Effective Marketing Tools - Term Paper Example

Effective Marketing Tools Table of Content Topic page No. Executive Summary 3 Application and Search for the Internship Program 4 Working in Egmont Palace 5-16 Conclusion 16-17 Reference 18-19 Executive Summary During my Internship Project on The Palace of Egmont, Brussels, I had the opportunity to work with Ambassador, Madam Stevens. Madam Stevens has been working for five years for Ambassador, Peter M. Martin. Mr. Martin, the Head of Foreign Affairs and Belgian Protocol is also working from Brussels, since the last five years. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Belgian Protocol, Brussels has three sub-departments. The Palace of Egmont, my project center is one of the sub-departments. This place was a private place since 1918. However, after 1918 the State of Belgian had acquired it. The Conference Centre at Egmont Palace is equipped to organize several activities like arranging meetings, cocktail parties and dinners and like so on. The Palace has an elegant, classy and an attracting interior with a well managed work force to take care of the several on goings. My Internship Project was to design a promotional brochure for the public opening of the Egmont Palace. The Public Opening of the Palace made it open for gatherings like meetings or conferences or for business dinners and cocktail parties. The State of Belgium has four official languages viz. French, Dutch, German and English. Thus, in order to print the Promotional Brochure in these languages I had to make a research on the price offerings of different printing companies. Further, in order to ensure the smooth functioning of the events within the Palace I also had to maintain liaison with ministers of Belgian state and with the other company leads. The Project helped me to get a better understanding of marketing activities conducted on a Macro scale and in generating a relationship with the Government of the State. Application and Search for the Internship Program The Internship Program to be chosen depended on the Theoretical Inputs given to us and to understand the practical implication of such in areas like General Management or in specific areas like Marketing as chosen by me. Further, the choice of the industry and the company made were of repute to help fetch a value addition to my job application. My focus area on the internship project was the development activities on public services and foreign trade conducted by the state of Belgium. In this context as Egmont Palace, Brussels is one of the three departments of the Foreign Affairs and Belgian Protocol; I took the project of its opening to the public. The time set for the project was from 14th June to the 18th July, 2010. The internship program in order to be effective needed to be project based which gave me the opportunity to use the Marketing and Promotion ideas in a macro sense. The company chosen for the project, Egmont Palace occupies a historical importance. It is located in Petit Sablon, an area in Brussels. Currently, the palace is taken up by Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs as their office. The palace was not previously accessible to public. The event of the palace’s opening up to the public for different activities became the crux of my project. (Brussels by Europe Cities, 2009). I had made an application to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Belgium for undertaking the project. The application was addressed to the Project and Training Officer, located in Rue de Namur. The area I cited to act upon was Marketing and Promotion and the tenure of the project was also mentioned. To this end I started working under ambassador Madam Stevens in the department of Egmont Palace. Working in Egmont Palace Company Information The Palace of Egmont was constructed by Francoise of Luxembourg together with her son, Lamoral Count of Egmont during the span covering 1548 to 1560. It was then known as “Petit Hotel d’Egmont”. During the turn of the eighteenth century the castle was adopted to the classical style by an architect of Neo-Classicism era, Giovanni Niccolo Servandoni. (Brussels by Europe Cities, 2009). Lamoral of Egmont afterwards also constructed a second mansion near to the palace, known as the “Hall of Mirrors.” The Palace had changed many hands like the prince of Croy, Duke of Wurtemberg, Marchiones de Prie. The final handover however, took place in 1729 when it was taken over by the Arenbergs. (Brussels by Europe Cities, 2009.). The castle was destroyed by fire in 1891. The Arenbergs could not hold the palace after the end of the First World War in October, 1918. The palace was first sold to the City of Brussels before being handed over to the State in 1964. In today’s date the building serves as a venue for several functions and meetings conducted by the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The exterior and interior of the palace both boast of artistic excellence. (Brussels by Europe Cities, 2009). The South West wing of the Egmont Palace was converted into meeting rooms like the Arenberg Room and the Orange Room. The palace as a whole radiates a feeling of class and luxury and has become the ideal place for occasions like dinner and cocktail parties. (Brussels by Europe Cities, 2009). Job Description