CHAPTER 7

PROMOTION:
INTEGRATED MARKETING
COMMUNICATION (IMC) FOR
EVENTS
What is Marketing?

 Marketing is the integrated process of producing, distributing and

selling good and services. (Watt, 1998).

 Marketing is concerned with satisfying consumer needs and

wants by exchanging goods, services or ideas for something of
value (Allen et al, 2008).
 What is Marketing?

 Miller and Layton (2000) – ‘marketing is a total system of

business activities designed to plan, price, promote and distribute
products, services and ideas to target markets in order to achieve
an organization’s goals and objectives’.
What is Marketing?
 Event Marketing?
 The process by which event managers and
marketers gain an understanding of their
potential consumers’ characteristics and needs
in order to produce, price, promote and
distribute an event experience that meets these
needs, and the objectives of the special event.
 The need for Marketing

 Framework for decision making (event managers)

 Ability to convince sponsors (sponsoring bodies)

 Government funding (local, state and national)

 Society’s wellbeing and satisfaction of the needs and wants

of event markets (stakeholders)

 Leisure activity (consumers feel worth to participate)

The decision-making process
Process of Event Marketing
Establish the features of the product

Identify customers (segmentation)

Plan to meet audience needs and wants

Analyze consumer decision-making process

Establish price and ticket program

Promote the event

Evaluate marketing efforts

Characteristics of Service
Events as ‘service experiences’
Special features of an event

 Intangibility – customers feel the benefits and the

enjoyment, but they can’t touch the event.

 Perishability – the fun is transitory; it is rare to have

lasting evidence of the event.
Events as ‘service experiences’
Special features of an event

 Inseparability – customers associate one event with the

next; they identify with the organizing agency’s reputation
for quality.

 Consistency – customers demand consistency and it is

important to achieve it.

 Lack of ownership – events don’t belong to anyone but

they are temporarily enjoyed by many.
The Marketing Mix for an
Events
 The Marketing Mix for an
Events
 PRICE

 PLACE

 PROMOTION

 PRODUCT
 Product
 The end result – the event-involves all the ancillary
contributions.
 Expert product knowledge and effective sales skills vital.
 Consistent capability (combines history, quality, and value)
– to produce a unique program.
 Convey not only perceived value but also added value.
 Promotion
 Well-develop promotion strategies to achieve the success.
 A systematic checklist in identifying and budgeting the event
promotion:
 Identify all event elements that require promotion.
 Develop strategies.
 Identify promotion partners to share cost.
 Target your promotion to those target market segment.
 Measure and analyze your promotion efforts.
 Promotion
 Requires a careful study of past or comparable efforts, expert
guidance, and setting benchmarks for specific measurement.

 Event marketers use a variety of aspects to promote their

products –e.g. advertising, selling, publicity, logo, public
relation etc.
 Price
 Market research will help to determine price.
 Price
 Conducting a competitive analysis study.
 Can the event be provided at a price acceptable to customers?

 Can price packages be put together to support group attendance

or tourist rates?
 Price
 Factors to determine price are:
 The financial philosophy of the event – (profit or non profit).

 The perceived competition from similar events –

(price-competitive and raising the perception of value).

 The general economic conditions.

 Place
 The location – determine the channels of distribution.

 Determine the marketing efforts – to drive sales - designing

appropriate marketing program for the event.

 Implies the taste or style of the event, the type of person that
will be persuaded to invest.
The Marketing Planning Process
 The marketing planning process can be implemented in a
step-by-step progression that consists of seven stages:

1. Organization and event goals

2. Internal and External analysis

3. Marketing goals

4. Market selection

5. Marketing strategy

6. Organization and Implementation

7. Control
Process of Event Marketing
Establish the features of the product

Identify customers (segmentation)

Plan to meet audience needs and wants

Analyze consumer decision-making process

Establish price and ticket program

Promote the event

Evaluate marketing efforts

The Marketing Planning Process
 The marketing planning process can be implemented in a
step-by-step progression that consists of seven stages:

