event management project report

INTRODUCTION

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“We GENERATE Quality Business Leads We ENHANCE Your Profile We CREATE New Business Opportunities Everyone Knows Us as EVENTS”

Event management is growing at a rate of three times that of traditional advertising. Though relatively small compared to the major components of the marketing communications mix-advertising, sales promotions and P-O-P communicationsexpenditures on event sponsorship are increasing. increasing. Corporate sponsorships in in India in 2001 were estimated at $3.9 billion-with 65% of this total going to sports events and most of the remainder spent on sponsoring entertainment tours or festival and fairs. Thousands of companies invest in some form of event sponsorship.

Event marketing is a form of brand promotion that ties a brand to a meaningful athletic, entertainment, cultural, social or other type of high-interest public activity. Event marketing is distinct from advertising, sales promotion, point-of-purchase merchandising, or public relations, but it generally incorporates elements from all o f these promotional tools. Event promotions have an opportunity to achieve success because, unlike other forms of  marketing communications, events reach people when they are receptive to marketing messages and capture people in a relaxed atmosphere.

Event mangement is growing rapidly because it provides companies alternatives to the cluttered mass media, an ability to segment on a local or regional basis, and opportunities for reaching narrow lifestyle groups whose consumption behavior can be linked with the local event. MasterCard invested an estimated $25 million in sponsoring the nine-city

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“We GENERATE Quality Business Leads We ENHANCE Your Profile We CREATE New Business Opportunities Everyone Knows Us as EVENTS”

Event management is growing at a rate of three times that of traditional advertising. Though relatively small compared to the major components of the marketing communications mix-advertising, sales promotions and P-O-P communicationsexpenditures on event sponsorship are increasing. increasing. Corporate sponsorships in in India in 2001 were estimated at $3.9 billion-with 65% of this total going to sports events and most of the remainder spent on sponsoring entertainment tours or festival and fairs. Thousands of companies invest in some form of event sponsorship.

Event marketing is a form of brand promotion that ties a brand to a meaningful athletic, entertainment, cultural, social or other type of high-interest public activity. Event marketing is distinct from advertising, sales promotion, point-of-purchase merchandising, or public relations, but it generally incorporates elements from all o f these promotional tools. Event promotions have an opportunity to achieve success because, unlike other forms of  marketing communications, events reach people when they are receptive to marketing messages and capture people in a relaxed atmosphere.

Event mangement is growing rapidly because it provides companies alternatives to the cluttered mass media, an ability to segment on a local or regional basis, and opportunities for reaching narrow lifestyle groups whose consumption behavior can be linked with the local event. MasterCard invested an estimated $25 million in sponsoring the nine-city

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World Cup soccer championship in the United States in 1994 and will likely sponsor  other big events in many countries as well. Event marketing is a lucrative game of “what’s in a name”, as consumers con sumers purchase tickets and expose themselves to everything. The world of event marketing is a fast growing, high profile industry worth over $20 billion annually, and one of the most successful marketing strategies. Event management integrates the corporate sponsorship of an event with a whole range of marketing elements such as advertising, sales promotion, and public relations. Corporations both large and small have grown this industry at a rate of 17 percent per  year, and they have achieved a high level of success.

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RESEARCH METHOLOGY AND OBJECTIVE

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Research Methodology Primary research detailed discussions with customers attending corporate events. The secondary information was gathered from various marketing journals and books on event management, sales promotions and publicity.

The information gathered was studied and analyzed. It reveled certain issues in event management which need further attention and some suggestions have been given to make this industry more effective in order to utilize its full potential and be mutually beneficial for the Event Management agency, the Corporate and the customer 

Primary Sources

The methodology followed for the research:

Primary data is a data that is collected for the first time in the processing of the analysis. We have adopted the contact questionnaire for the purpose of collecting Primary data. Apart from this, information gathered was by personal interactions for the purpose of  analyzing the awareness of Event Management Companies in Delhi.

Secondary Sources

The Secondary data are those, which have already been collected and being processed through the statistical process.  The secondary information was gathered from various marketing journals and books on event marketing, sales promotions and publicity magazines such as Events in India, Advertising & Marketing & Reports in newspaper etc .

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OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

Primary Objective

The main purpose of this project is to study the Consumer perception towards Event Management in Delhi.

This includes :-

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Identify the scope in terms of the service provided by them to consumers.

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Size of the industry in Delhi.

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Study the problems faced by the event management companies.

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Study the type of events which are taking place.

Secondary Objective

The secondary objective of the research is to find the image of the event companies in minds of consumer & how the company is working for entertainment source among the customers.

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RESEARCH DESIGN

A Research design is purely and simply the framework of plan for a study that guides the collection and analysis of data. The study is intended to find the investors preference towards various investment avenues. The study design is descriptive in nature.

TYPE OF RESEARCH- DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH Descriptive

study

is

a

fact-finding

investigation

with

adequate

interpretation. It is the simplest type of research and is more specific. Mainly designed to gather descriptive information and provides information for formulating more sophisticated studies.

SAMPLING DESIGN Selection of study area: The study area is in New Delhi Selection of the sample size: 100

SAMPLING METHOD Convenience method of sampling is used to collect the data from the respondents. Researchers or field workers have the freedom to choose whomever they find, thus the name “convenience”.

About 100 samples

were collected from New Delhi city and most of the respondents were customers coming in to corporate and personal events.

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INDUSTRY PROFILE

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Event Management “Events are occurrence designed for marketing interests.” Philip Kotler

Event management generally means conceptualizing, meticulous planning, organizing and finally executing an event. It is a set plan involving networking of a multimedia package, thereby achieving the clients objectives and justifying their needs for associating with events. Events can bring community together for purpose of fundraising, change a town or city’s image, expand its trade, stimulate its economy, help companies to market and introduce its product and also for the entertainment of society.  Not only do events enhance the quality of our life, they can provide significant economic  benefits. Events require a high degree of planning, a range of skills, a lot of energy and funds.

