Introduction
Connecting with customers is a fundamental aspect of a firm’s mission to achieve a competitive advantage. Modern organizations are facing challenges due to the intense competition in the business environment. Thus, companies should not ignore the significance of establishing a strong competitive edge. Creating market awareness of a brand constitutes one of the most effective ways through which businesses connect with customers.
Fill and Hughes (2015) emphasize that market communication aids in strengthening brand values through two main ways. These ways include the name route or the advertising route. The advertising route contributes to the establishment of brand-related associations. Thus, consumers connect with a product and its advertising. Moreover, advertising aids in establishing a connection with a product’s intangible attributes such as an image. The naming aspect enables customers to link a brand name to its functionality (Fill & Hughes 2015).
Marketing communication has undergone a considerable transformation over the past few decades. Accordingly, entrepreneurs and business entities have a broad range of promotion approaches that they can adopt in creating a competitive advantage. The diverse aspects of the promotion mix can be integrated into strengthening a brand.
Aim and Objective
The objective of this study is to develop theoretical concepts and methodological tools for evaluating the efficiency of event marketing as a tool for promoting a brand, which will allow small dairy enterprises to survive. The study will focus on achieving the following objectives.
- To systematize the tools of brand promotion
- To clarify the essence of the concept of brand and branding in the marketing mix
- To evaluate the models of brand promotion depending on the psychological type of consumers
- To examine the concept of event marketing and suggest a methodology for the organization of an event
- To develop a system of indicators and a methodology for evaluation of the event marketing effectiveness regarding brand value
- To analyze brands existing in the world, European, and Romanian dairy markets
- To make an empirical estimate of the event marketing efficiency in promoting brands and create a brand of events
The rationale for the Study
Advertising as a marketing tool accounts for the largest proportion of most organizations’ budgetary allocation. According to Gaur (2009), the effectiveness of traditional marketing communication approaches like sales promotion advertising in generating brand value is diminishing. The emergence of different types of media explains the decline in the effectiveness of advertising in creating brand value. A study conducted in 1998 in India cites overreliance on advertising as one of the major reasons why foreign brands fail in local markets (Buttle & Maklan 2015). This aspect highlights the existence of gaps in the effectiveness of advertising as an avenue for connecting with customers.
Event marketing has become an effective marketing communications tool (Masterman & Wood 2007). Moreover, event marketing fosters the effectiveness of traditional marketing tools by focusing on the particular target market. Event marketing has a positive effect on an organization’s brand equity by promoting brand experience and brand attitude. The effectiveness of marketing communication in assisting an organization achieve sustainable competitive advantage is not dependent solely on creating awareness on a product’s existence in the market. On the contrary, sustainable competitive advantage is largely dependent on the extent to which businesses establish trust and long-term relationships with their customers. The adoption of event marketing constitutes the most approach that organizations can attain such an outcome.
Literature Review
Jueterbock (2012, p. 49) defines event marketing as ‘the integration of sponsorship activities or events related to sports, arts, entertainment, or social causes’. Event marketing has become a primary approach that businesses are adopting in their quest to develop a competitive advantage. The core purpose of event marketing is to build an organization’s brand. By participating in event marketing, businesses are in a position to engage and share ideas with current and potential clients. The choice of the event varies depending on an organization’s motive. Dahlen and Lange (2008) affirm that organizations select events depending on the opportunity to develop and highlight their businesses’ personality.
Events are effective in establishing a strong long-term relationship with customers. This assertion arises from the view that the events lead to the development of experiences that customers can remember easily (James 2015). Therefore, event marketing is critical in assisting organizations to position their brands optimally (Percy 2008). Thus, event marketing is based on the positioning theory, which accentuates the importance of creating and sustaining a unique representation regarding a particular brand in the customers’ minds. The representation created impacts the consumers’ choice of the brand (Ludicke 2006). The positioning theory further emphasizes the significance of understanding the target consumers, expectations, needs, and characteristics. The outcome of event marketing is that an organization’s capacity to influence the consumers’ purchase behavior considering the complexity and heterogeneous nature of the contemporary market environment improves substantially (Sengupta 2005).
Methodology
The study intends to understand how entrepreneurs can use event marketing in strengthening their brands. Thus, the study is exploratory. To achieve the intended purpose, the study will adopt a qualitative research design. The decision to adopt this design is informed by the need to gather sufficient data from the field. Subsequently, the research design will enrich the study’s findings. The study will focus on children’s brands in the dairy sector. The area of study will be limited to the European and Romanian dairy markets. The study will focus on existing children’s dairy brands in these markets.
The data to be used in the study will be collected from primary sources. The choice of primary source is to develop an understanding of the application of event marketing in the real market. Data will be collected using different primary techniques and tools that include observation, interviews, and questionnaires. These techniques will aid in gathering data on different aspects related to the research study. The study will target firms that specialize in the manufacture of children dairy brands. A sample of 100 respondents selected from the marketing department of 25 different companies in the area of study will be considered. The respondents will be selected using the simple random sampling technique to eliminate bias. Thus, all the companies in the target area of study will have an equal chance of inclusion in the study.
Before the actual study, a reconnaissance will be conducted. This aspect will entail obtaining permission from the relevant management authorities in the companies considered. Furthermore, it will be ensured that the respondents are informed adequately on the purpose of the study and the confidentiality of the information provided. This aspect will aid in increasing the rate of participation in the study.
The data collected will be analyzed using descriptive statistics. Thus, the researcher will adopt the concepts of logic modeling, rating evaluation, and system analysis. These data analysis techniques will aid in improving the ease of understanding the data collected.
Reference List
Buttle, F & Maklan, S 2015, Customer relationship management; concepts and Technologies, Routledge, New York.
Dahlen, M & Lange, F 2008, Marketing communications, John Wiley, Chichester.
Fill, C & Hughes, G 2015, Marketing communications, Routledge, New York.
Gaur, S 2009, Event marketing and management, Vikas Pub House, New York.
James, M 2014, Positioning theory and strategic communication: a new approach, Routledge, New York.
Jueterbock, M 2012, The influence of brand personality in the relationship of ambush marketing and brand attitude, Verlag GmbH, Hamburg.
Ludicke, M 2006, A theory of marketing: outline of a social systems perspective, Verlag, Hamburg.
Masterman, G & Wood, E 2007, Innovative marketing communications, Routledge, New York.
Percy, L 2008, Strategic integrated marketing communication: theory and practice. Routledge, New York.
Sengupta, S 2005, Brand positioning; strategies for competitive advantage, Tata McGraw-Hill Education, London.