Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Brand Activation
Brand Activation
Brand Activation
COURSE
Course runs every Thursday (6:00 to 9:00 P.M.) from June 21 to
August 30, 2007 at the RCBC Plaza in Ayala Avenue, Makati City
This module is part of the Marketing Communications
Management Program, a PostBaccalaureate Diploma Course
being offered by the De La Salle Graduate School of Business in
partnership with the Philippine Association of National
Advertisers (PANA)
INTRODUCTION
Marketing communications does not end with traditional
advertising. At the most, traditional advertising will help induce
brand awareness and trial purchase.
To effectively realize repeat purchase and brand loyalty, the
brand has to establish a strong emotional connection with its
intended consumers.
This involves making maximum use of brand activation
tools that will have strong impact on their emotions, touch them,
and stir their buying decisions, at the right time, in the right place
and in the way that best suits their lifestyle.
The intended longterm result is to build meaningful
relationships between the brand and the consumer.
Course Benefits
Who Should Attend
As a result of attending this course, the
• The course is designed
participants will:
for managers who are
• Learn the dynamic application of responsible for product
brand activation techniques within the and services marketing,
context of integrated marketing business development,
communications management or sales channel
• Acquire and develop innovative management.
marketing tools to support their • The special session on
company's future marketing initiatives Social Marketing will be
• Establish a network of marketing most helpful to those
involved in this line of
peers in other companies who can be
marketing or are
excellent support resources in the looking at new career
future options.
• Learn about future trends in Brand
Activation techniques from leading
professionals and practitioners in the
field
BRAND ACTIVATION
Course Description
This module will give the participants full CONTENT:
appreciation on the use of various brand
activation tools in planning and • Events Marketing
implementing an integrated marketing • Sports Marketing
communications program. • Music Marketing
The module is designed to provide outstanding
learning by combining theories with actual • Web Marketing
case studies that best illustrate brand • Viral Marketing
activation strategies and techniques that • Mobile & SMS Marketing
will have immediate practical application
back on the job. • Direct Consumer Marketing
All of the sessions are designed to be highly • Social Marketing
interactive, allowing for the substantial This module will be capped by group
experience of the group to emerge and be
shared. project presentations that will
showcase the participants’
Best practices on Brand Activation will be
tackled by discussants and resource mastery of the various brand
speakers tapped from companies and activation tools in an actual
organizations with extensive experience in marketing case.
these fields.
BRAND ACTIVATION
Resource Speaker Lineup
SOCIAL MARKETING 3.0 hrs
(Resource Speaker: ERNIE HERNANDEZ)
• Commercial vs. NonCommercial
Marketing. Marketing’s Role in NGOs. FINAL PROJECT
Guiding Principles in Social Marketing . PRESENTATION 6.0
The Social Marketing Model . Social hrs.
Marketing Plan. The UNICEF Experience (Facilitator AGA)
When all the necessary brand strategies are
implemented, companies just need to execute
them across the organization and in the total offer
towards the customer.
Brand activation is looking deeper into the
possibilities within the brand, its strategy and
position to find assets that have relevant long
term consequences for the whole company.
Brand Activation Principles
• To activate brand demand, we have to ignite the
passion of the consumer with the power of a big
idea.
• There is a need to emotionally connect the brand
with the consumer at the right time, in the right
place and in the right way, thus motivating
consumer commitment.
• By turning insight into action, the brand’s reason
to believe becomes more acceptable and
understanding, and the opportunity to purchase
becomes more promising.
To Illustrate…
Activating Demand for Shell VPower
• Strategy: Partnership with Ferrari Cars
• Values:
• Extrinsic Ferrari partnership
• Intrinsic Cleaning properties of the brand.
• Result: Brand experience worked to educate
and build deep, meaningful relationships
between the Shell VPower and the Consumer.
To Illustrate…
Activating Demand for Domestos
• Strategy: Brand activation in ‘hygienic’ venues
(Clinics followed by homes of targeted communities)
• Elements:
• Inhome presentation (for spontaneous awareness)
• Clinic presentation (to drive purchase intention)
• Result: Research showed that the clinic and inhome
presentations were more effective when recalling the
message of cleaning and germ killing (versus that of
television).
From Marketing to Activation
• Successful companies evolved with
peoples’ changing needs.
• They listen to their consumers and perceive
them as individuals with specific
preferences and needs.
• They see persons with individual values, not
a mass of manipulated consumers.
To Illustrate…
• Nike, Microsoft and Tommy Hilfiger put brands before
products claiming they no longer produce things but images
of their brands.
• Financials institutions such as banks are starting to
abandon the idea of diversified brand strategies but instead
are bundling different services and offering financial
planning based on their individual financial situation.
