Module:2

Segmentation in Event Market:

• The concept of segmentation has been around
since at least the 1920s, and has been employed by
businesses and events of every shape and size.
• The idea is to try and understand the commonalities
amongst your most valuable attendees (or potential
attendees), and how they might differ from
everyone else in your event’s universe.
• That way, you can be much more targeted in
your event marketing strategy; and develop a strong
brand and positioning that will particularly appeal
to your high-value customers.
• However, given there are so many different ways to
potentially segment your audience, how should you
go about doing it?
• Since different customers – both clients and target
audience – differ in terms of various characteristics,
it is difficult to customize the communication
according to each individual.
• The need for segmenting the market on the basis of
broad features that make up the market also arises
in order to reach a compromise between mass
marketing and individual marketing by the event
organizers.
• An example of mass marketing in events is any
ticketed show such as a cricket match wherein
tickets for watching the game are sold to anybody
on a first come-first-served basis.
• Events are designed first and then opened to any
client for sponsorship. Individual marketing in
events can also be termed as customized events.
• These involve designing a concept suitable for one
particular client and its target audience (main
customers).
• Bases for Segmentation in B2C Markets Marketers can
segment the market using several relevant variables
or bases. These have been explained in this section.
• The marketer tries various bases and their
combinations to arrive at the best segmentation
opportunities for the event.
• Often, these bases are used in combination (multi-
stage segmentation).
• Segmentation of the target audience becomes very
important for event organizers since they define
which clients to approach for funding the events,
event category and variation that the event organizer
should focus on
Geographic Segmentation:
• In the case of products where there are clearly
identifiable differences in their usage from one region
to another, geography is an important variable for
segmenting the market.
• Marketers of such products segment the market by
climatic zone, country, region, state, cities, villages, and
districts to identify similar consumer behavior. India, as
a country is very diverse and big.
• Marketers of products like food items, clothes and
cosmetics realize that the requirements of consumers
in different regions like North India and South India are
very different. Even within North India, consumers
vary.
• For example, consumers in a state like Jammu and
Kashmir are very dissimilar from the consumers in
Uttar Pradesh.
• Thus it makes better sense to identify states and
districts within states as an important variable for
geographic segmentation.
• In India, the events organized in North India will be
very different from those in South India.
• A typical difference would be the type of music to
be played in a mass marketed event.
• In North India, generally it is the Hindi film music
which caters to the popular taste of masses, while
events in South India have a larger role of classical
music or at best regional film music, in regional
language, which is specific to that state.
• Geographic segmentation can help in the
organisation of urban and rural events.
• Urban events like IITF in New Delhi or IPL are more
westernized and cosmopolitan in their look and
feel.
• Rural events like annual fairs in towns such as
Meerut capture the local flavor more strongly.
• The food, music, shows and displays in rural events
are closely associated with the event’s specific
target audience.
• The urban events are organized in the time period
when important considerations are school holidays,
gaps between other events, and product launch by
a client.
• Rural events are generally organized around
harvesting season primarily because that is the only
time when the target audiences in the rural area
have some spare money and inclination to spend on
fun and enjoyment.
 Demographic Segmentation: Demographic bases
constitute nationality, religion, race, gender, age,
income level, education level, occupation, family
size, stage in family cycle, disposable incomes
(purchasing power), social status and so on.
• The marketers realize that consumers who are
similar on these bases are likely to demonstrate
similar consumer behavior towards many products.
• Variables like age (teenagers, young adults, middle
aged, senior citizens etc.), gender (female, male),
stage in family cycle (bachelor, married with no kids,
married with kids, divorced etc.)
• and purchasing power (low income group, middle
class, upper middle class, rich class etc.) are most
commonly used segmentation variables by
companies.
• India has the second largest population in the world
and the largest youth population. This itself makes
India an attractive destination for most of the global
companies.
• Understanding the demographics of the target
audience of the client is very important to create
and market the event to the clients for getting
sponsorship.
 Firmographics
• To paraphrase slightly, firmographics are to B2B
events, what demographics are to B2C events.
• This is a way of segmenting your potential
attendees based on the type of company they work
for.
• The most obvious way to do this would be based on
what industry they work in (e.g. aviation versus
manufacturing), often known as vertical
segmentation.
• However, another very common way to segment
event audiences is based on the job they do, such as
‘marketing,’ ‘sales,’ or ‘human resources,’ which is a
form of horizontal segmentation across different
industries.
• Of course, many events will combine the two, so
you’ll target ‘CFOs in tech,’ or ‘PR managers in travel
and tourism.’
• Other ways to target your attendees based on
firmographics would be company size, revenues or
profits.
 Psychographic Segmentation :The earlier two bases
for segmentation (geographic and demographic) are
easy to identify and quantifiable.
• However, many times it is realized that they are not
enough to define the consumers’ choice or behaviour.
• For example – two girl students in the same class of
the same college in the same city and belonging to
same socio-economic group still demonstrate
different liking to various events.
• One of them likes to go to film star’s live show while
the other one likes to watch a classical music concert.
The factors which cause these differences are known
as psychographics.
• The word ‘psychographics’ is a combination of
psychology and demographics. Psychographic
segmentation combines the effect of demographics
(explained above) with elements like lifestyle,
personality traits and value-system.
• In psychographic segmentation, questions about
activities, interests, opinion, and self-concept are
used to divide the same demographic group into
further homogeneous subsets.
• These variables are difficult to identify or quantify
and in-depth probing of consumers is required to
extract the relevant information about their
psychographics.
• As an example, you can see that passenger car
companies in India came up with Sports Utility
Vehicles (SUVs) targeted at a particular lifestyle and
attitude segment of the buyers (outgoing,
adventurous, nature-loving, risk takers, and non-
conformists).
• Event organizers can use variables like sports lovers,
outdoor adventure lovers, music enthusiasts,
knowledge seekers, lifestyle followers to segment
the target audience and create specific events for
these.
• In terms of how to use psychographics for
segmentation, One of the most well-known
methods is the so-called Values And Lifestyles
Segments (VALS), which bands people together
based on certain outlooks and attitudes.
• In the UK, one of the most well-known pre-existing
models was developed by Strategic Business
Insights, which has the following 6 segments:
• Activators are at the forefront of innovation,
consumer activity, and change and are the most
open to new ideas, products, and services.
• They have wide-ranging interests and a strong sense
of personal identity. Activators divide by motivation:
Tradition Activators, Achievement Activators, and
Self-Expression Activators.
• Traditionalists focus on preservation. They regulate
social change, forcing a reassessment of new ideas
in the light of proven and established standards and
ethical codes.
• Achievers relate achievements to the fruits of hard
work and professional endeavour. They focus on
success, status, and family. They value knowledge,
influence, and qualifications.
• Seekers want individuality, self-discovery, display,
and action. They actively seek self-gratification,
excitement, experimentation, and sociability.
• Pragmatics like to play safe. They dislike standing
out from their peer group and have a relatively low
attachment to any particular lifestyle.
• Similar to Activators, Pragmatic consumers
differentiate by motivation: Pragmatic
Involvers have a tradition motivation, Pragmatic
Rationals have an achievement motivation,
and Pragmatic Aspirationals have a self-expression
motivation.
