Understanding Crowd Behaviour and Event Management

The provided content discusses the importance of event management and crowd behavior in organizing a successful event. It highlights the need to consider various factors that may affect the success of an event, including the target market audience and their interests. The study emphasizes the importance of properly planning for marketing and advertising of the event to achieve maximum output. Additionally, it touches on the topic of Nike's ability to gather a crowd with shared passion for fitness, and how this can be applied to event management. Overall, the content provides insights into the theoretical frameworks that underlie successful event management.

International Event
Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................3
1. Nike's background and SWOT analysis ......................................................................................3
2. Identification of new market, Market entry and STP strategies..................................................4
3. Relevance to target audience.......................................................................................................5
4. Issues impacting the success of the event....................................................................................5
5.Detail about Nike theme and design.............................................................................................6
6. Marketing Plan for launch...........................................................................................................8
7. Application of relevant academic model.....................................................................................9
CONCLUSION....................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES...................................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
The report studies the importance and application of Nike We Run event. The research has
proposed a new launch city for the upcoming running marathon. The launched host city will be
London. The study also discusses about the factors affecting the success of an event in an country.
Brief discussion is done on the application of theory in the event management for the company.
Marketing plan has been researched to show the marketing scheme being planned out for the new
host city (Ammon, Southall and Blair, 2008). The study discusses about a proposed theme plan for
the event to be hosted in London. Market entry and relevance with the market audience is also
studied to provide information about the market factors prevailing in the host country.
1. Nike's background and SWOT analysis
NIKE'S BACKGROUND:
Nike is one of the largest multinational cooperation in the world. They have a broad variety
of products to interchange which they make in manufacturing plant all over the world.
Nike's basic products were track running shoes. They now make shoes, shorts, base layers, jerseys,
and get equipment for a fanlike scope of sports including track and field, tennis, baseball, football,
ice hockey and cricket (Background of Nike, 2015).
Swot Analysis Of Nike:
Strengths
Powerful Research and Improvement: Nike takes its research, design, and development efforts very
seriously. It believes this is one of the key factors for its success. Technical innovation in both the
design and manufacturing process of its footwear, apparel, and athletic equipment has helped the
company continue to produce better products, which have enhanced athletic performance and
reduced injuries (Carlsen, Getz and Soutar, 2011).
Powerful Global Brand: Nike is the most precious sports brand in the world. Its extended
relationship with well- known basketball player Michael Jordan has driven strong sales of the
company’s basketball sneakers. This includes the retro business, which makes up about half of the
Jordan shoe business. Nike’s ability to maintain and enhance its iconic brands has allowed it to
enjoy continued success for decades.
Weaknesses
Overflowing Prices: Due to its strong brand, Nike can typically command a superior on the
products it sells, which in turn supports higher margins and profitability. However, the cost of its
footwear is higher than most of its competitors for example: Nike Air, which make its products out
of reach for many customers around the globe (Ammon, Southall and Blair, 2008).
Current Perceptual experience of Miserable Labor Pattern: It wasn’t long ago that Nike was facing

intense criticism of its labor practices and work conditions. The company itself has acknowledged
that the low wages for some of its workers remains a concern. Safety issues at certain locations are
also an issue. If some type of disaster were to occur at one of its facilities, this would no doubt hurt
the company’s image.
Opportunities
Groundbreaking Products: Nike focus on R&D and the company is typically on the forefront on
product innovation. The company’s brand strength, coupled with its focus on R&D, should allow it
to remain at the forefront of new technologies in the footwear and wearable technology space.
Threats
Threat from rivalry: The athletic footwear, apparel, and equipment industry is highly competitive,
both in the United States and around the globe. There are several significant athletic and leisure
footwear companies and sports equipment firms that produce similar products. Some of the primary
ones are Puma and Adidas. Demand for Nike’s products depends on the relative popularity of
various sports and fitness activities, as well as changing design trends. If competitors have more
success attracting customers with more appealing footwear or apparel, this would also hurt business
prospects (Carlsen, Getz and Soutar, 2011).
2. Identification of new market, Market entry and STP strategies
Relevance of Nike We Run Race- London
The identified new market for the Nike we run race will be London. Nike we run race in
London will see the highest no of athletes and race lovers participating in the event. Nike's objective
for the race are to inspire the athletes and runners to run faster and better. The past event held by the
company in other countries proved to be huge success in inspiring runners and athletes to achieve
great milestones (Carlsen, Getz and Soutar, 2011). London is the best venue for the upcoming event
of Nike we run, as the economical capital of the country. London will provide great audience and
enthusiasm to the event. The country will help raise the marketing objective as London is cited to be
one of the famous city of the world.
Market Entry
Market entry for Nike in London is easy as compared to the brands visibility and popularity.
As recently London hosted a grand Olympic event, it shows the strength and capacity of the capital
to create global impact for an event. NikeTown London is the largest physical store of the company
in the entire world, which shows Nike's well established presence in UK. London will provide
social media marketing platforms, Sponsorships and publicity to the event (Bezpalaya, 2012). The
company needs to analyse the portfolio of the present marketing trends and then adopt a designing
strategy for the Run event.
STP Strategy

