Integrated Marketing Integrated Marketing CommunicationsCommunicationsModule – 8

Topics to be coveredTopics to be coveredEvent Management : IntroductionPurpose of organizing an eventKey Elements of EventsConcepts of Promotion and

pricing in events

Event Management: IntroductionEvent Management: IntroductionAn event is a live-multimedia package carried

out with a preconceived concept, customised or modified to achieve the clients objectives 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. Events are customer-oriented promotion activities.

Event management is about generating ideas and concepts and translate the same into reality.

Event DefinedEvent DefinedEven

ts

Reach Live Interaction

Right communication from the Client With

Live Audienc

eCreate

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Desired

Impact

Most events are sponsored. Sponsorship increases the awareness of the brand.

The events are customised. The idea is to reach out the target audience who have come to witness the event. Examples of brand associated events re concerts, competition etc.

Companies organise events to support or leverage its promotional aspects.

Eg. When Maruti sells car, it is not an event, but when it sold its millionth car, it is an event. For this occasion people are brought together to get publicity.

Internal marketing uses the events to exchange important information. Eg. Multination bearing company SKF invites dealers throughout the country for the dealer’s meet. This is an event to exchange vital ideas regarding various marketing information.

Various Types of eventsVarious Types of eventsLive Show – Organising live events like Elton

John or Ricky Martin shows need meticulous event management at its best.

Staging Conference – Corporate Meetings, Training programs are brought to life with the state of art conference equipments and premium services like Web casting.

Exhibitions – These are the modern day market place where every one tries to outshine the other to attract potential customers. It is the phenomenal change for event management to provide a one-stop shop with the visual dynamic and graphically expressive trade fair stand that shows the products and services of the companies. Fashion parade, office equipment, furniture, home appliances etc. are some of the products displayed in the exhibition.

Event Shows – Event shows conducted by ABCL Corporation needs views on light and sound, correct advertising, banquet (feast) selection etc. These are the part of event management. Fashion shows are events which can be used as a promotional strategy.

5 C’s of Event Designing5 C’s of Event DesigningConceptualisation of the creative

idea/ambience.Costing involves calculation of the

cost of production and safety margins.Canvassing for sponsors, customers

and networking components.Customisation of the event according

to brand personality, budgets etc.Carrying-out involves execution of

the event according to the final concept.

Key elements of EventsKey elements of Events

Event

Organiser Event Infrastructure

Target Audience

ClientMedia

Venue

Event Infrastructure – Includes those essential elements without which there cannot be any event. These essential elements are core concept, core people, core talent and core structure.

1.Core concept – Define the fundamental underlying evolution of the various major categories of events.

2.Core people – These are the people who are performing, acting or participating in the process of influencing the audience to create a desired impact in the audience’s mind.

3.Core Talent – The core people are required to have a specific expertise, reputation (standard) or knowledge. It is the core talent that attracts and influences the audience.

Target audience- Customer groups who form the focus of events. The actual event design varies with the demographic profile of the target audience as well as the number of targeted audience.

Clients – People or organisations who act as sponsors at any event. They sponsor the events because they use events as a more effective marketing communication tool to create for themselves a desired position in the minds of the target audience.

Event Organisers – Event organising is a business proposition as any other. Event organisers could be a division of an advertising agency / media house or a professional event organising company or a team of people within the organisation given the responsibility for carrying out the event.

Venue – A venue is the site at a desired location with the required audience capacity and available for a specific time period where the event concept shall be carried out.

Media – Media is that event-specific communication mix designed to act as the front end for the event to first inform, then entice(attract) the target audience to attend the event. These also comprise of live and post-event coverage for those who for some reasons such as affordability, time, distance and security constraints could not attend it.

Key Elements – Elite Model Key Elements – Elite Model Look’2011Look’2011

EventL’Oreal Femina

Elite Model Look’ 2011

Event OrganisersFemina

with•Fountainhead Event

support•Banyan Tree:

Arrangement for classical music performance•Hemant Trivedi : Choreography &

Direction

Event Infrastructure•Core Concept – Search for new

top class modeling talent through a contest with entertainment.

•Core people – Participants i.e. models taking part in the

competition and other performers during entertainment slots.

•Core Talent – Physical looks and intellectual skills.

Target Audience•Youth and Family

though with a younger mindset or young at heart

ClientsMain sponsor – L’Oreal

Gift sponsors – Onida, Siemens, Baush & Lomb, Lakme

Other sponsors:Ground Transportation : Adarsh

Rent-a-Car enterpriseBeverages : Coca Cola

MediaPre-event : Magazines and newspapers to inform about

eventElectronic Media : TV and FM Radio to inform target

audience about event coverage.

During Event : Live coverage on DD2

Post event : Re-telecast on Star Plus

VenueShoot Location : Taj Mahal Hotel

Purpose of organizing an Purpose of organizing an EventEventCreating awareness about the launch of

new products / brands – Eg. Launch of Tata NANO Car in Auto Expo Show in Delhi

Presentation of brand description to highlight the added features of product / service – Special service camps or exhibitions are the perfect events that provide the opportunity for a two-way interaction and error-free communication. IMTEX, the Industrial Machine Tools Exhibition, is an event used by most machine tool manufacturers to explain and highlight the new and improved features of their products.