• Southwest Airlines distinguish themselves by having
singing flight attendants onboard. Their mission “highest
quality of Customer Service delivered with a sense of
warmth, friendliness, individual pride and Company Spirit.”
The Corporate Role of Brands
• Companies are increasingly getting dependent on
their brands as competitive weapons.
• Brands have become the carrier of the emotional
value proposition towards the consumers.
• They symbolize specific competence that builds up
the company’s competitive advantage.
• Thus, brands must rise up to the challenge of
giving meaning to the company’s whole
relationship with its consumers.
In order to earn consumer trust and
loyalty
it is time for the rest of the
company to take benefit
of the assets embodied in the
brand.
Brands Work When…
• They simplify everyday choices (for basic necessities)
• They reduce risk of complicated buying decisions (for
technologybased products)
• They provide emotional benefits (for personal care
products)
• They offer a sense of community (for imagerelated
products)
• They create a relationship (for longterm trust
products)
• They create accessibility (for convenience products)
Demystifying the Brand
It’s time to make the brand a common
knowledge among all employees;
so that it can be a source for innovation
and new ideas among all competencies
within the company’s organization.
Four Cornerstones
• Products and services
• Employees
• Identity
• Communication
• An active brand is perceived as “one coherent
company” whether the consumer encounters it
through traditional advertising, digital or analog
media, the product, face to face or through
telephone.
Effective Activation Starts with a
Defined Brand
• Brand positioning describes the marketing
opportunities of conquering a specific
position in the mind of the target audience.
• This position must have strategic
advantages towards competitors to be
profitable.
To Illustrate…
Avis’ “We try harder”
• By positioning the brand as the second brand in
the car rental market, Avis gave meaning to why
they had to work harder than its’ worst competitor
to please their customers.
Apple Computer’s “Think different”
• Gave meaning to the bite in the apple; to a
different operative system and, later on, a different
approach to product design.
Where Activation Starts…
• When exploring the brand for activation, search
for answers to how the brand can be relevant,
adaptable and profitable for the four areas,
respectively.
• Add a fourth question; how is this measurable?
• There must exist a strategic brand work as
platform for brand activation efforts. Search for
solutions where the brand can support, guide and
innovate the company.
The Role of Employees
Since employees are one of the most
important carriers of a brand, this question
may be raised:
• How do companies give employees
inspiration, education and tools to perform
on the expectations created by marketing
promises?
Relevant Positioning?
McDonald’s
• McDonald's vision is to be the world's best quick service
restaurant experience.
• The mission is to get the customer satisfied as fast as
possible – and to leave just as fast with a happy face.
• On the corporate homepage, McDonald’s states: “This
means providing outstanding quality, service, cleanliness
and value, so that we make every customer in every
restaurant smile”.
• The question to ask here is: How can the company mission
be relevant to low paid staff in the fast food industry? And
what makes people smile in a fast food restaurant?
Adaptable Positioning?
SAS
• The company has chosen to let the company’s
Scandinavian heritage form the foundation for its’ brand.
• The company describes the typical Scandinavian
character as “informal and unpretentious, straightforward
and honest, modest and with a lighthearted glint in the
eye”.
• The challenge is to define how the brand position “It’s
Scandinavian” can help flight attendants understand how
to meet their passengers.
• What inspirational guidelines can every employee agree
upon, when breaking down the brand into behavior and
attitude?
Adaptable Positioning?
Statoil
• In some companies, the brand may not be stated or articulated in
a way that easily translates into personal behavior, attitude or
mission etc. For example, how is the mission adaptable to
employees at the petrol company Statoil?
• At the corporate homepage, Statoil states: “The mission is to
make our customer’s every day life easier through personal
service, care and quality, and through attractive locations and
opening hours make it possible for the customer to shop more
from one same place”.
• Considering this, employees at a Statoil service location better
be prepared to serve the customer with a lot more than filling
cars with petrol. What can you as an employee at a petrol station
do to make people’s life easier?
Profitable Positioning?
Nordstrom
• The American luxury department store Nordstrom declares that
“no customer should leave the department store without being
satisfied and happy”. Nordstrom also has identified the people
closest to the customer as the most important employees since
they have best opportunities to effectively satisfy the customer.
Therefore there is only one company rule;
• “Rule # 1. Use your good judgment in all situations. There will
be no additional rules”.
• At Nordstrom, no employee has to seek their boss to make
decisions regarding customers.
• In the realization of the declaration, employees are offered a
lucrative commission and bonus deal making it possible to earn
more than you would in the assembly room.
Profitable Positioning?
Southwest Airlines
• The company promises that they will entertain everybody
during the flight, because they love what they are doing.