The Egmont Palace was on its way for a public opening in creating a common ground for activities like Business and Political meetings and Dinner parties. I took over the job responsibility of creating a mass promotion by the distribution of brochures mainly in four official languages like French, English, Dutch and German. I took over to brochure printing for it is not as costly as that of creating commercials through the electronic media. It is considered that brochures are an effective tool in reaching out to a large customer base which can lead to mass acknowledgement and increase in revenue. The design of the brochures needs not only to be attractively designed but also should be stuffed with proper information. An attractive brochure can lead to greater customer attention at the cost of the company’s competitors. The information advertised through television and billboards is often seen to escape from the viewer’s mind. However, a brochure filled with information about the company, its products or services act as a guide to a customer even for future contacts. (Brochures as effective marketing tools, 2010). The brochure designed by me for Egmont Palace consisted of three pages. The first page was devoted to the Conference Center. It highlighted the classical essence of the palace as conducive to be venue meant for different occasions like meetings, dinners and cocktail parties. It was designed to state that the newly designed annex of the Egmont Palace was fully equipped with modern devices and was optimally well staffed. It focused on the sophistication of service offerings to the elite customer base. The First page of the Brochure designed on the opening of Egmont Palace to the public. The second page of the Brochure created on the Hall of Mirrors; the building erected by Lamoral of Egmont besides the Egmont Palace. It highlighted the several features of the building as regards to the maximum capacity of guests that it can entertain and the Hall size. It further has given the statistics of guest capacity of dinner with or without buffets. The maximum number of guests that could be entertained by the hall at a time was estimated to be 350; dinner seating with buffets is estimated to be 180 and without to be 200. For cocktail parties the estimate goes to 350 guests which is the maximum number of entries. The size of the Hall being 35 meter by 7.8 meter is opulent enough to hoard such gatherings. The Second page of the Brochure designed on the eve of the public opening of Egmont Palace. The third page of the brochure gives focus to the Arenberg Room. This room is dedicated to important occasions like Government and Business meetings. The brochure highlights important features of the room like the room size, maximum number of guests that it can entertain and other special amenities made available. Arenberg Room marks sophistication in service parameters by possessing a host of technical devices like 105 microphones, 130 monitors, 5 automatic video cams, 2 data projectors, video and audio recorders, 9 translation booths and staffs ready for technical assistance. The room can host a total of 210 entries which is possible for the room being of 23.3 meter by 15.5 meter in size. The sprawling size of the room with the technical amenities draws attention to many elite masses to conduct programs out in there. The third page of the Brochure showing the Arenberg Room of The Egmont Palace, Brussels The Brochures so created involved lot of research regarding the printing companies in Brussels. To get the attention of the elite mass the brochures needed to be printed in four different languages like French, English, Dutch and German; considered to be the official language in Brussels. A research conducted on the printing companies revealed names like All Print Services, DenaCopy, Image Plus and Tostaky as the popular companies engaged in Printing and Production of Brochures. The All Print Services is located in Rue du Progres in Brussels and takes care in printing and design services. It is open from Monday to Saturday. (Anglo info Brussels, N.D.). All Print Services had given a chart on enquiring about the printing costs of brochures. Brochure Number Size 1000 copies 2000 copies 3000 copies 5000 copies 10000 copies BRO 11 8.5” X 11 “ $630 $715 $893 $981 $1293 BRO 14 8.5” X 14” $1103 $1224 $1262 $1362 $1873 BRO 17 11” X 17” $1183 $1293 $1368 $1556 $2056 BRO 25 11” X 25.5” $1986 $2431 $2828 $3550 $4095 The Brochure Printing Cost Chart for All Print Services in Brussels. (All Printing Services Inc., N.D.). The Dena Copy also turned out to be a firm in Brussels giving digital printing services. It is situated at Carton de Wiart in Brussels. At present the company is giving discounts to school sponsor activities for 15%. (Vos – commerces. com, N.D.). Further, researches on the printing companies in Brussels identified names like Image Plus located at Rue de I’Arbre Benit in Brussels. It specializes in Print design and Production services. (Anglo info Brussels, N.D.). It prints in the French dialect. Tostaky is also a significant name in the printing industry. Located at Rue de la Croix de Pierre in Brussels it makes graphic designs for print mainly in the Dutch language. (Anglo info Brussels, N.D.). In the light of the above context I went about printing 