Keys to successful events: Organization & Co-operation Event Management in India is in nascent condition till date it has achieved only a stature of sector. Still it’s treated as a part of entertainment industry. The size of this sector was mere Rs. 1400 Cr in financial year 2010. The future of this sector is very bright and its expected that it will grow with a growth rate of 15% to 25% and will touch the turnover  of Rs. 2000 Cr in year 2012.

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The industry is highly concentrated, the top four players occupies as much as 95% of  market share. The top four players are big MNCs, any Indian player has not achieved such size and proficiency. The top three players are: 

YS Events & Promos

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UX Events & Media

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R2S Events & Solutions

Corporate Events 

Conferences

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Corporate Celebrations

Glamour Events 

Celebrity Appearance

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Fashion Shows

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Music Concerts and entertainment shows

Brand Events 

Promotion and management of Brands

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Televised Events 

Events specially created for television channels

Sports Events 

Focused around a sporting event

Concept Events (Theme Based Events) 

Concept conceived by Event Management Company

Hybrid Events 

Mixture of two or more of the above

Others 

Talent Banks

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High Profile Weddings, Dance Parties

Activities in Event Management

Pre-Event Activities

Events typically have a team based environment and a project type of organization structure. Thus, responsibilities are assigned to the relevant staff members in the team for  the Event. Coordination of arrangements required is divided among the team members.

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Once the preliminary discussions are over, and the final concept sold to the client, the very first step creative conceptualizes works on the designing. Then the Project manager   prepares a thorough schedule after understanding the critical steps ad issues involved in that particular event. External agencies such as architects and engineering contractors may be consulted at this stage to understand feasibility of planned concepts. Most event management companies have experienced production managers who understand the feasibility of planned concepts. Then the project manager draws up a cash flow statement, a budget statement and arranges budget allocation for the event. Based upon the project requirements critical dates or deadlines are drawn up and the best  possible solution among alternatives to achieve these deadlines is chosen. The overall coordinator along with the sales and marketing team should ensure the completion of  overall design, models of stages, visuals, etc. with graphics included by the creative team within the prescribed deadlines and make a researched concept presentation to the clients. At this stage, the legalities of drawing up the contract, agreements and finalization by signing of contracts between the event managers and clients becomes a necessity. Keeping the feasibility in mind physical design are finalized and contractors begin work. Here fire, safety and insurance issues need to be taken care of. The coordinator, sales and marketing team then think about production of advertising promotions, brochures,  posters, etc. Logistics is another important area that needs to be given priority attention by event coordinators. Logistics in events essentially involves booking of hotels, air, road, and rail transport for the participants and event managers, arranging transportations of material. A joint team of the concept creator and the main contractors then need to check out the special-effects equipments and arrangements. At this time day-by-day tracking of timing and finance with a feedback on possible changes i.e. increase or decrease in expenditure on various items. Finalization of cleaning, security, furniture (tables, seating, barricading etc.), déco r  (flowers), communication (telephone), and other service hire contracts (couriers) also take up the production manager’s time at this stage. The project manager handles the

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 progress report and gets contingency plans drawn up. The overall coordinator has to continue in touch with the client with reference to the PR, publicity, press releases, and  promotion on TV, and radio along with the public relations team. Arranging for a press conference for the clients, and artists, giving out invitations, passes and tickets to the event, organizing the reception for the press with uniforms for the hospitality hostesses/hosts or staff at the reception is also a major responsibility for the PR team in the preparatory stages leading up to the event. Damage control due to artists’ tantrums is yet another aspect typical of this field that the PR team needs to contend with. These have to be tolerated and controlled to avoid any adverse fallout. Final visit for quality checks and control need to be made to the networking components to ensure and confirm understanding. These typically include inspection of dimensions of  stage and other critical near finished models for accuracy by the production manager. The overall coordinator along with the other team members needs to then arrange for a  briefing of site supervising staff depending on category and type of event. It is essential that the entire briefing and interaction take place before the event begins. Once the event gets started the clients and the contractors’ staff need to be kept away from interfering with the execution by the production manager and the event coordinators. Controlling the  panic reactions due to invariable last minute troubles and final tying up of all loose ends is a very important penultimate task. The last stage in the first section involves resolution of on-site wrangles of delivery,  permission, missing orders or items, close attention to construction of sets--asking whether it was done correctly, supervision of installation of special effects, objects.

During-Event Activities

During the event, softer aspects come into the focus. For overall coordinator, it is important to pass on all credit to supervisors. Event managers should look humble and be available to the clients to call on. The conceptualisers’ efforts should be appreciated at least during the event. At the same time, there should be a constant surveillances of the specially effects, display objects and the food and beverages. Thus monitoring is the gist

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of the during-event execution activity that is involved. Photographs and other multimedia recording arrangements if so desired also need to be taken from strategic locations.

Post-Event Activities

Beginning with the physical task of dismantling of the sets, post-event activity also run into accounting and other such works. Final accounts setting (bills to be paid on receipt) is accompanied by explanations for overspends. The team needs to carry out a  postmortem analysis on the event and conduct an event evaluation. Recording the  photographs taken of the event in the form of a photo-documentary helps a lot. Performance evaluation of the coordinators during the event should be carried out immediately so that weak points after the event can be used for learning. Finally, the overall coordinator should do the formality of thanking all involved for the wholehearted and extra efforts provided. Letters should go out to clients thanking them and these should include a post-event questionnaire seeking to measure client satisfaction. Based on this feedback, improvements and adjustments required should be worked upon. This theory states that the function of management can be classified into planning, organizing, staffing, leading and controlling. Finally, the most important part of Event Management is the execution of the Event as  planned. We term this activity as Carrying-out the Event. Therefore, when we use Event Management, it is to denote the production of an Event. Staging an event takes more than a wish or dream. Preparation is the key to a successful event.

