MARKETING PLAN FOR EVENT MANAGEMENT FIRM

Case: Eminence Group of Entertainment

CONTENTS
1) INTRODUCTION 2) EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3) CURRENT MARKETING SITUATION 3.1 Market Description 3.2 Service Review 3.3 Competitive Environment 4) SWOT ANALYSIS 5) OBJECTIVES & ISSUES 6) MARKETING STRATEGY 6.1 Target Market 6.2 Positioning 6.3 Marketing Mix 6.4 Market Communication Strategy 7) FINANCIALS 7.1 BreakEven Analysis 7.2 Sales Forecasting 7.3 Marketing Expense Budget 8) CONTROL 11 12 12 12 12 13 10 11 9 10 6 9 4 5 5 3 3

INTRODUCTION
This report provides a strategic marketing plan for an event management Company, which represents service business organizations. Office of the company is in Gurgaon, Haryana, and it conducts events all over the country. The business in which the case company is involved includes entertainment, festivals, events, and club parties in different places such as colleges, nightclubs, restaurants, lounges and outdoors. The marketing plan will enable the company to have comprehensive vision about the business and increase benefits and wealth of the corporation as a whole.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Eminence Group of Entertainment (EGE) is an event management company specializing in cultural events. It was established in August 10, 2010. EGE is involved in 4 types of functions, Artist management, Setups/production, Manpower management Supply. They are specifically targeting the colleges, as this market is steady and profitable. EGEs mission is to conceptualize & execute events and promotions all over India with a strong commitment to meet the objectives and reach the desired target audience.

CURRENT MARKETING SITUATION

EGE, founded almost 3 years ago by 3 friends with a vision to redefine the events and with a strong commitment to meet the objectives and reach the desired target audience. Event Management is a multi-crore industry
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with mega events and shows hosted regularly .It has a compounded annual growth of 14 per cent. It is projected to be Rs. 5,000 crore by 2015 in the country. Rising household as well as company incomes, growing number of corporate awards and conferences, television and sports events, reality shows and so on are helping this sector grow. Though the present Scenario especially the current year is not so positive and the small and medium sized event companies might have to struggle to grow considering the present economic condition of the country. Since it is a small sized company with an initial investment of 20 lakhs, it is facing intense competition from both macro level and micro level companies and also from new entrants. Thus it squeezes their profitability. In India, the key players in this event management industry are: 1. Wiz craft 2. Encompass 3. Cox and King They have the maximum market share and EGE has to do a lot to compete with such giants in terms of all aspects. But as of now its main competition is from JPR Events and YS Events, which are operating at the same level and in the same market.

MARKET DESCRIPTION EGEs market consists of mainly the colleges where they organize the various events like Freshers party, festivals, etc. They have conducted events in more than 100 institutes all across India.

 Vendor Relationship: Vendors from more than 65 cities are associated with the Group.

SERVICE REVIEW:
Since it is a service organization, the services that EGE provides are: Artist management Stage designing Production Supply Manpower

COMPETITVE ENVIRONMENT
As mentioned above that this company is facing competition from both micro level and mid-level companies. Key competitors, at present ,is the unorganized sector in event management. As there is practically no entry barrier to commencing operations as an event management service provider, several unorganized service providers who are either individuals, do not have defined business processes and policies and/or have an annual turnover of less than INR5 crore. Other Factors Include: Economies of Scale Limited Erratic Sales Fluctuations No Power Dealing with Buyers or Suppliers Product Substitutions for Service High Customer Loyalty
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Though EGE is not competing directly with MACRO companies but definitely to grow they need to keep track of these companies and their functioning. And for that EGE started working under Encompass and Cox & Kings.

SWOT ANALYSIS STRENGTHS -Own production. -Tie-ups with few giants. - Manage various artists & bands. WEAKNESSES -Lack of finance. - Lack of brand name awareness. - Poor negotiation power. -Inability to meet increase in demand. OPPURTUNITIES -Sizable business opportunities in unorganized sector. -Increase in household and company incomes. -Change in trend, people spending more on personal functions. THREATS -Threats from new entrants. - Competition from big giants. - Lack of sponsors. -Slump in the economy.

STRENGTHS

1. They have their own production as in all the material required for the
set up. 2. They have tie ups with Cox and Kings and Encompass Pvt. Ltd. which provide them accessibility to various events. 3. They manage Raeth Band too and have yearly contracts with various colleges like IIFT.

WEAKNESSES 1. The major concern area for this company and the obstacle in their
growth is lack of finance or funding source due to which they are unable to take their events to that level where most of the giant companies have taken. 2. Other weakness of the company would be lack of awareness about the company. They havent done that much promotion through which they can clinch some major events. 3. The inability to rapidly scale to meet large, unexpected increases in demand.

4. They have a poor negotiation power which leads to less revenue.

Here the negotiation would mean negotiating with the artist and the colleges because they are not a big brand in this field so they have to settle down for the less.

