Issues in International Event Management - Research Paper Example

?Issues in International Event Management By [Presented to] of Event management industry is marked with the management and development of events and programs aimed at certain awareness. Every event tries to attract a particular set of audiences in order to create mutual value. However, events need sponsorship in order to create value. Corporate sponsorship can be defined as a business strategy where organsiations associate with events by paying. It can be assumed that corporate sponsorship is a medium of getting noticed along with expanding the overall reach in a great manner. Corporate sponsorship can also be defined as a part of cause marketing where organsiations try to create and enhance the goodwill along with boosting the overall revenue structure. Corporate sponsorship can be considered as a nice medium through which small and medium organisations increase their visibility and public profile in an effective and efficient manner (Barr, 1993). It needs to be mentioned that corporate sponsorships are meant to enhance the overall appeal and image of organsiations. Corporate sponsorships help in differentiating organsiations from competitors along with developing and enhancing closer relationships with existing and potential customers. It also offers a chance to highlight the products and services of the organsiation along with getting rid of the obsolete inventories through distributing it as a part of the reward and award strategy (Brynes, 1994). There is no denying that advertising enhances the appeal and reach of an organsiation by impacting and influencing the buying behaviour of customers. However, corporate sponsorship is an ideal way of competing with large organsiations having larger advertising budgets. In addition to this, tickets for sponsoring events can be used as an incentive for suppliers, customers, employees and other stakeholders that will not only help in enhancing the overall relationship but also earning their loyalty and gratitude that is always beneficial to survive in the competitive business environment. The discussion aims at highlighting the role and importance of corporate sponsorship in the event industry. The idea is to underpin the importance of events in the business and social environment and role of corporate sponsorships in creating mutual value by sponsoring events and programs. There is no denying that a number of events are sponsored by a number of organsiations that help in gaining mass attention along with enhancing the overall appeal and value in the short as well as in the long run. A critical and logical discussion over the importance of corporate sponsorship in the event industry will help in understanding the intricacies of events and corporate sponsorships in a clear and logical manner. This will also highlight the emergence of corporate sponsorships in last few years. It is important to mention that there is a close relationship between sponsors and sponsees. A sport brand sponsoring a sport event is evenly matched and linked with the event that not only enhances its image but also helps in extending its reach in a great manner. When the Cricket World Cup was held in Asia, a number of sponsors were sponsoring the event where their logos, danglers and advertisements were shown during the entire event. This created a long lasting image in the mind and hearts of viewers that also helped in strengthening the overall image of organsiations in the competitive business environment. It needs to be understood that corporate sponsorship in the event industry is mainly aimed at enhancing the overall reach of organsiations along with extracting wide arrays of benefits and advantages. As per the report published by IEG, the sponsorship market is growing at a rate of 5% per annum with countries like the US, Europe and Asia Pacific spending a lot on sponsorship. It can be assumed that with large number of corporate organsiations in these countries and a number of events being held, corporate sponsorship has been a leveraging activity (IEG, 2006) There is no denying that small and medium organsiations have been blessed with the concept of corporate sponsorship as it allows them to sponsor everything from local fairs, festivals, sports events to music festivals. This helps in increasing their visibility and public profile in a cost effective manner. It is often believed that sponsorships being initiated in a strategic manner may boost the overall sales as they improve the visibility and presence through the events they support. Organsiations are considered as corporate and social citizens and are responsible to the society. Any event supporting a social cause like crime prevention, environmental programs and recycling can be of great benefits for corporate willing to enhance their overall corporate image (Grimes, Mennaghan (1998). Event sponsorship can be considered as an interesting and lucrative option considering the fact that they provide an access to different audiences that include customers, suppliers, competitors, employees, business decision makers and government regulators. Corporate sponsorships also offer an opportunity to position products and services in a unique manner. Sponsorships also help in raising awareness along with impacting and influencing the buying behaviour of customers based on perceptions (Kelly, 1995). However, it is important to choose right events in order to create a lucrative impact that will help in creating more value in the short as well as in the long run. An event continues for a period of time and within that period, organsiations are supposed to create value and enhance their public profile. Akin to advertisement and promotion, corporate sponsorship is a marketing tool where organsiations partially or fully fund a program, event or activity in lieu of highlighting their logos, taglines and advertisements to gain public recognition. There is no denying that the concept of corporate sponsorship gained huge popularity in the early 90s when sponsorships were skyrocketing with the rise of small and large events across the world. The traditional kinds of sponsorships are related to sponsoring football clubs, cricket teams, rugby teams and soccer teams. However, organisations have gone beyond that by sponsoring musical events, rock concerts and social events. All these events create either short or long term impact over the mind and hearts of stakeholders along with influencing their buying behaviour by playing with their perceptions (Marmet, 1999) The main question that arises is whether corporate sponsorships are good enough to be used as marketing tools in the competitive business environment or advertisement and promotions hold better promises and benefits. The answer lies in the assessment of corporate