Dream Sales Machine Ltd: Event Planning and Market Expansion Report

This report examines event planning strategies for Dream Sales Machine Ltd, a medium-sized event company in London seeking to expand its market share. The report delves into market and customer research methodologies, emphasizing the importance of analyzing target audiences, legal and regulatory requirements, financial viability, and competitor analysis. It highlights key principles for developing and agreeing on event plans, including clearly defined objectives, budgeting, using trusted service providers, and effective negotiation. The report provides examples of event policies and procedures for educational and sports events, emphasizing the need for a structured approach to ensure successful event execution. The report also discusses the analytical techniques and approaches for researching, developing and agreeing the events and the need to clearly state objectives for the event. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of a well-defined event management plan to achieve organizational goals.

Event Planning at Dream Sales
Machine Ltd London

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................3
LO1............................................................................................................................................3
P1 Sources of market and customer research to inform event plans......................................3
P2 Key principles of developing and agreeing event plans in line with customer and
business requirements............................................................................................................4
M1..........................................................................................................................................5
D1...........................................................................................................................................6
LO2............................................................................................................................................6
P3 Examples of policies and procedures from a variety of events and its implementation...6
P4 Producing policies and procedures for an event and outlining how they are implemented
for maximising effectiveness.................................................................................................8
M2..........................................................................................................................................9
D2...........................................................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES.........................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
When hosting an event, it becomes important to make the best impression possible
and the event planner is required to know the each and every detail pertaining to what will
happen which involves all the information in regard to the guests and the speakers. In order to
make it a success, the event planning plays an important role which helps in effectively
analysing the areas. In this report, Dream Sales Machine Ltd company which is a medium
sized event company in London is looking for expanding its market share in the event sector
in London as well as in Europe. The report provides an insight on how the event plans are
researched, developed and agreed in order to meet with the customer as well as the business
requirement. It also incorporates the range of events along with the policies and procedures
for implementing the same.
LO1
P1 Sources of market and customer research to inform event plans
It is important to note that before organising an event, it is crucial to analyse the
market for the intended event. For example, for organising a fashion event in Oman, it is
important to know whether people there are having interest in fashion, in case, they are
having less interest then it is not a good idea to organise such event there. There are different
sources of market research which can be carried out by the company for the purpose of
planning the event.
Market Analysis
If there is a huge market with respect to the intended event, then it is imperative to
carry out the market research analysis. Through this, the company will be able to find out
about the information pertaining to the target audience which involves the age group,
knowledge level, qualification, profession, income, status, personality, customs, lifestyle etc
(Morgan and et.al., 2019). Gaining information about the target audience is very crucial so
that measures can be taken to ensure that their sentiments and emotions are not hurt in any
way through that event. This will help in effectively directing the marketing efforts towards
accomplishing the desired goals. Other important aspects that should be taken into account
are stated below.
Legal and regulatory requirements: Before, proceeding with the planning process,
the event planning organization is required to effectively analyse the legal and the regulatory
requirements which it needs to comply with. These factors are having a huge implication over
the success of an organization. The existing laws and regulation pertaining to organization of

an event and it impact over the society and people in regard to how it led to affecting the
emotions of the people. Also, the way its disrespect the law and leads to hindrance among the
people.
Financial viability and considerations: Another crucial aspect which is essential to
be taken into account are the financial viability of the project or the event (Jain and Yadav,
2017). Therefore, it is important to consider or estimate the cost it will be incurred on the
event along with the expected return it will be generating. This will provide support in
estimating the financial position of the company in organising the event and how it will be
beneficial for it in financial terms.
Event's sustainability, ethical and environmental aspects: The ethical and
environmental aspects is also a point of consideration and if the employees are not able to
effectively analyse the negative implication the event might have over the ethical and
environment then this will result into failure of the event. Therefore, while conducting market
research it is important to look into these aspects as well in order to ensure success.
Competitors' Analysis
Under this, the company is required to effectively and efficiently analyse the
information pertaining to its competitors. It will involve the qualification, knowledge,
experience, annual turnover, market share and value in this sector. Along with this, it requires
to identifying the promotion techniques being followed by them for grabbing more customers
and keeping them informed about the events.
Customer research
The event company requires to carry out customer analysis through which it will be
able to identify the needs and requirement of the customers. Based upon this, it can
effectively determine its target group. In order to inform consumers about the event, it can be
done through the way of making use of the technology (Terho and Jalkala, 2017). First, the
company can email its existing customer base about the event it is organising along with
sharing the same with their known. In addition to this, it can make use of the social
networking sites and share stories about the event. This will remain active for 24 hours and is
considered to be a great way of promoting the event. This will also help in gathering the view
of viewers pertaining to the event.
P2 Key principles of developing and agreeing event plans in line with customer and business
requirements
There are certain principle which provides assistance in order to make the event plan
a success. These principles ae in respect to the development of the plan and agreeing with the

