Impacts that Affect the Event - Essay Example

? Event Management and Development Contents Event Management and Development Contents 2 Introduction to the Event 4 5 W’s 4 What 4 When 4 Where 4 Why 5 For Whom 5 5 W’s of Barclay’s Premier League 2011 5 What 5 When 5 Where 6 Why 6 For Whom 6 Marketing Research 7 Event Marketing Mix 7 AIDA Model of Promotion 8 Tools of Promotion 8 Advertising 9 Media and Public Relations 9 Partnerships 9 Merchandising 10 Title Sponsorship 10 Word of Mouth 10 References 16 Bibliography 17 Introduction to the Event Events are organised act and performances planned in advance and targeted to a particular audience. Special events are organised with entertainment objectives and presents the target consumers with leisure opportunities. Events are a non-routine and infrequent planned phenomenon organised within a stipulated time and planned keeping various social, cultural, personal and organisational objectives in mind. 5 W’s An event planning requires planning of the event along five dimensions. These dimensions are known as 5 W’s. These are: What, When, Where, Why, for whom. What This refers to the concept generation of the event. These shall include the name of the event, the scale in which it will be organised, the content of the event, menu, and profile. This also refers to the event’s theme i.e. the subject on which the event is organised. This theme is the determinant of the event audience, therefore is a crucial decision. When This relates to the frequency of the event, the stipulated time, and event schedule. Where This refers to the event venue. A decision regarding the size, catchment area has to be made in this case. The venue should be easily accessible by the target customer, should be of optimum size, i.e. neither too big nor too small. The vast portion of the event’s budget depends on the venue finalised. Why This refers to the objective of organising the event. An event is organised to fulfil various objectives. Objectives vary along the evens’ stakeholders. Such objectives can be social, personal, financial, organisational, etc. For Whom This relates to the target audience of the event. Decisions regarding guest profile, entry type and target size are made. 5 W’s of Barclay’s Premier League 2011 The Barclay’s Premier League is a professional league between the football clubs and is the country’s most important football competition. It started since 1888 and is graded first in the Union of European Football Associations. It is considered to be the world’s most lucrative football league with revenue ranging over ?2 billion (Premier League-b, n.d). What The Barclay’s Premiere League is a league between 20 clubs and operates via promotion and demotion procedure. Each team plays 38 matches, totalling 380 matches in the season. 149 matches have been played so far (Premier League, 2011). When The Barclays Premier League 2011-2012 is scheduled from 13th August 2011 to 13th May 2012 (Premier League-d, 2011). Where The matches have been scheduled in stadiums in various locations like West Bromwich, London, Norwich, Newcastle, Manchester, Liverpool, Bolton, Birmingham, Wigan, Wolverhampton, Sunderland, and Swansea. Why Football is the most popular sports in United Kingdom since 1860s. The Barclay’s Premier League, like all other leagues is organised for the millions of football fans around the world and for utilising and honing the football talent of UK. For Whom The Barclays Premiere League is the world’s most popular league, with half billion spectators in 200 countries. The direct audiences are obviously the spectators in the stadium; however the indirect audiences are the TV viewers. According to estimates, Fox channel alone drew 2.1 million viewers for a single match in the Barclays Premier League. Demographically the target audience can be defined within the age range of 25 years to 34 years (Premier League-c, 2011). Impacts that affect the event The events can be categorised into 4 types – Leisure events, Cultural Events, Personal Events and Organisational Events. The Barclays Premier League is a Leisure event conducted on a global scale. In the past events the safety standards of events were poor, merchandising opportunities were limited and the overall planning used to be inadequate. However the scenario has dramatically changed in recent times. Examples and Analysis of the Marketing and Promotion Marketing Research The Premier League has partnered with a research firm Decision Technology for the previous four seasons. Therefore Barclays Premier League 2011 organising team had forecasts and models based on the last five years performance data. Event Marketing Mix An event can be compared to a service, since it has all the characters a service has, like: inseparability, perish ability, lack of ownership, intangibility, variability. Therefore the event marketing mix should be similar to the service marketing mix, i.e. the 7P’s. Product – The product here is the match and the teams can be assumed as the ambassador of the product. The revenue from this product is generated via the stadium tickets, as well as the broadcasting revenues. Price- The price here would include the price charged for broadcasting, the price of the tickets as well as the price charged for various sponsorships and promotions. The price of the tickets on an average will be ?47, with the highest price being ?72 (Premier League-e, 2011). Place- The stadiums are the venues of the events. But the target place is determined by the target market. The