Stakeholder and Account Management in Event

Question: Describe about the Stakeholder and Account Management in Event. Answer: Introduction In this given assignment, stakeholders analysis and marketing relationship of Wireless festival 2016, will be analysed and discussed. Wireless festival 2016 is a summer party organized at the heart of London for 3 days, which will be presented by Festival Republic, UKs leading festival, an event management company. The most important function of the event management team is to identify its stakeholders and their important on the event (Jones 2014). On the basis of which the most important stakeholders are to be given priority by Festival Republic and a good marketing relationship must be established with them for grand success of the event. Part 1 Part A: Stakeholders Analysis Under this section all the different types of stakeholders will be indentified and grouped. Also the needs, interest and influence will be critically analysed and present in matrix. Identification and grouping of Stakeholders While identifying stakeholders it should be kept in mind that there are two types of stakeholders Internal and external. Internal stakeholders are those who are the partners working in the project whereas external stakeholders is a very diverse group who doesnt participate in the event but have a certain influential level from outside (Andersson, Getz and Mykletun 2014). Each stakeholder has a certain level of influence and interest in the project that may me low, low or high. While identifying shareholders as external or internal, it is required to break them down in four categories which are given below: General public: This comprises of wider community groups who are mainly voters and tax payers. Influential others: These are critical audience such as media and government who requires highest level of commitment. Project specifics: They are key stakeholders who are capable of raising objection locally like local government and landowners Education: These are educational institute comprising of school, colleges and universities. Internal stakeholders comprises of employees, sponsors, spectators, volunteers, suppliers and attendees where as internal stakeholders comprises of host community, essential services, tourist and media organization, government (Larson, Getz and Pastras 2015). Given below are the categorization of stakeholders in to groups and their level of interest and influence Stakeholders Group Level of interest Level of influence Event organiser Primary High High Employees Primary Low Low Sponsors Primary High High Spectators Primary Low High Performers / Artist Primary High High Volunteers Primary Low Low Suppliers Primary Low High Host community Secondary Low Low Essential services Secondary Low High Tourist and media organization Secondary High High Government Secondary High Low Need and interest of each stakeholders group Under this section the impact, influence, interest and need of each stakeholders are discussed with proper classification. Primary Stakeholders Primary stakeholders are those who are directly related to the event and take part in it such as: Event organisers are considered the most important participants of an event. They are responsible for organising, market research, decision making, feasibility study and making it a successful event. They are involved in the event from the very beginning from the planning stage to final outcome (Taylor and Shanka 2015). They come up with the idea of the event and plan how the event is to be organized. From the initial stage to the final day their roles included setting up the event, major factors which are required to be considered for success of the event and the hurdles that may come up while organizing the event. Their level of interest as well as level of influence is very high. Employees are those who are working with the event management teams. An event cant be organised by the event manager only, he needs helps in different sector like administration, financial, operation, vendor handling and many more. For this reason he requires staff or employees who will work under his direction for the fulfilment of his goals and objectives (Eid and El-Gohary 2013). Their level of interest is low as it is not directly related to the success of the event. However, if the event is successful because of the extraordinary performance of any particular employee then he / she will be able to get reorganization from the management and may be rewarded and promotes (Masterman 2014). His influence level is also low as an individual employees cant influence the even drastically. Sponsors are the main financer of the event. They support the event organiser by providing funds to them for organizing the event. Instead of that event organiser is responsible for promoting the activity in which the sponsor is involved in their event. The influence levels of sponsors are very high as certain big sponsors provide funding of the maximum requirement for the event (Bachman et al. 2016). So if any of them back out from funding then the entire event will be at stake. Their level of interest is also very high as the activities they are involved in are being promoted through the event which may turn out to be huge success. Spectators are the audience or viewers who are accountable for making the event a great success. If they like the event and are fully satisfied for the money they has paid then only they will make the event successful. So event manager must organize the event from the view point of spectators. The influence levels of spectators are very high as they are the only one on whom the success of the event depends upon (Presenza and Iocca 2012). However, only one spectator cannot decide the success of the entire event. Liking of an event depends upon the individual choice of a viewer. Performers are those who perform in the event for the audience. Their performance is responsible for the success of the event. If the audiences like their performance then it will also personally benefit them as they will be able to grab more opportunities in future (Wilson et al. 2016). Therefore, their interest level as well as influential level is very high. Volunteers are those who are responsible for managing the event on the day of event. They are liable for managing the audience as well as the guest of the event. They should manage the event properly otherwise it will result in chaos and the event may not be successful. Their influence level is low as below average performance of one volunteer cannot decide the success of entire event (Ahmad et al. 2013). However, if all the volunteers deliberately dont well then it can hamper the event. Their interest level is also low as it is not directly related to the success of the event. Extraordinary good work may give them reorganization and reward which is always not possible. Suppliers are those who supply all the requirements needed for the event like music system, lights, decorating materials, chairs and tables. They level of