• So, the flight attendant grabs the microphone to give the
obligatory safety precautions – but today she is rapping;
“Federal regulations says you must comply/If you don’t you
can kiss seatmate goodbye”.
• Now, what makes her rap? Kathy Pettit, Director of
Customer says; “Make the working place the most fun place
to be at”, and explains, “Skip uniforms and formalities. Have
lots of competitions, celebrate as often as possible and
encourage practical jokes and pranks. Let prices rain over the
employees. You will be surprised of how much people are
willing to give when they feel loved and acknowledged”.
The Role of Products & Services
• How do we activate the brand through products and
services? And how do we make sure that products and
services live up to advertising promises?
• By aligning these questions, emotional preferences can be
attached differing products with similar functional attributes.
• GM and Toyota build two more or less identical cars (the
Toyota Corolla and the Chevrolet Prizm), both models
designed by Toyota in their joint venture plant in California.
The models have similar functional benefits and both models
score high in consumer reports.
• Yet, selling the Chevrolet Prizm requires $750 more in buyer
incentives, only onequarter as many Prizm are sold, and
their tradein value depreciates much more quickly.
Emotional preferences
differ products with similar
functional attributes.
Relevant Positioning?
Apple Computer
• The brand doesn’t offer a unique functional benefit
that cannot be offered by other computer companies.
• Still, “Think Different” casts new light on the purpose
and perceived benefit of Apple computers and
computer accessories.
• The company’s mission is to deliver high quality
computing products with a different experience.
• Apple is a great example on how the brand can alter
the way consumers look at benefits on commodity
products.
Adaptable Positioning?
• How do you make products state the brand? In the
insurance industry, it’s sometimes hard to tell one brand
from the other just by reading the product and service
offer – with one exception.
• The insurance company Progressive decided to
restructure their auto insurance offer to deliver on the
promise of customer service. Instead of having inhouse
representatives, Progressive took their brand promise to
the extreme and put claims representatives in Immediate
Response Vehicles that could come right to the scene of
an accident.
• In doing so, Progressive clearly demonstrates how the
brand can cast new light on the total customer offer.
• Brand activation efforts can ignite a total reconstruction
of the product offer or reveal new opportunities for
specific products.
• Brand activation may also result in less revolutionary
measures, e.g. sales support or development of new
products.
• During the process, opportunities to expand your
category, or to move into closely related ones, can
appear.
• Gillette expanded the razor category to include shaving
gel and other skin lotion products.
• Disney is focused to entertain all living ages, but their
offer is diversified into a variety of product categories.
Brand Activation Through
Sports
CocaCola’s Ignition
"Olympic Torch Relay"
• CocaCola brought its sponsorship of the Olympic Torch Relay to life
by creating the firstever global mobile marketing tour.
• The relay hit 34 cities in 27 countries over a 35day span, with Coca
Cola street teams in each location. Local Coke marketing teams helped
create relevant activation in each city: The Mexico City leg, for
example, featured floats and flamenco dancers, the London stop had
branded doubledecker buses and Rod Stewart, and the Los Angeles
relay wrapped with Tom Cruise carrying the torch into Dodger Stadium
before a game.”It was local, national, and international,” said Coke relay
director David Brooks.
• Branded trucks followed the torch route in each city, playing music and
distributing samples and swag. At the end of the each city’s relay, Coke
held celebrations with live music and showed a video recapping the
day’s events on large, portable LED screens.
• More than 11 million people experienced the relay, and the tour
generated an average of more than 100 print articles and 20plus TV
stories in each market. The company even used its stops in four U.S.
markets to help launch its C2 brand.
New Balance’s
"Chicago Marathon"
• Proving events can indeed push volume. “It taught us an amazing
amount,” says NB head of marketing and promotions Karin Piscitelli
New Balance used its sponsorship of the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon
to ring cash registers at retail.
• Customers who spent $100 on New Balance product at any of 25
participating retailers received a New Balance Marathon Passport, which
allowed access to three exclusive viewing areas along the marathon route,
including a grandstand at the finish line. The brand provided free shuttle
service to transport passport holders among the New Balance Nation spots.
• Retailers dished out 4,000 passports leading up to the race, of which 1,500
were used on race day. Leading up to race day, New Balance touted its
sponsorship around Chicago via mobile billboards, live statues, and
building projections in hightraffic areas. At the prerace expo, visitors to
the New Balance booth could play the If the Shoe Fits game for a chance
to win prizes. More than 800 customers tried on shoes as part of the game,
and booth sales shot up 11 percent over the previous year.
Women’s Basketball
Activation Plan
• While everyone in the athletics department is responsible for ensuring the
success of a branding initiative for women’s basketball, a wellconstructed
marketing and communications plan will provide the impetus for success.