• Constrained prefer to try to hold on to the familiar
and the past. Their world consists of immediate
family and a few friends, who reinforce rather than
challenge or renew their opinions and ideas.
• For your events, you might want to develop custom
psychographic profiles, such as ‘Networkers’ and
‘Wallflowers’ or ‘Team leaders’ and ‘Followers’
which will help you better target your marketing
messages in the right way to the right people.
 Behavioural Segmentation:The three bases of
segmentation described in the above sections are
based on user’s characteristics. Behavioural
segmentation, on the other hand, is based on usage
characteristics.
The factors used in behavioural segmentation for
events, as given by Kotler et al. are as follows.
• User status – existing users of the product. This
means, in what way do the target segments ‘use’
the event.
• User status includes potential attendees, non-
attendees, former-attendees, regular attendees and
first-time attendees.
• Loyalty to a brand – brand loyalists, brand
switchers, competition brand loyalists, and ex-users
of the brand determine its loyalty.
• Loyalty is determined by recurring events and helps
to establish whether particular members of a target
segment are loyal, somewhat loyal or completely
non loyal towards the event.
• Benefit sought from the product – different
benefits the consumers look for in an event.
• For example, Pepsi launched Diet-Pepsi for
consumers who wanted a cold drink but were
calorie conscious.
• Usage rate – light users, medium users or heavy
users of a product or service. For example – all
airlines identify their most frequent fliers and give
them the highest level of privileges.
• It has to be understood how frequently the target
segments use an event. Is there light attendance,
medium attendance or heavy attendance?
• Occasion of purchase – regular buyers, occasional
buyers, one-time buyers. Also, the company can
segment the market on the basis of specific
occasion of purchase by different customers.
• Companies like Hallmark and Archies Market
Segmentation have identified so many occasions on
which consumers like to gift cards and other items
to their near and dear ones.
• Similarly, event marketers need to understand at
which point do people attend events. Work and play
can be two key aspects in this regard.
• Attitude towards the event – the consumers can be
enthusiastic, negative, indifferent or unaware about
the product, and the company may segment the
market on the basis of these attitudes.
• When it comes to events, it depends on what the
target segment thinks about the event. Primary
research can be conducted to explore attitudes and
opinions about the event.
• Buyer readiness stage – In this criterion, target
segments are identified for their readiness to buy
the product or service (the event), in relation to
awareness and determination concerning a
particular product or service.
• They can be fully aware of the product, completely
unaware , aware but not interested, not ready to
buy although aware and informed, aware and ready
with the intention to buy, informed and wanting the
product / service but not able to buy due to certain
circumstances.
• These options and the number of people in these
categories have a major impact on the event
marketing plan, developing key messages, the
choice of particular communication strategies and
tactics to reach the chosen market segment(s).
Bases for segmentation in B2B markets
• Segmentation of clients is essential for event
management companies since not only is the
information on the brands, products or services of
the client important, but also the audience that the
client is going to target.
• With reference to the bases for segmentation in
B2C markets above these are the following are the
equivalent bases for segmentation in B2B Markets:
• Geographic – On the basis of geographical
location, segmenting business markets is more
relevant to some events than others in most cases.
• For example a local literary event will probably
target a sponsor from the same city..
• Likewise, mega events like Commonwealth or
Olympics will target their top-tier sponsors who are
multinationals with a strong global presence, such
as Coca-Cola, Nike and Visa
• Lower-level tiers will attract companies from the
city or country in which the event will be staged.
• But events like trade exhibitions and fairs will rely
heavily on segmenting their markets by
geographical location, as this will reflect the
geographical spread of the business or industry
which the event is meant for.
• Companyographics and Annual Turnover – Similar
to demographic criteria in consumer markets, the
companies can be divided into homogenous groups
based on the type of industry, product, size of the
company in terms of sales / profits, size of the
company (number of employees), scale of
operations, age of the company, end customers of
the targeted company and so on.
• Particularly large-scale events which will require
huge sponsorships will need to approach companies
that can provide sizeable amounts for sponsorship
or for another form of participation in an event, like
exhibiting at an international trade show.
• Industry sector and / subsector – This kind of a
segmentation is more useful Market Segmentation
to events than segmentation on the basis of
geographical location.
• Businesses from a particular industry sector or
subsector will highlight a particular type of product
or service and this will be useful in linking up with
the profile of the individuals attending that event.
• Company’s culture and objectives – Companies can
be conservative, modern, risk-averse, and risk-
takers in their overall approach towards buying.
• They can be extremely cost conscious on one hand,
or value maximizers on the other.
• Company reputation - A company is assessed and
graded for its reputation too. Engagement of such
companies with their audiences is strong, and
leaves them with a memorable event experience.
• Attractiveness of products / services offered by a
company – It is important to understand the profile
of the core attendees / audiences of an event.
• In this case the companies will be targeted
depending on how attractive their products are to
the audience segments.
• This attractiveness will be determined by the
consumer preferences of the expected event
attendees.
• But it should not be mistaken that just because a
company delivers luxury services or products, it will
be perceived as ‘more attractive.’
• For example in a geographical area where there is
poor employment, a job fair attracting companies
producing high-end shoes as its intended consumer
audiences will be a flop.
• Benefit segmentation - can be used for
segmentation of clients effectively.
• Segmentation on the basis of different levels of the
benefits offered by events – such as reach and
interaction, can be termed as benefit segmentation.
• Therefore, clients can be segmented into clients
seeking high reach with less interaction, equal reach
and interaction or low reach with high interaction.
• Each of the event variations discussed earlier could
also be converted into tangible event market
segments.
• Relevance of Market Segmentation to Event
Management Companies: Event management
companies target many corporates for getting
sponsorship support for their events.
• Event marketing integrates the corporate sponsorship
of an event with a whole range of marketing elements
such as advertising, sales promotion, and public
relations.
• Two basic reasons have contributed to the popularity
of corporate sponsorship for events:
• 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.
• The resulting brand awareness reinforces the product
or service, and drives sales.
• Its success has attracted companies of all sizes and with
any budget.
• The ‘property’ or event also profits tremendously from
the deal as the corporation gains a financial partner, a
supplemented advertising budget, and added leverage
to sell tickets.
TASKS INVOLVED IN SEGMENTATION
• Since customer characteristics stand distributed over
several variables, a company can segment the market
through a combination of several variables / bases.
Two relevant approaches to segmentation are
discussed below.
• User based segmentation – This is also known as the
top-down approach.
• The company first uses the geographic segmentation to
identify similar layers in the markets followed by further
segmentation based on demographics, lifestyle and
attitude.
• These segments are refined further by adding the
relevant behavioural variables.
• Usage based segmentation – This is also known as
bottom-up approach. The company first studies the
behavioural patterns of the potential customers,
and then finds commonality on the basis of
psychography, demography and geography.
• Increasingly, the companies are resorting to the
bottom-up approach.
• The aim is to go as deep as possible in segmenting
the market, subject only to practicality.
• The companies try to spot and choose segments
that are most attractive and most suited to the
products of the company.