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Event Planning The first and foremost thing to do while planning an event is to know about the client's expectations. When a client first approaches you for assigning a task, sit with him and find out what he wants and how he wants it. Keep in mind the fact that the client has a very hazy idea of what he wants. He expects you to change that hazy idea into a reality. So you first need to strike a good rapport with him. Once you know his expectations you can start giving your inputs. Since you are a professional event planner he is bound to  believe that you have a better knowledge about these things and will respect your   judgment.

Key Factors in Planning an Event 

Check the feasibility

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Is the event a good idea

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Are we in the right community

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Who would be the spectators

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About the venue

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About the media of advertising

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Fund stream

Timing

Full time should be devoted to implementation of plans. Make sure your event does not clash with other events. The Organizing Committee

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It should comprise of experts in the following streams:

Financial 

Determine the sources of revenue

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Expected level of expenditure

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Time gap of expenditure and revenue

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Establish a system of financial accounting and control

Marketing 

To attract best possible audiences

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Get sponsorship and best support possible

Operational 

Guide overall operation of event

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Managing the technologies require

Legal 

Make appropriate contracts involved in managing an event

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Handle lawsuits that may arise

Public Relations Teams 

To handle the celebrities, if invited in the event.

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To host press conferences.

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This team is required to take decisions from conceptualization to completion of the event.

Facilities offered 

Programs

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Awards

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Transport

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Catering

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Safety and Security

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Entertainment

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Anchoring and announcement

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Music and Sound system

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Licensing

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Publicity

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Promotion

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EVOLUTION OF EVENT MARKETING

From its origins in event planning, the event marketing industry has seen great growth in the last five years and has consistently been one of the most effective tools that marketing  professionals have at their disposal in terms of making a tangible connection to current and potential customers. The increasing competitive pressures brought on by globalization are forcing business  professionals to find new ways to engage customers. Not surprisingly, savvy event marketing professionals are therefore focusing the majority of their efforts and budgetary spend on lead generation tactics such as trade shows. While it is important to garner leads, marketing and specifically event marketing  professionals cannot lose sight of the fact that the sales cycle only begins at lead generation and that current and prospective customers must also be nurtured even beyond  purchase. Companies can benefit tremendously from the deeper event marketing touch  points that promote nurturing such as proprietary conferences that provide a controlled environment for delivering messages and closing business. The nurturing process will allow the customers to more effectively be funneled into the subsequent stages of the sales cycle thus creating greater opportunities to develop into repeat customers.

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EVENT MARKETING An event is a live multimedia package with a preconceived concept, customized or  modified to achieve the clients objective of reaching out and suitably influencing the sharply defined, specially gathered target audience by providing a complete sensual experience and an avenue for two-way interaction.

EVENT S

LIVE INTERACTION

REACH

Right Live

Communicati on

from the client

WITH

 Audienc e

CREATES

Fig: Events Definition In-Short

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Desired Impact

This is a diagrammatic representation of the above definition. From the model it is evident that an event is a package so organized has to provide, reach and live interaction  between the target audience and the client to achieve the desired impact. Event marketing involves canvassing for clients and arranging feedback for the creative concepts during and after the concept initiation so as to arrive at a customized package for the client, keeping the brand values and target audience in mind. Marketing plays an important role in pricing and negotiations as well as identifying opportunities to define and retain event properties by gathering marketing intelligence with regard to pricing, timing etc. In fact, ideally event marketing involves simultaneous canvassing and studying the brand  prints; understanding what the brand stands for, its positioning and values, identifying the target audience and liaison with the creative conceptualizes to create an event for a  prefect mesh with the brand’s personality.

PUBLICITY AND PROMOTION If one knows how to organize an event he should also know how to market it. If there is something very peculiar or special about the event then that main point has to be highlighted. A product launch for example requires a sales promotion campaign either   before or after the launch. In that case the product is advertised through banners and media and even door to door canvassing. Effort is taken to ensure that people sit up and take notice of the event. Sometimes it could be an event like an award ceremony, which is to be shown on television and different companies make a beeline for sponsoring their  respective products in the due course of the programme. This is the way publicity and  promotions work.

Match the Event to Your Market Choose the kind of event that appeals to your target market suits your product’s image and fits your marketing objectives.

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If, for example, you are looking for reach and you are selling a low cost product with wide general appeal, sports sponsorship may be the avenue for you. If your product is an up market one, artistic events could suit you better. If your have a technical product, science-type sponsorships would be possibilities and if your main aim is to be seen as a good corporate citizen, put your sponsorship money into good causes. The Children’s Hospital, the Red Cross or the environment, to name three, AIDS research is another one. The meteoric history of event marketing is based in sports marketing. In fact, music and arts represents a combined 35 percent of event spending as compared 45 percent for  sports-related events. Event marketing also continues to thrive as traditional advertising rate skyrocket and, really, fail to provide any guarantee of reaching a targeted audience. Event marketing provides a cost-effective approach to making a more hard-hitting, emotional, and tangible pitch to consumers. It also gives companies the opportunity to cross-promote (promote with other companies that have related products or services), offer sample products (give-always), and build strong relationship with various channels of distribution, such as retail outlets. Charities go out of their way to meet both their own fund-raising needs and the profit requirements of the firms they team up with. It is a commercial relationship and the entire  better for it. Charities need funds, and the businesses need promotions, which show their  worth in extra profit.

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WHY EVENTS 1. Brand Building

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Creating awareness about the launch of new products/brand

Enormous nos. of brand/product are launched every month. Similarly innumerable new music albums, films, etc get released periodically. This tends to create clutter of product launches. The large no. of launches also leads to need to overcome the “ooh-yet-another-product” syndrome. The need to therefore catch the attention of the target audience at the time of  launch becomes very important. Meticulously planned events for the launch of a product/brand seldom fail to catch the attention of the target audience. 

Presentation of brand description to highlight the added features of product/services

Sometimes technological changes pave the way for manufactures or service providers to augment their products. To convey this via traditional modes of communication to the existing and potential customer base may sometimes be futile. Special service camps of  exhibitions are the perfect events that provide the opportunity for a two way interaction and error free communication. For Example, IMTEX, the Industrial Machine Tools Exhibition, is an event used by most machine tool manufactures to explain and highlight the new and improved features of their product. 

