Readings: Chapter 13 – Sponsorship an Event Managements in Public relations: theory and practice / edited by Jane Johnston and Clara Zawawi. Crows Nest, N.S.W. Allen & Unwin, 2004. 2nd ed
'News is anything that makes a reader say, "Gee whiz!".' - Arthur Mac Ewen.
I think the key points to remember from this week's readings were
Firstly, the thing that stood out most to me from this weeks chapter was the concept of 'ambush marketing'. I think the extent that some companies go to, to advertise their product, is hilarious. It's even funnier that it happens regularly enough to have a name.
Apart from this, i think the main two ideas behind this chapter were sponsorship and event management.
Sponsorship can be risky but is very popular because it generate goodwill and provides opportunities to enhance the image and reputation of the organisation by association. The risks are that it is very costly and the chances of a return can be dicey.
Event management includes anything from the smallest to largest 'event' that can be thought of. Success of event management requires a thourough, well thought out plan and a dedicated, skilled team of professionals. Sufficient staff is essential. Events generally fail if the planning lacks any of these elements.
Sponsorship and event management both require a degree of creativity in order to be successful. Originality is the only thing that will help your event or your sponsorship gain any sort of coverage.
The readings made me think more about public relations theory/practice in that this element of PR practice, isn't really my cup of tea. The ambush marketing tactics used by many companies should be reason enough. A lot of people find this to be the most interesting a desireable aspect of publics relations but the readings show that there is alot of room for shady dealing. This area of PR practice also seems to be very cut throat. A bad event can ruin a career and a good one can make a career.
The drawcard to this area of PR would be the chance to be creative and innovative. Creating new and successful tactics for sponsorship or event management would be a fun element of PR to explore. Still, the ambush marketing kinda' turns me off!
4 comments:
Hi there,
i've got to agree with your point that ambush marketing is fairly amusing (although frustrating for actual sponsors), after reading about it i wonder how many times we have probably encountered these activities at events without even realising it!I agree that it's pretty shady business but i think it should be remembered that strategies like integrated marketing can help reduce the risk of this problem.
Keep up the great blogging!
Alex
Hi Matthew, I thought that your blog was inciteful and made me reconsider what I had written in my blog- this is because like you I thought that ambush marketing was quite funny from an outsiders perspective but I also thought that cashing in on someone else's campaign was quite clever- I guess I must be really unethical! My thought was that the ambush marketers were in some ways being quite clever and I think that it probably occurs quite a lot and may well be just another consideration that PR people have to contend with (or am I just being shallow???)Anyway loved the dry humor you bring to whatever you do, keep up the good work, Deb
Hey Matt, I'm also quite amused with ambush marketing. I guess it is pretty unethical but I think there's still high skill involved when trying to work out how exactly to crash an event. It sounds a lot more fun than doing things the right way....
I also agree with you point about creativity. The sponsors that stick in our minds after an event are always the most creative ones. Who could forget the guys in sperm suits for Durex at BDO? You keep playing on paint during tutes and i'm sure some more great creativity is bound to come out of it.
Your blogs are always easy to read, and they express the main concepts of each weeks reading very clearly.
I enjoyed the quote at the beginning from Arthur Mac Ewen, as it presents a perspective towards what constitutes news that I myself agree with.
I agree with what you stated about ambush marketing. I too think that its funny how far certain individuals will go to self-promote.
Your summaries of what constitues sponsorship and event management were also spot on- clearly defining what each term encompasses.
Don't say that you don't want to get involved in public relations practice though! I'm sure you will be great at it.
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