30000 copies of the brochures in different languages which gad cost me $3600. I considered the size 8.5 inches by 14 inches to be the appropriate one for my project. Conferences held at Egmont Palace, Brussels The ASEM Conference – Egmont Palace The Public Conference on Europe – Asia inter- regional relations organized by the European Union (EU) as a curtain raiser for the Eighth ASEM (Asia Europe Meeting) Summit was held at the Egmont Palace on 14th of July, 2010. The lunch and dinner were arranged by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Belgium. (The 8th ASEM Summit, 2010). The Asia Europe Meeting stands to be a strong foothold for dialogue between Europe and Asia. In the program held at Brussels many expert thinkers from academics, press, private consultancies and civilians engaged in a debate on issues pertaining to Europe and Asia. (The 8th ASEM Summit, 2010). The closing conference of the ASEM summit was geld at Egmont Palace in Brussels. Therein Mr. Steven Vanackere, the Deputy Prime Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium gave an overview of the preparations needed for the 8th ASEM Summit to be held in Brussels on the 4th and 5th October, 2010. ( ASEM Public Conference on Europe-Asia inter regional relations, 2010. P-10). The Meeting of The Council of European Ministers for Employment and Social Affairs – Egmont Palace The informal meeting of The Council of European Ministers for Employment and Social Affairs was held at Egmont Palace on the 7th, 8th and 9th July, 2010. On the inaugural day the meeting was devoted to the informal exchange of ideas between the European Social Partners and Social Platform and the Ministers of Employment and Social Policy. The second day’s meeting was organized to formulate strategies for jobs and development opportunities in year 2020. The last day’s meeting was devoted to social issues. The main challenges highlighted in the third day were issues related to poverty and the idea of social protection in the light of the economic crisis. The Press Conference for the meeting was held at the Arenberg’s Room on the 9th of July, 2010. (Informal Meeting of The Council of European Ministers for Employment and Social Affairs, 2010). Belgian Presidency of European Union Council and the Egmont Palace It is reported that Belgium will preside over the Council for the European Union for the twelfth time from 1st July to 31st December, 2010. The council for the European Union will be presided over by countries like Spain, Belgium and Hungary from 1st January 2010 to 30th June 2011. The team formed by the three countries is known as the “Trio”. Belgium is taken to be the president of the team formed. Hence, it gas to work closely with the two countries in question as well as with the President and the High Representative of Foreign Affairs of the Council. (Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, 2010.). The Prime Minister of Belgium, Mr. Yves Leterme held a meeting at Egmont Palace of the political group leaders and the President of the European Parliament, Mr. Jerzy Buzek on 24th June, 2010. The leaders had also called for a press conference at the Egmont Palace. (European Parliament, 2010). The above happenings at the Egmont Palace show its growing importance in the socio-political sphere of Europe in matters of high involvement. Working with the Belgian Foreign Affairs Ministry helped me to get a better knowledge about the organization manifesto of meetings and conferences of international importance. Quotation Findings for Space Rentals for Conferences and Meetings I had taken a brief search of the rentals associated with space occupancy for occasions like meetings and conferences in Belgium. To this end I found some top space rental companies like Regus, Diamant, Claridge and the Management Centre Europe to name a few in Brussels which arrange spaces for the aforesaid activities. Regus in Belgium is one such space rental company which lends space for offices and meeting rooms. It has some key advantages like having offices around 1000 locations spread along 75 countries and 450 cities. Location wise it is situated near financial hubs, airports and in key business areas. Value wise it is 15% less than the current hotel rates. In regards to value addition it has free internet connection, video conferencing and gourmet offerings for tea and coffee to name a few amenities offered. The rooms offered are also of two types – normal and daylight. The meeting room booking rates are $12 per hour in Regus. ( Regus, 2009). The Diamant Conference and Business Centre is another such big space rental agency in Belgium. The key advantages of Diamant is that it is centrally located in Brussels. Further, Diamant is only at a distance of a few minutes from the Brussel’s Airport. It also offers an underground parking space for over 150 cars and has a spacious parking area. The centre has 25 well-equipped meeting rooms with audio- visual aids, day lighting facilities and is air conditioned which can host around 350 persons. It also provides facilities like video-conferencing and is amenable to high speed internet connections. The rates of the rooms in Diamant vary from 795 Euro to 2515 Euro on a day basis. It has several packages like Express Package, Business Package, Prestige and Buffet