Helping in rejuvenating brands during the different stages of product life cycle

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The massive amount of money that is spent during the introduction stage of products gets drastically reduced over time. By the time the product reaches its maturity/decline stage, the need for cutting down the budgets associated with the media campaigns, while at the same time maintaining the customer base is felt. And events offer the best medium for  such a focused approach. It helps in generating feelings of brand loyalty in the products’ end user by treating them as royally as possible.

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Helping in communicating the repositioning of brands/products

Events help in repositioning exercises to be carried out successfully. In other words, events can be designed to assist in changing beliefs about firms/products/services. 

Associating the brand personality of clients with the personality of target market

Citibank is an elite bank where people do banking with pride. Hence, other premium  brands would like to associate themselves with the same audience so as to benefit from the rub-off effect. An exhibition-cum-sale event organized exclusively for Citibank credit card holders, small merchandisers get to do business with the Citibank customers, as well as build and maintain a premium image for themselves. Here Citibank acts as the event organizer and small merchandiser’s acts as participants so that they ca n associate the  personality of their products with the personality of Citibank customers. 

Creating and maintaining brand identity

Australia-based Foster’s Brewing Group’s Asian subsidiary in its plan to launch its bear   brand Foster’s Lager in India choose the game of cricket – in which the Aussies are known as the best team in the world. By becoming the official sponsors of Australian cricket team on its India tour, Foster’s hoped to achieve its goal of brand identity building and positioning itself at the premium end of the market. Rennie Solomito, Marketing Manager for Coors Light (Beer Company) explains that in order to increase awareness and personality of the brand, Coors Light tries to find the distinguishing “look of the leader” in each market. Coors Light select events that are fast

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 paced and young minded, for example, Coors Light Silver Bullet Concert Series featuring artists like Bryan Adams and Celin Dion.

2. Image Building Over and above the brand identity that a company encourages, events such as The Great Escape conceived by Mahindra and Mahindra, exclusively for the owners of their four  wheelers, the Armada, are an attempt to build a specific image of not only the corporate,  but also the product, to let owners experience the thrill of four wheel driving, M&M charts out an off beat route that emphasizes the difference between normal and four  wheel driving, and lets the participant experience the high, one feels when steering and navigating an Armada. Coke is associated with Olympics since 1928, the rationale behind this is similar values and ideologies: International peace, brotherhood, standard of excellence and fun.

Fig : Constructing the Brand Value Chain

3. Focusing the Target Market

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Helping in avoidance of clutter

Even though some events do get congested with too many advertisements, events still  provide and effective means of being spotted. For example, Title sponsorship of a major  event provides the sponsor immense benefit since the sponsors name is mentioned along with the event like Hero Cup, Femina Miss India, Lux Zee Cine Awards.

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Enabling interactive mode of communication

Events generally provide an opportunity for buyers and sellers to interact. They also  provide a foundation for exchange and sharing of knowledge between professionals. Example: Bang!Linux2000, Auto Expo. Unparalleled footwear company NIKE ensures that it sponsors those events which will give it a chance to create an emotional tie with the participants through onsite brand usage and product presentation.

4. Implementation of Marketing Plan

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Enabling authentic test marketing

Events bring the target audience together, thereby creating opportunity for test marketing of products for authentic feedback. The seller can identify exactly the traits and other  characteristics that are desired. For example, marketing events that the Frito-Lay Company used before it launched its WOW! brand of potato chips.

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Enabling focused sales and communication to a captive audience

In an event the audience is more or less bound to witnessing one particular event. In such a situation it is very favorable for sellers to put forth their presentations without any

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diversions. Such a situation is very valuable given the ineffectiveness of traditional modes of communication in holding on to the attention of the audience. For example, Burger King wanted to reach a young demographic in the New York area, EMG (Event Marketing Company) helped them to create a 30-concert series at the New York Palladium. Burger King received onsite signage and distribution of bounce back  coupons.

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Increasing customer traffic in stores

Events can be conceptualized to increase customer traffic. They can be customized to make available, concepts ranging from retail store specific events to mega events like one day international cricket tournament. For example, Nescafe 3-in-1 treasure hunt, cosponsored by McDonald’s is a combined effect in increasing the customer traffic as well as increasing the awareness among the upper class of the existence of new McD’s outlets. 

Enabling sales promotion

Weekly events conducted by Crossword Bookstore helps in generating more revenue during the weekends as compared to the revenue generated in the weekdays. 

Help in relation building and PR activities

Practitioners of this marketing function believe that event marketing campaigns have the ability to create long lasting relationships with closely targeted market segments. Relationship building is not restricted to end user customers but also targeted at enhancing new distributors and sales representative relations. For example: Moksh organized by Ys Events & UX Events, is an annual technological festival held by NSCIT (Dwarka) has helped the sponsors in establishing their  relationship with the Institute and ensuring that an image of being interested is created and nurtured. Coke is sponsoring the Olympic since 1928. As coke does business in over 200 countries, the Olympics give the company the opportunity to identify its product with the foremost special event in the world.

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Motivating the sales team

The need for interaction is not restricted to external customers only and end consumers are not always the focus of live media exercises. This is especially popular amongst  pharmaceutical and other FMCG companies. For Example, during the cricket world cup held in England HSBC introduced a unique pattern of motivating the sales force by awarding them runs instead of the traditional points system. This resulted in co nversion of almost all of its employees into sales person.

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Generate immediate sales

Most events let firms install and exclusive boot and give the permission to exploit the opportunity to merchandise. Events such as the annual limited period discount sales from Wrangler and Van Heusen are authentic stock clearance and seconds sales aimed at generating immediate sales.

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Generating instant publicity

An event can be designed to generate instant publicity upon the implementation of  marketing strategy. The e-commerce start up Half.com, which wanted to sell products such as CDs, Books, Movies and Games over the internet was up against major and strong competition. The result of this publicity stunt started the ball rolling towards getting this company purchased by eBay for more than $300 million. 

