Last blog. Yaaaay!!!

So I have finally come to the end of the blogging road, and with 45 minutes before hand in what a better time to post my last blog! Thank you for reading, it has been a pleasure!

Direct Marketing and Social Media

The Direct Marketing i have received from the two events have been via e-mail. And to say that this was limited, would be an understatement. In the last three months that i have been signed up to the Florence and the Machine Fan page, i have received only 2 e-mails. However, evidence i have found on KMR software shows that a high level of people aged 15-24 do not receive direct mail. This might be one reason why direct mail is not sent out very often for the Florence and the Machine tour. The target audience for the event is 14-24 and as the table below shows, a high number of people at this age do not receive direct mail.

However, to counteract this; i also set up google alerts to tell me when something new was updated about either of my events. And to say i received a lot of emails from these, would also be an understatement. To the left is my mail box, and to help you see it more clearly i have coloured the google alerts in, in different colours. In the pink are some of the google alerts i received for The Florence and the Machine tour, In the blue is the google alerts from the London Fashion Week 2012. And the one yellow email is direct mail from the Florence and the Machine web page. To say that receiving all these google alerts was irritating would be honest, however, they were also very useful in helping to research the two events. The two direct emails i received with regards to the Florence and the Machine tour was not enough, however, it might be thought that they were not trying to over whelm their fans with information.
Overall, i think that with both the google alert and the direct mail that i receive, became useful to me in some form or another, if i did not use the information in its original form, then it may have given me ideas for others things that i needed to include.

Moving on to discuss the use of Social media in used for my two events.
Facebook - According to Mintel facebook takes the top spot in social networking in the UK, in terms or both unique visitors, and average time spent on the website. Mintel's research shows that 73% of internet users have used facebook and 53% are regular users of facebook and visit the site at least once a week.
This graph shows the increase in unique visitors who visited social networking sites from home and work in June 2008 to march 2011. This shows a huge increase in visitors to social networking sites. This also shows me why events such as the London Fashion Weeks, and Florence and the Machine use social networks to advertise themselves. As there is many people using the social networking sites, it is an easy way to contact people from all different marketing segments and make them aware of your event.
The next graph shows consumer attitudes to wards social networking sites. The top line of this graph say ' i rarely pay attention to adverts on social networking sites'. A massive 66% agree that they do not look at or pay any attention to advertisements which are show on social networking site. And i have to admit, that while i am using Facebook or Twitter, i do not pay any attention to adverts which are being displayed. Still, with 66% pay no attention to adverts it make me wonder why people still advertise on Social networking sites.

While tracking the communications for the two events i have been following both of the events on facebook and twitter. This graph shows that these are the two most used social networking sites there is on the Internet. Therefore, i think this is a good place to look for the marketing communications of my two events.

The London Fashion Week Facebook page is full of pictures and colour. The London Fashion Week have used facebook as a place to display pictures of the event, and also to let people know of the 'breaking news' which is happening in the fashion industry. This facebook page is an easy way for fans to get information about the event without having to have direct contact. The facebook page advertises the event to a number or target markets and to people of all age groups, any one can follow the event on facebook and keep up with whats going one. This facebook page is also used to discuss the designers and designs which were going to be at the event.

Florence and the Machine also have a facebook page. This page is used as more as a fan page for the band, rather than a page for the tour. Florence's facebook page shows all of her recent appearances on television, and radio, as well as discussing her recent tour date at Alexandra Palace in London. Florence has over 2 million people following her Facebook page. Therefore, Florence has a wide audience of people in which she should be promoting herself, her tour and her album to.

Twitter - Florence is also on twitter, she uses her twitter page as a place to let people know what she is doing in the next few months, for example; BBC Radio 1's Hackneys big weekend, and also to tell fans where she will be attending such as the Brits, and what awards she has recently won. Her twitter seem to be more about letting her fan know what she is up to so they can relate to her more.

