EVENT MANAGEMENT IN INDIA

ABSTRACT
Event management today has become a multi-crore industry with
live entertainment events, both domestic and international,
assuring a big audience. The word event evokes visuals of a brightly
lit stage with well-known cine artistes performing to popular
numbers. Sure, thats an event and its handled by an event
management company, but the scope does not end there. Event
management can comprise handling marketing of soaps in rural
areas through street plays or ground promotion activity of a new
liquor brand launch. What we are talking of is below-the-line
marketing, which has become an important tool for companies to
build the brand image in the minds of the target audience. And as
competition grows fiercer, event marketing could become a vital
marketing weapon to tap the designated audience.
 INTRODUCTION
As the name suggests, event management is all about planning,
organizing and executing an event, which facilitates brand bonding
with the consumer. The event, of course, could take the form of an
exhibition, an exposition, a concert, a rock show or a cricket match
Likewise, individuals might seek the help of professional planners to
organize a theme wedding, a birthday bash, a book release, a film
mahurat or a press conference.
On a mundane plane, event management is all about product
launches and brand promotion. There has been a subtle shift in
corporate thinking in the last decade with a huge amount of
promotional spending being taken away from advertising and being
ploughed into events. Brian Tellis, Director of Fountainhead, an
event management company, puts the trend in perspective: Major
brands thrive on publicity, not advertising. More and more
companies are now looking for avenues to perk up sales or promote
brands through on-the-ground events.
 Cont.
The face of the society is changing in India and that too very fast and this
change has brought about a major change in the mentality of the Indians.
Now-a-days people are broader in their thinking, and are ready to
experiment with a lot of new ideas.
One of them is Event Management. Every tiny detail from your entering
the venue to your going out is a result of rigorous planning. Its still a very
upcoming trend here in India, but is recognized as a very lucrative industry
abroad. The client comes to the event manager with a vague idea in mind,
it is entirely upto the event manager to work on the idea and turn it into a
reality.
Events could be anything from concerts, product launches, conferences,
promotions, press conferences, jubilee celebrations and farewells to
television based events, fashion shows, wedding or parties, it could be just
anything.
There has been a paradigm shift in the minds of the people and now they
have started to understand the importance of event management. They
have started looking from a broader prospective.
 RATIONALE OF THE STUDY
Event management is the application of the management science of project management to the creation and
development of festivals and events. Event Management involves studying the intricacies of the brand,
identifying the target audience, devising the event concept, planning the logistics, Cordinating the technical
aspects before getting down to actually executing the modalities of the proposed event.
The recent growth of festivals and events as an industry around the world, means that the management can
no longer be ad hoc. Events and festivals, such as the Asian Games or the Dubai Shopping Festival, have a
large impact on their communities and, in some cases, the whole country
Event management is like a joint venture where lots of companies come together voluntarily to put across
or place an event may be for charity raising, launching a new product/service, showcasing etc. In todays
dynamic environment there is an upsurge in the event management companies (EMC) which host certain
events and provide source of knowledge & entertainment. A company can build an identity through the type
of events it sponsors. Any organization that likes to conduct any event/exhibition/show etc. which is a form
of publicity, contacts an EMC to organize the event so that every thing goes in a proper manner. The EMC
plans the event, organizes the material, looks for sponsors/co-sponsors, arranges for celebrities, decides the
venue or location of the event and looks after many things like the seating arrangements refreshments,
stalls, etc.
Hence, an in-depth analysis of this situation helped me come up with some suggestions, which have been
incorporated in this report, for improvement of the current chaotic scenario in the industry. This industry
will not only enable up coming event marketing firms to function successfully but also help the corporate
to realize an adequate return on investment by achieving their objectives through proper selection of an
event and monitoring it at every stage in order to build a good corporate image and a long lasting
relationship with the customers, dealers, retailers and employees.
 OBJECTIVES
To find out, are these Event management
companies really worth giving a try?
Future prospects of Event Management in India.
The kind of events these companies are
specializing into and their future course of action.
To find out the potential clients of event
management companies.
To find out the perception people hold in their
minds about Event Management Companies in
India.
 Research Methodology
The methodology undertaken to do the study was developed on the basis of the objective of
the research project. Marketing research specifies the information needed to address
marketing issues, design the method for collecting information, manages and implements the
data collection process, analyzes the result and communicates the findings and their
implications.
RESEARCH DESIGN
Research design used in the study was exploratory research methodology. The results of
exploratory research are not usually useful for decision-making by themselves, but they can
provide significant insight into a given situation.
This is the most crucial phase of the study in that the decisions and commitments determine
all that follows in this phase. This phase consisted the understanding the basic requirement
of the research study. The research was conceptualized and problem was defined keeping in
mind of the main and specific objectives of the project. The project involved an Exploratory
Research to analyze the event management strategies in Indian context.
