Abstract
The hypothetical company that is going to be analyzed in the paper at hand is called Memorable Moments. This full-service company engaged in event-planning business will be situated in Columbia SC. Memorable Moments will specialize in the organization of parties for children aged from 1 to 14. The company is going to be run by three sisters: Tamechia Davis (the CEO), Tessa Gardner (the Chief Designer), and Lekeyshia Davis (the Financial Manager). In addition to its major activities, Memorable Moments will offer decorating services, catering, and secures venues for each event upon request. The ultimate goal that the company will pursue is to make the dreams of all potential customers come true no matter what kind of event they organize. Any budget or idea can be accommodated (starting from a theme party to a carefree celebration). The marketing plan offered in the paper is going to cover all major points of business strategy that can guarantee the success of the venture.
The Company’s Branding, Pricing, and Distribution Strategy
The brand relies upon the idea of helping individual clients, groups of people, and corporate organizations to execute the required event from the very beginning up to the end without any failures and flaws. The company is going to offer professional children’s event planning services at several levels including local, state, and national. The brand is supposed to occupy the position among the top companies providing similar services through adhering to the following values (Allen, 2008):
- immaculacy of service;
- wide range of options;
- geographical flexibility;
- highly organized teamwork;
- individual approach to every client;
- love to children;
- ongoing updating of entertainment programs provided;
- clear allocation of duties.
As far as the pricing strategy is concerned, it has been an accepted tradition in the event planning industry to opt for hourly billing for all the services including preparation and performance (Silvers & Goldblatt, 2012). However, Memorable Moments will attempt to mix different approaches as it seems more reasonable for certain stages of event management to introduce flat fees as they allow the customer to predict changes in the initial project and make corrections when they process has already been launched.
Therefore, the company will charge its clients both flat and hourly fees depending on the project design, individual preferences, stage of project implementation, etc. Memorable Moments will try to keep its prices below the average market price for similar services, which could be achieved by collecting part of the fee in advance to ensure that no cases of emergency will bring about financial losses for the company. Also, Memorable Moments will offer discounts for loyal customers, corporate clients (e.g. organizing events in a kindergarten or school), and other groups of potential consumers according to their situations. Seasonal discounts and special offers are also considered an effective option.
The company will not need intermediaries for providing its services, which means that distribution is going to be direct as the service will be delivered straight to the client. As for the level of penetration Memorable Moments wants to achieve, exclusive distribution is not the best possible option as the company will not provide any luxury services unaffordable for an average customer. Neither is intensive distribution possible in this case as it is suitable only for mass marketing products and services (Allen, 2010). Since Memorable Moments is going to target a particular population group, selective distribution will be the most effective. The outlets of the company can be located in parts of cities that have lots of schools, children care centers, and kindergartens to attract the attention of parents and educators as the major group of potential customers.
The Major Intra- and Inter-Competitors of the Company: Strengths and Weaknesses
The major intra-competitors of Memorable Moments in Columbia include the following companies (Bowdin, O’Toole, Allen, Harris, & McDonnell, 2006):
- A2D Events
- TnA Sound Solutions
- Kryptonical Xpressions
- Occasions of Distinction
- A Little Bit O’Everything
- All N Services
- Guthrie’s Gifts From Above
The main inter-competitors of the company are (Bowdin et al., 2006):
- A Perfect Event Productions and Party Rental
- A Spice of Life Catering Services
- Arrangers DMC
- As You Wish
- BTB Events
- Calluna Events
- Classic Party Renters
- Create Events
- Divine Events
- Encore Creative
- Everything Entertainment
These are the most successful companies in the industry, which implies that their major common strength is perfect management. Other strengths that enable these event planning companies to achieve success include (Allen, 2010):
- experienced event organizing teams that can give customers value for the money they pay and that is skillful enough to pay attention to every detail of the organization process;
- excellent PR, which implies that these companies develop and implement successful advertising strategies to communicate their message to the target audience;
- high level of job satisfaction and motivation of the staff that is achieved by several benefits provided for the employees as well as their high salaries;
- application of right event-making tools;
- strong brand name and customer loyalty.
However, the companies also have certain weaknesses that hinder their performance (Allen, 2010):
- most of them offer a broad specter of events, which scares off customers as they seek more specialized companies;
- practically all the enumerated businesses have high-priced services due to brand recognition;
- their entertainment programs are not updated as it requires additional funding;
- most of them do not have in-house decorators, designers, and other side-specialists, which means that the customer has to pay extra for these services.
Differentiation Strategy
The closest competitor of Memorable Moments is A2D Events – a company specializing exclusively in two major spheres: children’s entertainment and wedding preparation. The following measures can be taken to achieve competitive advantage over A2D Events:
- the company will hire the best HR specialist to create highly professional teams;
- it will specialize in events for children providing services that are unavailable in A2D events;
- it will set lower prices;
- memorable moments will enter the market by sending introductory and greeting cards to schools, kindergartens, and other related organizations together with the company’s free catalogs;
- it will cut preparation time and take urgent orders as well;
- the company will invest money in staff education: training, seminars, conferences, etc.;
- it will develop a system of unique bonuses for each customer;
- Memorable Moments is going to use a direct marketing approach and advertise its services by organizing free-entry charity events from time to time.
As it is evident from the differentiation plan, the company is not going to be a follower in the industry as it intends to provide unique services that will help enlarge the client base. It is now hard to state whether Memorable Moments can grow to the position of the leader; however, it has the potential of becoming a strong competitor to the current market leaders.
Media Tools
The two major media tools applied by the company will be electronic platforms and TV. This choice is explained by the growing popularity of social networks, such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc. among children and their parents, which means that the company will be able to target a larger audience. The second option is selected because of the traditional attitude towards the TV in many households: a lot of parents still prefer watching the news on TV rather than on the Internet, which means that they inevitably pay attention to advertisements in-between programs. Besides, the prestige of the company grows when it appears on popular channels.
Marketing Communication
To achieve success, the marketing communication strategy should begin with accurate time-management (Berridge, 2007):
- the event must be promoted and announced 10 weeks in advance if it involves a large number of guests;
- the following weeks must be devoted to collecting information, developing design, and communication of the strategy to the customer;
- the communication strategy must align with the chosen advertizing channels: thus, it would be preferable to use social networks for sharing photos and news of the preparation whereas TV can be used for attracting the attention of new customers who are planning to organize a similar event;
- one week before the event, its details should be reported to all the invited attendees who must have information about food, drinks, dress code, weather, entertainments, music, etc.
All of the enumerated market communication strategies coupled with regular advertising on the Internet and TV will ensure the success of the event and customer satisfaction.
References
Allen, J. (2008). Event planning: the ultimate guide to successful meetings, corporate events, fundraising galas, conferences, conventions, incentives and other special events. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Allen, J. (2010). The business of event planning: Behind-the-scenes secrets of successful special events. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Berridge, G. (2007). Events design and experience. London, UK: Routledge.
Bowdin, G., O’Toole, W., Allen, J., Harris, R., & McDonnell, I. (2006). Events management. London, UK: Routledge.
Silvers, J. R., & Goldblatt, J. (2012). Professional event coordination (Vol. 62). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.