• The basic element of any successful marketing and communications
campaign is to convince the public that the product being promoted is a
commodity that they either want or need.
• The head women’s basketball coach and the entire coaching staff are key
figures in the success of a sound marketing and communications plan.
Their participation, as well as their studentathletes, will give the plan
instant credibility and visibility within the athletics department, the media
and the community.
• The following strategies are designed to provide an institution with a
model for promoting women’s college basketball as a valuable commodity
and a plan communicating this value.
Major Objectives of a Basketball
Marketing and Communications Plan
• To educate the general public about the
institution’s women’s basketball team.
• To create awareness of the sport within the
institution and the community.
• To promote the sport as a valuable commodity to
be sought by the consumer.
• To increase attendance at women’s basketball
games.
Strategies to Reach Goals
• Strategies for reaching those goals may differ from institution to
institution. It is critical to determine realistic goals for your
women’s college basketball marketing and communications
efforts. In that respect, how one program defines success may be
different than what another program considers a success.
• Once goals are identified, select strategies for reaching those
goals and budgets for implementing the strategies.
• These strategies should include the development of:
– A media relations plan.
– An advertising campaign plan.
– A grassroots marketing plan.
– A promotions plan.
– A campus and community communications plan.
Elements of a Successful
Marketing Plan
• Situation analysis. Identify key issues, key
opportunities, key shareholders and any important
trends.
• Identification of resources. Staff, time, budget, etc.
Create a marketing team that is representative of all
stakeholders.
• Competitive analysis. Identify any competition, such as
another major event that will also be of interest to the
target audience.
• Goals. Identify attendance and awareness level goals.
Elements of a Successful
Marketing Plan
• Identification of target markets. Identify groups of
individuals to whom the sport could be successfully
promoted.
• Development of plans for reaching each target
market. Develop a strategic plan for promoting the
sport to each identified target audience.
• Development of evaluation tools. Measure the
success of your program during and after the season
concludes. Include shortterm and longterm
measurable outcomes.
Elements of a Successful
Communications Plan
• Set goals and objectives. Determine what is to be accomplished
by the public relations campaign and plan to meet these goals
and objectives.
• Identify experts and available resources who can help. There
are numerous experts available and willing to assist with this
plan. You might even want to form a committee to offer and/or
help implement ideas.
• Put the campaign in writing. Provide a road map for
implementing activities leading up to and throughout the season.
• Select target audiences. Identify key audiences, fans, student
athletes, alumni, the public at large, commercial entities (current
or future) that should be reached and what will interest them.
Elements of a Successful
Communications Plan
• Identify tactics to communicate to key audiences.
Communication tactics may include traditional channels, such as
media and Web sites, as well as non media channels, such as
grassroots or ‘wordofmouth’ by groups that are naturally
enthusiastic about the sport. Coach and studentathlete
involvement in delivering the message to the community is critical
for success.
• Evaluate the campaign. Not only should the campaign be
evaluated at the end of the season, but it should also be monitored
throughout the entire implementation process to ensure that the
goals and objectives of the plan are met and exceeded. The
implementation of this initiative must be a longterm objective,
with measurable benchmarks. Success will be realized through a
longterm, seasontoseason, monthtomonth, daytoday
commitment.
Marketing and Promotions
• Advertising e.g., television, radio and print advertising
to reflect a family oriented game.
• Inmarket displays e.g., promoting a high quality of
play.
• Youth initiatives e.g., familyoriented activities that
promote interaction with studentathletes, youth clinics,
meettheteam activities, etc.
• Themed promotional activities e.g., focusing on
family and youth programs such as Take a Kid to the
Game and family ticket discount packages.
• Schedule cards, posters and magnets e.g., displaying
fundamentally sound players and high quality of play.
Marketing and Promotions
• Email blasts e.g., conveying any of the five
characteristics.
• Web site content e.g., look, feel and content to
support the attributes.
• Engaging fans of other sports (e.g., men’s basketball
fans, volleyball fans, baseball fans) to women’s
basketball e.g., cross promotions between games.
• Target group communication e.g., youth groups, Boy
Scouts, Girl Scouts, elementary and middle schools,
YMCA, local recreational leagues, corporate entities and
community service groups.
Summing Up: Why the Need for Brand
Activation
Traditional ways of marketing communications such as advertising are
losing their effectiveness due to:
• Increasing clutter in all types of media
• Reduced reach and impact
• Failure of advertising to connect with the customers
What Brand Activation Can Do
• Enhance the effectiveness of the traditional modes of
communications as they can be more focused to a particular target
market
• A versatile tool that can be customized to cater to the
communications needs of specific industries
• Can act as a logical and impactful end to an advertising campaign
when there is a need to shift to a new campaign involving a
different promotional mix
• Fits well with new forms of media
Events Marketing &
Management
What Are Events?