The tasks involved in segmentation are given below:
• Profiling the differences between one segment and
the other in terms of their wants / value
requirements and their likely responses to a
particular product offer and other marketing mix
elements.
• Finding out, by what descriptive characteristics can
consumers be tagged to a specified segment.
• Disaggregating the consumers into suitable
segments based on the above two steps.
• Checking whether it is possible to formulate
separate marketing programmes / marketing mix
for the different segments.
• Identifying which segments will be particularly
attracted to the offerings of the company and
hence, can be called as the target segment for the
company.
• Estimating the likely purchase level by each of the
segments.
• Ensuring that the segments are attractive and
effective.
TARGETING
After segmentation, choosing the target market
comes as an integral aspect in the formulation of
marketing strategy.
• After drawing up the profile of the identified
segments and having assessed their attractiveness,
the company decides to target one or more of these
segments where it believes it has better chance of
creating success for itself.
• The event organizer, after defining the market
segments, needs to select one or more of these
segments to enter, consolidate and grow.
• Attractiveness of a segment can be measured in
terms of the potential reach and scope for
interaction that the segment provides.
• Greater the reach and interaction, greater is the
attractiveness for clients and thus, larger the growth,
profitability, scale economies and so on of the
segment for event organizers.
• The targeting decision is also contingent Market
Segmentation upon other considerations such as ease
with which members of the segment can be won over.
Dissatisfied clients of other event organizers can be
very attractive target segments.
• The clients’ business worth in terms of event-spend in
the event category that the organizer is interested in,
and the loyalty and ability to influence other clients is
also an important part of the decision making for
targeting clients.
• Next, the event organizer’s specialization, skills and
long term objectives, which decide the event
categories, should be in tune with the requirements
of the segments.
• In this section, you can understand the various
targeting options for an event organizer using a
market segment and event specialization
combination matrix.
• Kotler has described five targeting options used by
companies based on the market segmentation and
product development (event development)
combination.
• In the below diagrams, ‘M’ represents the market
segment and ‘P’ represents the product.
• Single Segment Concentration M1 M2 M3 P1 P2 P3
The company using this option will concentrate its
targeting to one segment of the market with one
product matching its requirement.
• For example – an event management company may
just specialize in destination wedding (product)
targeting a particular segment.
2) Selective Specialization M1 M2 M3 P1 P2 P3
Marketing Concepts The company will select more
than one product-segment combination, which it
wishes to target.
• For instance, the event management company is
into organizing events such as sports events, fund
raising events and also corporate events for
different market segments.
3) Product Specialization (event specialization) M1 M2
M3 P1 P2 P3 The company wishes to create an
image of a product specialist.
• In that case, the company will target various
segments with the same product, though there will
be minor modifications in the product to suit each
segment’s unique requirements.
• For example – an event management company may
just specialize in entertainment events which could
be for market segments like birthday parties,
cultural events or any other social events.
4) Market Specialization M1 M2 M3 P1 P2 P3 The
company wishes to create an image of a consumer
segment specialist.
• In that case, the company focuses their target on
one segment and strives to fulfill all the
requirements of that segment through various
product developments.
• For example – an event management company may
decide to be known as an event specialist for
Bollywood celebrities as their only customer segment
and may organize all kinds of events for them.
5) Full Market Coverage Market Segmentation M1 M2
M3 P1 P2 P3 In this targeting option, the objective of
the company is to cover the entire product-segment
combination.
This is possible only for a company with enough
resources and scale of operation.
• Typically, the largest company or the market leader
company follows full market coverage targeting
strategy.
• Looking at the attractiveness of the target audience,
the corporates are very clear in their objectives.
• For example, when it comes to college festivals –
ambitious brand conscious students fit right into
their target audience profile– be it for toothpaste,
website, cold drinks, mobile phones – and the
festival offers both easy and direct access to this
group.
• Even a car company is interested in them since they
will be the customers of tomorrow.
• Event organizers should take this factor into account
when targeting clients
Event Property:
• What is called brand in marketing parlance
associated with consumer and industrial products
can be termed as event property in events
marketing.
• Event property is that feature of an event concept
that detaches the event from the constraints posed
by canvassing.
• It virtually creates an event concept that can be
organized perpetually using different artists and
venues for different clients and target audiences.
• It involves constraining the degrees of freedom with
which the event can be carried out while at the same
time removing any constraints from the path of the
event moving towards a pre-planned affair year after
year.
• The event property also has the characteristic that it
belongs to the event organizer and cannot be taken
away or stolen by competitors.
• For example, the Miss India-a beauty and talent
contest-is the event carried out annually irrespective
of the change in the contestants, judges, venues,
clients and target audience, etc. Femina, a part of the
Times of India Group, owns the event and its event
property.
• The event property of the Miss India pageant is its
official recognition as a national contest for
selecting the Indian representatives for the Miss
Universe, Miss World and the Miss Asia Pacific
contests.
• This makes it very difficult nigh impossible for any
competitor to steal the concept away.
Retaining Event Property:
• A major part of marketing planning and strategy
should be devoted at the conceptualization stage
for identifying the event property before canvassing
for clients.
• For instance, organizing a music concert without an
event property would amount to forcibly making
the event a one-off affair.
• Since every event concept undergoes variations and
improvements it is imperative that to enable
acceptance of the successful repetition of the
event, the event property be identified and
incorporated in the final concept.
• Retention of the event property frees the event
organizers from the hazards imposed by the
uncertainty of association of clients and target
audience with the event.
• It also frees them from the need to pamper the
event infrastructure elements and can therefore be
more professional in their business.
• Threading an event property into the event concept
perpetuates the event giving it a whole new aura of
exclusivity.
• Just as the Miss India example cited above, every
event that has a definite event property attached
with it has a fixed periodicity of occurrence to
ensure that the maximum benefits are derived from
the event.
• The Olympic Games in the sporting arena is the
perfect example
• Occurring every four years, the Olympics move to
different countries and have different athletes,
officials, clients and target audience every time.
• But still, the event property is providing athletes
from the entire world a common platform to
compete in different competitive events to bring
glory to their respective nations with a spirit of
bonhomie.
• The difference between the Olympics and similar
events such as World Cup lies in the event property
associated with the former.
• The Olympics provides equal opportunity to the
maximum number of nations for almost every
recognized sporting event unlike the World Cup,
which are game specific events.
• In addition, the spirit of participation and patriotism
is considered to be more important than actual
victory or defeat.
Event Management Hierarchy
• Event management hierarchy reveals all the
management groups involved in explicit event
management trend.
• But some of the major and important levels of
the event management hierarchy are discussed
below in a manner of ladder that starts with the
utmost management level in event management
while ending with the lowest one. Just have a quick
look –
1. Event Coordinator
2. Event Planner
3. Client Service Event Manager
4. Event Manager
5. Event Assistant
Event Coordinator
• Event coordinators are the top level management
officials in the event management hierarchy.
• These professionals are responsible for managing as
well as coordinating all the crucial work details that
are required for an event’s proper smooth working
with huge immense success.
• These management high level officials normally
work as freelancers as well as on committed
manner.
• They are hired by organizations, trade associations,
corporations as well as non-profit associations to
work for them.
