Perceived Value: A Small-Town Story
In the summertime in the small town of Gaithersburg,
Maryland, school was out but the high school band mem-
bers wanted to stay in tune. So they organized a summer
concert to be held in the gym. Between practices for the
performance, they distributed flyers around town advertis-
ing “Celebrate Summer at a FREE CONCERT at the High
School.” The night of the concert came, but only a hand-
ful of parents showed up. Although the music was ade-
quate, the attendance was awful. It was a dismal failure.
Undaunted, the band tried again. They stumbled on
another marketing principle that, in essence, says, “You
get what you pay for.” This time, the promotional flyers
were distributed saying “Celebrate Summer at this SPE-
CIAL PERFORMANCE of the Mighty Sounds of the
Gaithersburg High School Band. Only $5 for Adults,
$2.50 for Students, Children under 10, Free. Limited Seat-
ing! Don’t Be Left Out!”
The performance sold out. The band held three more
concerts before the summer was over. And from the pro-
ceeds, they were able to purchase new uniforms. Per-
ceived value was indeed a product of pricing.are some that are positioned as “loss leaders,” expected to
lose money in an effort to gain greater assets elsewhere, such
as membership development or community goodwill. Cor-
porate meetings are typically expensed not as profit centers
but rather as “costs of doing business” in order to build em-
ployee loyalty and pride and to learn how better to sell prod-
ucts and services. The event marketer must clearly under-
stand the financial mission and design a strategy to
accommodate those goals.
What Is the Cost of Doing Business?Price must reflect the to-
tal costs of goods and services, includingthe cost of mar-
keting itself. Marketing is often relegated to a secondary role14 Chapter 1 Introduction to Event Marketing