Data collection
Primary research would contain detailed discussions with event management firms and the
corporate clients. A questionnaire would be made and would be filled by the target
customers at various events. This will help to analyze effect of events and of whether the
events are able to meet its objectives over a given period of time.
 The secondary information will be gathered from various marketing
journals and books on event marketing, sales promotions and
publicity. Daily newspaper reading will also prove to be helpful in
order to keep track of various kinds of events.
Secondary data collected through different journals, magazines,
articles from newspapers, websites, etc.
Sampling Method - Simple random sampling was not attempted as
the population comprising undefined number of retailers and is not
homogeneous and this method is not expected to provide a
representative miniature of the population. Since heterogeneity is
present in the population, the stratified random sampling method
has been attempted.
Sample Size 50
Sampling Unit Event management firms and the corporate clients.
 LITERATURE REVIEW
According to Donald (2012) event management involves studying the
particulars of the brand, identifying the target audience, devising the
event concept, planning the logistics and coordinating the technical
aspects before actually launching the event. The recent growth of festivals
and events as an industry around the world means that the management
can no longer be temporary such as the India International Trade Fair
(IITF), have a large impact on the whole country. The industry now
includes events of all sizes from the Olympics to an in-house meeting for
ten business people. Many industries, charitable organizations, and
interest groups will hold events of some size in order to market
themselves, build usiness relationships, raise money or celebrate. Event
management is considered one of the strategic marketing and
communication tools by companies of all sizes which include product
launches to press conferences, to promotional events. They might target
their audience by using the news media, hoping to generate media
coverage which will reach thousands or millions of people; and can also
invite their audience to their events and reach them at the actual event.
 In recent years, the number of events has grown rapidly and an
industry around events has evolved. This event industry has seen
significant growth over the last three decades, which has made it
hard to complete an overview of all the facets of events and event
management. While several companies in this growing trade have
good organizational structures and management processes in place,
a rather confusing picture evolves when looking at the entire event
industry. Nevertheless, despite that confusing structure remaining
in place, the International Special Events Society (ISES) states that
the event industry is still one of the worlds fastest growing,
economically-lucrative industries, while in the Western World
most of the benefits have been squeezed out of process
improvement and neoclassical economics (Clifton, 2009).
 O'Toole J. William (2000) explored the latest trends in
project management system that integrates all
elements of the planning and control, and the
influence of information technology on event
management. This study further highlighted the topics
vis--vis; trends in Project Management suitable to
event management; the convergence of diverse event
management procedures; differences between the
current project management body of knowledge and
the practice of event management; the concept of a
workable dynamic.
 CONCLUSION
After completion of the project and the analysis of the study we come to conclude
that after launching the promotion there was drastic percentage jump in sales
initially but gradually the percentage jump decreases and trend is not much impact
on sales.
Thus we conclude that the industries have pampered consumers by giving
discounts and freebies and hence consumers nowadays don't buy a product until
and unless don't buy a product until and unless they are given some discount. So
the industries should not overdo the promotion.
Cities argue that promos simply prepare the purchase and don't add any
incremental value to it. The sales may pick up during the office, but there is a loss
of sale in the following month, which means the people who buy the goods in July
simply prepared their purchase due to the offer". Also, over promoted products
often leave customers asking for more. Thus promotions has actually exploit the
habits of consumers.
Event marketing allows a company to break through the advertising clutter and
target an audience by enhancing or creating an image through an association to a
particular event. Brand awareness reinforces the product or service, and drives
sales.
 RECOMMENDATIONS
To improve the condition of the event marketing industry and make it more
professional and profitable, the following recommendations have been listed:
Understand the corporate objectives, target audience and brand image and
positioning clearly.
Do not go overboard with your concept or preference for a certain event.
Conduct a situational analysis for appropriate event selection which synergies with
the company objective and brand personality.
Create extensive databases of the target consumers in order to conduct pre- and
post-event analysis and evaluation to check the success of the event and
consumer perception, also to assess the top of mind awareness and brand recall.
Conduct extensive market research to establish which parts of the program are
working and which ones are not. Those in the first category should be maintained
and strengthened. Those in the second should be relinquished.
In all sponsorship activities, it is important to protect the integrity of the activity
being supported. If it is cheapened or its identity threatened, the sponsorship
could rebound on the sponsors head.
 Limitations
Throughout the study utmost care has been
taken to avoid biases, errors so as to ensure
authenticity and accuracy. But there is possibility
for some discrepancies to come in between due
to following limitations:
Respondents may give their biased opinion, as they
know the identity of interviewer.
Assumption is made that views and suggestion given
by the respondent are his own perception and idea.
The study is not free from sampling error
Last but not the least and the most deciding factor
paucity of time
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Knowledge
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Allen, J., O'Toole, W., Harris, R., & McDonnell, I. (2008). Festival & Special
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