event is marketed globally with the help of sponsorships and partnerships and advertisements. Promotion- The promotional tools will be discussed in details. The main promotional tools are online websites, news, television ads People- The teams and organisers can be regarded as the people of the Physical Evidence- The stadiums and the merchandises acts as the physical evidence of the match. AIDA Model of Promotion The AIDA model can be applied in case of analysing the promotions of Barclays Premier League. Attention- Generating attention is easy since it is the most hyped football league all over the world. Attention is generated by news and press releases regarding the fixtures, tickets, venue, etc. News channels, sports channels and press articles in online websites are the main tools for creating attention. Interest- Once the announcements are done, generation of interest is generated via trailers and articles. Extensive promotions were done in social media sites and predictions and speculations generate interest in the event. Desire- Various merchandises and games and simulation games are the main components of generating desire amongst the young generation. Action- The action here can be buying tickets, or watching the game on television, buying game related merchandise, using online apps for comparing player statistics, etc. So far the average stadium attendance has been 34,593 and the total attendance has been 5,119,844. The lowest attendance figure so far is 15,195 (Premier League-f, 2011). Tools of Promotion The tools of promotion for an event vary from the tools of promotion for a product or service. Here media and public relation strategies have a great impact on promotion of the event. Besides, if the event involves live broadcast, then choosing the proper broadcasting partner is also crucial for the success of the event. Advertising Both traditional as well as non traditional advertising channels are used. Televisions, Radios, Billboards, Banners, etc are used for promotion of the event. Sky Sports and BBC Sports are the Official UK Free-to-air Highlights Broadcast is the partner of the Barclays Premier League. ESPN is the Official UK Live Broadcast Partner of the event. Online advertisements and promotions have been a success because BBC’s website traffic rose to a whopping 5.2 million and a record 15 million page viewership within just 17 hours (Premier League-b, n.d). Media and Public Relations Media plays the key role in generating hype. Press releases and public announcements need to be pre planned to promote the event. A risk regarding media overhype is combating media criticism. Since the event is constantly under media scrutiny, therefore any minor glitch in the venue or facilities can lead to criticisms from fans and press. Partnerships There are various strategic partners of Barclays Premiere League. There are Official partners, Official Licensees, Official Supplier and Broadcast partners. There is huge demand for broadcasting rights of the game. A research conducted amongst Premiere League fans found that 60% of fans subscribe to the broadcasting channels to watch the Premier League. The partnerships include EA Sports- the Official Sports Technology Partner and Interactive Games Licensee of the Premier League, Nike- the Official Ball Supplier of the Premier League, Topps- the Trading Card Licensee and the Official sticker of the League, Lucozade- the Official Sports Drink of the Premier League, Sky Sports- the Official UK Live Broadcast Partner of the Barclays Premier League, BBC Sports- the Official UK Free-to-air Highlights Broadcast is also a partner of the League, Yahoo - Official UK Online Highlights Broadcast Partner of the Barclays Premier League, ESPN- the Official UK Live Broadcast also a partner of the event, and the official radio partners - Sporting iD, Absolute Radio extra, talk SPORT, BBC Radio 5 live (Premier League-a, 2011). Merchandising Under merchandising, simulation games and apps are mentionable. There are a variety of simulation games offline and online. The right for the development of those games generates revenues and also promotes the event. EA Sports is the Official Sports Technology Partner and Interactive Games Licensee of the Premier League. Title Sponsorship The title sponsor of the Premiere League 2011-2012 is Barclays Bank. Barclays is a financial service provider, operating for over 300 years, that offers services like investment banking, retail banking, corporate banking, wealth management, credit cards, etc. They operate in Europe, Asia, Africa and America. Word of Mouth The excitement and enthusiasm surrounding the games lead to the word of mouth promotion of the events and is an effective promotional tool. An Analysis of the Risk Factors Risk is one of the most important factors which should be taken care of while conducting an event, the uncertainty whether the event will attract the audience and the participants and be regarded as a success. There are many types of risk involved in an event, the four main categories of risk includes, economic, physical, performance and psychological. Events are considered as service product such as tourism, which are intangible, perishable and separable in nature from the environment or venue in which the event is conducted (Damster, et.al, 2006, p.225). In financial risk, the event may face insufficient sponsorship which may lead the event to sustain a bid, insufficient funding, inaccurate estimates of operating cost and capital. In case of The Premier League, the