Event Marketing and Brand Equity

This assignment examines the relationship between event marketing and brand equity. It delves into how events contribute to brand experience, shaping consumer attitudes and ultimately impacting brand value. The analysis draws upon academic literature and real-world examples to illustrate the strategic importance of event marketing in building strong brands.

Table of Contents1.0 Introduction.....................
2.0 Organization Background..........................
2.1 SWOT Analysis.....................................
3.0 Relevance of Download Festival in
Texas................................................................
3.1 Market Entry..........................................
3.2 Relevance to Target Audience and
Justification (STP)........................................
3.2.1 Hofstede Model...............................
3.2.2 STP Analysis...................................
3.3 PESTLE Analysis...................................
3.4 Porter Five Forces Analysis of Texas
......................................................................
4.0 Detail of Event Theme/design...................
6.0 Contemporary Issues..................................
5.0 Marketing Plan...........................................
8.0 Recommendation.......................................
9.0 Conclusion.................................................
Reference List..................................................
International Event
Management
1.0 Introduction
Globalization has helped organizations to
expand their market in new geographical
area resulting in more market share and
thereby creating sustainability. Organizing
event involves gathering of various
audiences, which serves mostly the purpose
of entertainment (Wang and Cole 2016).
Event management organizations deal with
organizing events such as music festival,
award ceremonies, sports, fund raising
program, new product launch, trade shows,
exhibitions and similar other categories.
Audiences are targeted and based on this
ticket are sold, which runs for a specific
period. Similarly, an existing British music
event Download Festival has been selected
(Downloadfestival.co.uk, 2017), which is
expected to be launched in Texas, USA.
This event will be organized by Live
Nation UK indicating its international
expansion.
2.0 Organization Background
The selected music event will be managed
by Live Nation UK, which is the subsidiary
of Live Nation. This organization owns
fifty percent of Academic Music Group and
is well known for organizing famous music
festivals (Livenation.co.uk 2017). Its most
recognizable ticketing partner is
Ticketmaster, which has helped in selling
the maximum tickets for each music event.
2.1 SWOT Analysis
From the SWOT, it can be identified that
the organization is having well financial
support and great brand image for musical
events, which are the most important
factors for success as described by
Andersson, Armbrecht and Lundberg
(2017). Having a great opportunity for
market expansion, it can surely be able to
expand its market in USA. On the other
hand, Ticketmaster is American company,
which can surely help in better ticket
distribution strategy of market entry.
3.0 Relevance of Download Festival in Texas
3.1 Market Entry
According to Miller and Yang (2016),
merger and acquisition is one of the best
market entry options as an organization is
able to ensure resource optimization and
reduce overall cashflow. On the other hand,
Masiero et al. (2017) pointed out that joint
alliance helps an organization to enter into
a new market and operate with an existing
organization for specific period. Live
Nation UK does not have any expansion in
USA and therefore there might be a risk of
sustainability for long term basis. For
acquisition, it will need to bare a huge
capital, which if turns out to be a failed
strategy, Live Nation UK may have to face
huge loss of capital. The best market entry
strategy should be to work with an existing
event management organization in Texas
and if the market growth shows exponential
results, it can acquire existing organization.
Therefore, it can be said that the best option
for Live Nation UK to can enter in Texas,
USA will be joint venture. BRB Event
Management will be the best company in
Dallas with which Live Nation UK can
undergo joint venture.
3.2 Relevance to Target Audience and
Justification (STP)
3.2.1 Hofstede Model
According to Beugelsdijk, Maseland and
Hoorn (2015), people of the USA prefers
being more counterpart with others than the
people of UK. While considering the
masculinity dimension, it can be found that
people in USA are more filled with
empathy, love, quality of life, success and
affection than people of UK. Finally, Lim,
Makhija, and Shenkar (2016) pointed out
that people of USA have a better tendency
to accept new culture along with respect for
old tradition. Therefore, it can be said that
Download Festival in Texas will be a good
strategy for market expansion where people
will accept the new event with enthusiasm.