I think both events uses social media to their advantage. They use it to display pictures, information, dates and thoughts with a wider range of fans or people who are interested in what they are doing. Also, by using social media they are appealing to people of all age groups. I think it is clever of The London Fashion Week to use twitter to do a Q&A things, this keeps the people at home interested in what is going on at the London Fashion Week and also gives advice to budding designers. Florence's twitter page helps her fans to relate to her and what she is doing. This will make her seem more appealing to her fans as they will know what she does in her day to day life. Both of the events have used social media as a way of keeping in touch with their fans, however Florence does it at a more intimate level.

Both the events have made the most of social media in promoting themselves.

• Mintel group Ltd. Mintel (2011) Social media and networking. (online) Available:http://academic.mintel.com/sinatra/oxygen_academic//display/&id=545141
• Bmrb (2009) Direct mail (online) Available:https://www.kmrsoftware.net/netquestuni2/default.aspx
  
  

Public Relations

Public relations is a part of marketing and communication strategies that craft an organisation's message, and communicates it to the public, including; Customers, investors, employees, suppliers, distributors, media/journalists, social media networks, the government and the public. These messages can now be communicated in various ways; One to one, one to many, or many to many. Across different forms of media; owned media, third party media and/or social media.
 Basically, Public relations is the managing of communication between organisations and its public. The objective of public relations is not only to change the perception of an event from poor to good, but to also change it from good to better.
Public relations can be used for a number of business activities:

• Customer retention - using PR activities such as; events, launches and media liaisons to support marketing to retain custom, grow sales, and increase market share.
• Investment - using PR activities such as corporate hospitality to encourage new customers and further investment via the development of investor relations.
• Bargaining status - using PR to build brands in order to achieve better relationships with suppliers and customers.
• Staff relations - using PR to portray a healthy organisation in order to attract and maintain a desired quality of staff
• Business development - initiating and building new business through PR activity such as events, corporate hospitality, and business to business communications in order to develop business from new or existing customers.

-Masterman (2006)

All these uses of PR work to improve the way an event is viewed by the public, other businesses.

Florence and the Machine

The Public relations of the Florence and the Machine tour, isn't just about promoting the tour or the album, its about promoting Florence as a person. There is information being released daily, about the Florence and the Machine tour through the Internet and through social media. However, Florence is going further than this by doing regular appearances on TV shows and articles in magazine to show her fan more about herself, rather than just about her music. Florence has made many recent television appearance such as; appearing on the culture show, and performing on the Brit awards which has gain her a lot of positive publicity and has made Florence a house hold name. Florence has also been on the radio recently, on Dermot O'Leary's Saturday session on BBC radio 2 and on BBC radio 1 discussing her performance and Brit award success with Fearne Cotton. However, this table (below) i found on mintel shows that there is a decline in the amount of people who are listening to the radio. Therefore, you have to think, is this the best and most effective way for Florence to publicise herself?

 Florence has also recently launched her new facebook page and appeared in popular music magazine, Q magazine. Often public relations can be more effective than advertising as people feel that they are getting to know the person behind the music, rather than just going to a concert of an artist whose music they enjoy. Florence has done a lot of public relation related stuff lately and i believe this is because she has been wanting to promote herself, her tour and her album and this is the most effective way for her to do it.

Here is a video of Florence's performance at the Brit awards 2012.