Enabling market database assimilation, maintenance and updating

By keeping track of the reach and its effectiveness as well as interacting with the audience that actually turns up for the event, event sponsors can assimilate and authentic database. The database can be used to track various marketing trends. Events can then help in maintaining and updating the database.

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ADVANTAGES OFFERED BY EVENTS As is clear from the preceding section, use of events as a marketing communication tool not only take care of the problems associated with traditional media but also offer certain advantages because of which events are gaining importance over them. Some of the advantages are detailed below:

1. Events have the ability to bring together sharply defined participants since the capacity for a particular event is usually limited. A specific no. of the target audience could be invited of enticed to buy tickets for a show especially created for a particular profile of the target audience. 2. Since the audience is actively targeted, the option of control reach can be exercised and ideal audience for narrow-casting of information can be gathered. This leads to lowering of the media networking budgets and focused communication with the specially gathered audience. The audience that has been specially invited invariably is an ideal audience. 3. An event carried out professionally and cleanly is invariably a memorable experience. The word-of-mouth publicity that this generates is an advantage that lingers on a long time after the event is actually been carried out. This provides an advantage of higher brand recall to the client.

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4. The involvement of all the senses in experiencing the event is one of the greatest advantages that events can offer. Events can be designed such that the audience is actively involved in every part of the event and made to feel good. Thus, events as a live media offer a certain amount of immediacy to the experience – of being there while it‘s happening. For the audience, it is undoubtedly a thrilling situation. 5. Live media also enables interactive communication. Live media scores over  conventional advertising in terms of reach, impact and tangible immediacy of  measurement. Live media communication is a complete sensual experience as compared to a press advertisement or TV/Radio commercial. This is so because of   press ad is basically a flat piece of paper and a commercial is just an audiovisual experience. The high recall value of live media communication is also a major  factor. 6. No other media can boast of the ability to provide such massive collection of feed  back instantly as events. Being a live media, it is possible to feel and deduce the reactions of the audience to the aim or objective that the event was conceived for. 7. Easily customizable nature of events, mean that specific traits of the local inhabitants can be incorporated in the big picture to ensure that the event is socially and culturally in tune with the local culture. Thus, the localization of  events is very easy. 8. The advantage in terms of post-event publicity that events can offer over and above the paid or bartered media is the benefit associated with reports of the event in the newspaper and news on the electronic media. For such reports there is no extra cost to be borne – neither by the sponsor nor by the event organizer. This is a double edged sword because, in case the event is not up to the mark or is dogged y controversies, then the same is also reported impartially. 9. The conversion of good events into television software for future use either by the sponsors for their commercials or by media house for programming is also a unique benefit that events offer. Such software become products by themselves and can be used profitability in the future.

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WHAT IS CUSTOMER PERCEPTION? Customer Perception is an important component of an organization’s relationship with their customers. Customer satisfaction is a mental state which results from the customers comparison of expectations prior to a purchase with performance perception after a  purchase. Strong customer service helps an organization to reach upto customers expectations. Customer Perception on Service: Customer Service is the service provided in support of a company’s core products. Customer Service most often includes answering questions, taking orders, dealing with billing issues, handling complaints, and perhaps scheduling maintenance or repairs. Customer Service can occur on site, or it can occur over the  phone or via the internet. Many companies operate customer service call centers, often staffed around the clock. Typically there is no charge for customer service. Quality customer service is essential to building customer relationships. It should not, however,  be confused with the services provided for sale by a company. Services tend to be more intangible than manufactured products. There is a growing market for services and increasing dominance of services in economies worldwide. There are generally two types of customer expectations. The highest can be termed as desired service: the level of  service the customer hopes to receive. The threshold level of acceptable service which the customers will accept is adequate service. Yet there is hard evidence that consumers  perceive lower quality of service overall and are less satisfied. Possible reasons may be:

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• With more companies offering tiered service based on the calculated profitability of  different market segments, many customers are in fact getting less service than they have in past. • Increasing use by companies of self-service and technology-based service is perceived as less service because no human interaction or human personalization is provided. • Customer expectations are higher because of the excellent service they receive from some companies. Thus they expect the same from all and are frequently disappointed. • Organizations have cut costs to the extent that they are too lean and are too understaffed to provide quality service. • The intensely competitive job market results in less skilled people working in frontline service jobs; talented workers soon get promoted or leave for better opportunities. • Many companies give lip service to customer focus and service quality; but they fail to  provide the training , compensation, and support needed to actually deliver quality service. • Delivering consistent, high-quality service is not easy, yet many companies promise it. The gaps model positions the key concepts, strategies, and decisions in services marketing in a manner that begins with the customer and builds the organization’s tasks around what is needed to close the gap between customer expectations and perceptions. The central focus of the gaps model is the customer gap, the difference between customer  expectations and perceptions. Firms need to close this gap- between what customers expect and receive – in order to satisfy their customers and build long term relationships with them. To close this all important customer gap, the model suggests that four gapsthe provider gaps- need to be closed. The following four provider gaps, shown below are the underlying causes behind the customer gap: Gap 1: Not knowing what customers expect. Gap 2: Not selecting the right service designs and standards.

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Gap 3: Not delivering to service standards. Gap 4: Not matching performance to promises.

Event Management in Delhi Event Management in Delhi is not so old concept. As such very few recognized event management companies exists here. The high profile events organized in city are  basically managed by companies working in Delhi, Pune and Mumbai. The most common events organized here are: 

Utasav



Décor India



Handicrafts



Mela



Different Corporate Meetings



Fashion Shows



Musical Concerts



Dandiya Raas



 Nightlife parties



Concerts & shows



Fest & live shows

32

Event Management can be classified on the basis of service provided, into two categories: Complete: It covers all the aspects from conceptualization to execution till client

satisfaction feedback. Partial: They provide partial services like a combination of few for example lights and

catering or music, venue and celebrities. Event Management is still at a personal level. There is no full- fledged event Management Company working in the city, but below mentioned organizations are acting as partial or complete service providers.