3.2.2 STP Analysis
Considering the target segments of a music
event, it can be said that income, age and
status are the most important factors to be
considered (Zarantonello and Schmitt
2013).
Download Festival can involve audiences
of age range from 15 to 50 with average to
high-income group of people. Moreover,
the geographic location to be selected will
be Texas, which have a growing trendy
crowd specifically in Dallas, having the
largest diverse group of people in the USA.
Finally, according to Tafesse (2016), an
event must be extremely engaging so that it
creates a long-lasting impression on the
minds of target audience. Therefore, the
event will be rich in entertainment, filled
with musical content along with great
lightning.
Target Market
 Primary Target Market: Music Lovers
Identification of Market Segment
Demographic  Age: 15 to 50
 Gender: M/F
 Income: US$500 to AU$3000 (monthly)
 Education: Average
 Family Size: 2 to 10
 Status: Nuclear/Joint
Geographic Country/State
 Country: USA
 State: Texas
 City: Dallas
Psychographics  Interest: Explore, Adventure
 Personality: Accessibility ease, Buying power
 Lifestyle: Self-employed, Office going,
Socially aware
Behavioral  Consumption: Quality-conscious, Early
adopters, Enthusiasts
 Purchasing: Price-conscious, Luxury-seekers,
Need based
Identification of Positioning Strategy
 High entertainment value at lower price
 Features with added value
 Visibility and recognition
 Consumers targeted
 Clear identity and placement
 Security and face detection for criminal base
 Top pop singers and bands
 Great lighting and sound system
3.3 PESTLE Analysis
Factors Notes
Politics  Oldest democracy with stable federal system will be in
favor of new market entry
 Progressive taxation system will help in establishing
liberal business operation
 Corruption perception index is at 16th indicating smooth
flow of business with authentic response from
stakeholders
Economy  Rising economy with high labor cost and increasing
interest rates
 Rising impact of globalization has created new demand
for different entertainment modes (Mester 2016)
Society  Rising trend of entertainment from live music shows
and events
 Change in socio-culture by involving more diverse
group of people
 People have the tendency to accept new product and
experience with few rejection, which indicates better
business operation
Technology  Progressive digital communication with innovative ICT
will help in market penetration and seeking target
audience
 Concrete intellectual property protection and emerging
technologies will help in innovative digital
entertainment
Legality  Department of Labor ensures protection of employees
involving minimum wage, health coverage, workplace
safety and social security
 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ensures
family leave policy along with employment based
discrimination (Bargain, Orsini and Peichl 2014)
 Strong laws ensure better human resource availability
with more tendency of retention
Environmen
t
 Strong laws for environmental protection impacting
more on new entry firms
 Climate change, whether and natural disaster does not
impact on events
3.4 Porter Five Forces Analysis of Texas
Factors Notes
Bargaining power of
Buyers
 Plenty of local and national events
resulting in high bargaining power
 Presence of strong distributing
networks along with high discounts
count for bargaining power
Bargaining power of
Sellers
 Low bargaining power due to
presence of plenty of event
organizers
 Seasonal discounts and offers from
new events impact more on
bargaining power
Existing competition
on market
 High market competition from local,
national and international events,
which are mostly music category
 Partnership with top pop singers and
bands creates more competition
Threat from
substitutes
 Substitute events such as award
ceremonies, product of the year and
year-end events attracts maximum
audiences (Homburg, Vollmayr and
Hahn 2014)
Threat from New
entry
 High threat from entry as
availability of partners and suppliers
are huge along with suitable and
trendy audience
 Less risk and legal compliance with
very less record for failed music
events
4.0 Detail of Event Theme/design