• The events managed by these high officials include
sales meetings, trade shows, employee
appreciation, business meetings, virtual events and
many more such events.
Event Planner
• Event planning may seem quite easy to people but
it incorporates numerous things to be handled at
the same time.
• This position just simply does not mean planning a
party like we all do.
• This management position requires lot of skills
along with management qualities in a professional
to be an exquisite event planner.
• This management position is all about vision,
details, facts and organization along with the
amorous means to pull off both small and big
events without any problems.
Client Service Event Manager
• This is also one high level management job title in
the event management hierarchy.
• These are commendable and admirable
professionals whose major job responsibilities
revolve around maintaining an exquisite and fine
communication with the customers of the company.
• Satisfying the customer’s queries come under their
job duty for the benefit of the company.
• These professionals team up with the sales staff
and operational staff in order to improve the service
level for the company.
Event Manager
• The event manger is a professional normally
responsible to make sure that all the events and
shows go on smoothly.
• These people handle everything of the event on
practical basis from scheduling to catering to
decoration.
• All the people performing this task are handled
under the explicit supervision of the event manager.
In short they manage everything of an event not on
paper but on practical basis.
Event Assistant
• Event assistants as the name implies provide their
amorous assistance to the high level event
management officials in envisaging the event plans,
conceiving and producing the events under the
supervision of high event management officials.
• Their major core job areas involve exhibitions,
festivals, product launches, conferences, fairs along
with other social events.
• These professionals work effectively and efficiently
as a part of the event management team.
Categorisation of Events
• Events can be described as a public assembly for the
purpose of celebration,education, marketing or
reunion. They can be classified on the basis oftheir
size, type and context, as listed below:
1. Events can be grouped under the following heads
based on the context:
i. Family events are those where family members,
relatives, friends join together to celebrate an
occasion e.g., birthday, marriage, wedding
anniversary, house-warming or religious functions.
ii. Community events are those where members of a
particular community get together to celebrate
occasions like Christmas, Holi,Diwali , Independence
Day.
iii. Professional/Business events are those where
professionals from one particular area get together to
celebrate an occasion,
e.g.,Engineers Association celebrating the World
Engineers Day, Indian Trade Industry hosting a round
table meeting on a topical issue, Architects’
Association hosting meeting of Green Building
Council, Residents’ Welfare Association organising
award giving function to honour residential
associations adopting green practices.
iv. Public events are occasions where public meetings
are organised e.g., an pre-election meeting of a
political party to select volunteers, marches like
Common Wealth Games Torch being taken to
different parts of the country, rallies against
corruption, crimes against women, for social justice.
v. Campaigns are occasions/public meetings such as
Election campaigns, Polio vaccination Days,
HIV/AIDS awareness programme, awareness for
Energy saving.
vi. Fairs and Exhibitions are events organised to
enhance exposure.
• They bring together likeminded people/those with
similar interests for better synergy and for a specific
purpose, like, India International Trade Fair, Book
Fairs, Handloom exhibition, Dastkar/Food Bazar.
2. We can divide events in two categories, based on
the extent of formality
involved —
i. Personal and informal events like a birthday party,
marriage, kitty party etc.
ii. Formal and official events like a Product launch,
Road Shows,Conferences, Seminars, National or
International Programmes, etc.
Another classification of events could be based on
the nature of event —
i. Social/life-cycle events like birthday party,
graduation day,bachelor’s party, engagement,
wedding anniversary, retirement day.
ii. Education and career events like education fair, job
fair, workshop/seminar, debate, contest,
competition.
iii. Sports events like Olympics, World Cup, Marathon,
Wimbledon, etc.
 iv. Entertainment events like music concerts, fairs,
festivals, fashion/jewellery shows, award functions,
celebrity nights, beauty pageant,stage shows etc.
v. Political events like political procession,
demonstration,rally,political functions etc.
vi. Corporate events like MICE (Meetings, Incentives,
Conferences,Exhibitions), product launches, road
shows, buyer-seller meet etc.
vii. Religious events like religious festivals/fairs, religious
procession,Katha, Pravachan, Diwali fair, Dussehra fair
etc.
viii. Fund raising/Cause related events : events organised
for raising funds like auction or cause-related events.
• Fund raising may be an integral part of all the
events irrespective of the category since funds are
essential to celebrate any event.
• In case of family events, expenses are incurred by
the individual family, whereas in institutions, it is
the responsibility of the institution to provide funds.
• Alternatively fund raising is done by an in-house
organising team or else the task is outsourced to an
event management company.
 Competitive Events in Marketing–Concept, Types,
and Characteristics:
Core concept:
• This may involve a test of physical strength, mental
ability and talent or a combination of these.
• A challenge between two or more entities whether
individuals or in teams from different communities
these individuals or teams may be either amateur
or professionals.
• A competitive event may be sophisticated and
controlled variation of crude warfare that involves
patriotism, pain and pride in victory.
• It can also be an encounter purely with the intention
of enjoying the clash of skills and the mastery of
intricacies involved in the event by the participants.
Types of competitive events:
• Competitive events can be divided into various types.
• These are contests which test sporting skills, artistic
talents, knowledge levels or compare participants on
the basis of any other parameter as a constraint
within a certain set of rules and regulations
applicable to all.
• Sports, Talent and Beauty contests are the most
visible examples of competitive events.
Characteristics:
• Competitive events, being the most popular events
category, have tended to become mass audience
oriented.
• The live telecast opportunity for the television
media – and thereby increased scope for reach and
revenue-has tended to blur the interaction part of
the benefit that events provide.
• In addition, the excitement generated during such
an event grips the spectators. Any interaction
diverting their attention from the contest could be
perceived as an intrusion.
• Therefore, competitive events provide more reach
and fewer interactions. Given these characteristics,
competitive events are primarily used for:
(i) Visibility and exposure to the brands
(ii) Prolonged impact
(iii) Corporate/brand awareness
(iv) Consolidating the positioning of brands
(v) Merchandising and sale of licensed products
around the event
• The most popular competitive events are sporting
events.
• The hysteria surrounding the 2000 Olympic Games
held in Australia is proof of the popularity
associated with sports so much so that it is touted
as the “greatest show on planet Earth Games have
always evolved from the ethos and lifestyles of the
people.
• Converting everyday activity by exaggerating the
constraints into a competition was a sure shot way
to have fun and test peoples’ courage and wisdom.
• If not each community, in general every nation at
least has a few games that have evolved
indigenously.
• The popularity of sporting events and its prolonged
impact can be judged by the relaunch of Prudential,
a UK-based insurance company, in India.
• The Prudential World Cup of 1983 will remain
forever etched in the minds of millions of cricket
aficionados in India.
• One of the world’s greatest all-rounder’s and the
Indian captain in the 1983 World Cup held in
England, Kapil Dev, and his team made India proud
by winning the cup against all odds.
• They defeated the mighty West Indies who had won
the two previous World Cup. This had sent the
nation into frenzied celebrations unmatched till
date.
• That was the year 1983. Exactly fifteen years later,
Prudential, which had pulled out of India due to
some reasons, was on the front pages of leading
Indian newspapers and in the reports on the
multitude of satellite channels.