Packages wherein the rates vary from 5000 to 7000 Euro per person. Several value additions which are provided like Sound, Projection and Information Technology equipments are separately charged. Diamant also can boast of its catering facilities like giving coffee breaks, breakfast services, quick lunches, buffets and dinners to its elite customer base. (Diamant Rates 2010, 2010.). The Claridge is another such space rental company in Brussels. It is located near the Madou Tower in the centre of Brussels. Claridge offers one stop solution for rental accommodation in case of meetings, seminars and conferences. Not only official meets or seminars, Claridge also hosts occasions like parties, marriages and fashion events. The rates decided by Claridge are 6450 Euro for a Full Day Conference Package. The half day package costs around 3750 Euro. However, for parties and occasions like wedding receptions there is a special rental package. The conference centre of Claridge can host a maximum of 800 people. ( Claridge, 2009). The Management Centre Europe (MCE) was built in Brussels in 1961. It was then the European Headquarters of The American Management Association. The concern can boast of having a 78000 square meters space for inviting about 700 delegates. Further, it has an additional 38 meeting rooms. The environment of the company can be appreciated in the light of the conference or meeting activities for its infrastructural advantages. It also has facilities to provide cocktail parties, lunch and dinner to the hosts along with social networking activities to be carried on. ( MCE Brussels, 2010). The Arenberg Hall of Egmont Palace has become a prime centre for international meetings, seminars and conferences held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Belgium. High level international meets are held out there to discuss social and economic issues of global importance. The research conducted on the different space rental companies in Brussels also helped me have a clear understanding of the price quotes and the nature of service offerings provided by them. Departments of Egmont Palace and The Internship Project The Egmont Palace, my area of internship project is divided into departments like Rue de Namur and the Palace of Egmont. The Palace of Egmont occupied by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Belgium has become the centre of activities like arranging high level international conferences, meetings, seminars and also in hoarding of dinner and cocktail parties. The sections like Hall of Arenberg and the Hall of Mirrors adjacent to the Palace are the key places for hoarding such events. During, my internship stay I had the key responsibility of promoting this sophisticated feature of Egmont Palace to the public eyes. The activities carried on by me in this regard consisted of making brochures containing all relevant information about the special amenities offered inside the palace as conducive to arranging meets and occasions. I had to print some 30000 brochures in the different official languages of Belgium to gain mass appeal. Further, the space rental industry in Brussels also gained my attention in the light of Egmont Palace being made open to the public for arranging social activities. Though, the other conference centers are professionally quite equipped to host big meets and parties with arrangement of catering facilities yet the Palace of Egmont being the official ground of Foreign Affairs in Belgium will be of prime importance. The second department of which I had obtained cooperation during my internship is the Rue de Namur. The Rue de Namur acts as the liaison office of the Department of Foreign Affairs, State of Belgium and plays a key role in liaison activities with dynamic institutions like the European Commission, European Parliament, Brussels’ representation offices of European Research organizations, industries and the like. (ENEA – EU Liaison Office in Brussels, N.D.). Through the close functioning with the department I gained access to observe the activities behind arranging the international conferences like the curtain raiser of the 8th Summit of the Asia Europe conference, the meeting of the council of European Ministers for Employment and Social Affairs to name a few. The conferring of president ship to state of Belgium over the Council for the European Union also took place in the Palace of Egmont. While designing the brochures for the Conference Centre of Egmont Palace I had to keep in mind the marketing theories associated with the making of such. I had the knowledge that a brochure must be have a catching cover which will create an impulse on the viewer’s mind. The brochure to be designed must contain all needed information on the subject in question. I had thus put all important facts and figures of the amenities and facilities rendered in the palace on official and occasion meets. The information to be given in the brochure must have a smooth flow in the pages devoted. The Egmont Palace Conference Center brochure designed also bears resemblance to the said theory in that it has first given a brief introduction and thereby has given information on the rooms involved in like the Arenberg and Hall of Mirrors annex of Egmont Palace. (The Theory of the Brochure, N.D.). Conclusion The Internship