• Events are occurrences designed to communicate
particular messages to target audiences (Kotler)
• A livemultimedia package
– carried out with a preconceived concept,
– customized to achieve the client’s objectives of
reaching out and influencing, specially gathered
target audience
– provides a complete sensual experience and an
avenue for 2way interaction
Events Marketing 5 C’s
• Conceptualization (creative idea and
ambience)
• Costing (estimates of production costs and
margins)
• Canvassing (for sponsors, customers/audience
and networking components)
• Customization (of the concept to customers’
needs and marketing objectives)
• Carryingout (execution of the event)
Audience Reach
Audience Reach
• Implies exposing the event to the right number of the
right audience.
External Reach
• Exposure of an event to the target audience obtained
through a networking mix (prepublicity, advertising
and event networking with other media).
Actual Event Reach
• The number of people from the target audience who
actually respond to the publicity campaign and attend
the event.
Interaction
• Interaction Exchange of various types of information between the
clients and their target audience.
• Client’s Point of View: Facetoface Interaction aids in convincing the
target audience about their products.
• Audience’s Point of View: Interaction enables them to clear doubts
and apprehensions that may exist in their minds about the client’s
product.
• Interaction Points Designated areas of the venue along with
particular time slots where interaction is to take place.
• Direct Interaction Takes place between the client(s) and the target
audience during the actual event.
• Indirect Interaction Built around the event and not during the actual
event e.g. POS at a retailer outlet.
• Enablers Interaction catalysts, an anchor that keeps the event on
track.
Why Events?
• Unique ability to break through the clutter
• Literally bring products to participate in an innovative and
personally involving manner
• Subtly, yet effectively, reinforce brand image through an
event association using celebrities.
• Communication through live media integrates the
functions of advertising, sales promotions and public
relations.
• Addresses the diverse marketing needs of a company, thus
plays a key role in an integrated marketing campaign.
Events Help in Brand Building
by…
• Creating awareness about the launch of new brands
(The enormous number of launches leads the need to overcome the
“ohyetanotherproduct syndrome”)
• Highlighting the added features of the product or service
(It is imperative that dealers and retailers take part in exhibitions to
educate the customers on the changes that have taken place and how
they will benefit more)
• Rejuvenating brands during the different stages of the
product life cycle
(Events offer the best medium for focused spending needed during the
various life cycle stages)
Events Help in Brand Building
by:
• Communicating the repositioning of brands
(Events can be designed to assist in changing beliefs about firms,
products and services)
• Associating the brand personality with the target market
(Example: Events organized by Citibank will always have a classy
image)
• Creating and maintaining brand identity
(Example: With ‘Australianness’ as the core of its brand identity,
Forter’s Beer chose the game Cricket where Aussies are known as the
best team in the world to identify with)
• Image building
(Sponsoring events such as the Olympic Games helps establish the
sponsors as truly global players)
Events Help in Focusing the Target
Market
by:
• Helping in clutter avoidance
(Title sponsorship of a major event provides the sponsor
immense benefit since the sponsor’s name is mentioned
along with the event)
• Enabling interactive mode of communication
(Opportunity for buyers and sellers to interact. A forum for
knowledge exchange and sharing between professionals
through interaction points such as seminars, workshops or
conferences)
Events Help Carry Out Certain
Marketing Activities
by:
• Enabling authentic test marketing the target
(opportunity for test marketing of products for authentic feedback)
• Enabling focused sales and communication to a captive
audience
(audience is bound to witness one particular event)
• Increasing customer traffic in stores
(Events can be conceptualized to increase customer traffic)
• Enabling sales promotions
(Sales is a very significant gainer from the benefits that events offer)
Events Help Carry Out Certain
Marketing Activities
by:
• Helping in relationship building and PR activities
(Event marketing campaigns have the ability to create longlasting
relationships with closely targeted market segments)
• Enthusing and motivating the sales team
(Sometimes, events are used as a platform to kick off a product within
the company)
• Providing an avenue to affirm presence
(Events reaffirm the company’s presence in the minds of stakeholders
and the general public)
Events Help Carry Out Certain
Marketing Activities
by:
• Generating immediate sales
(Most events let firms install an exclusive booth and give the
permission to exploit the opportunity to merchandise)
• Generating instant publicity
(An event can be designed to generate instant publicity upon the
implementation of a marketing strategy)
• Recruiting new distributors and sales representatives
(In events such as trade shows and exhibitions, a sort of industrial
courtship can also be seen. Firms are constantly on the look out for
new distributors and sales reps in newer territories)