• The stars of 1983 – to be precise, the entire team
was present at the launch ceremony where a replica
of the Prudential Cup was awarded in a mock
ceremony to Kapil Dev by a top- ranking official
from Prudential.
• There was not a single advertisement released
neither in newspapers nor on television.
• Yet, every cricket fan was aware of the re-entry of
Prudential into India.
• This is just a post-event benefit. There are other
numerous benefits attached to being associated
with competitive events.
• They have a prolonged impact because one can
build on a competitive event, have follow-ups, and
feature a series for many weeks before and after
the event.
• The sponsor can have curtain- raisers and curtain-
downers, and thus keep the event alive.
• Still a new and exotic game for Indians, Bacardi
Asian Beach Volley ball Championship on the
Chowpatty beach in Mumbai fitted in perfectly with
the brand image and exposure requirements of
Bacardi, a liquor brand launched in India in late
nineties.
• The reason for this interest in sports is due to the
extensive national and international television
coverage thus providing visibility and exposure to
the brands of the sponsoring firms at a relatively
low cost.
• Adding to the excitement is the prospect of live
coverage providing greater value to the audience
and an opportunity for a larger reach during the
event.
• The tremendous increase in popularity of
competitive events for sponsorship can be
attributed to the advent of satellite television.
• Moving beyond corporate / brand awareness,
competitive events are also being used by corporate
for consolidating the positioning of brands in the
minds of the consumers.
• For example, sponsoring sporting events such as
golf, polo, tennis, squash, etc. is akin to marketing a
lifestyle for the well-heeled elite audience.
• The 1996 Miss World pageant sponsored by Godrej
with ABCL handling the marketing and management
of the show is another example that can be cited
here.
• Coming as it were, after the crowning of Sushmita
Sen and Aishwarya Rai as Miss Universe and Miss
World respectively, it was an ideal opportunity for
Godrej to consolidate its position as a world-class
company especially, after the restructuring of its tie-
up with Procter & Gamble.
• Sports venues usually have multiple sponsors and
the entire playing area is surrounded by branding
opportunities. The boundaries especially are prime
spots.
• Other unique branding opportunities exist in
different games. In tennis, for instance, the guts of
the rackets of players carry the logo of the sponsor.
• Same can be seen on the dress or uniform that the
players wear. The 1998 World Cup soccer
tournament in France is the ultimate example of the
popularity of sporting events with sponsors.
• The total value of the 12 World Cup sponsors and
the organizing committee was about $428 million.
• In addition to this, the turnover from the sale of
World Cup licensed products was estimated at over
$1 billion.
• And these figures do not include money by other
advertisers.
• Other sponsors include those who have agreed to
back World Cup teams or for providing free services
to the organisers or for television broadcasting rights.
• The competitive spirit is not only restricted to the
sporting arena. Creative minds and spirits also
equally share the limelight when it comes to
competition.
• De Beers, the World’s largest diamond mining
company, in association with The Gem and Jewellery
Export Promotion Council, organized a unique
competition to commemorate the beginning of the
new millennium-the premier Annual National
Diamond Design Contest.
• The focus of the contest was the creative diamond
jewellery designs that women would love to wear in
the new Millennium.
• De Beers took special pleasure in inviting all
designers to participate in a design competition
artists a great opportunity to exhibit their talent on
a scale like never before.
• It was undoubtedly a competition that offered
talented designers a platform to display their
brilliance on the world stage and to win national as
well as international recognition.
• Most importantly, the winning designers got an
opportunity to be the Creator of the Millennium
Diamond Design and to attend The Diamond
International Awards ceremony in Paris.
• At the event, referred to as the Oscar’s in Jewellery
Awards, three Indian jewellery designers won the
Diamond International Awards 2000 amongst 30
millennium winners.
• The presentation was during the Haute Couture
week. The year 2000 competition broke all records
for entries with 2530 designs submitted from 42
countries.
• The winners came from 17 countries: Australia,
Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Hong
Kong, India, Italy, Israel, Japan, Korea, Mexico,
South Africa, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom
and United States of America.
• The post- event follow up included an Indian
Exhibition in October 2000 where the Indian
audience too had a chance to see the latest talent
as the Diamonds International Awards 2000
Collection was on a world tour after the awards
presentation in Paris.
Artistic Expressions:
• Presentation of artistic talent as entertainment to
the audience. It may involve singing, dancing,
Theatre,etc and is a form of expression of emotion
and freedom.
• Types of events for artistic expression music
concerts, Dance ballets and other stage
performances are the most popular forms of artistic
expression.
• These are purely for the sake of entertaining the
audience.
Characteristics:
• Since Entertainment is the sole and major objective
at such events, the audience resents any commercial
interaction, though the client and event organizer
may appreciate substantial interaction.
• Therefore ,events for artistic expression provide
opportunity for more reach and fewer interactions
due to which the major benefits that such event
offers to potential sponsors are:
- Consolidation of the image of their brands
- Post Event mileage
- Excellent Coverage Prospects
- Live or Deferred telecast
• An Avenue for Expression of the personification of the
brand image. Universal appeal among different
sections of society.
• Music has always had universal appeal among different
sections of society.
• Depending on the type of music and image of the
Band/Performer, Sponsors use musical events to keep
up the contemporary image of their brands by
sponsoring events with which their target audience
identifies most.
• For Instance,ThumUp Sponsors rock concerts inviting
groups like Indus Creed, Agni and other Contemporary
bands to reinforce its youthful, Joyous and vibrant
image.
• The Brand also Lays emphasis on the indigenous
image built up over the years as a parle brand
taking on the MNC Challenge.
• In Fact, by pitting Thumps Up against Pepsi, Coca-
Cola-Which acquired the brand from Parle is
fighting Pepsi on the Two Fronts.
• Coke Sponsors Foreign Performers like Whifield in
India and Thums- Up Sponsors Local Performers and
Bands.
• The Advent of satellite channels has given a boost
to musical events in that these events provide
excellent coverage prospects and an opportunity for
unmatched and exclusive rights to television
software for post-event mileage.
• A Live Telecast,If possible,gives a tremedous boost
to the event and becomes a much talked about
programme for a long time.
• Stage Performances and Musical Events are also
used extensively by cigratte and liquor companies
to consolidate the image of their brands.
• For Example,The Vazir Sultan Tobacco company
sponsors ‘Spirit of Freedom’ Concerts every year
providing an avenue for expression of the
personification of the brand image of charms.
• Similarly,Liquor companies have in the recent past
sponsored musical performances such as Ila Arun
Live,Which had a wild and raunch air at the show.
• Musical events also attract multiple sponsors and
clients.Usually,One main and a set of cosponsors
and clients.
• Usually,One main and a set of cosponsors are taken
on and allowed to make use of the branding
opportunities.
• The Venue or location is usually covered with
banners and posters or colours of the sponsors.
Cultural Celebrations:
• Get Togethers and Celebrations of events that carry
mythological religious significance and/or have
traditional values attached by a particular
community with homogenous characteristics.
Types:
• Fairs and Festivals are well Known events in this
category.Starting from the innumerable rural
festivals that may also involve business transactions
between merchants form far and near to college
festivals is essentially a get together.
