21930 Promoting Events Essay 2

21930 Promoting Events

Spring 2019

Assessment 2: Essay (Individual)

Introduction

As stated in the brief of this assessment, there are specific characteristics which significantly influence how services are marketed and promoted. Due to the fact that events share the same characteristics of services, there are four key characteristics that affect the way that events are marketed which are; intangibility, perishability, inseparability and variability (also known as heterogeneity). This report will focus on the first two characteristics which are intangibility and perishability and will highlight the implications of these characteristics on the marketing and promotion of events. Additionally, the report will provide relevant recommendations that can assist marketing managers in creating events that are more effective and successful.

Intangibility

Tangible simply means having a physical form or existence, therefore intangibility is the characteristic of a product or service that cannot be seen or touched. Another way to determine the tangibility of something is to use the 5 human senses. If you are able to, see, hear, smell, taste or touch something, it is generally considered to be tangible. When differentiating products and services, products are generally considered tangible while services are considered intangible. An event is considered a service as it is intangible in nature. Similar to a service, only once the event actually occurs does it become tangible, according to (Pleger Bebko, 2000). A service like an event is always changes with numerous variables making each event different. Unlike with a tangible product where you can know exactly what you are purchasing before you pay, consumers of an event do not know what their experience will be like until the event happens.

Marketing an event is complex and difficult for a marketer due to the intangibility of an event. Generally, event planners will have to add tangible elements to their events to make the marketing more effective. For example, in a conference event the event planner can use guest speakers and gift bags which are both tangible elements to help increase the interest of possible customers. Event marketers therefore have a make a lot of speculations and conjectures that will increase the hype and publicity of the event. According to (Flipo, 1988), due to the intangible nature of an event, it is not uncommon for events to underperform against heightened expectations if the marketing was effective at overhyping an event, however this is considered unethical and can lead to issues in the future.

Determining the value of intangible services such as an event is also problematic, based on the reading of (Mittal, 1999). For an event, there is a lack of tangible evidence due to its intangible nature which significantly increases the level of uncertainty and scepticism which a consumer faces when determining the value of an event and other competing services. It is incredibly difficult to identify the lowest and highest price that a customer is willing to pay for an event, as each customer has their own value set for the event based on their own personal perceptions and opinions. Although the event itself is intangible, an event marketer can create an event package which highlights the key attractions of the event. This requires creativity and can be challenging, however this is a great way of turning the event into a product. The concept of purchasing a ticket as entry is another way of productising the sale of an event, in a way that gives customers satisfaction when paying for the event.

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tangible services such as an event is also problematic, based on the reading of (Mittal, 1999). For an event, there is a lack of tangible evidence due to its intangible nature which significantly increases the level of uncertainty and scepticism which a consumer faces when determining the value of an event and other competing services. It is incredibly difficult to identify the lowest and highest price that a customer is willing to pay for an event, as each customer has their own value set for the event based on their own personal perceptions and opinions. Although the event itself is intangible, an event marketer can create an event package which highlights the key attractions of the event. This requires creativity and can be challenging, however this is a great way of turning the event into a product. The concept of purchasing a ticket as entry is another way of productising the sale of an event, in a way that gives customers satisfaction when paying for the event.

Customers tend to value tangible elements of an event more than intangible elements. Marketing promoters will use tangible products such as a programme, gifts, guest lists, entry tickets, wristbands, brochures, lanyards and even give-aways to help make the event feel more tangible for the customers. These also make the event feel more memorable and valuable for the consumer, as it will not just become an intangible memory. This is the main reason why photographs have become more important as people value the tangible aspect of a simple photo rather than the intangible memory. Therefore, the value of the event differs greatly based on the customers previous experiences and subjective impressions rather than on concrete evidence due to the intangibility of each event, according to (Moeller, 2010).

My first recommendation I have to event managers to help overcome the intangibility of an event is to find creative ways to transform the event into something almost tangible. By developing tangible aspects of the event, consumers will become more attracted to the event and this also builds a stronger physical relationship to the consumers, stated in (Santos, 2002). Humans rely on their 5 senses to create memories and relationships. This means that an event should focus on creating and promoting tangible aspects of the event in order to make consumers interested and attracted to an event. Listing important guests, creating a programme, having special activities such as fireworks, product launch, give-aways, etc can help to boost the attendance of an event as customers are able to take away something tangible from the event.

Another key recommendation to event managers is to focus on the communication of information to the consumers. Customer uncertainty is an inevitable issue because of the intangibility however with enough communication, the customers expectations can be swayed by the addition of physical evidence. (Duncan and Moriarty, 1998) states that communication is the key to ensuring that customers get the information that they need and understand what they should expect. Due to the intangibility of an event, communication of event details is the only source of information that consumers can judge from. As the planning of the event progresses, the communication of updates and news on new tangible additions to the event will help to build a stronger impression of what they expect. This will ultimately make their decision to attend the event easier, as they know whether the event will be valuable to them or not.

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