Events Help in Conducting Marketing
Research
by:
• Creating and maintaining a panel of consumers
(Surveys or announcements during events can be used to attract and
select from the audience a truly representative panel of consumers)
• Enabling market database assimilation, maintenance and
updating
(By keeping track of the reach and its effectiveness as well as
interacting with the audience, event sponsors can assimilate an
authentic database)
• Providing instant feedback and opportunity for an
authentic and instant market research
(Events provide a host of audiencefriendly occasions to collect
customer feedback)
Events Help in Relationship Building
by:
• Giving relationship management a proactive feel
(Events help in building up rapport with customers and helping reduce
cognitive dissonance, thereby leading to increased repeat purchase)
• Creating a forum for bringing together key corporate
influencers, decisionmakers and businessmen
(Events have the potential to bring together the key people responsible
for relationship building)
• Creating a forum for career match making
(Events can facilitate a friendly and facetoface interaction between
applicants and prospective employers)
Problems with Traditional Media
• Too many ads, cluttering TV, print and other
media
• Increasing number of TV channels and
programs resulting in fragmentation of
viewership
• Proliferation of low intensity television viewers
who view a little of each channel without full
attention
• Media cost inflation and media planning
becoming more complex
Advantages Offered by Events
• Leads to lowering of the media networking budgets
and focused communication with specially gathered
audience
• Wordofmouth publicity even long after the event
provides an advantage of higher brand recall
• Involvement of all senses in experiencing the event
while its happening, a certain amount of immediacy
• Live media enables interactive communication and a
complete sensual experience
Advantages Offered by Events
• It is possible to feel and deduce the reactions of the
audience vs. the objectives for the event
• Specific traits of the local inhabitants can be incorporated
to ensure that the event is culturally relevant
• Postevent publicity over and above paid or bartered media
• Conversion of good events into television software for
profitable use in the future
• Provide a solution to deal with the legal restrictions on
marketing communication (e.g. ban on cigarette
advertising)
Key Elements of Events
Organizer Infrastructure
Venue Target Audience
EVENT
Media Client
Key Elements of Events
1. EVENT INFRASTRUCTURE
• Includes those essential elements without which there
won’t be any event:
– Core Concept fundamental underlying ethos and
evolution of various categories of events
– Core People the people who are performing or
participating in the events
– Core Talent the one that attracts and influences the
audience
– Core Structure organization for efficient management
Key Elements of Events
2. TARGET AUDIENCE
• The customer groups who form the focus of events
3. CLIENTS
• The people or organizations who act as sponsors
Client’s Usual ‘Excuses’ for Using Events:
– Presence of competitors
– Cheap availability of the event
– Because the event was used in the previous years
– Fear that their absence will create negative publicity
Some client considerations: Set objectives for the event,
Contracts with event organizers, Location of banners, Post
event followup
Key Elements of Events
4. EVENT ORGANIZERS
Why the need for event organizers:
– Events require physical presence of various professionals
that need to be managed
– Dealing with legal hassles require professional expertise
– Networking with media, facility providers and suppliers
requires full time involvement
5. VENUE
• Some events are venuedriven e.g. sports, concerts
• Venue considerations: availability, customer traffic, rental
arrangements, conceptfit, merchandising facilities and
exclusivity
Key Elements of Events
6. MEDIA
• Eventspecific communication mix designed to act as the
front end to inform and entice the audience
• 3 Stages of Media Campaign: Preevent, During and Post
event
• Media Forms: Broadcast, Print, Press Conference &
Releases, Live coverage and Reporting, the Internet,
Interviews and Reviews
• 2 Types of Media Arrangement: Paid media publicity and
Barter (Media companies as sponsors). Most common
barter deals include hospitality, food & beverages and
transport
Concept of Market in Events
• Market consists of all the potential customers sharing a
particular need or want who might be willing and able to
engage in exchange to satisfy that need or want
• Types of Clients: Revenue generating & Nonrevenue
generating
• Revenuegenerating CLIENTS include:
– Institutions who are involved in the leisure industry and
sports
– Corporate houses and other institutions, both internal
and external events
– Media houses who need specific campaigns for their
services and products
– Revenuegenerating TARGET AUDIENCE includes
those who pay for their presence at the event
Concept of Market in Events
• Non Revenuegenerating CLIENTS include:
– Impresarios (Influencers) Businessmen, ambassadors,
foreign embassy officials, etc. are needed for their
potential to influence prospective clients
– Advertising Agencies These may need events to be
organized for their clients in tandem with a particular
media campaign
– Regulatory Bodies The play a role as customers as
they have a say in the success of the event and thus
need to be serviced with utmost patience and care (e.g.