• College festivals involve Friendly contests and
performance by and for the student community,
rural fairs and festivals are essentially a local affair.
• Such events comprise of a host of smaller events
that could be from the other categories.
• Fairs and Festivals have their root in religious
tradition and Rituals.
• These were basically designed to pass on
Knowledge to the next generation by the elders.
Characteristics:
• Given the Openness,Free entry and Informality in
most of these events,Sponsors with innovative
interaction points are actually appreciated by the
audience.
• Since most of the audience at such events usually
walks in on their free will,They are more receptive.
• The Intervals in Between the smaller events also
offer interaction Opportunities.
• Since Cultural events provide greater opportunity
for interaction and reach,They Provide participating
sponsors:
- 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 to the Point
- Avoid any sort of Clutter
- Chance to Innovate
- Direct sale opportunity.
• It is Fairly Old Phenomenon that merchants have
been coming to the large fairs and festivals and
joining in the celebrations with the general Public.
• Discount offers during the eve of festivals are now a
common event.
• Another Factor Associated with the larger fairs and
Festivals of India is the Predominantly rural nature
of the events.
• Rural fairs and Festivals are opening up new
marketing horizons for the corporate sector.
• The Business sense in sponsoring such an event
shows from the fact that television covers barely
less percent of rural India.
• Marketers are always on the lookout for ways by
which to reach this enormous consumer base
effectively.
• Some simple statistics on the Fifty Biggest rural fairs
will drive home the importance of events in the
rural context and why they are such an attractive
medium for sponsors who are thronging to put their
budgets for these festivals.
• The Following is a summary of the number of
festivals regionwise which shows that just the top
fifty fairs and festivals in India attract a combined
audience of almost 5.66 crores.And India has an
estimated 5000 Different Festivals.
• We Leave it to the reader to Extrapolate on the
audience that these would attract.
• Through well-Designed Campaigns at such fairs it is
possible to generate very high top of mind
awareness among the rural population.
• A Fair or Festival offers a good platform for mass
promotion. The Audience on such occasions is a
media Buyers Dream.
• With a Minimum of spill over, Firms can make a
pinpoint communication with a literally captive
audience because these fairs are the only mode of
mass entertainment for the rural population and
therefore most of them will be there plus an added
advantage here is that people cannot change
channels.
• Richard Schechner in his Book, The Future of
Ritual,States that in the Indian Tradition,There are
plenty of warrants for large scale events-
• These Performances are synasthetic,I.e these events
involve complete sensory awareness,a high level of
audience participation and the combination of
several art forms like music,dance,poetry as well as
people of different faith.
• These events provide an avenue for moving beyond
straight sponsorship or visual advertising by
allowing innovative techniques of promotions to
evolve.
• For Example,HLL Used a giant boat for a large sized
Lifebuoy hoarding at Alwaye in the annual boat race
during the Onam festival in Kerala.
• Colgate splashed its name on kites during the Kite
Festival in Ahmedabad and so on.
• Such Creative Promotions are Possible and they ensure
that nobody in the audience misses out on the
exposure.
• If we go through the core Concept of cultural
celebrations,we understand that get togethers in a
student community organised informally by amateurs
who come together and do voluntary work as
coordinators and staff falls entirely within the purview
of the cultural celebration category.
Charitable Events:
• Collection and Dispersal of funds for social welfare
and creating awareness for a worthy cause.
Types:
• Mass Based social welfare events usually employ
concepts from other event categories such as music
concerts, Cricket matches etc.For espousing the
cause.
• These Help in not only creating awareness but also
aid in fund raising for research into problems being
faced by the mankind such as AIDS,Cancer,etc.
• Charity events are necessarily case-oriented and
depending on the requirement of the cause,In
terms of reach and Interaction desirable,the event
category to be employed is chosen.
• Institutional Goodwill events such as
awards,Parades,charity fashion shows,sponsorship
of community events can all be called charitable
events since only goodwill and no direct commercial
benefit is sought from the event.
Characteristics:
• Usually there are three main players here;The artist
or celebrity, the charitable institution and the
event organiser.
• The Chemistry between these Three works as
follows; The Charity needs the funds, The artist
needs the publicity and for the event organisers its
business as usual.
• A New, Mutually Beneficial Relationship Between
the cause and sponsor has led to a Significant shift
in the paradigm of Social Marketing.
• Cause-Led Marketing efforts are gaining ground
because of their positive rub off on the firms image
and the free media publicity.
• It Works better than the best advertising.Marketers
are happy with this event category because there is
a possibility of the entertainment tax being waived.
• There is also a possibility of getting large discounts
in media in terms of time and space as well as free
publicity in the form of reports of the same.
• These Reports are carried not only in the print
media but also on the numerous programmes on
the multitude of satellite channels.
• It offers Corporate a role in moulding social change
at the same time yielding impressive results in terms
of promotion.
• Of Course, Good intentions are not always so
obvious and tend to attract adverse comments and
reactions from detractors.
• Charitable events provide high reach but low
interaction opportunities.
• The Benefits that such event provides to sponsors
are:
-Societal Marketing Opportunity
-Positive rub-off 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 Event:
• Being Different and Getting Noticed for Direct
Commercial Gain.
Characteristics
• Special Business events usually provide equal
opportunity for reach and interaction. In Fact, since
these are client driven, most special events are
usually interaction oriented as much as reach
oriented.
• The Entire Event is Customized to accommodate the
requirement of the clients.
Product Launches:
• With the entry of multinational brands into India,
there has been a sudden spurt in mega launch
activities using innovative ideas.
• The advantage form such events is that the invited
audience gets a first hand experience of the
product.
• Morever,The Accompanying media coverage lends
much credibility to the product.
• Creating and Celebrating an event is a sort of
investment in Brand Building.
• In Fact, Reports say that after a mega launch using
pop music and dance evening as the launch event,
Smirnoff was selling two and a half times more than
it expected to sell in Mumbai.
• Mega Launches give a flying start to a brand,
Though how long and how much it would
subsequently fly depends on the intrinsic strength
of the brand and not on the launch event alone.
• At The same Time, The scale and Scope of a launch
also depends on the product and its characteristics.
Retail Events:
• There is also a growing emphasis being placed on
special events by retailers.
• They all have a common objective to generate
sales.Special events are expected to attract
customer traffic.
• Thus customers can be exposed to the merchandise
the store wants to sell.
• Because of the growing importance of special
events,some retailers have combined the
responsibility for special events with publicity.
 Different Types of special retail events are as
follows:
Merchandisng Events:
• Merchandising works on the basis of encashing the
popularity of events and the core people and items
involved in them.
• A Visit to a store by a celebrity from the event
would be a merchandising event.
• This is aimed at Increasing the customer traffic at
the stores that sells the special items of the event
such as Tshirts,Teddy Bears,Dolls,Bracelets,Caps or
any Item that Becomes popular because of the
event.
• Such merchandising events add to the revenue that
an event organizer can earn during and after the
actual event.
Demonstrations and Showings
• An event which has a low reach and Direct
Interaction demonstrations are very useful as part
of any event campaign for clients who need to
explain the workings and benefits of their products
elaborately.