STP strategy is an important criteria to be studied before conducting a marketing plan for the
desired product. The STP shows the link between the targeted market and the targeted audience.
The STP strategy for Nike We run race is described below-
Segmentation- To segment the audience for the run event in London the company can
choose demographic strategy. Based on the age factor of the target market audience the company
can choose to divide the audience in different age group (O'toole, Harris and McDonnell, 2006). To
increase the event size and generate maximum audience output, Nike has to target youth and young
people for the event. Categorisation can be done on the basis of age and athletic spirit.
Targeting- To select the target market audience the company needs to study the size of the
audience being expected at the event. The focus strategy should be applied to choose a targeting
market. The target of the event should be to focus the niche requirement of runners and athletes
coming in the event (Damm, 2010.). Through the audience requirement the company can add few
extra things in the products and the event as well.
Positioning- Positioning strategy deals with creating a lasting impression of the event in the
mind set of audiences. To position the events importance among the audience the company can use
product characterisation strategy. The company already has three different product specialised in
running i.e. shoes for speed days, shoes for recovery days, shoes for endurance days (Luckham,
2011). To position the events objective the company can highlight the above mentioned product
along with the advertising. These products will help to generate a lasting impression in the minds of
runners and athletes.
3. Relevance to target audience
Nike's philosophy for the event is to allure the youth and young age group of 20-40 age to
think of building an athletic body. The individuals who wanted a fit athletic body or the ones who
had the fitness for an athletic body, should join Nike and the run event to develop their skill. Nike is
dedicated in providing training session for the target market audience. Physical and digital training
session are available for the audiences coming in the event. Nike wants to unify the participants
with the spirit and passion for running and fitness (Nike, 2015 ). Nike has introduced Nike+ running
app to inspire the audiences to increase their running skills. The event has organised to provide
expert pacers and expert coach facility which will help to motivate and inspire the runners through
the running session. The coaches will provide expertise through one to one guiding session to the
participants regarding their goals. The company has provided with music facilities to the runners to
inspire them to run to achieve the highest milestone. Young age group and youth will be mostly
attracted with the entertainment support that the event is providing.
4. Issues impacting the success of the event
There are various issues and problems impacting success of the event. The research studies

the factors which are externally impacting the growth of a event. The company needs to understand
and access these issues before formulating any plan about the venue management. London has seen
fluctuating market trends after the Olympic event. The issues that can impact the success of the
Nike event are as followed-
 Permissions from Authority or Local Body- It is difficult for the event organisers or the
management of the company to get relevant permission from the government in the desired
frame of time. In many areas the government is hesitant to give access or permission to
conduct the event (Mallen and Adams, 2013). It creates great problem for the Nike company
to get the permission on right time for right place.
 Being Unforgettable- In this advanced and social media era. It is difficult for the manager
or the event planner to create the event last memorable in the minds of the people. The
audiences tend to forget the old events on the urge of new events of Nike. This creates a
huge issue in planning a new event.
 Right people on the Running track- In sports events specifically it is difficult to appoint
right people on the track As the hurdles and obstacles are more depending the size of the
event it is difficult to appoint more then estimated people as consultant or helpers on the
track. To gather adequate people for the event management of Nike event is difficult to find
as the people might not be able to give the exact result as estimated (Moran, 2010).
 Budget Problem- This is the biggest issue faced by the event manager or any company
organising an event. Budget is fixed as per the organisation or any individual, the variants of
market may affect the budget cost of the event of Nike.
 Technology Problems- Various technical issues impact the successful management of the
event. Non availability of proper systems or a software or a power cut may disrupt the flow
of the program .
 Planning- Lack of proper planning creates a havoc for the event. Planning is important in
every aspect of event management of Nike. Inadequate planning will generate problems in
the execution of the event.
 Partnerships and Sponsorship- It is difficult to get desired sponsorship or partnership tie
ups with other companies or brands of Nike. Events budget gets directly affect by the lack of
adequate sponsorship. Sponsorship also provides to market and promote the event with the
particular brands name (Ponsford, 2011).
 Health and Safety- This is another problematic area for an event management. Taking care
of all the participants and audience coming to the Nike event is not an easy. Security and
staff has to appointed to help create safety issue under control while the execution of the
event.