event was well managed by Barclays Bank, the sponsors of the event. The organising committee had poured in a sufficient amount of budget to be regarded as a success. In case the organising committee had an insufficient fund, the event would not have been a success as it had been and continue to attract people and football lovers. In Political risk, the factors include are the guarantee and support from the officials which usually do not materialise. The Government of UK has rightly supported the Premier League and has funded the match (Conn, 2011). Therefore the Barclays premier league did not experience any political risk. Another risk involved is termed as hangover risk. These usually take place when the event gets over and the people realise that the usual life must be resumed. The Barclays Premier League is one of the biggest football event and the people love and support the event. Thus when the event get over the population of UK would miss the event, the game and their favourite players. Any event that occurs holds the risk of environmental impact. There occur problems such as bulk services, overloading the infrastructure more than its capacity, rise to water, air, waste and noise pollution and also depletion of natural resources and cultural resources. Another risk factor is the unnecessary or the unaffordable diversion of corporate risk. The Premier League involved people who were required for the bidding purpose and the event needed a lot of resources which otherwise can be utilised for other purpose. The next type of risk factors plays a major role in determining the loss that might occur during an event. These factors are grouped into four categories, they are, hazards, perils, vulnerabilities and threats. Hazards risk includes factors such as bottles and cans, loaded guns also certain structure and buildings (Damster, et.al, 2006, p.227). It has been noticed that the people tend to throw away the bottles and cans in the field when the respective team do not play well the match. This might create a hazardous effect in the event. The next type of risk involved is perils. These risks include natural calamities such as earthquake, fire, flood etc. The Premier League also impose a risk of natural calamities, thus the committee must take necessary precaution to avoid the risk. Vulnerability risk includes any flaws, weakness or hole that could be exploited by threat. And threat includes factors which adversely affect the events or the assets of the event. In the Premier League there are people who support different football clubs or teams and some are regarded as a complete fan of a particular football player or may be the team. Therefore any harmful action would result in a threat to the entire event. And this threat results in vulnerability of the event. These risk factors relate primarily to the capability of the organiser of the event to plan and coordinate and mange the risk factors. It can be concluded that perils is related to natural forces but the risk involved with fire and flood can be managed by the event organiser. The other three risk factors can be maintained through effective planning, policy approaches and with the help of the management (Damster, et.al, 2006, p.227). Event Evaluation Event evaluation is defined as the process of critically observing, monitoring and measuring the implementations of an event in order to assess the outcomes accurately. The necessity to evaluate an event is to find out whether the event has met its objectives and the changes to be made for the future. The event considered for this report is the 2011-2012 Premier League which is also referred to as Barclays Premier League which is all about football. The main objectives of evaluation of the Premier League are stated below: To monitor whether the game has raised the playing standard of the young English such as Daniel Sturridge, Phil Jones and Jack Wilshere through the global stars featured in the Premier league and to determine the future of Premier League clubs and football (Premier League-b, n.d, p. 2). To generate brand awareness and revenue generation for the league and also to provide a significant level of financial stability for the premiership clubs (Li, et.al, 2011, p. 143) In order to evaluate the event, two types of information are considered, Quantitative information and qualitative information. The Premier League is reported to have the most passionate supporters in the world of football. The Football League averaged around 375,000 per match with an occupancy rate of 92% and the supporters who have attended the matches have gained about 2billion Pounds in the expenditure of the stadium and the facilities. The Premier League had a significant impact on the economy of UK supported with marketing revenues and media. The growth in revenue is reflected by the contributions made by the League clubs to the smaller communities such as Stoke, Sunderland and Blackpool. Larger cities were also benefited of being homes of the successful footballs clubs. This has encouraged tourisms in the country and encourages them to visit UK to watch the football match (Premier League-b, n.d, p. 2-3) Apart from the qualitative and quantitative information an event is evaluated on three criteria, firstly pre event, then during events and thirdly post event. Therefore to start off with evaluation of pre-event of The Premier League, the role of a market researcher is very important and relevant. It is necessary to do a research on the market, operation and on the