• Demonstrations such as those given on usage of
wigs, kitchen peelers, the V Slicer etc are examples
of these.
• In Fact,Tele Shopping Companies such as TSN Have
organized moving vans carrying the innovative items
shown on television so that people can touch and feel
them before purchasing.
Special Sales Inducements:
• Reach and Interaction that a client desires from an
event eventually need to be converted into tangible
purchases by the target audience.
• Special Sales Inducements events are right at the
cutting edge of this requirement.
• Two-for-one sales, one rupee sales, contests and
competitions such as slogan writing as well as
giveaways such as free samples of merchandise,
shopping bags, reusable packaging etc.
• Fall under this type of special events.In the not too
distant past,a major branded jeans showroom in
downtown Mumbai had offered buyers of goods
above a certain amount an extra jeans for just one
Rupee one with resounding success.
• The offer of buy two cielos and get one Free by
Daewoo Motors in mid 1998 is yet another example
of special Inducement Events.
Film and Television Based Events:
• Capitalizing on the craze for films, Companies are
adopting various methods to use this to their
advantage.
• With the advent of satellite television and
proliferation of channels, the audience has got so
fragmented that sponsoring the screening of a
popular movie is a better alternative for addressing
an audience that is largely drawn from the target
segment of the firms product.
• By Converting the get together of stars from the
launch of the shooting of the film(Muhurat) to the
promotion of the film after launch and the
celebration of completion of various landmark days
for the film into noteworthy special events the
sponsoring firm can get good mileage.
• Though sponsoring film based events can be very
effective as a promotional tool, It Lends a very poor
recall rate for the sponsors of most events.
• A Survey conducted put the recall rate for sponsors
at 9% for a sponsored premiere of a Hit Hindi Film
Khalnayak as compared to a high of 43% for the
sponsors of Miss India Viz Femina.
• This can be attributed to the fact that while it is
possible to prefix the sponsors name and call the
Event Femina Miss India,It Would not be Possible to
name a film so.
• Characteristics of film based events are maximum
reach with least interaction.
• At The same Time, events primarily designed for the
Television medium such as Colgate Gel Boogie
Woogie and Close up Antakshari,Bournvita Quiz
Contest Leverage on exactly this Prime Branding
opportunity for their Sponsors.
Web Based Events:
• Just a Decade Back the concept of using the
computer for anything beyond just scientific
programming was non existent.
• Today,You have Webinars i.e Web Based seminars
and Web Casting,i.e Broadcasting on the web of
events and live transmission of scoreboards of
competitive events via the internet.
• Crickinfo.com was one of the foremost sites to
launch a live scoreboard for cricket on-Line
targeting the millions of Indian Cricket Aficionados.
• These Web based events and Internet Friendly
event information with details are targeted towards
bringing interactively over the web to the net savy
target audience.
• American OnLine(AOL.Com) is very active in
arranging exclusive live web events ranging from
shows featuring Madonna as a guest,to a live
coverage of Olympics and the Presidental Elections
Campaign Events.
• On These Live events,AOL Subscribers,Which are
the target audience here,get to watch questions
and answers unfold in real time,submit questions to
the guest, chat with other audience members.
Event Variations:
• Several Variations of these event categories can be
created by changing the event design.
• These changes can be made to accommodate
various factors such as time, risk,
budget,location,value,concept,artiste and the client.
• Further classification becomes necessary since the
core concept can be augmented by innumerable
variations.
• Sub Classifications under each of the variations are
also very important by themselves since each of
these has the potential to completely change the
look of the entire event.
• For Instance, If an event is pre planned, there is
enough time to create big budget, greater value
added events with established artists and stars.
• Similarly, if the budget is a constraint then multi
location, high creative content events get ruled out.
• Some of the different bases for event variations are
as follows:
Time Frame Based Events:
• On the Basis of the time period involved in planning
and executing an event,one,can classify events into
pre-planned and ad –Hoc Events.
Pre-Planned Events:
• These are Events that occur or are made to occur on
a regular basis and on fixed dates.
• These are definite every year and more or less
event company driven.
• These events lend an opportunity to create and
maintain an appropriate property of the event as
the main takeaway from the event for the event
management company.
• A Property can be defined as that characteristics of
the event that can be said to belong to interested
parties and which cannot be easily copied.
• For Example, The Femina Miss India contest is a
property that belongs to Femina-a Womens
Magazine.
• The Contestants change every year and winners
come and go, But the contest keeps going on.
Ad Hoc Events:
• These Events can be described as events that come
in between fixed events. These are irregular and
need to be conceptualized and executed at short
notice.
• These are mostly client driven since they may not
be having the expertise and infrastructure to
arrange for the same at short notice.
• An Event management company adds value to the
ad hoc event by making use of its established
sourcing and networking abilities.
Risk Rated Event:
• Depending on the Business and Marketing strategy
of the event agency the following aspects of events
get decided:
• Sponsored Events
These Events carry the least risk from the event
organisers point of view.
• Such events are usually meant for specifically invited
audience of a sole sponsor.
• These tend to Revolve around a definite objective
involving greater interaction with the audience.
• Dealers meets and conferences are the usual events.
• These events are fully paid for by the sponsor or the
client and the event organisers profits come in the
form of a margin or commission on the production
costs for the event.
• Film Related events such as the launch of a big
budget film or celebration of landmark
achievements by the film after release usually
require event agencies to do the groundwork for
them as in execution of the events.
• Such shows are usually client driven or initiated and
involve the event organizers in the production of
the event only.
Partially Sponsored Events:
• There can also be other events that are so popular
that multiple sponsorship covers all or part of the
production expenses of the event, and ticket
collections generate the moolah or revenue for the
event organizer.
• Music concerts and Sports events such as cricket
one-day internationals,etc are generally of this
nature.
• These events fall under the medium risk category.
Ticketed Events:
• Fully Ticketed shows are events that carry maximum
risk.
• These are generally event organiser driven and are
presented as Products to the general Public.
• A Particular noticeable fact is that events such as
these which begin as fully ticketed shows end up
attracting sponsors who start identifying with the
audience at these events and get an idea as to how
they can help in achieving their brand or other
objectives.
• Budget based events there can be big budget or
small budget events.
• These vary relative to the strategic intentions of the
stakeholders involved in the event.
• The amount of interaction and the target reach
have the most impact on the budget of any event.
• The Desired quality of the event also has a direct
effect on the budget.
• Number and Profile of audience also affects the
budget of an event.
Big Budget Events:
• The Larger the Interaction and reach that is desired,
The bigger the budget.
• Events that aim at having larger reach usually
require big budgets since the expenditure involved
in publicity is enormous.
• If the Profile of the Target audience involves the rich
and famous,the budget automatically becomes a
mega budget as the quality of the event required
improves drastically.
• If a large audience needs to be interacted with
then,also the cost increase since personalised
attention needs to be provided at such occassions.
• Most Big Budget events in India are valued at
Around 50 lakhs.
• This may be for music and stage shows with artists
coming from outside or even a sports event.
• Another Example that can be cited falls in the
exhibitions and trade fair category.
