Marketing Strategies 

In this assignment I will be talking about  different marketing techniques and the differences in what they offer, who they are targeted for and the pros and cons of those marketing strategies. A marketing strategy aims to convince you to buy the product, a selling point.

Ten different marketing strategies

1. Merchandise 
2. Children's play park  
3. Free tickets for competition participants 
4. Free sticker on entry 
5. Family package deal 
6. 1st 2nd and 3rd prices 
7. Raffle 
8. Photo booth
9. Food stall 
10. Face painting 

Family package deal 

This is a deal that gives you the option to buy four or more tickets for a discounted price. This would encourage people to take the whole family to the event as it would be overall cheaper than buying individual tickets for the whole family. The problem with this deal is that we don't know how large the average family who will want to come to this event will be. If we set the requirement for the family ticket at two adults and two children we could charge people normal ticket rates for extra people. If we go with the pricing of £20 per adult and £12 per child the cost would add up to £64 if you were to buy each ticket individually. However if we offer the family ticket deal at £54 it may be more appealing to families. Although we might make more money buy selling tickets separately such as adult tickets being £20 and under 18's tickets being £12 we eliminate the worry parents may have of paying a lot more to take their children. If they can take their children to the event they don't have to worry about paying a babysitter or leaving the children with a relative. 

Free tickets for competition participants 

This would encourage more people to enter the competition as it would lower the barrier to entry. More competition will result in a bigger event with more family member of the participants coming as well as more people being aware of the event. The selling point for this strategy is that it encourages people to enter the competition and bring their family and friends along to the event. The free tickets would be made up as the more families of the participants would come to see if they win meaning more ticket sales. Although this loses us money by giving out free tickets we are more likely to make a profit as more relatives of  contestants are more likely to come as they want to see how they do making the ticket sales as well as the attendance go higher.  

1st 2nd and 3rd prizes

Having prizes from the competition would obviously entice people to join the competition so they can win a prize. The prize could be some object for a camper van or just a sum of money for the prize. The selling point is the same as free tickets in that it will entice more people to join the competition and attend the event. The inclusion of prizes may motivate the participants to work harder on their camper vans to a higher quality raising the reputation of the event. The prizes also creates a sense of suspense to the event making the event more exiting. A con for this marketing strategy would be to make the prizes worth while, if the prizes aren't exiting or worth while it may detract from the event. If we were to make the prizes between 30-300 pounds we could entice people to join the competition. Although we would lose money from the prize money we could make it back from the increased ticket sales of more people entering the competition and more families coming along to see if their relative wins. 

Children's play park

A play park for the children would make the event more accessible for children as they would be more interested in coming to the event because they would have something to keep them entertained as the event went on. This strategy main selling point is keeping a families children entertained so that taking children to the event isn't a barrier to entry. The  problem with this is that someone will have to accompany the children instead of looking around the festival it will also cost money to create a play park and to have it installed. it may cost over £500 to have a play park built and installed into the festival grounds, you'd also have to remove the play park once the event was over, for the installation of the play park you may need planning permission from the local council which could prove to be a problem. However more families may have an easier time coming if there is something that can entertain the children at the event. 

Raffle

A raffle is a good idea because it adds another layer to the event and is another side attraction to the event. I would say that the raffle would be a good side activity for family members who aren't participating in the main competition. could be an Ipod or something as simple as coupons for shops in the local area. If the raffle tickets where sold separately then quite the profit could be made. The raffle tickets would not be related to any of the ticket deals so no free raffle tickets or discounted bundles. An Ipod touch costs £134 from Tesco which is an expense that could be covered by raffle ticket sales. If we were to sell a row for a raffle ticket at the price of three pounds we could make back the money depending pm how many people entered. Buying a raffle ticket only costs £2.99 for one thousand ticket so if we bought 5 packs it would most likely cover the demand and it wouldn't be a loss as we would sell the individual tickets  just above the packs price making a profit for us.  

Free sticker on entry 

Once you buy a ticket or show your ticket at the event you will receive a a complementary sticker. The sticker could say "V-Fest 2015 UK" in bold or could have a logo of the event on it you could make it a bumper sticker so people can put it on the back of their camper vans to show that they have been at the event. The selling point of this strategy is that people can be reminded of the good time they had at the festival and show everyone their passion for their camper van as they have gone to a festival all about it. It also works as a way to advertise the event for next year. 

Photo booth 

The photo booth would be a small extra that could interest people as they would have a good quality picture of them at the event. The selling point would be that people can have something around the house that would remind them of the festival as well as a family day out photo. If people have photos of their good time at the festival around the house it may remind them of how fun it was so they may come to the next V-fest. I think that this strategy will appeal to the adults as they are the ones who put up pictures around the house and will want pictures of the family around the house. 

Food stalls 

Food stalls would be good as it would generate more money if done and priced correctly. People wouldn't have to worry about packing a lunch for the family. If the festival sold things that weren't common in the house such as an ice cream van or a barbecue selling ice creams or hot dogs. This would increase the likelihood of them spending more money on food as they couldn't get at home. I think that things like the ice cream vans will appeal to the children as it's a treat for the kids. 

Face painting

Face painting will appeal to the children and will make them more exited to come to the event. If the children had a good time at the event the parents will be more likely to take them again the next time V-fest is on. This strategy appeals to the younger kids as they enjoy face painting, probably ages of 7 and below will be the prime audience for this. 

Merchandise 

Merchandise could bolster sales as people enjoying the event would like something to remind themselves of their good time. You could sell T-shirts, posters etc. With the merchandise being a limited time sale more people are likely to buy the merchandise as they wont be able to get it anywhere else at any other time of that year. This strategy is more catered towards the adults and specifically the contestants and the families of the contestants who are invested in the competition.