interest on the success of the event is low as they are only concerned with their payments will has to be made even if the event is not successful (Stadler, Fullagar and Reid 2014). However, if the event if not successful then the event organizer may make their payments lately so they also want the event to be successful for early payment. Their level of influence is very high as if they dont supply at the right time then the entire event can be a disaster. Secondary Stakeholders Secondary stake holders are those who are indirectly related to the event. They influence the event from outside without taking part in it such as: Host community are the local community of the place where the event is being organised. Their level of interest as well as level of influence is low as their impact on the event is not more. Their interest is just limited to those tourists coming to their town and increasing the income of those who are involved in tourism activities (Mykletun 2014). They can only influence the event by joining it as audience and supporting it in their way. Essential services are the medical, police and other emergency services required to be present at the event site in case of any emergency at the time of event. Their level of interest is very low as the betterment is not even related to the success of the event (Getz and Page 2016). However, their level of influence is high because nothing can be predicted and if any emergency occurs during the event then their presence have the highest priority. Tourist and media organization are those who give entire coverage of the event and tourists. The provide transportation facilities to the tourist from airport, railway station and other places. Their interest level in the event is very high as people coming from various countries to attend the event will avail their tourist services for going to the event (Hays, Page and Buhalis 2013). Media has a very influential impact on the event as depending upon their coverage of the event in television and social networking sites the success of the event is dependent (Beech, Kaiser, and Kaspar 2014). They are accountable for showcasing the reaction of the audience at the time of live performance. Government includes authorities of local, state and central level. Their level of interest is very high as if an event is being organized in their country then income will flow in their country from the tourist in many ways (Sharples and Lyons 2013). Their level of influence on the event is low as they can restrict the event up to some extent by introducing some rules and regulation but they will never abort the event as it will be a big loss to them only. Power/ Interest matrix high Keep satisfied Key players Spectator Event organizer Suppliers Performers Essential Service Sponsors Tourist and Media organization Power Least Effort keep informed Volunteers Government Employees Host community low high Interest Figure 1:Power / Interest matrix (Source: Author) From the above figure 1, it can be understood that event organizer, performers, sponsors, tourist, and media organization are the key players of an event and interest level and influential level is very high (Quinn 2013). Whereas government are the stakeholder who should be informed about the developments on a regular basis as nothing can be in the country without the permission of their local and central government authority. Volunteers, employees and host community are those stakeholders on whom least effort is required as volunteers and employees are required to do what their event managers will tell them to do that is both their interest and influential level is low (Andersson, Getz and Mykletun, 2013). Whereas spectators, suppliers and essential services are those, who are required to be kept satisfied as they can influence the event to large extent without much interest in the success of the event. Part B: Relationship marketing Relationship marketing means development of a long-term relation with customers. Its main aim is to preserve its existing customers as attracting new customer is much more expensive. Under this part, the relationship with the stakeholders who have highest interest and influence over the festival republic event is discussed. Two Stakeholder groups with the most influence and interest Two stakeholders identified as most powerful and whose interest level is very high are as follows: Event organizer: These are identified as the most important stakeholders as the involved in the event for the first to last. They are not only responsible for organization it but also promoting it and making it a huge success. They are the one who decide the suppliers, the performers to take part in, the sponsors and the decorators. Triumph of the event depends upon the hard work and effort they put it in. Therefore, Festival Republic should aim at maintaining a good relation with the event organiser as the success of the event is fully depended on them and if they want, they can deliberately harm its success (Van der Wagen and White 2014). Event organizer has personal interest on the event, as they will get more events in future if the event is a success, also sometimes they have contract with the event management company they will take part in the profit sharing ratio of that particular event since the dedication and risk level is too high. Sponsors: They are the financer of the event and no event can be successful without funding. The entire event depends upon the budgeted expenditure to be incurred during the event. As the budgeted expenditure increases, the quality of the event also increases which in turn increases the satisfaction level of the audience. They have huge impact on the event since if they stop the entire funding then the interest of every person involved in the event will be at stake (Mokhtar, Said and Saad 2014). Therefore, Festival Republic should try to maintain a peaceful relation with them so that their event is not hampered. Sponsors are also personally interested in the event as their product or activity is being promoted in the event through which they attract new customer base. Theory on relationship ladder of loyalty The relation ladder of loyalty also known as loyalty ladder shows the loyalty relationship of each customer with the business (Bowen and Chen McCain 2015). This ladder consists of five steps where each step consists of a customer, which is based on his loyalty towards the business. Figure 2: Ladder of customer loyalty From the above figure 2, it can be seen that a ladder is being used to understand the loyalty of every customer, which starts from a lower level of suspects and rises to a higher level up to advocates. Given below is a brief description of each steps of ladder: Suspect: They are the ones who come in the way of promotion of a company. They are the suspects of a company Prospects: If any person is interested in the promotion activities of the company then that person is said to be prospects of the company. They have just started to climb up the ladder