Like any other product or service, success of an event depends on the right segmentation and targeting of customers. The success of the client-concept- audience fit depends on the proper segmentation of the market and then targeting a particular target segment.
The event organisers should first segment clients and on this basis, proceed to segmentation of target audience. The Holi example given earlier can be used to understand this. Targeting of clients is done on the basis of their attractiveness.
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Segmentation:
A large identifiable group of customers within a market can be termed as a market segment. Since different customers-both clients and the target audience-differ in terms of various characteristics, it is difficult to customize the communication to each individual.
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The need for segmenting the market on the basis of broad features that make up the market also arises so as to reach a compromise between mass marketing and individual marketing by event organisers.
An example of mass marketing in events is any ticketed show such as a cricket match wherein tickets for watching the game are sold to anybody on a first- come-first-served basis.
Sponsorship is open to the highest bidding clients in such events. In case of mass marketing, the event is designed first and then is opened for any client. Individual marketing in events can also be termed as customized events. These involve designing a concept suitable for a client and its customers (i.e. the target audience).
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Market segmentation is a very arduous task since the event organiser needs to segment the market with respect to both the client as well as the target audience to ensure the client-concept-audience fit.
The segmentation of the market can be carried out on the basis of the core concept preferences of the clients as well as those of the target audience. The target audience can be segmented based on standard demographic, geographic, economic and psychographic traits.
Segmentation of the target audience becomes very important in that, they define which clients to approach for funding the events as well as event category and variation that the event organiser should focus on.
Segmentation of clients is very important since not only is the information on the brands, products or services of the client important but also the target audience that the client is going to attract is also very important.
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Benefit segmentation can be used for segmentation of clients. Segmentation on the basis of different levels of the benefits offered by events – that of reach and interaction-can be termed as benefit segmentation.
Therefore, clients can be segmented into clients seeking high reach with less interaction, equal reach and interaction or low reach with high interaction.
Each of the event variations discussed earlier could also be converted into tangible event market segments shows a classic case of successful segmentation of sponsors for the intercollegiate cultural festival Malhar 2000.
Thus, market segmentation for event organisers involves understanding which target audience and which client to serve at the same time. Segmentation of the events market helps in identifying the synergies between the target audience and the client.
This goes a long way in ensuring the client-concept-audience fit that the event market is made up of a large number of clients and audience. The concept can be modified and applied to any combination. It is up to the event organiser to define the segments and modify their event concept accordingly.