Event Operation Plan
Title of Event: Download Festival
Type of Event: Music Event
Purpose of Event: Maximizing ticket sales and earning more
revenue
Event Objectives:
 To penetrate into Texas market through strong ticket
distribution
 To create a sense of unique music festival for three days
 To attract and retain Texas audience so that other markets can
be reached
Site Description
 Country: USA
 State: Texas
 City: Dallas
 Venue: Dallas Arboretum & Botanical Gardens
Event Timings
 Date: 30.12.2017, 31.12.2017 and 01.01.2018
 Timing: 05:00PM to 12:00AM (each day)
Participants
 Top singers and dancers from Download Festival
30.12.2017 31.12.2017 01.01.2018
1. Linkin Park
2. Gojira
3. Hatebreed
4. Nostromo
1. System of A
Down
2. Slayer
3. Caliban
4. Sólstafir
1. Green Day
2. Prophets of
Rage
3. Carpenter
Brut
4. Crown the
Empire
Audience Selection
Famous Audience
 Top actors and celebrities
 Top entrepreneurs
 Political leaders
 Famous industrialists
 Top sportsmen
Casual Audience
 Casual attendees
 Corporate Officials
 Students
 Teenagers
Contributing Factors
 Amusement devices
 Involvement of vulnerable
persons
 Accessibility needs
 Working at heights
 Police surveillance
 Generators
 Temporary structures
(stage, gantry)
 Noise (amplifier, drums)
 Lasers and lighting
 Traffic management
Key Contracts
 Event Manager
 Waste management
 Security manager
 Medical assistance provider
 Event H&S representative
5.0 Marketing Plan
Factors Notes
Product  Three-day music event
 Top heavy metal bands presenting rock festival
 Presenting genres' biggest names in music industry
 Live performance by Linkin Park, Gojira, Hatebreed, Nostromo
 Audience detection by facial detection technology ensuring safety
Price  Competitive pricing strategy due to new entry
 Food and beverage including drinks will be separately charged
 Premium membership and cards for VIP tickets with premium pricing
Place  Venue: Dallas Arboretum & Botanical Gardens (Dallas, Texus)
- Address 8525 Garland Rd, Dallas, TX 75218, USA
- Botanical garden with 66-acre
Promotion  Online ticket through Ticketmaster offering:
- Huge discounts for bundle ticket category
- Friendly discounts for 3-ticket category
- Cozy discounts for couple ticket category
 Print media, hoardings and banners
People  Famous celebrities from diverse categories
 Short commercials involving participant bands
Process  Creating awareness through social media
 Maintaining entertainment quality through use of best sound and lighting system
Physical Evidence  Printed ticket confirmation along with free pickup facility from 12 km
 Email confirmation along with notifications for event statistics prior to starting of event so that more audience can be
engaged through word of mouth
6.0 Contemporary Issues
According to Liu, Zhang and Keh (2017),
international events mostly face issues
related to funding and strategic
development. On the other hand, Gamble
international expansion and prevailing
laws. Due to risk in internationalization,
potential investors might not be attracted
resulting in funding issue. Finally, quality
assurance might be the most impactful
factor because the organization has very
less idea of suppliers and available
and Gilmore (2013) pointed out that venue
selection, quality assurance and event
promotions are the factors that hamper
event operation. Considering Download
Festival, it can be said that strategic
development might be an issue because
Live Nation UK has very less idea of
Reference List
Andersson, T.D., Armbrecht, J. and
Lundberg, E., 2017. Linking event quality
to economic impact: A study of quality,
satisfaction, use value and expenditure at a
music festival. Journal of Vacation
Marketing, 23(2), pp.114-132.
Bargain, O., Orsini, K. and Peichl, A.,
2014. Comparing labor supply elasticities
in europe and the united states new
results. Journal of Human
Resources, 49(3), pp.723-838.
Beugelsdijk, S., Maseland, R. and Hoorn,
A., 2015. Are scores on Hofstede's
dimensions of national culture stable over
time? A cohort analysis. Global Strategy
Journal, 5(3), pp.223-240.
Downloadfestival.co.uk, 2017. Download
Festival | 8th - 10th June 2018 | Donington
Park. [online] Download Festival.