financial aspect of the country before deciding on the venue. Therefore the reason for choosing UK was because UK is known for sports and it has bagged a number of world class tournaments in its belly. The location of an event is the heart of any event, and UK has been excellent in terms of sports. UK sport is responsible for investing about 100million Pounds per year and its mission is to work in partnership in order to lead sports in the nation to world class success (UK Sport, 2011). Therefore these reasons were enough to finalise UK for the Premier League. The success of the Premier League did not affect English football. The attendance has risen by 59% and currently the turnover of the league is ranked seventh in Europe with 280million Pounds (Premier League-b, n.d, p. 3). The next step after pre evaluation of event is monitoring the event. Attendance is the best way to measure the performance and success of the events and the Premier League has recorded occupancy of 92%. The Premier League has recorded a highest annual attendance of any football premier league across the world with a total of 13million in 2009-2010 (House of Commons, 2011, p.242). According to reports, Bundesliga has recorded the lowest ticket prices but at the same time with the highest average in attendance among Europe’s five major league. Among the teams, Blackpool fans have snapped season’s tickets ahead of the Premier league campaign. It was reported that 12000 tickets were sold with an increase of about 140% (Slater, 2010). Therefore it can be indicated that the tickets have been sold off quickly and this measures the profitability of a game and its success. The Premier League is seen as the biggest football games and therefore it success hugely depends on the teams and their performance. The sale of tickets depends on the team which performs better and vice verse. The next level in evaluation of events is the post event evaluation. The evaluations are made on the basis to see whether the objective has been met, how successful the event has been and its financial impact to the economy. The Premier League is still going on with a much success but it has been reported that the sale of tickets have dropped since the past two years but the rate of occupancy is quite satisfactorily. The objective set for the league has been achieved till date and will continue to serve its purpose. The Barclays premier League has become the world’s league; it has become a global phenomenon inspiring emotions and passion from Los Angeles to Melbourne. As regards to economic impact, the popularity of the game has made a significant contribution to UK’s communication and creative industries. The Premier League runs a global website and television service. Television, internet, radio are encouraged by the growth in the popularity of the game which is football (Premier League-b, n.d, p. 2). References Conn, D. (2011). Away from the Premier League our parks and pitches are starved of cash. [Online]. Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/david-conn-inside-sport-blog/2011/apr/20/premier-league-cuts-funding-grass-roots. [Accessed on December 22, 2011]. Damster, G. et.al. (2006). Event Management: A Professional and Developmental Approach. Juta and Company Ltd. House of Commons. (2010). Culture, Media and Sport Committee: Football Governance. The Stationery Office. Li, M. et.al. (2011). International Sport Management. Human Kinetics. Premier League. (December 4th 2011). Who We Are. [Online]. Available at: http://www.premierleague.com/en-gb/about/who-we-are.html. [Accessed on December 17, 2011]. Premier League-a. (2011). Fixtures. [Online]. Available at: http://www.barclayspremierleague.com/en-gb/matchday/matches.html?paramClubId=ALL¶mComp_100=true&view=.dateSeason [Accessed on December 17, 2011]. Premier League-b. (No Date). PREMIER LEAGUE RESPONSE TO THE CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT SELECT COMMITTEE. [Pdf]. Available at http://www.premierleague.com/content/dam/premierleague/site-content/News/publications/other/premier-league-reponse-to-culture-media-sport-select-committee.pdf. [Accessed on December 17, 2011]. Premier League-c. (2011). Attending a Match. [Online]. Available at: http://www.premierleague.com/en-gb/fans/attending-a-match.html. [Accessed on December 17, 2011]. Premier League-d. (2011). Gaming. [Online].Available at: http://www.premierleague.com/en-gb/gaming.html [Accessed on December 17, 2011]. Premier League-e. (2011). History of the Premier League. . [Online]. Available at: http://www.premierleague.com/en-gb/about/history.html. [Accessed on December 17, 2011]. Premier League-f (2011). Know your Barclays Premier League. [Online]. Available at: http://www.premierleague.com/en-gb/kids/know-your-barclays-premier-league.html. [Accessed on December 17, 2011]. Slater, M. (2010). Premier League still holds golden ticket for fans. [Online]. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/mattslater/2010/08/premier_league_still_holds_gol.html. [Accessed on December 17, 2011]. UK Sport. (2011). About UK Sport. [Online]. Available at: http://www.uksport.gov.uk/pages/about-uk-sport/. [Accessed on December 17, 2011]. Bibliography Catherwood, D. W. et.al. (1992). The Complete guide to special event management: business insights, financial advice, and successful strategies from Ernst & Young, advisors to the Olympics, the Emmy Awards, and the PGA Tour. John Wiley and Sons. Wagon, L. V. D. & Carlos, B. R. (2005). Event Management. Pearson Education India. Read More