Analysis of Marketing Event in 2015 is based on SELECTION, DESCRIPTION, AND ANALYSIS.

Answer

1. Analysis of a Marketing Event in 2015

   The event selected for this analysis is the World Social Marketing Conference that took place in Rydges World Square Hotel between 19^th and 21^st April 2015 in Sydney. This was the 4^th conference, as a similar event had been held in Toronto in 2013 (World Marketing Conference 2015). It was organised by sponsors and supporters with the sole mission of acting as a vehicle to assist in building a global movement that will nurture, spread, and capture good practices in social marketing. Also, the conference aimed at helping organizations to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of using social marketing practices at both strategic and operational levels to enhance competitiveness. The conference is held after its two years to help bring together parties from different parts of the globe. Representatives from 45 attended the last conference held in Toronto and exchanged ideas on social marketing (World Marketing Conference 2015).

   The conference believes that social marketing is based on experiences, evidence, principles and techniques that provide a platform for a systematic approach that will help in understanding the behavior and developing workable social interventions. It combines practical hands on skills, experience and science. The event was attended by researchers, policy makers, academicians, industry players and practitioners who came together to explore the art of social marketing around the globe. Particularly, the conference concentrated on how social marketing can be used in charitable and not for profit sector.

   The choice of this event was guided by the fact that mass media has become a powerful marketing tool in the current dynamic business world. Organizations can only ignore social marketing at their own peril (French &Reynolds & Merritt 2011). The advent of social media including Facebook and Twitter has taken the world by storm, and businesses must learn how to strategically use these tools to gain a competitive edge in this dynamic global market. Social marketing allows an organization to use various communication strategies provided by the mass media to pass the message to their customers (Evans 2006). For instance, a company can use posters, as well as their Facebook account to inform the customers about the launch of a new product or service. Using the same platform, the firm can also educate the customers on how to use their services or share about any upcoming promotions and discounts. 

   Social marketing enables the organization to interact closely with the target market (Evans 2006). For instance, a firm can read the tweets and Facebook comments regarding their products or services. It can use this information to formulate or improve their marketing strategy. A firm can deal with any problems raised by the customer through the social platform to help them improve their competitiveness. Customer complaints play a critical role in driving down sales and must be solved as soon as they arise (Zarrella 2010). Through the social marketing platform, a firm is able to directly interact with the customers and solve such challenges.

   The marketing issues that were presented during the event included the importance of understanding that social marketing was a powerful tool and how to effectively use it in various organizations. The conference used a multifaceted approach to tackle the issues of social marketing. As it is, most organizations and businesses in the world may have information on the importance of using social marketing, but they may not understand that they needed to use it optimally to achieve the full benefits. Organizers of this event understood this very well and chose to look at the two aspects.

   Attendants of this event would learn the critical role played by mass media in promoting social marketing. In fact one of the first practitioners of social markets: Richard Mannof intimated that mass media was the primary tool used in facilitating social marketing (Zarrella 2010).  At the same time, a firm must fully understand that it should use the current mass media effectively to achieve a competitive edge. Again, in the current era of proliferation of technological advancements, organizations must ensure they have updated information to keep them from lagging behind within their respective industries. For instance, social media has become a powerful platform and companies need to learn how to effectively use it to their own advantage. Another aspect that was discussed during the event was the use of social marketing in the charitable organizations and the nonprofit sector. Organizers of the event felt that the use of the concept has thrived in other areas, such as health, but failed to make real headway in the afro mentioned sectors.

   The key players in the event were academicians from various universities, industry players and researchers. The academicians played a critical role because the conference covered methodological, practice and contextual based perspectives on social marketing. They also shared knowledge of various theories, such as value theory, stakeholder theory, critical social marketing and social- ecological approaches that are applicable to social marketing. Academicians provided theoretical knowledge to the participants, which proved that this is a strategy that is supported by science. On the other hand, the industry players gave oral presentations and held workshops where they showcased the use of social marketing in organizations from different countries from the globe (International Social Marketing Association 2015). This would allow the participants to get more insight on the application of social marketing in real situations after they had learnt the theoretical framework from the academicians. The researchers attending the event would also present case studies on different organizations that have effectively used social marketing to gain a competitive edge. Through, their presentation, the attendees would also learn the best methodologies to use in carrying out social marketing research. Some of the methodologies shared by the researchers included open ended interviews, ethnography studies, surveys and focus groups (International Social Marketing Association 2015). 

   The event that was selected can be used in the market theory and class to show the methods that are more effective in carrying out a social marketing research. The speakers shared that some of the effective methodologies used in carrying out research in social marketing including focus groups, open ended interviews and ethnography studies. According to existing literature, the principle that guides social marketing research is to design it in a way that it allows for a conversation between the target group and the researcher (Lefebvre 2013). Some of the methods that literature recommends are in-depth interviews with individuals to allow members to talk about sensitive issues that cannot be discussed in a group. Another effective method for collecting social marketing data is ethnographic studies whereby the researcher observes the behavior of the target group as they continue with their daily routines. Such observations will give insights on the behaviors of the participants (Hastings & Angus & Bryant 2011). Intercept interviews are also critical in collecting social marketing data as the participants are presented with a set of questions or a predetermined script (Lefebvre 2013).  These are distributed in a high traffic area where the researcher expects to find people from the target group. After they answer the question or fill the script, this data is analyzed in relation to the variables under study. Clearly, this event contributed immensely to the knowledge on social marketing research.