The National Wedding Show uses an array of sales promotion techniques such as price promotion and the ‘win’ and ‘save’ techniques. These are very effective in pulling in sales and encouraging the customer to purchase tickets. Oxford Fashion week do not follow the same method and only use the technique of the charity tie in and the ‘free’ pull factor. I believe that Oxford Fashion Week have a lot less experience in sales promotion, as it is only the third year running they are still developing and discovering what works well in this event industry, for this reason there is little other sales promotion, as they are not able to offer discounts and competitions at these early stages. However, as they grow they will need to offer promotions to achieve the much needed ticket sales. I think the National Wedding Show are now very well established and have the opportunity to offer special discounts and encourage the sales of tickets through competitions and deals as they have their customer fan base set and are aware that the event is likely to reach full capacity each year.

SALES PROMOTION - Oxford Fashion Week

Oxford Fashion Week uses a small ammount of sales promotions; they do not use the ‘win’ or ‘save’ techniques in promotional sales marketing. The only format of the sales promotions tools they do use is the cause related tie in and the ’free’ option. There are several exhibitions such as the photography exhibition and the ‘Oxfords fashionable night out’ which are free to attend. The fact that it is free is not exaggerated or advertised in a very promotional way, it is written into the text and not made a big deal of. The fact that these events are free may be a great pull force for the event but it is not utilizing it to the full potential.

The other form of sales promotion that Oxford Fashion Week is using is the cooperation they have with Macmillan Cancer Care; this is the cause related factor. Macmillan are working with Oxford Fashion Week in one of the catwalk shows and are exhibiting some of their clothes, all the proceeds from this show will go to Macmillan, this is a prime pull aspect of promotion which will encourage visitors to attend as they will be feeling good that they are helping a charity whilst enjoying the show.

SALES PROMOTION - National Wedding Show

The National Wedding Show uses a few promotional sales tools in order to attract the large ammount of customers they get. They use three of the consumer sales promotions techniques, the ‘win’, ‘free’ and ‘save’ pull factors to entice customers. The National Wedding Show use price promotion and competition promotion to encourage sales of their event.

The National Wedding Show promotes the competitions that the retailers will have on the day from win a wedding dress! courtesy of Incognito or to Winning a personalised Bridal Skin & Make-up Wardrobe courtesy of Natio. All the competitions are listed on the website for the brides-to-be to browse through before they attend the event.

The National Wedding Show use ‘free’ promotion by advertising that everyone who buys a ticket will gain FREE access to the champagne bar. They will also get a FREE goody bag, this is a great pull factor as all brides want to feel pampered and enjoy the wedding experience and so having access to the champagne bar is a very attractive offer. The free goody bag will be a good opportunity to attract potential visitors, but it will also be a good marketing tool for the exhibitors as they will be able to put their leaflets and information in the goody bags.

The National Wedding show use the ‘save’ promotional factor, when a group of 4 purchase tickets they will receive a discount. This is appealing to many people as they feel they are getting a great deal. They also use the advanced booking technique, when tickets are purchased in advance, there is a discount from on the day tickets. This is great for the National Wedding Show as people will feel compelled to buy tickets online and save some money, and then even if they end up not going on the day the National Wedding Show has been able to make profit from that customer. Also in having customers buying tickets online, the opportunity for data collection is possible.

SALES PROMOTION

The word promotion, when considered, literally means to move forward or advance. Sales promotion is the communications tools that is used to inform the target market of the benefits of the product, thus advancing sales.
Sales promotion, also called below-the line promotion is An activity designed to boost the sales of a product or service. It may include an advertising campaign, increased PR activity, a free-sample campaign, offering free gifts or trading stamps, arranging demonstrations or exhibitions, setting up competitions with attractive prizes, temporary price reductions, door-to-door calling, telemarketing, personal letters on other methods”.

There are many sales promotional techniques available, such as price promotion, these are offers like 2 for 1, 50% off, ‘reduced’ and ‘sale’. These either offer a discount to the normal price or the customer receives extra for the same price.
Competitions and prizes are another popular for of promotion, this is an incentive for the customer to purchase a ticket or product.