Available at:
https://downloadfestival.co.uk/ [Accessed
30 Nov. 2017].
Gamble, J. and Gilmore, A., 2013. A new
era of consumer marketing? An application
of co-creational marketing in the music
industry. European Journal of
Marketing, 47(11/12), pp.1859-1888.
Heldt, T. and Mortazavi, R., 2016.
Estimating and comparing demand for a
music event using stated choice and actual
visitor behaviour data. Scandinavian
Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, 16(2),
pp.130-142.
Homburg, C., Vollmayr, J. and Hahn, A.,
2014. Firm value creation through major
channel expansions: evidence from an
event study in the United States, Germany,
and China. Journal of Marketing, 78(3),
pp.38-61.
Lim, J., Makhija, A.K. and Shenkar, O.,
2016. The asymmetric relationship between
national cultural distance and target
premiums in cross-border M&A. Journal of
Corporate Finance, 41, pp.542-571.
Liu, L., Zhang, J. and Keh, H.T., 2017.
Event-Marketing and Advertising
Expenditures: The Differential Effects on
Brand Value and Company
Revenue. Journal of Advertising Research,
pp.JAR-2017.
Livenation.co.uk, 2017. Concert Tickets
and Tour Dates | Live Nation UK. [online]
Livenation.co.uk. Available at:
https://www.livenation.co.uk/ [Accessed 30
Nov. 2017].
Masiero, G., Masiero, G., Ogasavara, M.H.,
Ogasavara, M.H., Risso, M.L. and Risso,
M.L., 2017. Going global in groups: a
relevant market entry strategy? Review of
International Business and Strategy, 27(1),
pp.93-111.
Mester, L.J., 2016. The US Economy and
Monetary Policy Remarks for the Panel
Discussion,“The United States and the
Global Economic Outlook” National
Association for Business
Economics/American Economic
Association Meetings San Francisco, CA
January 3, 2016 (No. 65).
Miller, D.J. and Yang, H.S., 2016. The
dynamics of diversification: Market entry
and exit by public and private
firms. Strategic Management
Journal, 37(11), pp.2323-2345.
Tafesse, W., 2016. Conceptualization of
brand experience in an event marketing
context. Journal of Promotion
Management, 22(1), pp.34-48.
Wang, W. and Cole, S.T., 2016. A
Comparative Analysis of Event Attendees'
Spending Behaviors, Satisfaction, and
Information Search Patterns by Event
Types at a Midwestern College
Town. Event Management, 20(1), pp.3-10.
Zarantonello, L. and Schmitt, B.H., 2013.
The impact of event marketing on brand
equity: The mediating roles of brand
experience and brand attitude. International
9.0 Conclusion
While concluding, it can be said that
Download Festival will earn huge
reputation in USA despite of certain
challenges by presenting the all-time
favorite metal bands. It has been found that
Texas is composed of diversified cultural
people along with high acceptability of new
products, which indicate an undisputable
success by the end of this year. There are
three types of tickets for three customer
segments with premium pricing for VIP
audience, which will be completely handled
by Ticketmaster. It has been also found that
prevalent market competition for musical
events is extremely high and therefore the
unique positioning strategy will be the most
impactful for success.
technologies to support their equipment.
Even if supplies are available venue might
not be suitable for such accommodation,
resulting in quality issues.
8.0 Recommendation
Heldt and Mortazavi (2016) opined that
investors’ attention can be only achieved
through right demonstration of possible
financial outcome. Proper fact related
statistics need to be presented for gaining
attention. Moreover, Tafesse (2016) opined
that issues related to strategic expansion
can be overcome through investing more on
research and development team, who will
analyze the market potentiality. Similarly,
based on the data, Live Nation UK can
design its promotional strategies and make
partnership with retail and fashion brands
for supplies. Finally, quality issues can be
addressed by importing the most essential
equipment and machines directly from the
UK along with adequate training and
support for human resource so that
performers and organizers does not face
any challenges while operating.