Event Management Companies 

YS EVENTS & Promos



UX Events & Media



R2S EVENTS & Solutions

They organize birthday parties, marriages and fashion shows which are mainly for  entertainment or fun purpose. They deal at both micro and macro level there parties are starting from few thousands to as high as 35 lakhs. The biggest event which they have managed was a show worth 25 lakhs in 2009 year. If required they can call celebrities also, but then the budget will touch 12-15 lakhs figure. The events that they normally organize are: 

Dandiya Nights.



Dance Parties.



Wedding Parties.



Club Parties.



Farm Parties.

33

 

 New Year Parties. Concerts & Shows.

Company’s Profile

YS EVENTS & PROMOS

YS Events & Promotions, the name behind many successful open air events, gala weddings, conferences, Parties, Massive Productions, Club Events, Artist's Performances, YS Events & Promotions has a substantial reputation built over the period of Five years in serving the national and international clients with quality of work and total commitment to satisfy each and every client. The Company was formed to become a one stop solution for Events, Hospitality & Media. It is there constant endeavour to serve better through path breaking concepts and  better ideas. The management skills are much appreciated by the Industry and make them even more focused for newer challenges. Past accolades have pushed them to move further expanding horizons towards higher goals.

PROGRESS OF YS EVENTS &PROMOS

34

The Y.S entertainment is India's leading events and artist Management Company with a syndicate of more than 145 Artists, DJs, Performers, Models, Actors and Singers. They are the finest of there kinds with an impressive list of over 116 artist night per year. Have alliances with practically all performing and non- performing artists .

There partnerships with night clubs and super clubs have put them in the frontline of  event promoters and organizers of our order and have done numerous shows, gigs and events all over India.Of the past year, there hospitality division has successfully launched a night club cum restro bar “Club 7” and another European Cuisine restaurant “ Grapes”.

They also have an impressive list of Clubs, where they regularly host parties at. These include clubs like Club Elevate- New Delhi, Capitol- New Delhi, Blue Frog- Mumbai, Dublin- New Delhi, Enigma- Mumbai, Poison- Mumbai, Urban Edge- Bangalore, SpinnBangalore to name a few.

They have now ventured into television and are successfully producing television for  Channels like NDTV, Live Media.. This management company has interest in following areas :** Events (Club/Open air) ** Promotions ** Road Shows ** Van Promotions ** Canopies Display ** Fun Games ** Music ** Films ** Entertainment ** Club Openings ** Theme parties ** Innovative Ideas

35

** Trade Shows ** Exhibitions ** Product Launches ** Conferences ** Dealers Meet ** Business Meets ** Corporate Events ** Press Conferences ** Showroom Opening ** Ramp Show ** Fashion Shows ** Fairs & Carnivals ** Public Events & Sponsorships ** Birthday Celebrations ** Decorations ** Workshops They properly deal in Artist Management & they have recently done few fest of colleges.

UX Events & Media UX Events is famous and known for complete solution. It's a team of young, creative, enthusiastic and dynamic  professionals with a sparkling stream of ideas having vast experience in the field of Events & Entertainments. Our goal is to give each & every event a different Meaning, Identity and a Vision with true professionalism to chart the

36

roads of informative & entertaining events.

The UX Events team combines a mix of creative, technical, commercial and management expertise with a passion for delivering creative and innovative event solutions. This is a Delhi based Event Management Company. It was established

two years back 

 by Mr.Satish Singh. Till now they use to provide complete service but now on they are  planning to provide partial services. The size of their events depends upon the customer  needs and requirement. This is a five member team. The events they organize are:

Concerts & Shows 

Annual Dance Competition



Fashion Shows



Annual Functions and Cultural Evenings of Schools and Colleges



Celebrity Show



Football Battlefield



Club Promotions

  

Exhibitions  Night life parties Many more

Recently they have done few events 

Atif Aslam at Pragati Maidan



Baisakhi Carnival In D-Mall at Pitampura



Aqu Regia in Farm no-2 at Gittorni 37



Many other events

The biggest problems which they are facing are security system in Delhi and entrance of the daily newspapers in the event management arena. Because of the lack of awareness Delhi people are not looking at the event management companies as a facilitator they think its waste of money.

R2S Events & Solutions Launched in 2000, the goal is to provide Top of the line Weddings / Destination weddings / Corporate Events / Private Extravanganza in India and Abroad. In a span of  10 years, with 100 + people working with them, R2S Events has added many feathers in the cap – from high end destination wedding of Rakheja’s in Jaipur to Khetan’s in Udaipur to Agarwals in Jodhpur, we have done it all with lot of  love, care, affection and sincerity and has come out with flying colors. Based out of New Delhi, India, R2S Events is well known for its unusually beautiful décor and themes. With In-house designers and fabrication unit, R2S Events prides itself  for being a leader to the industry and being able to offer something most other companies forget about – “Compassion, Personal touch and Creativity” for creating Weddings / Events of your dreams.

38

R2S Events is well known for “People’s” company. Its passion lies in providing Quality service and care to its Clients and filling their planning stage with just as much joy and excitement as the big day itself. What they offer: •

Event management services

•

Wedding planning and management

•

Theme concept, design, fabrication and execution

•

Entertainment Management Services for all events requiring Artist management and DJ management

•

Technical requirements like sound, lights, laser and Projection systems

•

Other allied services

They are specialized in club & nightlife parties.

RECENT TRENDS IN EVENT MANAGEMENT INDUSTRY

 Now the event attendees can ask questions to the speaker via tweets or Facebook  comments real time during an event. With the world tweeting away night and day, there is no doubt that technology has changed our life completely. And this change is not limited to the World Wide Web either; it is fast percolating to the other activities and  business spheres as well. As the gadgetry world over goes through a makeshift each day, so do the businesses associated. Here we have a look at some of the technological trends and innovations that are changing the way we think about events and event management. An event application speaks volumes about the planner’s commitment to the event and excites the attendees equally.