Tax & Police authorities)
Segmentation & Targeting
• Success of an event depends on the right segmentation
and targeting of customers
• Segmentation helps identify the synergies between the
target audience and the client
• Once the market segments had been defined, it is
imperative that the event organizer selects one or more
of these segments to enter, consolidate and grow
• To do this, evaluation of each segment as to its
attractiveness is essential (based on objectives and
resources)
Positioning in Events & the Concept of
Event Property
Positioning
• Each target segment needs to be studied for possible
positioning ideas. These are then selected, developed and
communicated.
Event Property
• That feature of an event concept that detaches it from
threats of competitive intrusion and ownership.
Retaining Event Property
• Threading an event property into the event concept
perpetuates the event giving it a whole new aura of
exclusivity.
Concept of Product in Events
• An event should meet both the tangible and
intangible needs and aspirations of the event user.
• Most events are customized for the particular
client depending on the objectives.
• The most fundamental aspect is the event
infrastructure and the core benefits attached with
each event.
• An event by itself can be called a product and can
be classified into different levels.
Benefit Levels
• The core benefit offered by any event is the reach with
interaction for brand building.
• Generic Event any kind of event e.g. competitive events
• Expected Event involves the perfect fit between the
concept, the client and the audience
• Augmented Event could provide a complete
communications package, media ride along, special
treatment and benefit offers with other events as negotiated
• A potential product could be the coverage of events as
television software material for postevent benefit
Event Categories & Their Characteristics
• Variations in the core concepts distinguish the various
categories of events.
• Based on this principle, events as a marketing tool can be
broadly categorized as follows:
» Competitive Events
» Artistic Expression
» Cultural Celebrations
» Exhibition Events
» Charitable Events
» Special Business Events
Competitive Events
Core Concept
• This may involve a test of physical strength, mental
ability and talent or a combination of these.
Types of Competitive Events
– Sporting events
– Artistic Talents
– Knowledge Levels
Characteristics
• The most popular events category
• Tends to be mass oriented
• Provide more reach and fewer interactions
Benefits
• Visibility and exposure to the brands
• Prolonged impact
• Corporate/Brand awareness
• Consolidating the positioning of brands
• Merchandising and sale of licensed products around the
event.
Artistic Expression
Types of events for artistic expression:
– Music concerts, dance ballets and other stage
performances to entertain the audience
Benefits:
– Consolidation of the image of their brands
– Postevent mileage
– Excellent coverage prospects
– Live or deferred telecast
– An avenue for personification of the brand image
– Universal appeal among different sectors of society
Cultural Celebrations
Types of celebration:
• Fairs and festivals which have their roots in
religious tradition and rituals.
Benefits:
• A strategy for focusing on a particular community
• Reach into the heart of the rural population
• A platform for mass communication
• An opportunity to communicate tothepoint
• Avoid any sort of clutter
• Chance to innovate
• Direct sale opportunity
Exhibition Events
Types of Exhibition Events:
• Exhibitions, trade shows, displays in a common location for the
purpose of either sales or just display
Benefits:
• Quick awareness and enlightenment about a product or service
• Generates an aura of excitement around the brand due to media hype
• Live demos educate potential buyers in handling the products
• Opportunity to create a database on prospective customers
• Opportunity to interact with endconsumers facetoface
• Venue for testing new product concepts, styles and models
• Opportunity to test an ad copy
• Mode of distribution for direct marketing firms
Charitable Events
Core concept:
• Collection and dispersal of funds for social welfare and
creating awareness for a worthy cause
Types of Charitable Events: Music concerts, athletic
events, fashion shows, etc.
Benefits:
• Societal marketing opportunity
• Positive ruboff on the firm’s image
• Free media publicity
• Better than the best advertising for goodwill generation
• A possibility of the entertainment tax being waived
Special Business & Retail Events
Special Business Events:
• Being different and getting noticed for direct commercial gain
e.g Product launches
Retail Events:
• Merchandising Events aimed at increasing customer traffic in
the outlet (e.g. celebrity visits)
• Demonstrations & Showings useful in explaining the features
of a new product
• Special Sales Inducements e.g. buy 1 take 1 sale, P99 pricing
• Film & Televisionbased Events special showings like movie
premieres
• Webbased Events activities that are internet friendly, targeted
towards yuppies
Event Variations
– Sponsored Events
– Partially Sponsored Events
– Ticketed Events
– Budgetbased Events
– Big Budget Events
– Small Budget Events
– Locationbased Events
– International/Overseas Events
– Domestic Events (rural events & City
based events)
– Multilocation
– Valuebased
– Low value/ High value
Concept of Pricing in Events
Checklist for Pricing of Events:
• Value Will the event provide the right and unique value to clients
and target audience?
• Economics Are there competitors lurking in the dark? Is the
market big enough?