sponsorship as a concept that includes the elements of advertisement, promotion, positioning and direct communication. However, it needs to be analysed whether all corporate sponsorships are suitable for all kinds of events or there should be a strategic pondering deciding the course of the sponsorship in the short as well as in the long run. When an event happens, there is a possibility of having more than 2-3 sponsors and in many big events; the number may read to 10-15 sponsors. In case of multiple sponsors, individual sponsors may not get too much of visibility and return on investment amidst all insignia, banners and advertisements. In such cases, it is important to choose an appropriate event where visibility is high and return on investment is better rather than compromising in the big pond by being a small fish (Cornwell, Roy, 2005) However, the overall expense of associating oneself with a big event often cost good amount of money that needs to be sorted out and planned well by organsiations by analysing the overall budget for advertisements and promotional activities and comparing the same with the benefits of sponsoring an event. There is no denying that sponsoring an event comes with surprises. Big brands like Coca-Cola, Pepsi, KFC, Kingfisher, BRIT Insurance and Orange has supported and sponsored a number of Cricket and Football Teams. This has helped in enhancing their reach and visibility in different parts of the world in a stupendous manner. On the other hand, sports brands like Nike, Reebok and Puma are also famously linked with a number of sporting events like football and cricket world cups (Fry, 1997) It needs to be mentioned that sponsorships can be squandered as customers often get confused in remembering who sponsored whom in the past as well as in the present. As per a survey conducted after 1992 Winter Olympics; 30% of respondents believed that American Express was the official sponsor that left Visa USA Inc perplexed and amused. This also shows that amidst a number of corporate brands, official sponsors often lose their worth and importance that can affect their return on investment in a significant manner (Meenaghan, 1996). Sponsorship can fail in two cases; by assuming that sponsorship visibility at events will enhance the overall sales and considering events as short term media buying opportunity rather than a long term connection with customers, products and events. The newest form of corporate sponsorship is cause marketing which links companies with a number of social causes and events through their donations. Cause marketing gained attention and recognition when American Express restored the Statue of Liberty that caught attention of good number of eyes. It is often believed that any cause that leads to the positive change in the society is always appreciated by the masses creating a long lasting image of the organsiation in the mind and hearts of stakeholders. It needs to be mentioned that customers are interested in the price and quality of products and services rather than initiatives taken by them. Studies indicate that most customers are ambivalent about the impact and influence of cause marketing. A Roper Starch Worldwide survey in 1996 revealed that most customers are likely to switch to another brand or product if their purchase supported the cause that concerns them. There is no denying that price and quality was the biggest criteria to influence the purchase decision but it shows that cause marketing in the form of sponsorship can impact and influence the buying behaviour of customers along with creating mutual value in the long run (Johnson, 1998). Studies showed that “cause” was the least important factor influencing the buying behaviour of customers as majority of them going with the price, brand, quality, reputation and word of mouth. This shows that corporate sponsorship is a wonderful marketing strategy that can enhance the appeal and visibility of an organsiation along with understanding and interacting with a number of stakeholders in a great manner. However, corporate sponsorship needs to be analysed and understood well before considering it as an advantageous strategy. It may offer great benefits and at the same time may result in something insignificant offering very little return on investment and supporting the strong sponsors in the due process. This may affect the potential visibility of weak sponsors in the short as well as in the long run (Meyer, 1999). Overall, it can be said that corporate sponsorships are wonderful marketing strategies that can offer great visibility to organsiations if initiated in a strategic manner. There is no denying that different stakeholders get benefitted by it but at the end of the day; organsiations need to strike the right balance between the return and investments (Johnson, 1998). Corporate sponsorship is meant to offer benefits and advantages when associated with events that can be linked with the products and services of organsiations. Organsiations need to identify events that can be used as a platform to reach to a number of stakeholders in a unique manner along with strengthening the overall image and presence in the competitive business environment (Weeks, Drennan, 2008). The rise of social events can be considered as a wonderful opportunity where corporate sponsorships can be used as a strategic marketing tool enhancing the overall public profile and reputation of organsiations in a great manner. REFERENCES Barr, J (1993). "Maximizing the Value of Sponsorships.' Public Relations Journal 49, no. 4 : 30-31. Brynes, N (1994). "Rolling Billboards." Financial World, 47-56. Cornwell, T. B., Weeks, C. S., & Roy, D. P. (2005). Sponsorship-linked marketing: Opening the blackbox. Journal of Advertising, 34, 21-42 Fry, A (1997). "Sponsors Play to Win." Marketing. August 7, 1997. Grimes, Eoin, and Tony Mennaghan (1998). "Focusing Commercial Sponsorship on the Internal Corporate Audience." International Journal of Advertising 17, no. I 51 +. IEG (2006), Sponsorship Growth to Increase, [Online], Accessed on March 10, 2012 from http://www.sponsorship.com/documents/SR_Promo_Issue_01-07.pdf Johnson, C, (1998). Corporate Sponsorship, [Online] Accessed on March 10, 2012 from http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/encyclopedia/Con-Cos/Corporate-Sponsorship.html#b Kelly, T (1995). "Money Is Not Enough: Become Part of the Event." Brandweek, 17. Marmet, R (1999). "Sponsorships Are Not Ad Buys." Brandweek, 17. Meenaghan, T (1996). "Ambush Marketing—A Threat to Corporate Sponsorship." Sloan Management Review. Meyer, H (1999). "And Now, Some Words About Sponsors." Nation's Business. Weeks, C.S., Cornwell, T.B., Drennan, J.C. (2008). Leveraging sponsorships on the internet: Activation, congruence, and articulation. Psychology and Marketing, 25, 637-54 Read More