The Stage Show

39

The drastic improvements in the Audio-Video equipments, staging and lighting instruments have made sure that you need to make your event stand out. No more can you pass off an event with just a great speaker. Even with the best of the content and ingredients, you need to upgrade the stage show to make sure that the attendees are left wonder struck. The advancements though, have made sure that this does not become a Herculean task. So, the next time you are planning an event, make sure that you ‘light’ out the event.

Live Meetings

The barriers have been stomped down and the walls have fallen. Technology has made sure that geographical impediments no more stop you from attending an event half way round the world. The webinars and live meetings are the newest venues for events the world over. Planners and event managers are going all out to accommodate their eager  attendees, wherever they may be.

The Social Explosion

Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter have completely altered the way we think about event promotion. Letters are antiquated and emails outdated. Nowadays, you ‘tweet’ and ‘poke’ your way around the events. From creating a fan page to a social group, there are numerous ways to announce your event to the world. And more importantly, like everything else, you get to reach out to your target audience around the world in real time. Discuss the event, highlights and all that excites you even before the event takes place.

40

Mobiles Applications

With the advent of the iPhones, Androids and Blackberrys, smart phone applications have  become the next-gen platform for event management. From charting an event to locating it on the map, you can do it all on your mobile. Mobile Apps nowadays have become advanced enough to take care of almost all your needs and it was time you acknowledged this. The sooner we realize the future role of smart phone apps, the better it will be for  our business.

Online Event Registration Apps – Just for you!! Recently – online registration for events has taken the center stage with a lot of small  players like Eventzilla. It is simple to setup custom registration forms, promote on Facebook, send email invitations and manage cancellations in one place. Event attendees can register online and make secure online payments.

41

FINDINGS & ANALYSIS

Q1. Age group of people interested in event management.

Age group 25-35 36-45 46-55 Above 55

No. of results 14 46 23 17

42

No. of results

17%

14%

25-35 36-45 46-55

23%

 Above 55 46%

Figure 1: Age group of consumers

Interpretation

We may conclude that people interested in event management are of age group 36-45 yrs.

Q2. Which of these do you prefer while organizing an event?

Preferences Personal Arrangement Hiring Management Company Outsourcing

No. of results 31 12 57

43

No. of results

31%

Personal  Arrangement Hiring Management Company

57%

Outsourcing 12%

Figure 2: Organising an event

Interpretation

People in Delhi prefer outsourcing the events to local and hotel organisers than personal arrangement or hiring a event company .

Q3. What are your feelings about a company that creates or sponsors events?

Preferences They are willing to let people try them out They understand people’s interests and needs They are reliable and can organize events better They are a waste of time and money

44

No. of Results 11 26 42 21

21%

No. of Results

They are willing to let people try them out

11%

They understand people’s interests and needs 26%

42%

They are reliable and can organize events better  They are a waste of time and money

Figure 3: Consumer Perception about Event sponsers

Interpretation We may conclude that most of the people rely on event management companies and think  that they can organize better.

Q4. Have you ever been to events organized by event or theme planner ?

Preferences Yes  No

No. of Results 37 63

45

63

70 60 50

37

Yes

40

No

30 20 10 0 No. of Results

Figure 4: Customers been to events organised by Event Planner

Interpretation

We can conclude that only 37% of people have been to event organized by event or theme  planners.

Q5. If yes, how satisfied were you with the event?

Preferences

No of results 35 22 17 16 11

Very satisfied Somewhat satisfied  Neutral Somewhat dissatisfied Very dissatisfied

46

35

35

30 25

Very satisfied

22

20

17

15

Somewhat s atisfied Neutral

15 11

10

Somewhat dissatisfied Very dissatisfied

5 0 No of results

Figure 5: Graph showing Satisfaction level of costumers

Interpretation The above graph shows that if hiring an event management company, people are satisfied with its theme planning, coordination and services.

Q6. Which of these events did you attend? Preferences

No. of Result

Wedding

25

Trade Fair

18

Corporate event

11

Live Shows

18

Sports Events

14

Product Launch

5

47

Club

9

No. of Result

9%

Wedding

5%

25%

Trade Fair  Corporate event

14%

Live Shows Sports Events 18%

18%

Product Launch Club

11%

Figure 6: Events consumers attended

Interpretation From above diagram we conclude that every event has its own segment & wedding is the  biggest segment people do attend this event time to time since marriages are on regular   basis. Other events have their own taste & preferred by peoples.

Q7. What are the specific highlights of the event that impressed you the most?

Preferences

No. of results

Decoration

19

Catering

12

V en u e

11

Staging of the program

19

Theme

21

Security measures

6

48

Customer support

8

Others

4

Preferences

No. of results

Yes

87

 No

13

No. of results

Decoration Catering

8%

4%

Venue

19%

6%

Staging of the program 12%

Theme

21% Security measures 11% Customer support

19%

Others

Figure 7:Elements that impressed a customer the most in an event

Interpretation From the above pie chart we may conclude that consumers notice the decoration and theme the most. Even catering is considered con sidered as an important highlight for the wedding event apart from decoration and theme. Q8. Do you think event management as a profession/business will be a success in your  City?

49

No. of results

90 80 70 60 50

87

No. of results

40 30 20 13

10 0 Yes

No

Figure 8: Success rate of event management as a profession/business in Delhi

Interpretation Most of people said event management as a business/profession will be a success in the city. Since it has potential.

Q9. Which of these marketing medium should be prefer to approach you in a better way? (as a consumer)*

Preferences

No. of Results

Through print media

20

Roadside banners

10

Television / visual media

21

50

Radio

9

Website

17

Social networking sites

23

25 20

23 21

20

17

Through print media Roadside banners

15

Television / visual media 10

10

Radio

9

Website Social networking sit es

5 0 No. of Results

Figure 9: Preferred marketing medium

Interpretation According to the above graph, consumers prefer social networking sites and television to attract them and and as a marketing medium.

Q10. Why would you NOT use an event management company?

