Event Experience: Clipsal 500 Adelaide - Case Study Example

EVENT EXPERIENCE: CLIPSAL 500 ADELAIDE Name: Course: Tutor: Institution: City and State: Date: Event Experience: Clipsal 500 Adelaide Executive Summary The Clipsal 500 Adelaide is a motorsport event that takes place in Adelaide every year. The event started in 1999 and normally features a round from Australia’s domestic V8 championship. The 2014 event was held between the last week of February and the first one of March. It involved a number of activities that were supposed to engage and involve the audience as well as several music acts that performed every night of the event. The organizers of the event involved various concepts in the process of preparing the entire festival. These concepts helped to make the event more engaging and interesting, drawing various emotions from the visitors. One event experience from the festival was related to the anticipation that the visitors had for the occasion. The organizers built this up through promotions and advertisements. This anticipation affected the patrons’ perceptions of the event because of the personal construct theory. This meant that the patrons reacted differently to the event because of their expectations. The festival also involved the concept of festivalscape, which came through the event experience of the vibrant atmosphere. The management created the atmosphere through ambient music and by using a host. Other concepts that the management involved were service experience, through the food and drink, and value co-creation, by having interactive activities. Even though the organizers involved various concepts and principles, improvements could be made in some areas. Firstly, there could have been activities that involved wider demographics of people, since most of them were focused on children. Secondly, service delivery in the food and beverages section was poor and this affected the event negatively. The organizers should make sure that the catering staff is well suited to handle the visitors next time. Despite these few issues, the Clipsal 500 Adelaide was a success that helped build the reputation of the event. Introduction The Clipsal 500 Adelaide is a round of Australia’s V8 supercar championship series that takes place in Adelaide. Marketed as the biggest motorsport event within Australia, the 2014 edition will be Adelaide’s sixteenth event. First held in 1999, the Clipsal 500 Adelaide has grown significantly over the years and is now a four-day event that combines motorsport with other forms of entertainment such as music concerts and air shows. The 2013 version featured a quarter of a million people making it the first sell-out event in the history of the show. The 2014 version experienced a similarly high turnout. The main attraction of the Clipsal 500 Adelaide is the motorsport. The event features a five hundred-kilometre race and two concluding one hundred and twenty-five kilometre races on the penultimate day of the festival. Off-track entertainment will involve musical concerts from various artists and air displays by the Australian Air Defence Force. The organizers of the event consider entertainment one of its most important aspects and therefore ensured that the 2014 edition featured popular artists such as Guy Sebastian, Kimbra, Empire of the Sun and Keith Urban. Other sideshows include fashion parades, vehicle displays and autograph sessions with the drivers. Analyzing event experiences is a process that involves the deciphering of emotions and benefits that people derived from various aspects of a festival. This process is very beneficial for organizers and managers of events because it helps them understand how they can improve future festivals and occasions (Tassiopoulos & Damster 2004, p. 23). Accordingly, this report will look at the event experience of the Clipsal 500 Adelaide from a managerial perspective. The report will analyze the event experiences, make recommendations on possible improvements and provide a conclusion on the issue. Analysis of Event Experiences from the Clipsal 500 Adelaide Expectations of the Visitors One event experience that was present at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide was anticipation. The promotion team and marketing department started advertising the event more than a month before it started. The advertisements appeared on television and social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. These advertisements played a big role in the event by building up the anticipation of the patrons. The anticipation that the patrons had for the event was an important experience for them. It helped to increase the excitement that they had for the Clipsal 500 and made more likely that many of them will turn up. The build up to the event is very important to the visitors because of the anticipation it creates for the occasion that the organizers are promoting. Through the build up, the visitors to the event find out various issues concerning the festival such as the activities that will be taking place, the celebrities and performers that will be there and the kind of entertainment that will be available. This makes the visitors anticipate the event and become excited about it. Accordingly, they become more interested about going to the festival. The anticipation and excitement that the patrons have is important because it helps them enjoy themselves more. Since they had been waiting to attend the Clipsal 500 for a few weeks, they were more likely to engage themselves in the various activities at the event. This links in with the personal construct theory. The theory holds that the psychological processes that take place in a person’s mind are a result of the way that the subject anticipated