London Fashion Week

The London Fashion Week's public relations may be different to that of most other events, as most of the time, rather than the British Fashion Council (BFC) promoting the event as a whole, it is often that then event is showed through the designers. You can view some of the articles about the London Fashion Week if you go onto their website and click on the 'press' button. While the designers are using public relations to boost the knowledge of their brands before the Fashion Week, they are also boosting the knowledge of the London Fashion Week itself. Because the London Fashion Week is an event which would be difficult to promote alone, it is good that the event will be linked to the designers who's designs are showcased at the event. There has been many articles in the papers about the various designers who will be attending the London Fashion week. There has also be articles done about  models being banned from using sunbeds, this article was released just before the London Fashion Week and was related to the event and the London Fashion Week was mentioned in the article.
Just before the Fashion week was to begin (February 15th 2012) there was an article in the London evening standard, which discussed actresses such as Scarlett Johansson are expected to see the first ever shows by Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen and Moschino's cheap and chic line, this article also discussed the impact in which the London Fashion Week has on the economy.
During the London Fashion Week the British Council, and BFC has arranged for the launch of the international fashion showcase to take place. Over 80 emerging designers will be given the chance to to showcase their work. The public, together with international press and buyers will have the opportunity to explore the collections of some of the most innovative, emerging fashion designers from around the world.
Through the designers publicity the London Fashion Week is gaining awareness.
So all in all, the London Fashion Week uses launches and their designers as there public relations, i would imagine that this works for them as many fashion magazines will want to discuss the designers and because the event is a well known one.

I think that Florence and the Machine have a better method of Public relations than the London Fashion Week. This is because Florence's public relations are more direct to her tour. Whereas, the London Fashion Week's public relations are more about the designers or the launch, even though the event would be discussed, it does not allow the reader to get to know about the event.

Sales Promotion

Boone and Kurtz (2002) define sales promotion as 'a range of marketing activities that are not personal selling, advertising or publicity, but perform a similar role; that enhances consumer purchasing and distributor effectiveness'.
It can also be described as 'a range of tactical marketing techniques, designed within a strategic market framework, it adds value to the product or service, in order to achieve specific sales and marketing objectives'.
Some examples of sales promotion are; Discounts, incentives, competitions, vouchers, offers and BOGOF's. These promotions may be made available to everyone, or specifically to loyal customers. Most sales promotions are temporary and specific to the marketing objectives. Laspadakis (1999) sees sales promotion as a tool that can enhance a brand's long term interests. The main sale promotion objectives are; to develop repeat sales/brand loyalty, to develop sales to new customers, to pre-empt or counteract competitor activity and to develop sale leads/create a database.

London Fashion Week, as stated before is a business to business event; therefore they do not use sale promotions.

The Florence and the Machine tour also do tend use sales promotions. However, after extensive searching  i have found one example of sales promotion for this event. I have found a customer sales promotion, which is the Florence and the Machine Design Competition' - this is a competition to design Florence's stage costume for her performance at the high profile venue of Terminal 5 in New York. The winner of the competition will be given a trip to New York and tickets to see Florence perform at the Terminal 5 venue.
This is a sales promotion as it is a competition to WIN tickets to the event. Even though sales promotions to Florence's tour are very few and far between, i think this is a good example of a sales promotion as it is encouraging fan to get involved in her tour in order to win the tickets to the concert.

I think that it would benefit the Florence and the Machine tour if they did use sales promotions more for their events, as even though the tickets have sold out for the tour, sales promotions could be used to make loyal fans feel more valued. Loyal fans who attend all her concerts or who brought her album could receive a small discount of their purchase of concert tickets.
London Fashion Week is not a ticketed event, therefore there is no need for them to use sales promotion. As there is no need, any promotion of the sale of tickets would be wasted on this event and would just cost the London Fashion Week money.

• Boone, L and Kurtz, D. (2002) contemporary marketing 2002. Thomson learning.
• Laspadakis, A. (1999) The dynamic role of sales promotions. In marketing communications:Principles in practice, Kitchen,P (ed.) International Thomson Business Press

The advertising of my two events

'Advertising is the non personal communication of information usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature about products, services or ideas by identified sponsors through various media's' - Bovee,1992

When looking at advertising, there are two very important aspects to consider; the audience and the communication. Firstly, the audience will differ depending on the market and the segment they fit into of that market; for example, one person may scrutinise over every purchase, whereas another may not think twice about it. Secondly, the communication of the advert; what is the reaction wanted from this advert? Adverts should appeal to the consumers sense, and this can especially be done through sight and sound.