• These can be of varying budgets.An Exhibition of
the size and scale of the Industrial Machine Tools
Exhibition(IMTEX) Held every year and which
provides the maximum possible reach and
interaction between industrial buyers and sellers
through direct contact as well as forums and
seminars is a big budget exhibition.
• This Exhibition has participants flying in from
abroad also.
Small Budget Events:
• Events that Involve more of Interaction with a
limited number of audience are usually small
budget events.
• Small Budgets need not necessary mean lower
quality of the event.
• Usually in house events and theme parties involve
small budgets and have the best quality.
• Such Events have restricted entries or are purely on
an invitation basis and do not involve extensive
Publicity.
• The small Budget usually lies anywhere below Rs 2
Lakhs in India.
• In Stark Contrast to the IMTEX,Any Local book
exhibition-cum sale is a classic example of a small
budget exhibition.
Location Based Events:
• Events meant for a particular target audience that
has a predominantly similar profile for a given
location undergo variations based on location
essentially due to the demographic changes that
occur from place to place.
• Answering Questions such as whether the Event is a
domestic or International Event, whether it is to be
carried out in a rural or city setting and whether it is
to executed in a single location or in various
locations and simultaneously or not, is very
important.
• This is so because the entire nature and workings
for an event can change dramatically.
• For Instance, If the Concept has to be changed from
a domestic event to an international event the
change in the target audience profile will force
modifications that will have to be incorporated in
the original concept.
• An Example that can be cited again is that of the
launch of a India Oriented Magazine verve, In the UK.
• The Ethnic Indian Setting, Food and Beverages would
have looked out of place in India and not received
such rave reviews since these are quite normal for
Indians in India.
• For Indians Settled Abroad, Wearing Indian Clothes
itself become a Fascinating experience given the
scarcity of opportunity to show their indianness.
• Similarly, an Event Predominantly meant for the
urban setting would need to be tailored to a rural
ambience, which implies drastic changes due to
change in the target audience profile.
International Overseas Events:
• There is a major cultural shift from country to
country and the sensitivities involved also differ
widely.
• Events that are to be held overseas need to be
researched much more and presented in a manner
that will be understood and appreciated by the
foreign audience.
• The Travel restrictions and other constraints forced
on foreigners have also to be considered.
• Transportation and other expenses are also massive
for overseas events.
Domestic Events:
• All the Events organised within the boundaries of
the country are termed as domestic events.
• These can be further broken down into either rural
or city events.
• Rural Events the lack of reach through television is
one major difference while organising a rural event.
• The need to use a local language and the higher
levels of illiteracy also force contraints on the event.
• Difficulty in locating resources required may imply
having to expend on transportation of infrastructure
and other equipments over long distances.
City Based Events:
• Unlike their rural counterparts, the audiences in
metropolitan cities are easily reachable.
• A Common language usually threads the
cosmopolitan nature of the audience.
• Infrastructure and Equipment are easily available
and are usually of reliable quality.
Multi Location Events:
• Special Demands have to be satisfied to conduct
events at several locations simultaneously. The
need for perfect communication and coordination
between the separate locations cannot be
overstressed.
• Special Events such as Product Launches usually
require multi location events.
• The 14 cities simultaneous launch of ZEE TV city
cable channel involved a Road show and stage
events across the country on the same day.
Value Based Events:
• The very Profession of event organising derives its
origin from the value addition that they can provide
to their clients.
• Greater the value addition demanded, the more
sophisticated the event agency needs to be.
• Event organisers can range from contractors doing
the setting up of the stage to professional event
agencies.
• Value addition can be understood tangibly in terms of
the requirement of the client.
• It is important to understand whether the event
organiser is only going to execute the event or is the
involvement right from the concept to carryout stage.
Low value addition from event organisers:When event
organiser is only involved with carrying out of the
event,i.e event production only or any other single
stage of the Five C’s it can be said that there is very
low value addittion from the event organisers.
• High Value addition from event organisers.Value
addition is deemed to be high when the event
organisers provide all services right from
conceptualisation to carrying out of the event.
Concept Based Events:
• The Conceptualisation process as shown earlier is a
churning process in which constraints forced by the
demands of costing, canvassing,customising and the
feasibility of carrying out are accommodated to fit
the clients needs.
• High Creative Content.Usually high creative
contents are a function of other factors such as big
budgets,city location,etc.
• The Bigger and Grandeur the budget and plans,the
greater the creative that can be incorporated for
the event.
• Usually High creative content events also need to
have enough time for planning and organising the
event.
• Low Creative Content: Most Events with low
creative contents usually have standard settings
which need not be disturbed.
• Typical Examples would be events such as
conferences,annual general meetings,etc.
Artist Based Events:
• An Artist in the context used here distinguishes between
new and established stars.
• New stars tend to be especially low on their popularity
and fan following,Hence are available for lower
appearance money than other super stars.
• Whether the artist or star performer fits into the
concept and is the artist available again depends on the
time frame involved in planning of any event.
• New,Inexperience Artists.New artists are as important
to the events industry as to any other.
• It is common phenomenon to see fresh talent
performing as warmers before the established star takes
centre stage during music concerts.
• Established Star Performers. These stars demand a
premium and are experts in their areas of
performances.
• Using an established star for an event invariably
makes it a mega budget contract with th event
organiser.
• Most of the Time such a relationship does not act as
one off event.
• To enable recovery of the large sums involved the
contracts usually cover a few cities and towns.
Client Industry Based Events:
• The Concept and all other elements of an event will
also depend on the type of industry that the client
competes in.
• The nature of an event changes depending on
whether the client is a manufacturer or a channel
partner.
• Consumer goods: FMCG Goods tend to be sponsor
events with a mass base so as to create more brand
awareness and also usually tie it up with a sales
promotion campaign to increase customer traffic in
their retail stores.
• Such events seek greater reach than interaction.
Industrial Manufacturers:
• Most Industrial houses usually push their corporate
brands and seek events with greater scope for
serious discussions and interaction.
Social Organization:
• NGO’S are usually supported by a trust and
donation to these trusts is encouraged by the scope
for exemption from entertainment taxes.
• Celebrity endorsements are the order of the day at
such events.
Clubs:
• Given the already homogenous nature of the
audience which is also in a way limited in number it
is easier to create events for clubs.
• Parties, Games and cultural shows are frequent
events at clubs.
Personal/Family Events:
• Weddings,Birthdays,Anniversaries,etc.All Qualify as
personal or family events.These can range from a
private affair for a couple to a big bash at the cricket
club of India’s Brabourne Stadium.
• These Events are purely dedicated by Financial
Constraints
Political Events:
• Rallies,elections and all related activities are
political in nature.Giant Cutouts of political leaders
seem to be the only creative inputs provided in such
events.
• The major part of political events seems to be the
logistics due to the number and type of following.
Educational Events:
• Presentations, Award Functions, Sports and cultural
festivals are some examples of events that occur in
schools and colleges. These are the almost standard
throughout the country.
Film and Television Industry Events:
• Every Film or Tv Program that is launched is a
product of the entertainment industry and the
muhurat or the launch ceremony Is a major
event in this Industry.
• So also the various parties on achievement of
milestones and the award ceremonies.
• Such Events extensively use event concepts
based on the artistic expressions category of
events.