the celebration event held in your honor to recognize your out-
standing achievements as a professional event marketer. Not only
will you receive the accolades you deserve, but you will continue
to market this event by attracting others who wish to learn your se-
crets of modern event marketing success. May you use these mar-
keting secrets to help all of us raise the level and impact of global
event marketing throughout the new millennium and beyond.Summary
In this chapter, you have learned the benefits of developing a sys-
tem for ongoing competitive analysis predicated, in large part, on
a comparison of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and
threats facing your product and those of your competitors. Com-
parisons of costs, timing, product differentiation, and markets be-
ing served are among the many considered, depending on the na-
ture of the event and its present market share. Integrated efforts by
management, product/program designers, and marketing profes-
sionals are critical to the development of effective monitoring of
the competition and to the establishment of marketing approaches
that will enhance event strengths and mitigate weaknesses. Equally
important is the need to document results, not just for your event
itself but also for all program participants. Evidence of the value
of sponsorships, for example, is essential in maintaining and in-
creasing those sponsorships in future years. Testimonials from
pleased participants are invaluable in attracting new attendees.
Underlying all of this is the careful maintenance, analysis, and
archiving of all data for use in identifying competitive trends early
in their life cycle and in responding effectively to those trends.192 Chapter 8 Trends in Event Marketing
TALES FROM THE FRONT
An association with a successful East Coast
exposition was interested in expanding, by
adding a second trade show on the West
Coast. After an extensive review of the
SWOT factors, and an analysis of competi-
tive shows on the West Coast, they discov-
ered that they were not the first to grasp
the idea. Because California is such a lu-
crative market in their industry, five similar
corporate-sponsored shows had been
launched in the same region to varying de-
grees of success. The competition was fierce,