certain events. Accordingly, the excitement and anticipation that visitors had concerning Clipsal 500 increased the likelihood that they would enjoy themselves at the event. It is very important for the managers and organizers of an event to build anticipation for it beforehand. This anticipation is important for marketing purposes and the enjoyment of an event from the visitors’ perspective. The success of an important from a managerial point of view concerns the fans and visitors own enjoyment of the occasion as well as high turnout and revenue. By building anticipation ahead of the actual event, the management is able to make many of the potential visitors become excited for it and look forward to attending (Quinn 2013, p. 80). This helps to boost the sales of the event. The anticipation also works by making sure that the visitors know the various activities that the event entails, thereby luring in fans of those specific activity. The excitement and expectation links in with the personal construct theory because of the way people are influenced by their anticipation for various events. The theory states that a person’s anticipation of something usually influences their psychological process and this is likely to have been the case with Clipsal 500. The anticipation that a person forms for an event normally affects their expectations and reactions towards it (Getz 2007, p. 214). The organizers could take advantage of this situation and make sure that future events have even more publicity and excitement surrounding them. Laws argues that the fans of an event predict the level of the service that they will receive based on the promises that the organizers make in their promotion and advertisements (2004, p. 85). Accordingly, by creating a lot of anticipation before an event and delivering on it, the organizers can help make future events even more satisfying for visitors. Event Atmosphere Another event experience that the organizers can capitalize on is the atmosphere. The atmosphere at the Clipsal 500 was produced by combining various aspects of the environment in a manner that was fitting for the occasion and appealing to the visitors. The Clipsal 500 Adelaide event featured a number of attractions that served to attract a wide range of patrons, with each of them attending for different reasons. Elements that contributed to the creation of the event’s atmosphere included the master of ceremonies’ commentary, the music playing consistently in the background, the noise from the racetracks and the cheers from spectators enjoying themselves. The organizers also accounted for the weather when planning for the event and scheduled the festival on a day with warm, bright weather. Through a combination of all these factors, the atmosphere put the visitors in a festive mood. The atmosphere is very important in an event because of the way that it helps the visitors enjoy themselves on the occasion. The festive mood in an event normally helps the visitors enjoy themselves in many ways. Firstly, the mood will make the visitors happier and thus more interested in the activities that are going on. The festivity in the event will also make people more interested in socializing and making new friends. This will contribute to the success of the event, as the visitors will leave feeling that it was time well spent. The atmosphere benefits the organizers of the event more than any other involved party. The level of enjoyment that visitors derive from an event contributes heavily towards its success. The organizers can use different methods to help the visitors have fun, with one of them being the creation of an uplifting and immersive atmosphere. If the organizers create an exciting atmosphere, the visitors are more likely to have fun. This will bear well on the event itself and make it easier for the managerial team to lure in fans for the next edition. The atmosphere in an event relates to the concept of festivalscape. Babin and Harris define festivalscape as a range of environmental characteristics that a person experiences when they attend an event (2011, p. 203). Other scholars explain that festivalscape combines the physical environment in an event, tangible elements and the actual atmosphere (Mason & Paggiaro 2012, p. 1330). Accordingly, the atmosphere of the Clipsal 500 was just one of the elements of the festivalscape that made the whole occasion successful. Fun Interactive Activities The Clipsal 500 organizers packed the event with various interactive activities in which visitors could involve themselves as they sought to have fun and enjoy themselves. The activities ranged in nature as they targeted different demographics within the crowd. Small children could play in a shaded alcohol free area, enjoy free rides and get their faces painted. For older children, the options included chances to meet their favourite racecar drivers, get autographs from the stars and race in go-karts and bikes. Older audiences could also race in go-karts and bikes and had the added option of having breakfast as they listened to the drivers answer interview questions. The interactive nature of these activities made the entire event enjoyable because the visitors did more than just sit down and watch the races. The interactive activities also made the visitors become thrilled. The feeling of being thrilled was important for the visitors because it made the entire event more memorable than it would have been. Some motorsport events are usually not that involving for the visitors and the people attending are normally resigned to a few activities such as watching the races and having photo sessions. The Clipsal 500 stood out by involving the visitors and having events that needed their direct input. Some