Wireless Festival: Taking European Music to Australia - Analysis

This report examines the feasibility of expanding the Wireless Festival, a popular European music event, to Australia. It begins by providing an overview of the festival's history, its current operational model, and its increasing popularity, particularly among youth. The report then delves into a comprehensive SWOT analysis, assessing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats associated with bringing the festival to Australia. Strengths include its global appeal, financial backing, and media attention; weaknesses include its limited music genres and high ticket prices. Opportunities include employment scopes and expansion of its revenue streams, while threats involve competition from regional festivals and changing consumer preferences. The report uses this analysis to evaluate the potential for the Wireless Festival's success in the Australian market, considering both its advantages and the challenges it may face.

THE WIRELESS FESTIVAL
Taking the European Musical Phenomenon to Australia

T H E W I R E L E S S F E S T I V A L :
O V E R T H E Y E A R S
T H E W I R E L E S S F E S T I V A L :
O V E R T H E Y E A R S
.
The Wireless Festival: England
(Source: Metro.co.uk 2018)
The Wireless Festival, one of the most prestigious and widely popular music
festivals of the United Kingdom, takes place in London, England every year. The
festival started in 2005 and is currently owned and managed by Live nation. Over the
years, it has been sponsored by many prestigious companies, which include the
telecommunication brand O2, followed by Barclaycard and Yahoo!. The Festival, has
over the years, taken place in different parts of the country, with a usual span of three
days. In 2015, in the honor of a decade of the festival, another extra day of musical
events was added. The Wireless Festival is known and liked for providing a platform
for showcasing music from all parts of the world, especially European and American.
Over the years, different artists, musical groups and contemporary
musicians have performed on the stage of the Wireless Festival, which have
contributed significantly in increasing their popularity. The Festival, in spite of
being a regional phenomenon, occurring in United Kingdom only, however, has
been gaining increasing popularity and attention of the media from all parts of the
world. The primary reason behind the increasing popularity of the festival is that
it brings in the performances of phenomenal musical personalities from all parts
of the world and provides the opportunity to the viewers to see the live
performances of their favorite musical idols.
The vast varieties of musical performances, interesting events, attractive
performance line ups, huge promotional activities and brand sponsorships all
contribute to the increasing fan following of the Wireless Festival as can be seen
from the huge crowd of audience, especially from the youth population of the
country, which the event attracts year after year (Morey et al. 2016). The festival
also provides platform for the musical talents from all parts of the world, which
brings them fame and further opportunities in their music career.
Given the rising fame of the Wireless Festival and the increasing
number of audiences it has been attracting in England, with each passing year,
there remains huge scopes of expansion of the operational area of the festival to
other parts of the world, to cater to the music loving population present in
different countries. Keeping this prospect of the Wireless Festival in
consideration, the following sections try to analyze the scope, benefits, potential
advantages as well as disadvantages of taking the festival outside England, in
Australia specifically.

To analyze the prospect of the Wireless Festival in countries other than United Kingdom, especially in Australia, which has been taken as the potential
country for expansion of the same Festival, it is of extreme importance to analyze the inherent traits of the festival, including the advantages and disadvantages of the
operational framework and the nature of its activities as well as the threats and weaknesses it is subjected to and the opportunities which the Festival has in the
coming years. To analyze the same, an extensive SWOT analysis of the Wireless Festival is conducted in this section, taking into consideration the need to have a
clear overview of the situations and economics patterns of the event in order to plan the future business expansion of the same.
SWOT Analysis of the Wireless Festival
Strengths
 Global platform to celebrate music
 Attracts huge crowd from all parts of the United Kingdom
 Attracts tourists visiting the country
 Provides platforms for all types of artists without any race or
ethnicity-based discrimination
 Has financial backings in the form of sponsorships and promotional
activities of reputed companies from all parts of the world
 Receives immense media attention especially in the UK
 Collects huge revenue in the form of ticket fees
 International acculturation happens and different regional and artists
and musical bands get exposure to showcase their talents and their
country and its culture in front of a global audience
Weaknesses
 The festival occurs only in the United Kingdom
 The genre of music mainly remains constricted to rock and pop,
thereby limiting the varieties of performances
 The festival mainly attracts youth population of the country who are
specifically interested in several specific genres of music or are fans of
some specific musical personalities (Botelho-Nevers and Gautret
2013)
 Ticket prices are considerably high, thereby raising affordability
issues
 Several instances of misconducts as well as breach of safety of both
the performers as well as the audiences have occurred, which
questions the security arrangements of the festival
 Deficiency of accommodation or hospitality of the tourists who
specifically come to attend the shows
 Does not usually promote the regional music of other countries
 Deficiency of proper of emergency and health care services which is
required for such a huge crowd which the festival attracts
PROSPECTS OF THE WIRELESS FESTIVAL IN AUSTRALIA