• Marketing What are the best techniques to promote the event?
• Finance What costing system to be used taking into consideration
the cashflow?
• Target Return Helps understand if the event is worth going into
• Supply & Demand Competition whether direct or indirect
• Market Research Info gathering to compare with competitors
• Strategy Development Should be decided keeping the marketing
strategy in perspective
Concept of Pricing in Events
Checklist for Pricing of Events:
• Strategic Planning Helps minimizing the risks involved
• Implementation Use internal resources or outside organizers?
• Breakeven Analysis Production and selling expenses vs. sales
projections
• Cash Flow Not only sales but also actual recovery of money is very
important
• Distribution Refers to the outlets where event tickets are available
• Risk Rating Leads to a decision on whether to continue with the
event or not
• Networking Mix Costs involved in the networking
• Pricing Policy Use going rate technique or other methods
• Discounting Part of the pricing decision
Concept of Promotion in Events
Networking Components (for successful events publicity):
• Print Media essential for preevent and postevent publicity
• Radio & TV for event publicity and coverage
• The Internet for online registration, dispensing information and
providing ecommerce related opportunities
• Cable Network most beneficial for a highly localized reach and
coverage of events
• Outdoor Media essential for preevent publicity close to the events
venue
• Direct Marketing, Sales Promotions, Audience Interaction to closely
link merchandising opportunities with the event
• Public Relations to maintain positive image for the event and its
organizers
• InVenue Publicity usually leaves a lasting impression on the
audience at the venue
Activities in Event Management
Planning
• Planning tries to optimize resources utilization across the
board
• The planning function is involved in microlevel event
coordination activities such as:
– Liaison with the creative team with regards technical
specs
– Shortlisting artists and performers
– Checking out alternative event locations
– Arranging licenses, clearances, etc.
– Dealing with practical realities such as transportation,
logistics and travels
Activities in Event Management
Organizing & Staffing
• Event coordinators are essentially required for the
organizing part of the event
• Functional responsibilities in a project type organization
structure define event management staffing requirements
• The importance of team structure, experience, background
and expertise of team members plays a crucial role in event
management
• Sales and marketing personnel are part of the team
negotiating with prospective clients to ensure the client
concept fit for the event right through the execution of the
event.
Activities in Event Management
Leading & Coordination
• The sum and substance of events revolves around
interpersonal skills.
• The main aim is to achieve team goal by achieving synergy
among individual efforts
Controlling
• Evaluation and correction of deviations in the event plans
to ensure conformity with original plans is the gist of
controlling
• The basic evaluation process in events involves 3 steps:
establishing tangible objectives; measuring performance
before, during and after the event and correcting deviations
from plans
Evaluation of Event Performance
The Basic Evaluation Process: 3 Steps
– Establishing tangible objectives and
incorporating sensitivity in evaluation
– Measuring the performance before,
during and after the event
– Correcting deviations from plans
The Basic Evaluation Process
Establishing Tangible Objectives:
• 1st Step Define the target audience for whom the event
has been organized
• 2nd Step Identify and put on paper what each of the
audience is expected to think, feel and do having been to
the event, that it did not think, feel or do beforehand
Measuring Performance:
• Concept Research used to anticipate the viability of a
concept during the conceptualization process
• Formative & Objective Evaluation carried out during the
customization phase of the event
• Summative Evaluation can be carried out to measure
performance during the event
The Basic Evaluation Process
Correcting Deviations
• Since deviations may occur during any stage in the
event designing phase, it is important that
measurement is carried out at all possible stages
Critical Evaluation Points: Event
Organizers’ Point of View
• Audience reach and interaction
• Clienteventtarget audience fit
• Maximum profitability with minimum markups
• Resource management efficiency
• Logistics and efficiency of event execution
• Opportunities for exploitation of synergies and
expansion of services
• Degree of flexibility in localization or customization
of the concept
Critical Evaluation Points: Event
Clients’ Point of View
• Number of interaction points (the greater the interaction
points, the better for the client)
• Number of Interactions (the greater the opportunity for
increasing the number of interaction, the better)
• Quality of Interaction (good interaction happens when
there is an avenue for 2way interaction)
• Time duration of interaction (the greater the duration of
interaction, the more chances for some meaningful and
decisive interactions between the clients and the audience)
• Actual variations in commercial numbers for the client
Audience Quality Measurements
Net Buying Influences
• The ratio of the number of audience that can
recommend, specify or approve purchase to the total
population at the event
Total Buying Plans
• The percentage of the audience planning to buy a
product/service from the sponsors’ stables within the
next 12 months after the show
Average Audience Interest
• The percentage of audience that shows an interest in the
sponsors’ products or services during the event itself and
immediately after