Strong versus Week theory of advertising:
The strong theory - the strong theory suggests that advertisement is able to change the attitudes, desire and reflections that the consumer has of a product. This encourages the consumer to purchase the product again, or to purchase the product for the first time. The advert must appeal to the personal needs of the audience, making the advert relevant to them. The advert could also use celebrity endorsement to encourage the audience to purchase the product, as they may desire to be like the celebrity. Although, people do not always see an advert and immediately think that they need to purchase that product; therefore, the advertisement has to jog the memory of the consumer at the appropriate time, for example when they are faced with the product.

The weak theory - the weak theory suggests that ads are not effective in persuading people to purchase products. The weak theory believes that ads are not effective in differentiating one product from another. It is thought that advertisement does not increase sales of a product, but it remind and reinforces previous purchase behaviour. It is thought by the weak theory that advertisement does work in the long run, but in the short term, it does not increase sales.

I am now going to discuss the advertising which has been used for the two event i have been following.
Firstly, i am going to look at the advertising for the Florence and the Machine tour. As most of the dates for the Florence and the Machine tour sold out within days, there has not been all that much need for advertisement of the tour. However, i have come across some advertisement for the tour, although these may not be obvious forms of advertisement, such as cinema or billboards, they will be effective in promoting the tour and creating awareness.

One way in which Florence and the Machine promote their tour is by advertising the tour dates on their website. I have already discussed the website in a previous post, but this is where the website comes in handy. Fans of Florence and the Machine are likely to use the web page in order to keep updated about what Florence is up too. Therefore, by displaying the tour on the web page it is likely to create awareness of the event and these are likely to be the people who will want to attend the event most.

Another way in which the tour has been advertised is by Florence herself; Florence has done many interviews, on the television, radios and magazines lately to promote her image, album and tour. For example; with her tour starting on the 8th of this month, Florence has become the cover for Q magazines March edition titled 'Florence, woman on the edge; i feel so alone' this makes Florence look like she has issues as every other woman does, this will make readers warm to her and like her.
 Last month (February) Florence did a interview session with Dermot O'Leary on radio 2, where she discussed her new album ceremonial, her tour and performed two of her songs. Although radio is creatively limited to sound, I would image that this session will have a positive impact on her image, tour and album. This session on Radio 2 will act as a advert for her tour and album.
A final way I have seen Florence and the Machine being advertised is using posters.This poster i found  on the Internet advertises the sale of the tickets for the tour at Birmingham LG arena. It also advertises the tour for other venues too, as it makes people aware that Florence is touring. I imagine that these posters would be put up in and around Birmingham to create local knowledge that Florence and the Machine will hosting a concert at the LG arena. I think this would have a positive effect on the tour as people who may not know about the tour, may see one of these posters in Birmingham and like the sound of the event and therefore looking into the tour further.

The theory of advertising that i think the Florence and the Machine tour use is the strong theory of advertising. I think that with their advertising and self promotion of Florence they think that they are more likely to sell tickets to their events. I think they are correct in thinking this as, if people like an artist or band and they see a TV show or poster advertising their tour, then they would be likely think think about buying tickets for the event. The advertisement for this event isn't likely to make them buy tickets for a different event.


Moving on to look at the advertisement of the London Fashion Week. As the London Fashion Week is a business to  business event, and the majority of it's guests have be personally invited. Finding advertisement for the event is like finding a needle in a haystack - not impossible, but might as well be.


Another advertisement for the event that i have come across is also an indirect advertisement of the London Fashion Week. M.A.C a sponsor of London Fashion Week, has been advertising the event along with their own brand on the side of a taxi. This is a good form of advertisement for both the event and the brand as plenty of people will see the advert as the taxi is driving around, or while it is parked up. There are 145 of these branded taxi's in London, this may have been part of the agreement that London Fashion Week had made with M.A.C when discussing the sponsoring of the event.

I think that the London Fashion Week use the Weak theory of advertising. The ads would not be effective in making a person purchase a ticket to the London fashion week, as tickets for the event are not available to the general public. Therefore any major advertisement of the event to the general public may be wasted. How this indirect advertisement may work for the London Fashion Week in the long run.

