MKT2070 Case Study: Analyzing Event Marketing Responses to COVID-19

This case study examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the event marketing industry, focusing on the cancellation processes of three events: the ASEAN summit, Google I/O developers' event, and the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The assignment provides a detailed description of each event, including its purpose, objectives, expected attendance, and financial profile. It analyzes the reasons for cancellation, the notification processes used to inform attendees, and the effectiveness of the responses. The analysis highlights the challenges faced by event organizers in adapting to the unprecedented circumstances, comparing the approaches taken by each event, and assessing the viability of alternative solutions such as online events or postponements. The study concludes by evaluating the effectiveness of the cancellation and rescheduling processes, emphasizing the need for proactive communication and stakeholder reassurance.

Running head: EVENT MARKETING 1
Event Marketing
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Marketing events
Events have been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Some of the events canceled
are the ASEAN summit that involved less than 50 attendees, Google’s I/O developer event that
involved 100-1000 attendees and Tokyo Olympic Games that involved a 1000’s of attendees
(Crowther, 2010).
ASEAN summit
The event is called the 36th ASEAN summit that was planned to take place on 9th April
2020 from 8:00 am - 4:45 pm. The purpose of the event is to ensure its ten member states
coordinate for the sustainability of its region. The objectives of the ASEAN summit are to joint
efforts and resolve issues (Rogers & Davidson, 2015). It also promotes mutual compassion and
solidarity in the ASEAN community to overcome challenges, ensure peace and prosperous
development for the member countries. The expected attendance is US president Donald Trump,
the secretary-general of the ASEAN summit Lim Jock Hoi, ten leaders of the member states and
a few speakers. It is funded by investments from its member companies. CNBC publishes Asean
materials online and shares them through Facebook, tweeter or email to market its events.
The event was canceled on March 17th, 2020 around 3weeks to the event date. The
reason for the cancelation of the event is due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Vietnam
announced a mandatory quarantine for all visitors from Asian countries (Fukushima, 2017). They
notified the attendees through press media and email. The next step they outline is that the event
will take place from June 15 to June 30th, 2020. They also need to notify the Vietnam
government as the event would take place in Da Nang in Vietnam. They also need to notify their
member states.

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Similarly to the Tokyo Olympics, the event was postponed to a future date, unlike Google’s I/O
developer event that was canceled and made an online event. The process was not effective as
they postponed the dates to June and they are not sure if the pandemic will have ended.
This event could have been done online as it involves a few attendees and they can
discuss their agendas online through integrating their meeting with networking. They can use
YouTube live streaming, live-tweeting, slack, Reddit or discord platforms.
Google I/O 2020 developers’ event
The event name is google I/O 2020 developers event and it was scheduled to take place
on May 12 to 14 2020 in Mountain view California taking 2 hours each day. The purpose of the
event is to share google platform updates. Its objectives are to explore ways to evolve google to
enable its users to best connect with others. The expected attendance is its developers who would
be around 1000. It is funded by their investments where they earn through advertising. The
attendees had also purchased tickets. It markets its events and updates through community
forums, developer blogs, and its google I/O website.
The event was canceled on March 3rd, 2020 more than two months to the event date. I
was canceled due to concerns with the Coronavirus and following health authorities such as
WHO and CDC. They notified the attendees by sending emails to them. They then said that they
will continue to update their I/O developers’ website and it has completely canceled the event
and there will not be I/O this year. They need to notify the attendees who had purchased the
tickets that they would be refunded.

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Based on the size of the event it was good to cancel it but they could have done it online
or postpone the dates like the other events. The process was not effective as they canceled the
event completely and they will not be able to achieve their objectives of the meeting.
They could have done the meeting online by holding live meetings and presentations
using TCP/IP connections.
Tokyo 2020 Olympics
The name of the event is Tokyo 2020 Olympics and was planned to take place in Tokyo
during the summer from 24th July to 9th August 2020. The purpose of the event is to unite the
globe as one, display humanity, demonstrate sensational showcase of sport and celebrate human
resilience. It will also transform the host city. Its objectives are to promote inclusion, diversity,
courage, determination, inspiration, respect, friendship, and equality in the world as it will
involve athletes from 206 nations (Masterman & Wood, 2016). The attendees include more than
11,000 athletes and thousands of people were planning to attend as coaches, trainers, souvenir
vendors. The event is funded and sponsored by companies such as Coca-Cola, Atos,
McDonald's, Dow, among others. It priced its tickets at approximately $70 to those who wanted
to watch the game and thousands of people bought them. NBC broadcasted the games in the US
to market the event.
The international Olympics committee canceled the event On March 24th, 2020, four
months before the event could start. The reason for canceling the event was due to the
Coronavirus pandemic to safeguard and protect the athletes and all the people involved in the
Olympics (Kolb, 2016). The president of the committee rescheduled and reported the event to

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occur in 2021 from August 24th to 5th September. The president needs to notify the sponsors,
the Japanese government, athletes, and those who had bought the tickets.
Based on the size of the Olympics which involves thousands of people it was advisable to
cancel the event as people from different countries could spread Corona endangering their lives
(Crowther, 2011). The process was effective as the committee announced the cancelation and
reschedule of the event on time to reassure the stakeholders and make the athletes certain as they
practice. The event cannot be done as an online event as it is sports.

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References
Crowther, P. (2010). Marketing space: a conceptual framework for marketing events. The
Marketing Review, 10(4), 369-383.
Crowther, P. (2011). Marketing event outcomes: from tactical to strategic. International Journal
of Event and Festival Management.
Fukushima, T. (2017). Preventing heat illness in the anticipated hot climate of the Tokyo 2020
Summer Olympic Games. Environmental health and preventive medicine, 22(1), 68.
Kolb, B. M. (2016). Tourism Marketing for cities and towns: using branding and events to
attract tourism (Vol. 10). Routledge.
Masterman, G., & Wood, E. H. (2016). Innovative marketing communications: Strategies for the
events industry. Routledge.
Rogers, T., & Davidson, R. (2015). Marketing destinations and venues for conferences,
conventions and business events. Routledge.