Project on Federal Public Services Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Corporation, Belgian Foreign Affairs Ministry conducted at Egmont Palace gave me hands on knowledge of Marketing Theories practiced on a macro scale. The planning of events to launch the opening of the palace before the public apprehended activities like designing of brochures, taking part in liaison activities from Rue de Namur complex and also a brief research conducted on the space rental sphere of Brussels. The printing of brochures had to be made in four different official languages. Thus care was taken in studying the market for printing activities and in arriving at a bargained price. All Printing Services a printing company of Brussels had given the quotation chart which gad helped me to complete the required task. Further, while working under Ambassador, Madam Stevens I came to see the different liaison activities conducted on an international sphere for social and developmental activities. During my tenure in Egmont Palace conferences and meets like Asia – Europe meet, meeting of the Council for European Ministers for Employment and Social Affairs and above all the convention by the Belgian president on the occasion of Belgium presiding over The European Council acquired prime importance. The arrangements needed for the proper seating of the delegates with the lunch and dinner facilities all needed to be looked upon. This helped me to function within an organizational and teamwork structure. I had also conducted a brief study of the different companies in Brussels, which provide rental facilities for purposes of conferences, important meetings or for any party or dinner arrangement. The companies like Regus, Diamant, Claridge and the Management Centre Europe are some notable companies whose facilities need to be mentioned. In total the internship report covered the political atmosphere of Belgium in terms of its Foreign Trade and developmental activities. The report also made a brief endeavor to study the space rental industry of Brussels as a facilitator to events like conference and parties. References 1. Brussels by Europe Cities. Palais d’ Egmont. 2009. Available at: http://www.europe-cities.com/en/786/belgium/brussels/place/25463_palais_degmont/ (Accessed on August 27, 2010). 2. Brochures as Effective Marketing Tools. Articlesbase. 2010. Available at: http://www.articlesbase.com/online-promotion-articles/brochures-as-effective-marketing-tools-2171792.html (Accessed on August 27, 2010). 3. Anglo Info Brussels. N.D. Available at: http://brussels.angloinfo.com/af/497/brussels-printing-and-stationery.html (Accessed on August 27, 2010). 4. All Print Services Inc. N.D. Available at : http://www.printing4me.com/brochures.htm (Accessed on August 27, 2010). 5. Vos – commerces.com. N.D. Available at : http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.vos-commerces.com/denacopy-be-copy-center-a-bruxelles_14_B_2_1.html&prev=/search%3Fq%3DDENACOPY%2BIN%2BBRUSSELS%26hl%3Den&rurl=translate.google.co.in&usg=ALkJrhh72X_2x5ey_IawDYXbiKELLd9Vhw Accessed on August 27, 2010). 6. The 8th ASEM Summit. ASEM Senior Officials Meeting. Brussels, Belgium: 13-15 July, 2010. 2010. Available at : http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Ju3HPoMnPocJ:www.aseminfoboard.org/content/documents/ASEM_SOM_Administrative_Circular.pdf+conference+%2B+egmont+palace+%2Bjune+-+july+2010&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=in (Accessed on August 27, 2010). 7. ASEM Public Conference on Europe-Asia inter regional relations, Brussels 12-13th July, 2010.2010. Available at : http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:7LwHd5m-HTcJ:ec.europa.eu/external_relations/asem/2010conference/docs/2010_brief_report_asem_conference_en.pdf+Steven+Vanackere+%2B+closing+speech+at+asem+conference&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=in (Accessed on August 27, 2010). 8. Informal Meeting of The Council of European Ministers for Employment and Social Affairs. 2010. Available at : http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:jwvpTmsQe2MJ:www.eutrio.be/files/bveu/Press_Invitation.pdf+meeting+%2B+ministers+of+employment+and+social+policy%2Begmont+palace&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=in (Accessed on August 27, 2010). 9. Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union. 2010. Available at: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:65RI84fMVVAJ:diplomatie.belgium.be/en/binaries/BU%2520Special%2520En_tcm312-103127.pdf+formation+of+new+government+activities+%2B+belgium+%2B+egmont+palace+%2B+2010&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=in (Accessed on August 27, 2010). 10. European Parliament. EP Conference of Presidents – Belgian presidency of EU Council. 2010. Available at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/expert/infopress_page/008-76486-173-06-26-901-20100622IPR76485-22-06-2010-2010-false/default_en.htm (Accessed on August 27, 2010). 11. Regus. 2009. Available at: http://www.regus.com/meetingrooms/default.aspx (Accessed on August 27, 2010). 12. 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Available at: http://www.thewritemarket.com/articles/index.php?art=wildbill3&title=The%20Theory%20of%20the%20Brochure (Accessed on August 27, 2010). Read More