5.Detail about Nike theme and design
The details for Theme For The Run Series as per the given case study will be:
Theme: NIKE RUN SERIES:
Distance: 20Km to 30Km
Location: King's Road to Baker Street, London
Duration: 9AM TO 9PM
Sequence Of Nike Races:
 Nike Sprint (20 km,10 obstacles)
 Super Nike (23 km, 20 obstacles)
 Nike Beast (29 km, 25 obstacles)
The Race Series Is All About:
 Dragging Boulders On Chains
 Flip Logs
 Lug Tires
 Run
During the event it will become almost impossible to manage, especially when it’s full of people, so
dividing it up into per-arranged areas is a real requirement. So :
Volunteering Department:
there are different volunteers assigned so it does not become chaotic to handle. They are:
 Food Department (volunteers with white T-Shirt)
 Transportation (volunteers with green T-Shirt)
 Housing Department (volunteers with yellow T-Shirt)

 Handling The Crowd (volunteers with black T-Shirt)
Details about event: Distances that is never imagined at speeds that is thought impossible. There’s
only one way to find out that is by being a part of the “We Run Series”. The long-expected
declaration from Nike run series in London has finally here and runners will be thrilled to know
this. London will be the next place where race series is been conducted (Sporting, 2015). The races
distances range from 20Km to 30Km to full Marathon. The Nike Race Series will have two stops in
London. The even will be starting from King's Road to Baker Street. T6he company will be sharing
More details about the race on its website. Nike will also promote the event by posting on it’s Nike
run series Facebook page (Ammon, Southall and Blair, 2008).
6. Marketing Plan for launch
The marketing plan for launch of Nike We Run in London is as followed-
 Identifying the brand- Nike is a popular multi manufacturing brand, producing various
products for example, shoe, apparel, accessories etc. the company has initiated to launch a
running event for the promotion of its brand. The brand is most popularly known as shoe
manufacturing brand (Ratten and Ratten, 2011). The latest company has invented shoes
specifically designed for runners and athletes, for example shoes for speed days, shoes for
recovery days, shoes for endurance days.
 SWOT analysis of the company- The strength of the company is its global presence in the
entire world. Nike is a popular and appreciated brand all around the world for its research
skills for innovation in the products. Companies weakness is the high price of its product.
The high price makes it difficult for all class people to afford the brand. Competitors like
Puma and Adidas are the biggest brand affecting the sales of the company. The company
would also get affected by the rising requirement of constant innovation in the industry.
 Target Market audience- The target market audience for the event being hosted in London
is the young age group of 20-40 years. This age group is the most spontaneous and
passionate about health and fitness (Masterman, 2014). It is important for the company to
target this age group as the company would be able to serve more people who serve the
same passion for athletic and fitness.
 Intersection of proposed target and audience- The offerings and target market meets at
the point of dedication and passion about health. The targeted market is the young age
people who are more interested to keep themselves fit. This age group also addresses people
who either are in the field of athletics or want to pursue their career in this field. The event
will be to cater both the market audiences in a perfect way.
 USP of the product- Nike USP for the event is the promotion of fitness and athletic spirit

among the targeted market audience. Its Unique services is through the product that it is
advertising under the running event i.e. shoes specially designed to serve different stages of
running. Shoes are designed in three ways which are, shoes for speed days, shoes for
recovery days, shoes for endurance days. These shoes have unique innovated feature to
attached to them.
 Refining the marketing plan- To measure the implementation of the plan it is important to
firmly execute the event in the host city i.e. London (Pedersen and Thibault, 2014). It is
important to review the necessary developments and requirements for the management to
get the maximum results.
To make the event a huge success and to gather more audience for the event it is important
for the event to firmly adhere to the marketing strategies being required for the event.
7. Application of relevant academic model
Crowd theory can be applied for the application of international event management.
According to the crowd theory people prefer the things they do or see in a group. An events success
can be studied by the crowds behaviour that has gathered to attend the event. To analyse the success
and suggestion of the Nike running events it is important to analyse how the crowd has reacted for
the past events of the same running series. To support the crowds behaviour for an event theories
have been applied in the following points.
 Contagion Theory- As per this theory, the crowds affects individual behaviour. Crowds
causes individual behaviour to change or affect according to the trend followed by the
crowd. It is important for Nike to understand this theory as this will benefit the organisers to
raise the audience size. As the selected target audience is youth of age group 20-30, the
affect of crowds behaviour can easily affect the targeted market audience (Van der Wagen,
2010). Youth or young age group tend to easily affect by other influences. top increase the
influence over the individuals and to generate maximum audience size Nike can invite group
of people who are highly dedicated athlete. This behaviour will help the company to target
more audiences.
 Convergence Theory- As per the convergent theory people who act or praise a certain way
come together to form a crowd. This is advantage to the Nike's event. As the event is hosted
for the purpose of motivation athletes and runners in the area. The theory states that people
have love or passion for a kind of thing will group up to become a crowd. Nike will be able
to gather a crowd that will have same passion for fitness (Getz, 2013). These group of
people will be able to form a crowd and attract more people of the same interest.
Both the above theory help to understand the patter of crowd and the behaviour of
individual in a crowds. To organise an event it is important for the company to manage the common