Prefernces

No. of results

Expensive

28

Availability

18

Reliability

11

Quality of work

13

Limited choice

16

Less choice

14

51

30

28

25 Expensive 20

18

 Availability

16 14

13

15 11

Reliability Quality of work Limited choice

10

Less choice 5 0 No. of results

Figure 10: Reasons for not hiring an event management company

Interpretation From the above graph, we may conclude that hiring an event management company is a costly affair and that is why people do not prefer using an event management company.

KEY PROBLEMS 52

AND SUGGESTIONS



Low awareness among the people.



Conservative mentality doesn’t allow people to accept major changes.



Lack of proper marketing and advertising by existing companies.



Proper security measures not available.



Performance of existing companies is doubtful, that is the reason, localities that organize events, hire event management companies from Delhi, Mumbai and Delhi.



Cost factor influences people to take partial services from event management companies.

53



Due to poor response and lack of cooperation from public the companies are not interested in expansion.



Economies of scale not available to companies, therefore big players are not interested to enter this city.



Service Portfolio of companies is very wide for the city.

Suggestions



Companies need to focus on some particular kind of events that they will organize, this will help them gain proficiency in their field, ultimately leading to cost saving.



People should be made aware about the concept through proper media coverage telling them about the successful events and the benefits.

54



People should be made aware about the fact that hiring an event management company would help them save time, efforts and cost.



Rather then looking at the press people as their competitor they must join hand with them to share the cost and benefits also. Press people can get better  exposure and provide the companies advertisements on a lesser cost.



Due to innovative marketing tools the traditional marketing tools are redundant so Delhi‘s business class must also know that its time to switch over to the new tools like trade fares and road shows rather then press advertising.



The charges for complete services should be reduced. As an example for  catering services the general market price is around Rs.75 per plate, but generally companies are charging around Rs.140 per plate. Similarly the other  services’ charges must also be reduced up to a viable extent.

LIMITATIONS 55

& CONCLUSION

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY 1. DEMOGRAPHIC CONSTRAINTS - will be a main issue of 

concern. This is due to the reason that the data collection will be restricted to the Delhi and NCR region.

56

2. DATA RELIABILITY  - As the data will be collected from various

sources the accuracy of the data collected would be an area of  concern. It would be an uphill task to validate the data consistency of the collection of that data.

3.

UNAWARENESS

–

People

are

unaware

of

the

Event

management companies in Delhi

4. TIME CONSTRAINT – the time duration for doing the complete

research on green marketing is very limited. Event management is a broad topic which requires an in-depth research and analysis. Due to the time period given for research is very limited

CONCLUSION 

Event management companies allows a company to break through the advertising clutter

and target an audience by enhancing or creating

an image through an association to a particular event. 

Brand awareness reinforces the product or service, and drives sales.

57



Property or event, also profits, a financial partner, a supplemented advertising budget, and added leverage.



Event management also offers companies the flexibility to reach specific geographic and demographic audiences. It is a benefit that allows depth of exposure, as opposed to the breadth of exposure.



As CMOs continue to face increasing financial pressures, they must continuously provide higher levels of value, both in pure financial terms and overall measurement of ROI.



When considering the entire sales cycle, marketing professionals must think

beyond traditional

measurement

to

their

methods activities

and in

bring

order

to

transparency

and

demonstrate

the

fundamental value of their field. To answer this challenge, the event marketing industry must redefine itself to recognize the power of the “brand” to forge deep connections, as well as also adapt events to contribute to branding in more sophisticated ways. 

 The perception of events as a form of media is quickly moving away from standalone activities to integrated forms of communication.  These forms of communication synchronize with overall marketing goals through new applications of techniques rooted in traditional event marketing that project the brand more powerfully. Defining what an organization stands for, mapping out a clear brand strategy, and then formulating event activities that align with overall marketing goals is the next great step in the evolution of the industry.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS & MAGAZINES:

58

1.

Chaturvedi Ashutosh, 2006, Event Management: A Professional and   Development Approach, 3rd Edition, Global India Publications

2.

 Raj Razaq & Musgrave James,2009, Event Management and Sustainability , 7th Edition, Pearson Education.

3.

Kotler Philip & Armstrong Gary, 2010, Principles of Marketing (13th Edition) Pearson Education.

4.

India today, Volume 33, Issues 27-34, Thomson Living Media India Ltd.

WEBSITES: 1. www.eventmanagement.in 2. www.uxevents.in 3. www.r2sevents.in 4. www.ysevents.in

Questionnaire

59

I will be thankful to the respondents, if you will spare 4-5 minutes from your valuable time to answer this questionnaire

 Name

: ………………………………………………

1. Age:

25-35 yrs

2. Gender:

36-45 yrs

46-55 yrs

Male

Above 55yrs

Female

3. Educational Qualification: School

UG

PG

Student

Service

Business

Pensioner

House-wife

4. Occupation:

5. Income Level:

Rs. 5000 – Rs.15000

Rs. 15001- Rs 25000

Rs. 25001- Rs. 35000

Above Rs. 35000

ON EVENTS

Q1. Which of these do you prefer while organizing an event? 

Personal arrangement



Hiring event management companies 60



Outsourcing

Q2. What are your feelings about a company that creates or sponsors events? 

They are willing to let people try them out



They understand people’s interests and needs



They are reliable and can organize events better 



They are a waste of time and money

Q3. Have you ever been to events organized by event or theme planner ?  

Yes  No

Q4. If yes, how satisfied were you with the event? 

Very satisfied



Somewhat satisfied



 Neutral



Somewhat dissatisfi ed



Very dissatisfied

Q5. Which of the following events do you attend? 

Wedding



Trade fare



Corporate events

61



Live shows



Sports events



Product launch



Club

Q6. What are the specific highlights of the event that impressed you the most? 

Decoration



Catering



Venue



Staging of the program



Theme



Security measures



Customer Support



Other, Please Specify

Q7. Do you think event management as a profession/business will be a success in your  city  

Yes  No

Q8. Which of these marketing medium should be prefer to approach you in a better way? (as a consumer)*



Through print media

62