OPPURTUNITIES 1. The organized sector account for 40% of the total events industry,
there is a large unorganized events business, which could be as large as or even larger than the organized portion of the industry. There are sizable business opportunities to be exploited. 2. With rising income, people are spending more on weddings, parties and other personal functions. 3. Rising household as well as company incomes, growing number of corporate awards and conferences, television and sports events, reality shows and so on are helping this sector grow.

THREATS 1. One of the major threats would that since this industry is growing at
a very fast speed, so it is attracting new companies towards it. Not only new companies are entering in this industry but also some existing giant firms are expanding in this sector, which is a major concern for such small sized companies like EGE. 2. Another major threat would be the lack of sponsors, since this industry is sponsorship led so obtaining that is a major challenge for them and it might cost them in the form of losing the events. 3. A slump in the economy that could have a ripple effect on service providers.

OBJECTIVES AND ISSUES

This company was incorporated in the year 2010, so its been 3 years and their initial investment was 20 lakhs as stated above. So in the previous 3 years they could manage to earn____ only because it was a fresh company and they didnt have any brand name in the market. After working under some big companies they could have earned some experience in the market. Now the companys objectives for coming years are:

Year 2014: They are aiming to get events from their regular customers
and will also try to attract new customers that is some new colleges where they have never done any event.

Year 2015: Their next years objective is to enter in the corporate sector,
though they are organizing conferences and meetings in this segment also but at a small level. So, their objective would be to expand in this segment.

ISSUES:
EGE is in the speculative stages as a start up organization. It faces the following critical issues: The main issue is that they dont have renowned sponsors and also they are facing the same problem in this economic condition which all other companies are facing.

MARKETING STRATEGY
Eminence Group of Entertainments marketing strategy is based on niche marketing, targeting some specific segments of the market. Their primary
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consumer target is colleges and other educational institutes who need such an event planners which can provide them artist and can get done stage designing too at rates which is less than the other companies. Their secondary consumer target is weddings and other corporate companies where they have been seen as a potential and emerging company in this industry which is coming up with new ideas and has lot of enthusiasm.EGE will be aggressively courting colleges to win future contracts. EGE will offer a superior service at a lower cost due to specialization. By concentrating on a few specific services, EGE will become proficient at these services and perform the services better than someone without the same level of expertise. EGE will increase company visibility through a website and social networking sites. The website will be quite detailed and provide a visitor in-depth information about the services EGE offers, the corresponding high level of quality, and the cost savings that can be achieved by using EGE.

Target Markets
EGE is providing services mainly in "social event market. Many colleges like IIFT on a yearly basis are in contract with company to plan and typically host event like fests and many other cultural events for the college.

POSITIONING:-EGE is trying to position itself as a niche service event

planner, serving the social event market. EGE will leverage its competitive edge to achieve the desired positioning.EGE's competitive edge will be based on the factor that they are providing services like stage designing, artist management, supply, manpower and production at lower price than
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their competitors, it allows the company to excel in serving its chosen markets.

Marketing Mix:EGE's marketing mix is comprised of the following approaches to pricing, distribution, advertising and promotion, and customer service.

Pricing- The pricing scheme will be based on a per project estimate

tailored to each client. Distribution- CRP's service's can be performed throughout the Northern region mainly, determined by the needs of the customer. Advertising and Promotion- Several forms of advertising and promotion will be used including a website, social networking sites, brochures and word of mouth. Customer Service- The Company goes about the day-to-day operations with the belief that 100% customer satisfaction is required in order to make the business a success. All levels of the organization have been taught this and practice it.

MARKETING COMMUNICATION STRATEGY:The single objective is to position EGE as the premier niche event planner serving the social event market. The marketing strategy will seek to create customer awareness regarding the services offered, develop the customer base, and work toward building customer loyalty and referrals. This objective will be communicated using several different methods. This first method will be through the use of EGE's website which they are planning to launch in the coming year. The website will be a rich source of information detailing services offered, previous customers, examples of
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their work, etc. The second method of communication which they have been using is social networking sites where they can showcase their work with pictures and detailed information and also about their upcoming events. Other methods include brochures and they have also registered themselves at just dial.

FINANCIALS:
Break Even Analysis
Investment= 20,00,000 Total fixed cost = 6,72,000 Total Variable cost = 7,20,000 Total cost=13,92,000 Revenue Per Annum = 24,00,000 Break Even point=24,00,000-13,92,000=1,00,8000 Breakeven point would be reached in approx. 24 months from the commencement of business.

SALES FORECAST :see annexure 1.1

MARKETING EXPENSE BUDGET :see annexure 1.2

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CONTROLS
The following areas will be monitored to gauge performance:

Revenue- Both monthly as well as annual tracking. Customer satisfaction. Margins- A relative comparison between the two types of services offered. Percentage of new business relative to repeat customers.

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