Attend the Gala! The local county Chamber of Commerce has produced 74 consecutive annual winter galas. Key stakeholders in this event are the chamber staff, the chamber executives, the local hotel,...

Please read the case study and answer the questions listed in the case study


Attend the Gala! The local county Chamber of Commerce has produced 74 consecutive annual winter galas. Key stakeholders in this event are the chamber staff, the chamber executives, the local hotel, and chamber members. Over the years, attendance has stagnated. Thus far, neither the chamber staff nor the chamber executives have reacted to this attendance challenge. In fact, the attendance goal always was the prior year’s attendance level. The chamber consists of approximately 900 members. The highest gala attendance was one- half of the total membership. The average attendance is about one-third of all members. To boost attendance, the marketing manager of the chamber considers the following steps: 1. Conducting research to update the target market information and profile 2. Increasing advertising 3. Launching new promotions The last marketing survey among members of the Chamber of Commerce was completed 10 years ago. The marketing manager feels that an updated study is needed. It is also a good opportunity to collect additional data about the members. Until now, information about the gala was provided only in the chamber’s newsletter, which was emailed and distributed only once a month. Many members may never see this advertisement. The chamber’s marketing manager believes that gala information should be put in the form of high-impact advertising. To do this, she wants to place in several local newspapers an ad of one-third of a column showing an elegant couple dancing under a sparkling chandelier with the text “Annual Winter Gala – What’s all the hype about?” She thinks that this type of advertisement will excite and intrigue members into thinking about attending the gala. The major obstacle with the new advertising is cost. The new ad campaign will raise the gala’s costs unless some creative trades with the newspapers are developed. Up to this point, no promotion campaign has been developed for the annual galas. The marketing manager feels that there may be some positive effects from the promotions; however, she is not sure how the promotions should be conducted. Unfortunately, the marketing manager must decide fast. The Chamber of Commerce cannot afford to lose money on its galas but cannot cancel the gala either. QUESTIONS 1. Why is it important to update the member’s database? How often should the list be updated? 2. Do you support the new advertising campaign? 3. What cost-saving agreements can be made with the local media? 4. Do you agree that promotions can help attendance? How would you design a promotion campaign to maximize attendance and revenue? Adopted from: Goldblatt, J. (2005). Special events: Event Leadership for a new world. 4th Edition. Wiley: Hoboken, New Jersey