and it is the function of the marketing to provide them with a helping hand to climb up the ladder. Customers: They are the person who buys either service or product. They needs to be encouraged so that they again buy from the same company. Clients: They will again come to buy the product or service because there is something they like about the company (LesiĆ¡, RuÃ…Â ¾iĆ¡ and PavloviĆ¡, 2015). Relations management tries to identify the reasons why they come back again, so that it can be planned how to bring them to the top slot. Advocates: They are the persons who promote the business on behalf of the owner. They are so very happy with the product or service they not only buy the product but also tell others to buy. They are the most valuable asset of a company and should be benefited with loyalty rewards, freebies and discount. Marketing Mix Marketing mix is the strategy to meet a certain target in the market. It is also referred as four Ps in marketing which are price, place, promotion and product. Price: It is the amount paid by a customer to buy a product. It also determines the profit making capability of the company. If the price is too high then it may not be affordable by many customers. So the price of the product should be adjusted at a medium level depending upon product specification and quality. Place: It means the area where the product will be made available so that customers can easily avail them. It determines the supply chain and distribution strategy of a company. Promotion: It is the most important factor while determining the marketing mix of a company. Its means the marketing and advertising strategy adopted by the company to promote its product so that it reaches to huge number of people. Product: It has the top most priority in the four Ps since all other P is depended upon the product. It customer doesnt like the product then others things will have no value. Promoting or price of the product will become useless. So company should try to develop a product which will deliver its best value towards its customers. In order to add value and build relationship with event organizer and sponsor, Festival Republic should focus on the above discussed four Ps to make the event a great success (Andersson, Getz and Mykletun 2014). Role of Account Manager An account manager is one who manages the entire sales and relationship with some particular customer. He is not accountable for day to day running of the business. However, he is accountable for maintaining relationship with client whose account is assigned to him. Accounts manager plays a very crucial part of event organization because based on their performance the success of the event is determined (Taylor and Shanka 2015). Their focus towards work and the ability to handle critical customer determines the quality of the event. Responsibility of account manager includes the following: Generating sales of number of accounts to reach the sales target of the company. Managing conflicts with the clients and solving it. Establishment of budget with the client and the company. Identification of new sales opportunities within the existing customers to maintain a client account relationship by cross selling and up selling. Co-ordinating and interacting with sales team and staff members of various departments working for the identical account. Meeting the deadlines for all the accounts he is responsible for. Part 2 In this part various parameters used for measuring the marketing performance is to be discussed and two best methods for measuring the marketing mix is to be analyzed. Tools for measuring success of marketing activity There are various methods for measuring the success of marketing activities which are as follows: Key Performance Indicators (KPI): It is mainly used by a company for evaluating the success factor involved in a particular activity in which it is involved (Christopher, Payne and Ballantyne 2013). Marketing Performance Management: It is generally used by a company to measure its marketing performance and the effectiveness of its management. Return on Marketing Investment (ROMI): this parameter is used to compute the return of the company from its investment in marketing (Strauss 2016). Accountable Marketing: it is based on maintaining the accounts of a particular client. It focuses on building good relationship with clients. Marketing performance Measurement: This is the method of evaluating the performance of marketing based on various parameters to understand the success of marketing. Marketing Return on Investment (ROI): It is the method of determining the rate of marketing return on the investment made by the company (West, Ford and Ibrahim 2015). It shows the actual success of the company on marketing activities. Best tools to measure success of marketing mix Two best approaches to measure the success of stakeholders marketing mix are as follows: Key Performance Indicators (KPI): In order to market a product or service KPI is required to be integrated within management and business of the organization to ensure reliability and consistency across the area of marketing mix (Kotler et al. 2015). For this reason they are required to meet certain requirements such as measuring the outcome of marketing from the view point of customer, meeting the technical and statistical requirement for all system of measurement, ell the marketing activities must be included and sometimes it has to be repetitive (McDONALD 2016). Return on Marketing Investment (ROMI): It is the contribution toward profit which is attributable toward marketing, divided by marketing investment. It is the net of investment in marketing. It is different from ROI since marketing is never same as investment. In ROI money is invested in plant and equipment whereas ROMI is marketing fund that is typically risked. It is measured during the current period only (etindamar, Phaal and Probert 2016). The main idea of ROMI is to determine the degree of marketing spending that contributes towards profit. Persons who are involved in marketing are under huge pressure to show return on activities they are involved in. Conclusion In short in can be concluded that for an event to be successful, depends upon its stakeholders only. Mainly on the primary stakeholders who are directly related to the event and without whose support and involvement it would have never been possible to organize the event. Festival Republic must focus on relationship building with its client to make the event a great success. They should target the event organiser and sponsor with whom they should develop a marketing mix because they the most important stake holders on whom the entire event is depended. To understand the concept of stakeholders have various models have been develop like five step customers loyalty model and power interest matrix to analyse the impact of these stakeholders on the event. References Ahmad, N.L., Rashid, W.E.W., Razak, N.A., Yusof, A.N.M. and Shah, N.S.M., 2013. 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