Opportunities
 Provides employment scopes for local residents (though mostly
seasonal employments)
 Attracts increased number of tourists which in turn has the potential to
make the phenomenon known to global population
 Has the scope of taking the festival to other parts of the world which
can increase its revenue generation, fan following and popularity even
more
 Creates huge backward and forward linkages in the industrial and
economic aspects
 There remains scope of inclusion of more genres of music with the
expansion of the event in other countries, thereby attracting different
types of fans from all parts of the world
 There remains increased scope of more professionalism in the
operational framework which in turn may attract more audiences
 The festival has the opportunity to increase their tie ups with more
multinationals for sponsorships and media for publicity, especially the
regional ones provided it increases its domain to other countries too
Threats
 Many other cultural programs and festivals are taking place in the
country itself as well as in other parts of the world where the Wireless
Festival can possibly venture
 The regional festivals can posit as tough competitors for the festival,
especially in the other countries
 The cultural differences and preferential patterns of the customers can
differ in other regions
 Over the years the preference of the people in the country are also
getting varied and many other entertainment programs are occurring in
the country which tend to shift a major share of the fan following of
the Wireless Festival
 The prices of the tickets being extremely high and with more internet
usage and online coverage of the festivals, there remains substantial
threat of more people resorting to see the performances online
 The safety breaches and discrete incidents may lead to considerable
negative publicity of the event, which may hamper the initiation of the
festival in other countries
PROSPECTS OF THE WIRELESS FESTIVAL IN AUSTRALIA
(Source: Madnewsuk.com 2018)

To analyze the prospects of the initiation of the Wireless Festival of the
United Kingdom in Australia, apart from assessing the internal conditions, prospects
and threats, within the operational framework of the event itself, it is of utmost
importance to take into account the overall environment prevailing in Australia,
thereby analyzing whether the initiation of the Wireless Festival in Australia will be a
judicious decision on part of the organizers or not (Anderton 2015). To study the
overall environment and the implications of the underlying factors in Australia over
the Festival itself, a PESTLE analysis is conducted which is as follows:
PESTLE Analysis
With the help of this analysis, the key factors in the country, including
political, environmental, social, technological, legal as well as environmental and their
influences on the plan of bringing the Wireless Festival to Australia can be analyzed:
POLITICAL FACTORS- For the plan of initiating the festival in Australia, the inter-
country political ties and stability has to be taken into consideration as many factors
like the availability of proper venues, aids and assistance from the government, tax
structures, approvals of festivals and related activities as well as noise regulations and
other registration process and their ease depends on the inter-country political
relations. Australia sharing good political relationships and productive linkages with
that of the UK, the political factors seem to be conducive for this plan.
ECONOMICS FACTORS- The economic conditions, the purchasing power and the
consumption pattern of a country have to be studied in details in order to get an insight
about the potential prospects and threats of any new business venture in the concerned
country. Given the fact that the Wireless Festival arranges for music performances of
considerably popular artists and bands and the fact that the tickets are priced
considerably high, there needs to be a considerable share of interested as well as
economically well-off population in the country.
PROSPECTS OF THE WIRELESS FESTIVAL IN AUSTRALIA
In this context, it can be seen that the average per capita income in Australia is
considerably high and a major share of the income of the residents are spent on
entertainment programs. The above-mentioned factors indicate towards the
possible success of the Festival in the country.
SOCIAL FACTORS- Australia is currently ranked among the top ten musical
countries globally, with an enriched and culturally rich society, with affinities to
different genres of music. The country promotes acculturation and the concert
culture is highly existent in the country, which points towards the high social
acceptability of the people in the country, together which can contribute
positively to the success of this initiative (Gibson and Connell 2016).
TECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS- For a musical festival of this stature to be
successful, extremely advanced technological amenities and infrastructures are
required, which are considerably present in Australia. However, with more
internet usage among common people and the facilities of streaming live videos,
attracting audiences to be physically present in the festival venues can be a bit
challenging.
LEGAL FACTORS- The organizers of the festival need to take into account and
abide by the legal systems of the country and the regulations regarding the
Intellectual Property Rights as well as protection of interest of the consumers in
the country (Yüksel 2012).
ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS- The impacts of such festivals, especially in
their aftermaths, can be negative in terms of the wastage of materials, improper
dumping of huge garbage, usage of chemical sprays on lands as well as massive
wiring and electrical arrangements can be dangerous for the environment as well
as the residents if not addressed properly.