interest of the crowd. This will in return raise the success factor of the event.
CONCLUSION
From the above research it can be concluded that to conduct a event in an international
country, the event management has to consider various factors that may affect the success of the
event. The study shows the importance of target market audiences selected for the event. The target
market audience plays a important role in generating maximum output for the successful execution
of the event. Academic theory are used in the above research to describe the applicability of the
event management. It can be concluded that for successful management of the event it is important
to properly plan for the marketing and advertising of the event

REFERENCES
Journals and Books:
Ammon, R., Southall, R. M. and Blair, D. A., 2008. Sport facility management: Organizing events
and mitigating risks. Fitness Information Technology. 2(3). pp.206-391
Bezpalaya, A., 2012. Event Management. LAP Lambert Academic Publishing.
Carlsen, J., Getz, D. and Soutar, G., 2011. Event evaluation research. Event Management. 6(4). 247-
257.
Damm, S., 2010. The implications of best practice event management when applied to small-scale
local events. diplom.de
Drake, C. N., 2013. Maximising effectiveness of corporate hospitality programmes at Australian
special events. International Journal of Event and Festival Management. 4(3). pp.236 – 248.
Fourie, J. and Santana-Gallego, M., 2011. The impact of mega-sport events on tourist arrivals.
Tourism Management, 32(6), 1364-1370.
Fuller, P. A., Dainty, A. R. J. and Thorpe, T., 2011. Improving project learning: a new approach to
lessons learnt. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business. 4(1). pp.118 – 136.
Getz, D., 2013. Event studies. Routledge.
Jones, M., 2014. Sustainable event management: A practical guide. Routledge.
Jüttner, U., Christopher, M. and Godsell, J., 2010. A strategic framework for integrating marketing
and supply chain strategies. The International Journal of Logistics Management, 21(1), 104-
126.
Luckham, D. C., 2011. Event Processing for Business: Organizing the Real-Time Enterprise. John
Wiley & Sons.
Mallen, C. and Adams, L., 2013. Event Management in Sport, Recreation and Tourism: Theoretical
and Practical Dimensions. Routledge.
Masterman, G., 2014. Strategic sports event management. Routledge.
Masterman, G., 2014. Strategic sports event management. Routledge.
Moran, J. S., 2010. How to Start a Home-Based Event Planning Business. Rowman & Littlefield.
O'toole, W., Harris, R. and McDonnell, I., 2006. Festival and special event management. Milton:
John Wiley & Sons Australia.
Pedersen, P. M. and Thibault, L. 2014. Contemporary Sport Management, 5E. Human Kinetics.
Ponsford, I. F., 2011. Actualizing environmental sustainability at Vancouver 2010 venues.
International Journal of Event and Festival Management. 2(2). pp.184 - 196.
Ratten, V. and Ratten, H., 2011. International sport marketing: practical and future research
implications. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing. 26(8). pp.614 – 620.
Scott, N., Laws, E. and Boksberger, P., 2013. Marketing of tourism experiences. Routledge.
Tkaczynski, A., & Rundle-Thiele, S. R., 2011. Event segmentation: A review and research agenda.
Tourism Management, 32(2), 426-434.
Van der Wagen, L., 2010. Event management. Pearson Higher Education AU.
Online
Sporting. 2015. [Online]. Available through: <http://livbydesignevents.com/events/sporting>.
[Accessed on 25th November 2014].
Background of Nike. 2015. [Online]. Available through:
<http://theothersideofnike.weebly.com/nikes-background.html>. [Accessed on 25th November
2014].
Come run with us. 2015. [Online]. Available through:
<http://www.nike.com/gb/en_gb/c/running/nike-run-club>. [Accessed on 25th November 2014].