1. Organization and event goals

2. Internal and External analysis

3. Marketing goals

4. Market selection

5. Marketing strategy

6. Organization and Implementation

7. Control
1. Organization and event goals
 Needs to be aligned with the overall goals for the organization.

 Set specific event objectives that will be aligned with overall

goals.
 2. Internal and External
Analysis
 Including an internal marketing audit, situational analysis -
SWOT technique to identify internal and external situations,
customer and competitive analyses.
 Strengths (S)
 Weaknesses (W)
 Opportunities (O)
 Threats (T)
 3. Marketing Goals
 The setting of objectives for the marketing plan.
 To consider corporate goals so that the marketing
objectives can be aligned with them.
 Marketing goals can differ from event to event.
 4. Market Selection
 Segmentation of potential markets and selection of target
market.
 The basis of segmentation:
 Behaviour segmentation – buying, attitude, perceptions.
 Psychographic segmentation – lifestyle and personalities.
 Profile segmentation – demographic characteristics.
5. Marketing strategy
 5. Marketing strategy

 The specific marketing mix required for each target market in

order to achieve competitive advantage – product, price,
place, and promotions.

 A short-term strategy will consist of penetrating the market in

order to increase sales.

 A longer term strategy will focus on developing new products

for the same target markets or new markets.
 6. Organization and
implementation
 The scheduling, co-ordination and execution of the marketing
plan.
 There will be people and roles that are organized in order to
get the strategy done.
 How the organization structures to facilitate the plan- for
example some events do not have marketing department/unit.
 7. Control

 The creation of controls and performance indicators to enable

correction throughout the implementation of the marketing
plan, post-event measurement and comparison of results
against the objectives set with feedback for future
performance.

 Evaluation needs to be undertaken at the end of the process

as well as continually throughout it.

 There is a need for accurate detailed feedback the next time

the event is being managed.
Event Promotional Techniques

 Advertising

 Media relations and Publicity

 Selling

 Sale promotion

 Public relations
ADVERTISING
 Advertising is any form of non-personal promotion paid
for the event organisation.
 Radio, television, newspapers, magazines, a website,
outdoor advertising (billboards, bus shelters and toilet)
and mobile platforms such as buses and taxis are all
channels for advertising.
ADVERTISING
In creating advertising campaign for events and festivals, it is
necessary to:

 Provide tangible clues to counteract the intangible nature of

the event.

 Seek continuity over time by using recognizable symbols,

spokespersons, trademarks or music.

 Promise what is possible to foster realistic expectations.

 Make the service more tangible and recognizable by showing

members of the target market enjoying the event.
Media relations and Publicity
 Public relations (publicity) is used to build mutually
beneficial relation-ships with stakeholders and consumers

 It uses a wide range of tools, including publicity, special

promotional events, community consultation, e-publications
and traditional newsletters.
Media relations and Publicity
In this public relations role, you need to be the following:
 Attentive to the needs and expectations of your guest
 Mindful of their cultural expectations
 Flexible in your responses to their behaviour.
 Informative and helpful as a host
 Proactive in designing hosting situations to meet the
required protocol; and
 Able to make easy conversations.
Media relations and Publicity
In this public relations role, you need to be the following:
 Attentive to the needs and expectations of your guest
 Mindful of their cultural expectations
 Flexible in your responses to their behaviour.
 Informative and helpful as a host
 Proactive in designing hosting situations to meet the
required protocol; and
 Able to make easy conversations.
 Sale promotion

 Sales promotion consists of those activities that uses

incentives or discounts to increase sales or attendance

 Examples of sales promotion are family days at city shows or

exhibition, offering group discounts or a free ticket for one-
child.
 Selling
 Is the exchange of money for an existing product, service, or
programme.
 All staff involved in the event have a ‘selling’ job to do.
 Take every opportunity to interest potential visitors and
participants.
 Direct financial sales –merchandising, souvenir sales,
franchising and trading.