Creating and maintaining brand identity – Karbonn Mobile chose the sports arena for building its brand identity by sponsoring DLF IPL T20 match.

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 in seminars, conferences or workshops.

Increasing customer traffic in stores – Sometimes newly opened venues, showrooms, retail outlets etc. need to attract the attention of their audience and entice them to visit. For eg. Customers to Lee store during DLF IPL match for shopping and getting match ticket as giveaways.

Enabling sales promotions – Companies tie up with theatres and give movie tickets to the persons participating in an event.

Helping in relationship building and PR activities - Relationship building is not restricted to end user customers; most events are also targeted at enhancing distributor and sales representative relations. Taking dealers on foreign trips and honoring sales reps with visits to overseas exhibitions such as the K-98 exhibition in Germany is a well known way of using trade events for relationship building.

Enthusing and motivating the sales team – Specially popular amongst pharmaceuticals and other FMCG companies who have a whole army of sales representatives who need to be kept at their peak performance levels. During Cricket World Cup, HSBC introduced a scoring system for particular performance criteria.

Generate immediate sales – Events such as the annual limited period discount sales from Wrangler and Van Heusen are authentic stock clearance sales aimed at generating immediate sales.

Promotion in EventsPromotion in EventsPromotion is required to achieve the desired

reach. Therefore, the event must be publicized extensively. There are many promotional tools used.

1.Print Media – Pre-event publicity is given to audience and post event report tells the success or failure of the event. The pre-event campaign tells the audience about the details, such as participants, date, venue etc. The post event is covered by media journalist and the sponsor has no control over the reporting by the media.

2.Radio – This is used for pre-event publicity. Here the main consideration is listening audience profile and the time of airing the commercial. Radio F.M. channel is the best for this purpose.

Television – For events, the television media can be the single most potent media since it can provide pre-event, during event and post-event coverage. Depending on the reach desired, either satellite channels or the government controlled terrestrial channels can be used. The singularly most important feature that television as a media offers is the ability to cover events live i.e., during the event itself e.g. cricket match.

Internet – The internet is now exclusively used in events for:

1.Online registration for events.2.Dispensing information – both pre and post-event

in the form of databases.3.Carrying out complex analyses of information

needed.4.Providing e-commerce related opportunities.

Cable network – It is a medium which is highly localized. It is popular locally. Live coverage of dussehra procession at Mysore is covered by channels like Udaya TV or Chandana.

Outdoor Media – This refers to hoardings, bill boards, posters, banners etc. These hoardings are displayed in a prominent places such as railway station, bus stand etc. Hoardings carry very brief message of the event. The advantage is the low cost and quick attention.

Direct Marketing – Some events have some contests or giveaways. Incentives may be used to monitor the popularity of the event.

Public Relations – It deals with public issues encountered by the company across a wide range of constituents. An important component of public relations is publicity – news media coverage of events. Public relation messages carried in the news media are often seen as more believable than ads.

Merchandising – In an effort to reach prospective end customers, the event organisers try to convert concepts of events into products. For eg. All those supporting Indian team in World Cup Cricket wear blue Jersey and Cap.

Pricing in EventsPricing in EventsEvents are tailormade. Each event will be

quite different. Therefore, they are priced differently. The amount charged from the client on whose behalf the event is organized and the price charged to the audience vary.

Kinds of EventsSponsored Event – The risk is least for

event organizers. The sponsor will invite specific audience. Eg. Dealers meet or salesman conference. In these cases the event is funded by the sponsor and the revenue for organizers will come from the margin of commission worked out on the total cost for the event.

Partially Sponsored Event – In this case, funds are provided by multiple sponsors. This takes care of expenses for the event production. Ticket collection is the revenue for the organizers.

Ticketed Event – These type of events have the maximum risk. General public are the audience and purchase tickets for attending the event.

Factors for Pricing of EventFactors for Pricing of EventBreak even – If the event is based on

ticketing, how many tickets be sold to make good for the expenses incurred.

ROI – What will be the net benefit in monetary terms as against the expenditure incurred.

Risk Factor – Is it high, low or medium. May be that audience turnout is poor or adequate number of tickets could not be sold. In this case, a decision should be taken to go ahead or cancel the event.

Value – Will the event provide value to the audience? If the target audience thinks unworthy, they won’t pay for the event. Customer should be benefitted from the event, then only they get value.

Discounting – Before starting the event, there is an estimation that certain minimum number of audience will visit. It may happen so that the actual number of participants is less than the expected numbers. In this case, heavy discount has to be offered to woo the audience. Unfortunately, this fact cannot be conveyed to the audience in the beginning due to loss of image. Another danger of discounting will be the relevant target audience may not visit the event, when the discount is being offered.