MARKET RESEARCH IN EVENT PLANNING

OVERVIEW
This lesson will discuss about market research in planning an event, following the SWOT analysis
as guide in creating or choosing what theme or type event will be planned. The students will learn
to analyze the strength, weakness, opportunities and threats in selecting an event type and
create an analysis report out of it.

OBJECTIVES

At the end of the lesson the students will be able to:

 Analyze the strength, weakness, opportunities and threats in event planning.

 Understand the importance of market research.
 Creating analysis report.

ASSIGNMENT
1. Think of an event and make a SWOT analysis about it.
2. Make an analysis report based on the first activity.

DISCUSSION

…Let us start discussing the Market Research in Event Planning…

Market Research in Event Planning

Market Research
Before organizing an event, find out whether there is a market (i.e. audience) for your intended
event or not. For e.g. you want to organize a fashion show in Oman. If people there have little or
no interest in fashion shows, then it is not a good idea to organize such event there. The event
will fail for sure.

Market Analysis
If there is a market for your intended event, then do market analysis. Market Analysis means
finding information about your target audience. Find out who are your target audience i.e. their
age group, gender, qualification, profession, knowledge level, income, status, likings, disliking,
personality, customs, traditions, religion, lifestyle etc.

Knowing your target audience's customs, traditions and religion is very important so that we
don’t hurt there customs and religion unknowingly through our event. For e.g. if you organize a
Hindu wedding and serve beef there, then u will be in mortal danger as cow is considered as a

Prepared by: Mary Rose Angelica B. Antero, LPT Events Management

sacred animal in Hindu religion. Similarly serving pork in a Muslim function can bring havoc. Find
out where majority of your target audience live so that you can direct your marketing efforts
towards them.

There is no point in advertising across Bicol Region if your target audience belongs only to Naga
City. In this way you can cut down your advertising and marketing cost tremendously. Find out
what are the desires and expectations of target audience from your intended event. Find out
when (i.e. date and time) and where (i.e. venue) they want the intended event to take place .For
this you will have to do survey. All this information will help you in developing a better event
plan.

Competitors' Analysis
It means finding information about your competitors. Find out who are your competitors .i.e.
their age, sex, qualifications, knowledge level, experience in organizing events, turnover, market
value, PR (media and corporate contacts) and market share.

Find out how they promote and execute there events. What they do in there events? Why people
come to these events? For this you will have to attend each and every event organized by your
competitors and then create an event report. The event report will contain things like

 seating and light arrangements

 promotional materials used
 blueprint of the whole venue
 program and food menu
 contact details of sponsors, partners, clients (for whom the event is organized)
 Service providers like DJs, Anchors, Make-up artist, Performers, photographers,
videographers, decorator, florist etc.

SWOT Analysis in Event Planning

Products/Services Research
If you are organizing a corporate event then it is necessary for you as an event manager to do
research of the products/ services promoted and sold by your corporate client.

 Find out how the company promotes its products

 How the company wants to build/enhance the image associated with its product (also
known as the brand image)?
 What is the market value and market share of the company and its products?
 Who are the customers of the product?
 What are the features of the product?
 What are the advantages and disadvantages of the product in comparison to competitors'
products?

Prepared by: Mary Rose Angelica B. Antero, LPT Events Management

All this research will later help you in making an effecting promotional campaign for your
corporate event.

SWOT Analysis

In SWOT Analysis:

S, stands for Strengths

W, stands for Weaknesses
O, stands for Opportunities
T, stands for Threats

It is a strategic planning tool which is used to identify and analyze the strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats involved in your project. SWOT analysis can also be done on your
organization.

Strengths:
These are the attributes of your project/organization which are helpful in achieving project's
objectives. For e.g.: experienced event team, high motivation level, excellent PR, good market
share etc.

Weaknesses:
These are those attributes of your project/organization which are harmful in achieving project's
objectives. For e.g.: social loafing, lack of funds, inexperienced event team, low energy level, lack
of media and corporate contacts etc.

Opportunities:
These are those external factors which are helpful in achieving the project's objectives. For e.g.:
little competition, favorable economic conditions, support from the local authorities, availability
of the state of the art infrastructure etc.

Threats:
These are those external factors which are harmful in achieving the project's objectives. For e.g.:
high competition, little or no support from local authorities, bad weather, poor infrastructure,
high lab our rate, unavailability of raw material etc. It is very important that you conduct SWOT
analysis before developing an event plan to develop a strategy which maximizes the potential of
strengths and opportunities of your project and at the same time, minimizes the impact of the
weaknesses and threats.

ANALYSIS REPORT
After conducting market, competitors, product/service research and SWOT analysis, create a
report which contain details of all the research work done by you. Documentation of your

Prepared by: Mary Rose Angelica B. Antero, LPT Events Management

research work is important, later for event evaluation. Your analysis report will also help you in
getting sponsorship for your event.

Reference: http://www.himpub.com/documents/Chapter1140.pdf
https://www.cvent.com/en/blog/events/what-is-event-management

Prepared by: Mary Rose Angelica B. Antero, LPT Events Management