of the events made the visitors thrilled because of their high-paced nature as others made them joyous. Through their joyful and energetic nature, the spectators were able to have a memorable day and are likely to return for another edition. The existence of participatory activities was a very important issue for the success of the event. From a managerial perspective, visitors are normally more interested and involved in an event if they get a chance to contribute to the ongoing activities. Accordingly, the organizers have to include events that do not just require the visitors to sit and watch. Fun activities such as go karting and photo sessions with stars allow the visitors to involve themselves. This helps them derive more from their experiences at the event. The involvement of visitors in some activities relates to the concept of value co-creation. Value co-creation is based on the premise that firms are no longer the only contributors of value, with consumers now capable of adding their own input in the process of creating value (Gronroos 2011, p. 14). This is particularly evident in interactive activities, as the event organizer cannot utilize them in any way if the patrons are unwilling to participate. One thing that the organizers could do in the future is increase the number of interactive activities that are available to the older demographics. Most of the games in the event were dedicated to children and this left out older people. Having separate activities for grown-ups and children or ones that pit the two groups together could rectify this situation. Food and Drinks The food and drinks at the Clipsal 500 were a critical aspect of the whole event. The organizers of the event had made sure that a variety of foodstuffs and beverages were available for the visitors. The food and drinks were being offered from different stalls and locations in the circuit. Another option was to have meals in one of the four clubs at the location or even have breakfast while watching the stars respond to interview questions. Additionally, meal options varied to suit the tastes of the patrons. Vegetarians could have salads and other meals free of animal products, meat lovers could have snacks such as hotdogs and barbequed meat while other people could have healthier options. The food and drinks are an important part of the event from the perspective of a patron. Most people like to have a snack while they are engaging in fun activities of different kinds. This is especially the case when the activities are engaging, interactive or involve socializing with other people. The quality of food and drinks are important for an event to enjoy themselves. Normally, the presence of good meals makes the visitors feel delighted and pleased. Organizers of an event also consider food and drink an important part of the festivities. Most events normally involve an array of activities in which the visitors can engage themselves. These activities provide the visitors with a way of having fun and getting to know other people. As people spend their energy on such activities, it becomes important for food and beverages to be ready so that they can refresh themselves and replenish their energy. The presence of food and beverages is also an important aspect of events consider the fact that many people also go to events just to dine and wine. The issue of food and drinks at the event pertains to service experience. Service experience relates to the way that people react to the quality of service at an event (Berridge 2007, p. 121). The expectations of the visitors and the standards of the management normally influence service experience and could result in a negative or positive reaction (Berridge 2011, p. 281). At the Clipsal 500, the service experience had highs and lows. The food that the organizers provided was excellent and surpassed the expectations that some people may have had. However, the service was quite poor, with the catering staff unable to handle the high volume of orders. This is something that the organizers could look to improve on in the next edition. Recommendations The organizing and execution of a successful event is a very important issue for people who operate in that sector. Ryan explains that a wide range of issues determine the success of an event and that there are different effects that an event could have on the sponsors and host community (2011, p. 250). For the Clipsal 500 event, the whole occasion was successful from an economic and social point of view. The organizers were able to attract large crowds and raise the prestige of the event. However, the management could make some changes to improve the entire festival. Firstly, they should improve the quality of service so that it can match the high attendance for the event. Service experience is one of the most important factors in event management as most patrons normally pay attention to the way that the staff handles their requests. To keep the visitors happy it is important that the organizers ensure that the service is smooth and flawless. The event organizers can also improve the event by increasing the variety of interactive activities that the visitors take part in. These activities should be expanded to meet the demands of wider demographics and include older visitors as well as children. Conclusion The 2014 Clipsal 500 Adelaide was a largely successful event that only served to raise the prestige and class of the festival. The racecars and music concerts provided plenty of entertainment for the visitors and made sure that they had an experience that they would not forget easily. Several concepts of events management were evident in the way that the organizers structured and planned the Clipsal 500. Firstly, value