Both of these events have very different forms of advertising. Florence and the Machine advertise using self promotion and posters, whereas London Fashion Week have a more indirect form of advertising. London Fashion Week follow the weak theory advertising, whereas Florence and the Machine follow the strong theory of advertising. This is because the two event are very different in many aspects; one of the events is for the general public and therefore relies heavily on advertising, the other is a business to business event and therefore does not need to advertise the event in order for people to attend. Florence's advertising is likely to be more effective than the advertising done for the London Fashion Week.

- On average, we are subjected to at least 600 advertisements per day.

-Clow and Baack (2004)

• Carnyx Group Ltd (2012) M.A.C Promotes London Fashion Week sponsor through taxi ad (online) Available: http://www.thedrum.co.uk/news/2012/02/16/mac-promotes-london-fashion-week-sponsorship-through-taxi-ad-campaign-ubiquitous
• Clow, K. and Baack, D. (2004)  integrated advertising, promotion and marketing communications, 2nd edition. Pearson Prentice hall

My visit to Somerset House

After spending a lot of time researching and learning about the London Fashion Week, i thought it was time to take a visit to see the event venue. I hopped on a train to London with the intention to visit Somerset house and to also see what marketing and advertising had been done to promote the event. I had chosen the perfect time to visit Somerset house as the build up of the London Fashion Week was in full swing, this meant i was able to see the layout of the project.
Somerset house is a beautiful location for the London Fashion Week to be held. Located on the Strand, London the venue is easily accessible, with mainline train stations and undergrounds within walking distance.
. As we walked around the grounds of Somerset house looking at the temporary structure which was being constructed in the centre for the event, there were flags placed around the structure which were advertising the London Fashion Week, and also advertising some of the Sponsors of the event. The picture to  the left shows an advertisement for Topshop, a sponsor of London Fashion Week. The Picture to the right show a Flag which is advertising the London Fashion Week itself, but also shows the name of the events principle sponsor, Vodaphone.
However, these weren't the only two sponsors who were advertised in the grounds of Somerset house.

 All along the back of the structure were these advertisements for the companies/brands who were sponsoring the London Fashion Week. As you can see from the following pictures, the advertisements are quite a size and would be hard to miss if you were at the event or venue. The people who see these advertisements may then associate the companies/brands with the London Fashion Week event.
The principle sponsor of London Fashion Week, Vodaphone have naming rights on their weekend event ' Vodaphone's London Fashion Weekend'. This would have been agreed when the sponsorship deal was being discussed, they would have agreed that Vodaphone would have exclusivity to this event, where as the London Fashion Week has more than one sponsor, but none of these sponsors have naming rights.

Moving on to discuss advertising; as i wandered around London i was expecting to see lots of advertising for the London Fashion Week, as it was very close to the dates of the event. However, i saw NOTHING. Not one piece of advertisement for the event could be seen, not on the trains, billboards, on the underground, or around the Strand where the event was held. At the time this baffled me, why would an event of such high profile have no advertising? There was no advertisement for this event as the event is a business to business event and is an invitation only event. Therefore, there is no need to advertise the event to the general public.
However, while on the hunt for advertisement in London i did come across one poster advertising the 'Vodaphone London Fashion Weekend', this was located near to Somerset house. This event is being advertised as tickets for the event are on sale to the general public and therefore the event needs to be promoted to gain awareness and interest. The advertisement is very bright, bold and eye catching.
While at Somerset House i picked up a booklet of 'What's on at Somerset House' in this booklet there is a small write up about London Fashion Week and the Vodaphone London Fashion Weekend. The write up gives the dates if the event and says whether the event is public or private, but apart from that it doesn't really give any other relevant information.

So this is the summary of my trip to the Somerset House, it's a little bit all over the place, but I'm sure you get where I'm coming from. And at least i can say I've done some primary research!