现代文体活动市场的发展研究

摘要：文体活动在人类社会发展进程中发挥着重要的作用。一直以来，人们单调重复的日常生活因为各种各样的文体活动而变得丰富多彩，甚至一个最微不足道的借口就可以创造一场精彩的庆祝盛宴。虽然许多文体活动起源于宗教或者历史传统，但今天它们都成为一个地方吸引游客的理由之一。虽然全球化的通信技术让今天的人们交流起来更加便捷和便宜，但这些现代化的交流工具并不能完全满足人们作为群居生物的某些特定要求。与其他不同的，文体活动市场的发展因满足了人们群居活动的独特愿望，逐步成为了现代社会发展最快的交流工具和媒介。本文将文体活动置于经济全球化背景下，研究分析了其市场特征、营销特点、发展趋势以及在商业活动中的地位和作用。

关键词：文化活动市场 文化经济交流 商机 创意产业

1.Introduction

The word ‘Marketing’ is an instructive business domain that serves to inform and educate target markets about the value and competitive advantage of a company and its products. Generally speaking， marketing is an ongoing process of planning and executing the marketing mix， Product， Price， Place， Promotion often referred to as the 4 Ps， for products， services or ideas to create exchange between individuals and organizations.

The concept of managing the marketing mix suggests that each variable or ingredient of the mix must contribute to some overall product image determined in advance by management. Individual variables must be supportive of each other and contribute towards the desired overall image.

Essentially， marketing is the process of creating or directing an organization to be successful in selling a product or service that people not only desire， but are willing to buy. Therefore good marketing must be able to create a ‘proposition’ or set of benefits for the end customer that delivers value through products or services.

The term ‘event marketing’ is used to describe a variety of activities， including the ‘marketing of events and marketing with event’. Events have played an important role in human society for a long term. The tedium of daily life， with its constant up and downs， was broken up by events of all kinds- in most societies the slightest excuse could be found for a good celebration. For example， in Europe， particularly before the industrial revolution routine daily activities were regularly interspersed with festivals. Many of these events play a contemporary role by attracting tourists to a particular place. And many special events are often historically crucial to the social fabric of day to day life. In modern times people are often so used to special events. Shone and Parry （2004） defined the ‘special events’ like that ‘that phenomenon arising from those non-routine occasions which have leisure， cultural， personal or organisational objectives set apart from the normal activity of daily life， whose purpose is to enlighten， celebrate， entertain or challenge the experience of a group people’.

Marketing tends to be seen as a creative industry， which includes advertising， distribution and selling. It is also concerned with anticipating the customers' future needs and wants， which are often discovered through market research. In order to get better understanding about the concept of the event marketing， this paper is going to look at the characteristics of the event first， and then it would represent the changing of the event marketing.

2.Characteristics of Events

The general definition of the event noted key characteristics of events as ‘non-routine’ and ‘unique’. For example， some researchers had chosen to highlight the celebratory aspect of events： ‘A special event recognises a unique moment in time with ceremony and ritual to satisfy specific needs’. However this definition clearly works for events like weddings， parades， and so on. It works less well for activities like engineering exhibitions， sports competitions， product launches， etc. With the development of the marketing， a vast array of events takes place. A means of classifying the different types of events would be of benefit， because as Shone and Parry （2004） said that ‘events have various characteristics in common with all types of services， and in particular with hospitality and leisure services of many kinds’. The characteristics can be grouped together as being：

（1）Uniqueness： The key element of all events is the uniqueness： each one will be different， such as the different participants， the surroundings， the audience， or any number f other variables. It is necessary to know that certain types of event do recur， they may recur in the same kind of format， like weddings， the format or structure may be similar， or they may recur on the basis of time interval， such as conference， but the participants and the subjects will be different. However uniqueness alone does not make a special event.

（2）Perishability： it means all events cannot be repeated in exactly the same way. Even where a reasonable level of standardization is possible， like with activities such as the training seminars， each will be different and will be very time dependent. It also relates to the use of facilities， techniques and the manager’s abilities.