To venture in the markets of Australia, the organizers of the Wireless Festival, needs to take into account the cultural aspects of the country and the
diversity of the same with that of the traits present in the United Kingdom, which can be seen in the light of the Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensional Framework which
is as follows:
Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions: UK-Australia Comparison
Cultural Comparison of Australia and United Kingdom
(Hofstede Insights 2018)
As can be seen from the above figure, Australia scores more in terms of Power distance, Individualism, Uncertainty avoidance and Indulgence. The score of
Australia being high in indulgence, it can be asserted that the people in the country indulge more in self-enjoyment and pleasure seeking, which in turn also indicates
towards the potential success which the Wireless Festival can attain in the concerned country, given that same is expected to attract more crowd. The people also
tend to think less about long term planning, which in turn asserts that the people will spend more on attaining happiness and satisfaction in the recent period than
saving for their future period.
CULTURAL ASPECTS OF AUSTRALIA

To analyze and evaluate the prospects of the business plan of taking the
Wireless Festival from its place of origin, the UK, to Australia, it is extremely
important to analyze the market dynamics which the festival is subjected to in the
current scenario. For the purpose of doing the same the Porter’s Five Forces Model is
considered:
The Porter’s Five Forces Model
The different components of the model, with relevance to the business plan
for the Wireless Festival to be initiated in Australia are as follows:
Threat of New Entry- The festival being itself a potential new entry in the domain of
Australia, this component of the model does not hold much relevance in this context.
Power of Suppliers- The organizers of the Wireless Festival aiming to venture for the
first time in Australia, it is of utmost importance for them to set up useful and long-
term linkage with the supply side providers in order to create a sustainable supply
chain (E. Dobbs 2014). The different providers of services like that of electric
arrangements, venue managers, caterers, health care providers, will want to set up ties
with them given their popularity. The number of competitors in these sectors being
high in the Australian economy, the bargaining power of suppliers are not that high.
Power of Buyers- The primary demand side players in this context are the music
audiences which the festival is aiming to target. Given that many such regional as well
as international musical concerts occur in the country, the bargaining power of the
buyers are high.
Threat of Substitutes- There already occur many musical and other entertainment
programs in Australia, many of which have lower entry fees like that of the Wireless
Festival, this threat is considerably high. The primary ones include the Woodstock
EVALUATION OF THE PLAN OF INITIATING THE FESTIVAL IN AUSTRALIA
Industrial Rivalry- Given the increasing number of such concerts increasing in
Australia, the Wireless Festival is expected to face considerable competition in the
country (Jones 2012).
Keeping these aspects into consideration the plan of launching this festival in
Australia can be formed on the basis of STP Approach:
Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning Approach
Market Segmentation- The organizers can segment the market in Australia into the
following types:
 Population not accepting towards new forms of music programs and are keen
to attend the existing ones only
 Population who enjoy both the existing programs as well as are eager to attain
new types of musical programs
 Population who are not satisfied with the types of performances and events
taking place and are waiting for new types of musical events
Targeting- The organizers can mainly target the latter two types of populations for
their potential crowd, especially concentrating the youth population specifically
interested in different forms of contemporary music (Taras, Steel and Kirkman 2012).
Positioning- Keeping their potential clients in consideration the organizers can
analyze their competitors as well as the potential beneficial business partners and
sponsors in the country and can position themselves accordingly, using appropriate
media and social media promotional techniques.
Thus, from the above discussion, it can be asserted that plan for launching the
Wireless Festival in Australia can be a beneficial one, provided the cultural
differences, inherent weaknesses, threats and exogenous environmental aspects of the
country are taken into account.

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