same by effectively meeting up with the business and customer requirement. Some of the
crucial principles are stated below.
Clearly defining objective for the event
One of the crucial principles of event plan is the setting up of the objectives as by
this, it will help in narrowing down the focus in order to ensure that event attains its defined
objectives (Richards, 2017). Along with this, it helps in knowing or determining the direction
through which the event can be great success and should meet with the business
requirements.
Setting out the budget/ financial planning
For a business organization, it is important to understand that before preparing for
the event, a budget should be developed which states about the expected expenditure that will
be incurred in the entire event. This supports in determining whether the organization is
having sufficient amount of funds to carry out the project. This is one of the basic business
requirements which should be fulfilled in order to successfully completing the event
planning.
Using trusted service providers
By having trusted network of the service providers, the company can easily get
access to the reliable services which is considered as the puling off key for the success of an
event of any kind (Mouline, 2019). This can be done through, hiring an event coordinator
who is having its own network and or the entities which are already known personally. Using
trusted service provider can be a make or break for an event.
Effective negotiation and engagement skills
Through the way of making use of the negotiation skills can help the organization in
reducing its cost which helps in making an effective event plan along with meeting with all
the requirements (Event planning research – How to make your event a success. 2018). In
addition to this, by implementing the experience design concept through which it can design
its event in such a way that it will place quality of user experience. Also, by way of
implementing the engagement among the people and the event or brand which helps in
gaining an insight over the emotions and the sensation of the customers which helps in
effectively meeting with their requirements.
M1
The approaches used for gathering market and customer related information helps in
effectively meeting with business needs and accomplishing success in attainment of the
business (Dowson and Bassett, 2018). The market research can be done through market

analysis by undertaking extensive research on the key external business factors like legal,
ethical, environmental regulations. Apart from this, the company can take the competitor
analysis which helps in determining the strength and weaknesses of the rival so that it can
formulate its policies and strategies in order to take advantage of it.
D1
The analytical techniques and approaches that can be used for researching,
developing and the agreeing the events helps in effectively determining the prevailing market
conditions. These approaches in helpful in some way in the formulation of the policies and
procedures but on the other hand, it is very time-consuming process and requires incurring
huge amount of cost. Also, the market condition keeps on changing so there is no guarantee
that the information will be of much use of not (Melander, 2019). Therefore, in order ensure
that the event will be a success, it is highly recommended to start preparing for the event for a
longer time which will help in gathering more accurate and useful information pertaining to
the market and the customers perspectives. Also, it is highly recommended that the company
clearly states its objective and the purpose of the event so that it can target right set of
consumers which will be beneficial for it.
LO2
P3 Examples of policies and procedures from a variety of events and its implementation
Event planning and the executives can be unpleasant for all concerned. One may
have the information, experience and ability, thus may the entire group, however without a
solid event management plan on board, the endeavours may achieve lacklustre outcomes. All
things being equal, one ought to have a mechanized and brought together event management
intend to help steer the company towards a shared objective and a common goal (Maguire
and McLoughlin, 2019). Basically, an event management plan diagrams or detail out all the
organizational details pertaining to the event. Utilizing a solid event objective and system as
its hop off point, an event management plan should plot how an event will be pulled off, from
advancement to on-the-day coordination, and post-event examination.
Strategizing is primary to any event management plan. It traces the objective, how it
is estimated, and outlines the (well-informed) steps to arrive at the said objective. Without
any solid event management technique, the event management will not be having any sort of
direction. A great event system conveys a rate of profitability without fail: not just for the
event members and participants who put away their time and cash to join in – however for the
association and workers as well. Therefore, in order to accomplish the same, it is important