co-creation was evident in the interactive activities that the organizers made available. Secondly, the atmosphere at the event made it obvious that the organizers had applied the concept of festivalscape. Other concepts that the organizers visibly applied were service experience and the personal construct theory. A combination of these concepts and principles made the event a success from a managerial and patron’s point of view. Barring few adjustments, the 2014 Clipsal 500 Adelaide was an event that excited visitors and gave them experiences to remember. Word Count: 2,552 References Babin, BJ, & Harris, EG 2011, CB2, South-Western Cengage Learning, Mason. Berridge, G 2007 Events design and experience, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford. Berridge, G 2011, ‘Designing event experience’, in The Routledge handbook of events, eds S Page & J Connell, Routledge, New York, pp. 273-288. Getz, D 2007, Event studies: Theory, research and policy for planned events, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford. Gronroos, C 2011, ‘Value co-creation towards a conceptual model’, Otago Forum 3, No. 3, pp. 6-14. Laws, E 2004, Improving tourism and hospitality services, CABI Pub, Wallingford. Mason MC, & Paggiaro A 2012, ‘Investigating the role of festivalscape in culinary tourism: The case of food and wine events’, Tourism Management, vol. 33, pp. 1329-1336. Quinn, B 2013, Key concepts in events management, SAGE, London. Ryan, C 2011, ‘The experience of events’, in The Routledge handbook of events, eds S Page & J Connell, Routledge, New York, pp. 248-259. Tassiopoulos, D & Damster, G 2004, Event management: A professional and developmental approach, Juta Academic, Landsdowne. Appendix Event Experience LOG Name of event Clipsal 500 Adelaide Type of event Motorsport Location of event Adelaide Date of event experience 27 February – 2 March With whom did you go to the event? Two of my friends, Jack and Bruce Experience Log 1. Briefly describe your event experience. (150 words) My experience at the Clipsal 500 Adelaide started even before I had gone to the arena to attend the race. I knew about the event three weeks before it happened through advertisements on television and social media. These advertisements had helped me understand what the event was about, particularly emphasizing the racing and music concerts. One of the most prominent event experiences from the Clipsal 500 Adelaide was the atmosphere. The atmosphere in the event came from different areas. The crowd watching the race could be heard from quite a distance. The event organizers had built up the atmosphere through a number of ways. There was music playing in the background throughout the length of the festival. The organizers played uplifting music all through and a master of ceremonies helped to keep the crowd excited with interesting commentary. The organizers of the event also provided some of the entertainment at Clipsal 500 Adelaide through fun games and activities in which the patrons could participate. Finally, the food and drinks at the event also helped to make Clipsal 500 an exciting experience. 2. How would you rate your level of satisfaction on your event experience? Extremely unlikely 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Extremely likely 3. How likely is it that you will return to this event? Extremely unlikely 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Extremely likely 4. How likely would be to recommend this event to a friend? Extremely dissatisfied 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Extremely satisfied 5. What exactly made you feel this way (Explain what your emotional response was and why it was elicited)? (150 words) One the first day of the event, I arrived at the circuit and was overwhelmed by what I saw. The advertisements and promotions had built up my anticipation for the event, but the atmosphere at the place surpassed my expectations. This left me feeling very excited and energized. The chance to involve myself in activities like go karting made me very happy. The organizers planned the event with the hope that it would elicit such reactions for various reasons. Firstly, having had an amazing experience at the Clipsal 500 this year, it is likely that I will return for the next edition and tell my friends about it. My experience at the Clipsal 500 also means that I will consider attending other events by the same organizers. 6. Identify a relevant concept (from the list of concepts) and briefly explain how the relevant concept is applicable to this experience (argue for it). (200 words) The most predominant event management concept in the Clipsal 500 Adelaide was festivalscape. Festivalscape refers to the way that physical and atmospheric elements of an event combine to create a festive mood. Normally, people attending an event experience festivalscape through a wide range of environmental elements such as the ambience, weather, smell, mood and activities. The concept of festivalscape was quite evident at the Clipsal 500 through the atmosphere of the event. The noise from the racecars made visitors get excited about watching the race and there was some fast upbeat music playing throughout. The aroma of food that permeated the venue from the stands and restaurants completed this atmosphere. The festive mood of the place stood out the most. People all over the place seemed to be happy and genuinely pleased to be at the Clipsal 500. Apart from the watching the races, there were other activities that the visitors could engage in and most of the patrons seemed to be having a lot of fun. The combined effect of all these factors completed the festivalscape of the Clipsal 500 and made it a memorable experience. Word Count: 495 Read More