Thursday 19 January 2012

So, What events?

Hello world, in this blog I am going to be tracking two events in the coming months and analysing their marketing communications. This will include analysis of both their online, publicised and broadcast communications hopefully resulting in me being able to draw conclusions on how they successfully target their specific markets, including what makes them different.
First things first, I am going to give a brief overview of each event and why I feel it would be interesting to follow.

The Rallye Sunseeker has been running for nearly 25 years and is now an annual event signalling the start of the MSA British Rally Championships. It takes place in the south of England, with a route beginning in Poole and ending in Bournemouth, this year taking place on Feb 24th/25th. To tie in with the rally, the Somerly Speed festival also takes place, offering opportunities for hospitality and a perfect place to watch the rally action. One of the main focuses of the Sunseeker rally is promoting local businesses and offering opportunities for them to advertise to the 35,000 spectators of the Rally.

I have decided to follow the Sunseeker rally because I feel its targeting to businesses as well as spectators of the rally is interesting. From their website it is clear that they find the community and local businesses very important to their success. Shown both in terms of gaining finance for the rally through advertisements and sponsorship, and through local people supporting it.

The second event I have chosen to follow is Cisco Live London, taking place between the 30th Jan and 3rd Feb 2012. It is held in the ExCel centre in London and is described by themselves as ‘Cisco's flagship technical training, networking and education event’. It is an annual event in which Cisco say 95% of attendees will make a decision about purchasing as a result of attending. They look to attract customers and exhibitors and is a mainly business to business based exhibition.

I have chosen to follow Cisco Live because I think their research into their market is very in-depth, I also feel it would be interesting to compare how their marketing is targeted compared to how the Rallye Sunseeker’s marketing is targeted due to their huge differences in audience demographics.

Next up, Target Audience!