（3）Labour-intensiveness： general speaking， the more complex and the more unique an event is， the more likely it is to be more labour-intensiveness， both in terms of organisation and of operation. The uniqueness of the type of service implies a high level of communication among the people and different groups.

（4）Fixed timescales： events run to a fixed timescale which could be very short， such as for the opening ceremony for a new building， or very long， like a one-month music festival.

（5）Intangibility： most service activities are intangible. However it is important for event organisers making the efforts to operate the experience of the event more tangible.

（6）Personal interaction： People attending events are frequently themselves part of the process. They are not only watching the performance but also interacting with themselves， with participants and staff and are part of the whole experiences.

（7）Ambience and service： they are the most important to the outcome. Good ambience and service amongst friends can make an excellent.

（8）Ritual and ceremony： in Goldblatt’s opinion these are the key that makes the events special. The original tradition might have had some key role in the ceremony， now lost， but the ritual of doing it still continues. However modern events may not in any way rely on old tradition and established ceremony.

3.New Characteristics of Event Marketing Today

Event marketing is an increasingly important component in the promotions mix. Sneath et al. （2005） said： ‘in response to the many challenges facing traditional media， including cost， clutter， and fragmentation， the use of events in which companies can have face-to-face contact with their target audience has grown and become a valuable contributor to marketing communications programs.’ The term ‘event marketing’ is used to describe a variety of activities， including the ‘marketing of event and marketing with event’. The marketing of an event is not related sponsorship whereas marketing with events entails the promotion of sponsors through the sponsorship vehicle. However it is not always exactly correct. It can be related to sponsorship. For instance， the marketing of event can associate with sponsorship uses to promote the event. The latter， marketing with events， helps to accomplish the firm’s objectives through event-related communications and experiences.

Generally most firms have special objectives when they choose to engage in event marketing， such as sales， awareness， corporate identity， equity， and image enhancement. Sneath et al. （2005） defended ‘the major difference between marketing with an event and many other communication methods is that events offer opportunities for personal interaction with products’.

New marketing communication strategies are emerging with a communication structure that often differs strongly. Global communication today is easier and less expensive； however， it can fail to address the unique aspirations and motivations of recipients. Because it can target defined and physically measurable groups of people， event marketing is a growing communication tool. From the research， it could be found two kinds of event-marketing agencies in Europe today： one is part of a worldwide network with subsidiaries in each country， and the other one is that remain independent and build up a network of local partners depending on event assignments. There are pros and cons to each strategy. Some independent agencies， such as Vok Dams Gruppe， have followed a regional approach to cultures rather than a systematic choice between partners or wholly owned subsidiaries. As a matter of fact， despite Vok Dams having led the German market for the last 30 years， its Munich office has just opened ‘due to Bavaria's powerful， yet specific business culture， which to a certain extent approaches that of Italy or Austria’， explained by Doris Kintrup， Munich office manager.

Brand can no longer be distinguished on their quality and functional benefits alone and the effectiveness of classic marketing communications is decreasing steadily as result of still competition of communications. Indeed because classic communications are solely based on a push strategy. In modern times， the market requires ‘the interactive communication of brand values by staging marketing events as three dimensional brand-related hyper-realities in which are actively， involved on a behavioral level and which would result in the emotional attachment to the brand. As pull strategy within marketing communications， the effectiveness of event marketing strategies is highly dependent on consumers’ voluntary participation.

The introduction of the euro has taken these evolutions even further. It has made commercial negotiation， administration and logistics of European projects easier and cheaper. This ‘euro zone’ may well be heading toward a certain pricing homogeneity. What were once national accounts are now deciding between agencies within Europe. As a result， agencies that once competed nationally must now expand their market presence. National professional associations， such as ANAé from France， FME from Germany， etc.， have started meeting and exchanging ideas as a result of global demands generated by the international economy and the corporations that participate in it. ISES， which originated in the United States and has a chapter in the United Kingdom， is now opening a chapter in continental Europe. Still， some markets still must be approached individually. Thus European clients who have chosen global agencies with subsidiaries tend to keep a specific agency within the French markets， the latter's touch implying certain creative risks other agencies barely match.