for the company to formulate and establish policies and procedures which are essential for
attaining success and it differs from one event to another. Examples for the same are given
below.
Educational and career events
Such events accounts for the education fair, workshop, debates, discussion,
competitions and so forth. This is for the betterment of the students and therefore, in order to
make the event a success it is required to implement certain policies and procedures which
will help in carrying the event rightly and effectively (Henness and Ball, 2019). Pertaining to
this event, policies and procedures will be made in respect for the following: Last of
registration, beneficial for whom, who can attend the event, charges for attending the event,
carrying identity card is a must, proper verification will be done before entering the venue. In
such events there are less chances of occurrence risk but proper procedures are followed in
regard to the safety of the students.
Sports events
This type of event incorporates the events related to sports which can be from short
to large scale like the Olympics, marathons, wrestling matches and so forth. Such events are
massive requires strict policies and procedures in place. It involves finalising the date and
venue in advance and then undertaking the promotional activities for making the people
aware about the event and the related information. In addition to this, it will include the
charges for the ticket or the passes required to be determined by carrying out the cost benefit
analysis. The policies and procedure will also include the person responsible for checking the
tickets of the participants and in ensuring at they are at the right places.
Entertainment events
It involves the events like the music concerts, fashion show, stage shows, celebrity
nights, flash mob etc. for ensuring such type of entertainment related events end up
successfully, the policies and procedures required to specific to the things like the delegating
responsibility for lightings, backstage crops, managing the timings (Scriven and Orpilla,
DAYDIALS Inc, 2017). The policies also incorporate the legal and the environmental
regulation which are required to followed and complied with for ensuring success.
Political events
The political events accounts for the events such as the political procession,
demonstration, rally, political function and so forth. Such events require strict policies which
is required to followed and this incorporates security safety as the most crucial aspect. As
such events are considered very critical as opposition parties or the rivals can undertake any

action thus, security related aspect is covered. In case any problem arise, contingency
procedure will be implemented in order to reduce the risk.
P4 Producing policies and procedures for an event and outlining how they are implemented
for maximising effectiveness
By and large government at all levels can ground strategy in an investigation and
extension of the objections character, convention, values and setting to produce huge and
tangible belief and interest for longer timeframe (Jones, 2020). The policies and procedures
pertaining to the event can be explained in a more effective and better way through the way
of taking an example and developing policies and procedures for the event.
Organising a political event
Policies and procedures
 The activity must be undertaken for the objective it has stated and not for any other
cause or reason.
 The event should not be harmful for the surrounding environment or case any sort of
disturbance in its nearby places.
 Proper and appropriate security facility will be there and the entry of every person in
the event will be verified using the identity card or the registration being made for
participating in the event.
 Each and every task will be allocated to the separate person so that it will help in
ensuring that every activity is properly and effectively managed and everyone is
connected with one another through technology in order to avoid the situation of
miscommunication. Also, under the situation of emergence, right person can be called
upon.
 There can be situation that while carrying out the political event, there occur clashes
among the participant’s over the view of the political leader leading to misbehaving
and using of harmful tactics. Under such situation, contingency should be
implemented into place in order to control the situation.
In order to effectively implement the same, it becomes essential that proper checklist
is being prepared through which everything can be tallied. Following this procedure helps in
ensuring success and maximising the effectiveness of the policies and procedures formulated.
Also, ensuring that the people involved in organising the event are having the required skills
and expertise and along with this, here comes the human resource management part as well

