1.0.

Introduction

Marketing is regarded as an activity, a process and a set of establishment that assists in

delivering, producing, communicating and trading offerings which consist of great value to
society, consumers, allies and clients (Wood, 2005). In this regard a marketing plan is
recognized as a part of an overall business plan. A well-written marketing plan’s foundation
is its solid marketing strategy which makes it implementation a success in an organization. A
marketing plan is based on a list of actions and if the foundation of those strategic actions is
not strong then it would be of no use to the organization. To ensure that a company’s business
goals become a reality it is essential to make annual marketing plans as it assist in keeping
the marketing strategy on the right path. Marketing plan is a high-level plan that provides the
team with guidance regarding goals, campaigns and progress (Perreault et al., 2011).

A marketing plan mainly focuses on the target market and analyses the current situation of
the business market to make plans accordingly in which the description of marketing mix is
used for the business to attain the goals. A marketing plan is based 4Ps which includes
products, price, promotion and place (McDonald and Wilson, 2016). Marketing plans are
usually made based on the identification of the consumers’ preferences after doing a
marketing research. Other plans involved in it are based on action programs, sales forecasts,
projection of financial statements, budgets etc. A marketing plan can best be described as a
technique that assists the business in deciding the best resource that would help the
organization to achieve the business objectives (Constantinides, 2006). The aim of this report
is to analyse a marketing plan by taking into account an international event/ conference and
in this case a ‘Book Fair event in Oman’ shall be used for analysis.

2.0. Background of Event

The event to be discussed in this report is based on a Book fair in Sharqiyah, Oman. This
book fair has been established to offer the people of Oman a chance to increase their
knowledge. The book fair takes place in the Muscat International Book Fair and this place in
general serve as a symbolic landmark for Oman. The book fair was established and organized
especially for families, students and children where they are served with books from different
places and allows them to understand new genres. The main feature of this book fair is that
more than 28 countries are participating in it and every year it becomes larger which depicts
the positivity of this event (Alleen, 2018). The book fair targets the audience from every age
group and culture which is the easiest way to promote the book fair as everyone is welcome
to visit and appreciate others work. The book fair also introduces the publishers and writers to
the audience which also opens opportunities for new writers to introduce themselves to the
professionals. The exhibition’s main highlight is the aspect of culture which is reflected
through everything as different cultures are gathered at one place (Al-Ahmed, 2018).  Thus
there are more than 70 cultural events that take place at the book fair along with children’s
activities to keep them busy. There are many activities that are available at the book fair i.e.
corner with book friends, corner for people with special needs, corner of global village and
the village of colours. Muscat International Book fair has now reached its 23 rd edition and its
progression depicts its popularity which offers a wide range of writers, titles and publishers.
The book fair not only exhibits and promotes books for stimulating interest but also offers a
fair bazar where books are auctioned for the purpose of raising money which would be used
for some worthy cause.

Furthermore, the book fair offers people with community cultural events and this is basically
a competition that is aimed at the initiatives of individuals and institutions aimed at the
Omani society who are completely engaged in forming a culture among other readers and
community for reading (Al-Ahmed, 2018).  The community invites readers to share their
experiences about their preference towards reading books instead of online material. The
countries that have taken part in the book fair involve about 17 Arab countries as well i.e.
UAE, Palestine, Oman, USA, Germany, Sudan, Syria, Algeria, Lebanon, Qatar, Jordan, Iraq,
Bahrain, Palestine, Tunisia, Turkey, Kuwait, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Libya, Morocco,
Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Iran, UK, Pakistan and Italy. The yearly book fair has also been
ranked among the best book fairs in the Gulf region and is also known in the Arab world as it
is included in the top 10 best book fair’s list (Omanconvention.com, 2018). The outcome
from this book fair is that it connects people from different cultures through books and forms
an association between them and it can also be linked to tourism as people visit the country
and promote its aspects.

3.0. Main content

This section shall consist of an analysis based on book fair event in Oman and its 8 different
aspects will be analysed according to its marketing plan.

1. Marketing Objectives of Book Fair

The primary objective of a book fair is to promote reading and education among its readers
and also built interest in the people who are least interested in reading books. Another
objective is to raise money for special causes and provide its audience with an enrich room
filled with educational books. This is an opportunity for the readers as they are introduced to
the books that present novel and unique ideas from around the world. Moreover book fair has
the marketing objective that is important for readers and is based on the fact that it does not
involve any technological aspect. The book fair has a marketing objective that books are read
in peace and without any distraction thus it would be good for the reader’s health as well and
promoting this aspect is the priority. The marketing objectives of book fair are measureable,
achievable and realistic as all these aspects are available in the event.

