Abstract
The main purpose of this chapter is to explore how small-scale sports events are marketed and what issues are important when marketing them. For this purpose, literature review was made by considering the issues related to event marketing. The success of events depends largely on their marketing. Especially considering the important effects of these events on the location, it is important that the marketing plan process of small-scale sports events, who the event consumers are, why they want to participate in the event, and how they follow the process participate in the event. In addition, it is an important issue why the 5W's of marketing are important for small-scale sports events. The marketing mix of small-scale sports events, which is created to address these questions, and IMC, which is developed specifically for events, are two of the most important tools in event marketing.
TopObjectives
The main objective of this chapter is to consider all the steps and activities in the process of marketing a small-scale sports event in detail. For this main objective, the sub-objectives of this chapter are as follows:
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To examine the marketing process of small-scale sports events in detail and to discuss the differences between other marketing processes.
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To examine the individuals, who are expressed as consumers in marketing, within the marketing of events:
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To mention their basic features in small-scale sports events.
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To emphasize how they are expressed in event marketing especially in small-scale sports events.
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To investigate how the market is segmented for them.
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To examine the process and motivation factors of an event consumer to make a decision to participate in the event.
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To investigate the marketing mix, which is created for events, different from traditional marketing.
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To examine the Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) which is required to create, plan and announce the event to target consumers.
TopIntroduction
Nowadays, the intensity of people's daily activities emphasizes the importance of the concept of leisure time and increases its value. Therefore, people make more efforts to take time for themselves, to engage in activities that may be beneficial for them, to create leisure time for them, and also to have fun. With this special effort, they want to spend their leisure time actively, gain experience and have fun by gaining experience. For this reason, the first choice of individuals is to participate in small-scale sports events that are more easily accessible than other events. By participating in these events, reaching people, enabling them to experience the event, happily rejoining the event and creating loyalty, is the point where events meet marketing, providing the concept of event marketing and emphasizing the importance of marketing for events. The marketing of small-scale sports events tries to reach participants and / or viewers by entertaining and experiencing them, instead of bombarding messages with traditional communication methods. While the main purpose in traditional marketing is to convince consumers to consume, the main purpose in event marketing is not to convince people to buy, but to participate in the event (Tinnish & Mangal, 2012).
When analyzed in the literature, most of the studies on event marketing focus on large scale events (Sofia & Chris, 2017). Given the challenges involved in event marketing, small-scale sports events are expected to result in faster and more positive contributions to the host community at the local level. Kaplanidou & Kang (2012), small-scale sports events have limited effect, limited media attention and a smaller number of participants. These events not only benefit the management and sports organizers at the venue, but also benefit players, coaches, officials and viewers who come to enjoy and entertainment (Bowdin et al., 2012). An effective management and marketing strategy is required in order to have positive effects and guarantee success such as increasing awareness, being a source of pride for the society and creating a positive image (Hanlon & Jago, 2000; Kaplanidou & Vogt, 2007). The success of small-scale sports event marketing is possible with effective marketing strategies (Fotiadis, Vassiliadis & Satiriadis, 2016).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Marketing Mix of Event: It is the marketing mix of product, price, place, positioning and public relations that enables the marketing of the event.
IMC for Event: It is a communication method that carry out to inform, remind, and persuade potential participants to participate in an event.
Leisure Time: It is the time that people devote from their daily work to enrich value to themselves.
W’s of Event Marketing: These are the questions (why, who, when, where, what) that need to be answered in order to ensure the feasibility, suitability and sustainability of event marketing.
Event Marketing: It is an event management function performed by event planners, which includes activities to produce, price, present an event to potential participants an activity to satisfy the needs of its participants.
Event: Activities organized within the framework of a specific theme or action.
Participant: Individuals who participate in an event to evaluate their leisure time and gain experience.