Events targeting groups from a specific industry with its intrinsic jargon and business culture， such as the financial community， can be handled globally regardless of where the attendees come from. Financial road shows are as much European as they are global. However， the bulk of marketing events， especially those addressing end users or internal target groups， such as corporate events， trade shows， training， etc.， are still very culturally specific. Here the ‘handicraft’ dimension of event marketing still presents a barrier to the globalization of agencies. After years of larger， more dramatic events everywhere， the trend is toward basics， toward core values. Furthermore， in the fast-moving field of consumer goods， for instance， marketers search for authentic venues. In Germany， many former industrial sites， such as water utilities， have found a new life as event venues. Some say the standardization of planning processes has gone too far， endangering creativity and uniqueness. But here again， one has to be subtle. In Germany， for instance， one speaks about the search for pragmatic creativity， whereas in France， it is all about taking more creative risks.

Moreover， relationships between the agency and the client also are evolving. In Germany， clients profess the desire for long-term collaborations； however， these very clients request that their agencies pitch for each project. Meanwhile， getting new businesses through referrals， which in Germany was quite low in comparison to other European countries， is growing. In France， it remains an ongoing debate between those who believe in annual contracts （common in advertising）， and those who favor pitching for the sake of creative stimulation.

In these tumultuous times， clients tend to favor agencies that readily adapt to the market， with a boutique-style management keeping the same key account and project management over a period of time， and combining a strategic understanding of the client's marketing with creativity and logistics competences. This balance between sensitivity and know-how is not necessarily easy to maintain， even more when there is no dedicated project manager on the client side， as is too often the case.

Event marketing in Europe is as vital as it is in the United States， but probably less standardized. It strives for more structure， and tends to be more and more professional through trade associations and certifications， while at the same time consciously searching for new sources of inspirations for renewed creativity. The challenge for years to come in Europe and its various markets lies in information that inspires emotions that convince， perfection that reassures， and creative power that surprises with sustained professionalism and consistent quality.

4.Conclusion and Recommendation

Although it is important not to ignore cultural and economic subtleties， trends can be defined in a simple way as changes in a situation or in the way people behave. Current business trends include globalization and cost pressures. The interest in networks in marketing has grown out of the pronounced trend in business practice toward ‘non-traditional’ organisation forms. In general， these trends force most companies to reexamine their businesses， focusing on their core markets while staying ahead of the competition by seeking out new business niches and new revenue. For the further activities， event marketing managers need to aware the following things：

The manager needs to understand the overall strategies clearly， and create new ideas， performance and/or promotions around these strategies. The strong network certainly supports the excellent event. To contribute a good relationship between actors， providers， consumers， suppliers and employees could not be ignored. The primary thing to do the event， it is to motivate all related relations involved in all activities.

And the manager also should be clear what value-added benefits are the venue making available to the business？ Well organized events， at minimum， provide a list of attendees after the event so exhibitors can follow up. More organized events provide participant contact information before the event as well as after. Other value-added benefits to inquire about， such as being included in participant email distributions promoting the event， as well as an advertisement in the event show guide. Many event activities today charge for all mentioned above. If they do， then try to negotiate them as value-added.

Moreover the manager should put the follow-up plan in place before the event. If people do not have a follow-up plan， then the time would be wasted. Most of the sales will come after the event. At minimum， the plan could consist of a Nice to Meet You Note with a Special Trade Show follow-up offer， and adding the new prospect to the quarterly postal newsletter.

Reference and Bibliography：

[1]Shone and Parry， （2004）， Successful Event Management A Practical Handbook （2nd Ed.）

[2]Sneath， et al. （2005）， ‘An IMC Approach to Event Marketing： the Effects of Sponsorship and Experience on Customer Attitudes’ in Journal of Advertising Research， Dec. 2005， Vol. 45， Issue 4

[3]Wohlfeil， M. and Whelan， S.， （2006）， ‘Consumer Motivations to Participate in Event Marketing Strategies’， in Journal of Marketing Management