2. Identification of Target Market (Demographic)

The target market is identified by the book fair according the material that they offer to their
readers. As the books that they exhibit are suitable for different age groups and thus they use
it to their advantage as they target children, teenagers and elders according to their tastes in
books. Factors such as age, gender, education level etc. are taken into account when targeting
audience. The book fair offers books for children and elders and all are of different genres
which provide the audience with an opportunity to read books written for different age group.
The main target audience is children and teenagers as they are in their educational stage and
reading is an essential aspect for enhancing vocabulary and knowledge thus by targeting
those parents is also automatically targeted. The children and parents visit together and thus
the interest build up in everyone. Surveys are also conducted from the existing audience to
figure out the gaps due to which targeting audiences has become a difficult task. Different
schools are also invited to take part in such an event as it would help promote education and
also expand the target audience.

3. Clarify the competitor in Market

The competitor in the market for book fair is not present currently as it is just 11 day program
thus however making a mark in these few days is not an easy task. There are many book
stores in Oman that provide a wide range of books to its audience however the major factor
that makes the book fair to stand out is that it offers books from all around the world as well
as a meet and greet with its writer and publisher thus this gives the book fair a competitive
advantage over other book stores.
4. The Product/Service at Book fair

The book fair offers different products and services to its readers in regard to products it
gives the audience access to thousands of books from around the world at a reasonable price.
Therefore the international products (books) are being sold locally. The product is
educational and offers its audience a chance to become passionate believers in scholastic
mission and assist children in becoming avid readers and lifelong readers. Some of the
services that are provided by the book fair are very resourceful and many other new services
are to be added to this list in the future. The services that are provided at the book fair include
the following:

1. Signatures on books

2. Request for display of specific books.

3. Student Registration Form.

4. Visitor Registration Form

5. Booking specific books for reading.

5. Place/Venue/Distributional Strategy

The venue of the book fair is a common place, thus it is easy for everyone to visit as it
happens at the same place every year. The place is quite large and can allot more than enough
people in it. At the book fair there are different corners allotted and the space is about 878
corners which showcases different ranges and serve more than 500,00 books in the 11 days of
this exhibition. Another essential feature of the book fair is the space that it consists which is
about 12,114 square meters and involves about 1,200 pavilions. The distributional strategy of
the book fair involves not only individual distribution but also consist of partners and
sponsors that assist and act as a distribution channel at the same time.

6. Promotional Strategy (Marketing Tools)

Prior to the book fair inauguration the marketing tools are set and strategies are used to
promote the event by the sponsors. The main modes that are used for marketing are
advertisements in newspapers and television, posters and especially the information is posted
on different social media apps as majority of people are connected to it. The promotional
strategy of the book fair is quite strong and starts one month before it takes place which
makes it a big highlight for the audience to visits thus it ensures that everyone is aware of the
event that is about to take place.

7. Price Strategy

The pricing strategy depends on the basis of the department in which it is being used as in
case of social media there are many applications where the promotion is free so it saves
money. While advertising in newspapers and television can cost more however it is a mode
that can promote the book fair in a better way as everyone is linked to these modes. In this
case relative pricing strategy is used as it helps them to develop their marking budget
according to the prevailing marketing price.

8. Marketing Budget

The budget is quite high as for just a pavilion the price would be about $ 1,200 while the
travelling fee would be most probably $ 300-450 excluding the hotel expenses which depends
on the quality of the hotel as if it is 5-star then it would be costly otherwise reasonable.

4.0. Conclusion

The aim of this study was to discuss the marketing plan for a book fair. It showed that
marketing is a very technical task and everything requires details which need to be clear and
precise. Marketing plan helps to structure a business successfully and in this case ‘a book
fair. It depicted that marketing objectives need to be clear so that the target audience would
be aware as to what they should expect from the event. In this regard the target audience
should be targeted according to a plan such as the books they offer are suitable for what
people and of what age according to it the strategy can be planned. The product and services
that book fair offers are what make it interesting as if the product is not preferred by the
audience then it would be a loss to the event. Having clarity of competitors is also essential
however 11 day even would not be having any danger from other business. The venue and
promotional strategy are well planned in such as manner that it compliments one another and
targets larger audience.

References

Al-Ahmed (2018). The 23rd Muscat International Book Fair. [online] Oman Convention
Exhibition Centre. Available at: http://www.omanconvention.com/Events/The%2023rd
%20Muscat%20International%20Book%20Fair [Accessed 11 Nov. 2018].
Alleen, O. (2018). Video: The 23rd Muscat International Book Fair has kicked off. [online]
Times of Oman. Available at: https://timesofoman.com/article/128779 [Accessed 11 Nov.
2018].

Constantinides, E., 2006. The marketing mix revisited: towards the 21st century
marketing. Journal of marketing management, 22(3-4), pp.407-438.

McDonald, M. and Wilson, H., 2016. Marketing Plans: How to prepare them, how to profit
from them. John Wiley & Sons.

Omanconvention.com (2018). The 23rd Muscat International Book Fair. [online] Oman

Convention Exhibition Centre. Available at: http://www.omanconvention.com/Events/The
%2023rd%20Muscat%20International%20Book%20Fair [Accessed 11 Nov. 2018].

Perreault, W.D., Cannon, J.P. and McCarthy, E.J., 2011. Basic marketing: A marketing
strategy planning approach. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin.

Wood, M.B., 2005. The marketing plan handbook. Prentice Hall.