which makes sure that the existing employees are having the sufficient knowledge for
organising an event.
M2
In order to successfully implement the set policies and procedures pertaining to an
event requires the management to effectively analyse the risk which are associated with the
event and in connection to it requires to identify the event and in connection to it requires to
identify the procedures through which it can effectively reduce or mitigate the risks
(Schlegel, 2017). The event planning and management team needs to have a person having a
good understanding about the legal aspects and is having the good interpretation ability
which assist in meeting with the legal, regulatory and other requirements in order to inform
the policies and procedures. Under the situation, where the company fails to comply with the
relevant legal obligations then this may consequently lead to government intervention in the
event and disrupting the event.
D2
On evaluating the policies and procedures which were formulated pertaining to
organising a political event, it can be stated that in order to ensure that everything is done
rightly and perfectly as it is desired, it becomes crucial to make sure that the formulated
policies and procedures are implemented successfully. For doing so, there are certain
recommended ways which can be utilized for effective implementation. First and the
foremost way, that the personnel’s involved in the process of organization of the event is
having the required skills like the leadership skills, good communication, planning skills
along with the risk handling skills (Sutawidjaya and Nawangsari, 2020). If the employees are
efficient in these crucial skills or qualities which are essential for a successful event
management then it will ensure that the team can handle the event in a better way. Along with
that, it is crucial to make sure that the company complies with the legal and regulatory
requirements and is not harming the surrounding environment in any way. In order to do so,
the company is required to take expert advice in respect to formulating the policies along
with updating the existing policies. This is important to consult the expert as that person is
having immense knowledge in the filed which can offer support in effectively implementing
the same. Therefore, these points if taken into consideration will result into better event
planning and management and consequently leading to meeting with the set objectives and
goals.

CONCLUSION
It can be inferred from the above that the event planning is an essential management
practice as it incorporates various benefits. The events organized differs in terms of size,
type, location from the small table discussion to the dinners to the large scale reception or
ceremonies. This increases the importance of the event planning and management. There are
various sources through which the business organization can effectively analyze the existing
and the expected future market in regard to the event sector. Through this way, it can base its
strategies and meet with the desired outcome. In addition to this, identifying the right target
audience is the most effective crucial part of the customer research and in this way the
company gets an insight into the needs and preferences, emotions and touchpoints of the
customers. On evaluating these aspects, it can easily get right set of information which is
useful in developing the plans and agreeing to meet with the business and customer needs.
Thus, event planning helps in developing policies and procedures for the events.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Dowson, R. and Bassett, D., 2018. Event planning and management: principles, planning and
practice. Kogan Page Publishers.
Henness, S. A. and Ball, A., 2019. Engaging youth as influencers in leadership event
planning. Journal of Human Sciences and Extension. 7(1).
Jain, E. and Yadav, A., 2017. Marketing and technology: role of technology in modern
marketing. IOSR Journal of Business and Management. 19(5). pp.49-53.
Jones, L. J., 2020. The Event Planning Toolkit: Your Guide to Organizing Extraordinary
Meetings and Events. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Maguire, K. and McLoughlin, E., 2019. An evidence informed approach to planning for
event management in Ireland. Journal of Place Management and Development.
Melander, L., 2019. Customer involvement in product development: Using Voice of the
Customer for innovation and marketing. Benchmarking: An International Journal.
Morgan, N. A. and et.al., 2019. Research in marketing strategy. Journal of the Academy of
Marketing Science. 47(1). pp.4-29.
Mouline, I., 2019. Nine steps to improved critical event management. Journal of business
continuity & emergency planning. 12(3). pp.253-262.
Richards, G., 2017. From place branding to placemaking: the role of events. International
Journal of Event and Festival Management.
Schlegel, G. L., 2017. Event-Driven Planning: An Inflection Point for Operations
Planning. Journal of Business Forecasting. 36(4).
Scriven, T. and Orpilla, D., DAYDIALS Inc, 2017. Event planning platform. U.S. Patent
Application 15/338,307.
Sutawidjaya, A. H. and Nawangsari, L. C., 2020, February. Integrated Project Management
Planning and Event Management in Service Industry. In 4th International
Conference on Management, Economics and Business (ICMEB 2019) (pp. 58-62).
Atlantis Press.
Terho, H. and Jalkala, A., 2017. Customer reference marketing: Conceptualization,
measurement and link to selling performance. Industrial Marketing
Management. 64. pp.175-186.
Online
Event planning research – How to make your event a success. 2018. [Online]. Available
Through:< https://www.one-resource.com/event-planning-research-how-to-make-
your-event-a-success/>.