Sales promotions give the company the opportunity to develop sales with loyal customers, to develop trial sales with new customers, to counteract competitor activity and to it can even help them to create a database. On the other hand, too much sales promotion can damage a brands image, the balance must be right between sales promotion and maintaining brand image.
The different categories of sales promotion include the ‘win’ factor – consumers can win a prize or contest.
The ‘free’ factor – here consumers get something for nothing, this is a big pull factor that a lot of clients look for.
The ‘save’ factor – consumer have to save something, such an coupons from a newspaper, to gain points or free products, another such example is the ‘Boots card’, points are collected and then the possibility to purchase products with the points is available.
Cause Related – here the consumer believes that when they purchase a cause related item another organisation such as a charity will benefit from the purchase. This ties into events as often an event will have a charity tie in, in which they can use the logo to promote sales of the event itself.

Oxford Fashion Week has decided to use many sponsors, all of whom are local to he oxford area, from the hair stylists to the covering publicists. This is very good for both sponsors and the event, as it keeps it true to the name of the event ‘Oxford’ whilst it promotes the brands through the media coverage. Although this is excellent for the Oxford area, it does not help the event in grounding its roots nationally. National fashion shows such as London Fashion Week use national brands, such as Toni&Guy to sponsor them, this is a household name across the UK and so helps a visitor to recognize the event. A customer from London will not of heard of Mahogany Hairdressing, making it hard for them to recognize and connect with the event. For this reason, Oxford Fashion Week may want to take advantage of well-known, national sponsors. The National Wedding Show do not use sponsors, the reason behind this may be due to the great success of the event in past years, meaning the event does not need the support or money from a sponsor. Although this is a positive in that the company is able to stand alone without the support of another, it also seems that a lot of publicity can be gained from having a sponsor and the name of the event can be spread further a field, increasing awareness and interest in the event.

SPONSORSHIP - Oxford Fashion Week

As Oxford Fashion Week is a local event, it has been able to attract the support of many local sponsors from the Oxfordshire area. The sponsors include;
♥ B4 Magazine – an Oxfordshire quarterly business magazine.
♥ Mahogany Hairdressing WeMahogany's creative team will work in conjunction with the fashion designers to create a stunning, visual week of events.
♥ Lets Brand it – ‘creative thinkers’ – designers for businesses.
♥ Flawless Agency – Modelling agency
♥ http://www.flawless-models.com/flawless_news.php
♥ The regal – venue
♥ Oxford Mail – local press
♥ Models of Diversity – modeling agency
♥ http://www.modelsofdiversity.org/event_oxford.html
♥ Banniere & co – champagne company
♥ O3 gallery – gallery venue
♥ Cherwell valley college – arts college
♥ Oxford university
♥ Oxford entrepenuers - society
♥ http://www.oxfordentrepreneurs.co.uk/
♥ meller merceux gallery –gallery venue
♥ The Living Room – venue cocktail bar

Every one of these sponsors are local to the oxford area and each have a relevant input into the event itself, for example, Mahogany hair are the official hair stylists and will on the day be styling the models hair. Flawless Agency are the agency that Oxford Fashion Week are using to source a majority of their models, The Regal is hosting a couple of the style shows and the Oxford Mail and B4 magazine will both be covering the week.
Each sponsors objectives for sponsoring Oxford Fashion Week will be the brand image and the coverage from the week. They appear to be local business helping out a local project, this will boost the likeability of the companies as they are seen to be supporting a good, local event. The sponsors will also be hoping to widen brand establishment, and perhaps pick up a few new clients at the Oxford Fashion Week events.
This is a good event for these companies to sponsor as it is a growing, up and coming event, it needs the support of the local businesses and with their help the event will grow year by year. For the sponsors names to be associated with this is good publicity and will help with brand reputation.

SPONSORSHIP - National Wedding Show

The National Wedding Show does not have sponsorship. The reason behind this is the fact that they are simply providing and venue, date and organisation for all the other exhibitors to place their stands. They do not need the sponsorship and the exhibitors provide the revenue when they pay for the space.
However, the National Wedding Show ARE sponsors for another event, the best bridal retailer award! This gives them extra coverage, as their name and logo are mentioned amongst the press coverage for the national wedding awards.