to purchase a
product or service after having participated in an event?
a)
Product/service you have heard but not checked out yet
More likely
Less likely
Neither more nor less
b)
Product/service you have never heard of
More likely
Less likely
Neither more nor less
c)
Product/service you already use
More likely
Less likely
Neither more nor less
3. What was it that got you to notice or participate in the event?

It looked like fun

I recognize the company/brand running the event

Signs and Banners

Somebody invited me to participate

The crowd that was already taking part in the event

93

Others

4. Which of the following is your favorite part of marketing events?

I get to touch and feel a product/services
I get to learn more about a product/services
I get to ask questions about a product/services
I get a free sample of a product/services
I get to have fun by participating in activities

5. Which would most likely cause you to participate in a product demonstration or event?
The product/services matched my interest
The product or company was sponsoring an activity I enjoy
My friend/relative had a positive experience
The event offered an activity I could participate
Other
6. How long did you stay at the mobile event?
1-15 minutes
15-30 minutes
over 30 minutes
7. Which of the following is true? After leaving the mobile event I understood the
company/product
better
same
less
8. How soon after attending a company-sponsored event at/near a store did you purchase the
product or service being offered?
Immediately
Within a month
Within a week
Did not purchase
Within 3 months
Within 6 month
More than 6 months

Thank you for your cooperation

94