SWOT Analysis of MOBO Awards

The aim of the report is to take one existing British event into a new international market or to existing international event brought to the UK. Being the international events manager, it was selected to take the British event to the overseas market. The event that has been selected is the MOBO Award that mainly stands for the Music of Black Origin. The event will be taken from the United Kingdom to Australia (Precisely Sydney). This report includes the analysis related to the new location where the event is going to conduct. It also includes the details related to the target audience with the help of models and theories. In addition, there is description related to event themes and design with the marketing plan for launching the event. In the end, it includes the analysis related to the issues that might be faced by the organizer along with their solutions.

MOBO awards stand for the “Music of Black Origin” and the awards were established in the year 1966 by Kanya King and Andy Ruffell. The MOBO Award show is held every year in the UK on annual basis. In the current market, this award has become one of Europe’s biggest and most influential music award ceremonies (MOBO, 2018). The award includes the celebration of the musical fields which include hip-hop, grime, RnB, soul, reggae, Jazz and African music. The aim behind the award was to establish a position for the music. In the current era, this has been found that from the year of establishment, 3000 trophies have been awarded under this award in a total of around 1,500 nominations (MOBO, 2018).

SWOT analysis is an internal analysis which is used to evaluate competitive position by determining the strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities (David, 2011). The analysis of the British event is discussed below: –

Strengths

• The award appreciates the talent of the people in the field of music.
• The award is something which is most powerful, robust, adaptable and iconic for the identity for their Music of black origin (Woode, 2016).

Weaknesses

• The biggest weaknesses of the MOBO awards are that it is no longer represent the best of black music. In attempting to appeal to mass listeners for which they have diluted their unique selling point that is raw, black music talent (Moore, 2011).

Opportunities

• The opportunity that is associated with the MOBO Award is that it is giving away to MOBO Awards has the opportunity to expand the award range to the international market.
• The awards can also bring new categories and forms that help in making their awards diversify.

Threats

• The introduction of another music award is one of the biggest threats for the MOBO award.
• The cultural disputes within the UK related to the black music are a threat for the music award that is MOBO award.

Internal factors
External factors		Strengths (S)	Weaknesses (W)
Opportunities (O)	The award is powerful, adaptable and iconic which is strength. MOBO Awards can expand their awards with the help of its strength. Moreover, this award is able to give an international platform to the awards and talent. Along with this, the strength can be utilized in adding new categories in music (Woode, 2016).	MOBO awards are diluting their Unique selling point which is their weakness but this can easily be converted into opportunities if the awards will include some more forms then this weakness can turn to opportunities.
Threats (T)	MOBO Awards provides a stage or platform to the black music but there is a threat because of competitor’s award in the same field. These other awards will attract the black talent also to participate. This will reduce the number of participants for the MOBO award.	One of the major threats that are faced by the company is a cultural dispute. This MOBO award is getting weak in handling the black music uniqueness due to which there is the possibility of cultural disputes.

New location that has been selected for launching the MOBO Award event is Sydney, Australia. This section of the report includes the analysis of award in the new location and their relevance with the help of the theories and frameworks.

PESTLE is a framework that is used for analysing the external environment of the country (Hollensen, 2015). It is essential for the event manager to analyse the market of Sydney for Black Music. The analysis is conducted below with the help of PESTLE framework.

Political factors- The event of the MOBO award will get affected if the government of Australia will not permit to conduct the event in Sydney. Though, it is expected that the government will allow for the event because this will reflect that they are supporting the Black music which will provide the benefits to the talented people living in Australia migrated from Africa.

PESTLE Analysis of the Australian market in Sydney

Economic factors- In Australia, Sydney is considered as the largest economy. This is found that more than $ 108 billion is generated every year within the city of Sydney local area. This shows that the market of Sydney is growing with the rise in GDP (City of Sydney, 2016). In the year 2015-16, it was noted that GDP was $400.9 billion and reflects that they contribute approx. 24.1 per cent of the national GDP. In clear terms, it reflects the rise in GDP which means the ultimate rise in purchasing power of people. This will show that it is a positive sign for the event organisers as they can easily get the profit or benefit by organizing the MOBO award event in Sydney.

Social factors- The social factors include the customer trend in the market in Sydney. This is found that there is an African Australian present in Sydney (Cullors and Diverlus, 2017). Some people get emigrated from Africa to Australia and according to the data, there are 2005-06 permanent settler arrivals to Australia which include 4,000 South African and 3,800 Sudanese. These people welcome and appreciate the talent of black music and they also try to maintain this talent. The consumer and cultural trends will allow the event manager to plan for the event in the market in Sydney. Moreover, these people take the participation in the event of MOBO awards.

Technological factors- The technological factors include the use of advanced technology in the event. This has been found that a technology factor doesn’t bring the major influence on the event (Dawson, 2014). Though the event organiser can make use of the technology for arranging the event and the participants can bring the advance music instruments.

Legal factors- The legal factors include the rules and regulations that are related to the organizing of MOBO awards in Sydney. The organizers can face the issues while arranging for the land where they can organize the event. It includes the legal obligations related to the rent of the place or any agreement.

Environmental factors- The event organiser needs to ensure that they are not creating an impact on the environment (Hollensen, 2015). Along with this, while selecting the place of the venue for the event they need to check that the impact of global warming is not there. The organiser needs to select the venue after considering the changes in climate.

The Porter’s five forces is a framework that is used for analysing the competitiveness within the industry that can influence the decision taken for introducing the MOBO awards (Kotler, 2015).

Factors	Description
Bargaining power of customers	· The bargaining power of customers in the market of Sydney is high because most of the talented people keep searching for the place or platform where they can easily get the acknowledgement for their work.
Bargaining power of suppliers	· The suppliers include the people or companies who can contribute effectively in organizing the event for the MOBO Awards (The Surgery Design and Digital Ltd, 2018). · The suppliers for the catering, decoration, environment, the program has high bargaining power in the Sydney because there are numerous events take place for which they offer the facility.
The threat of new entrants	· The threat of new entrants is moderate because there are many new events that they are willing to take into the overseas market (Kotler, 2015). · Though, there is a need for huge capital for organizing the event which will stop the new entrant to enter into Sydney.
Threat of substitutes	· The threat of substitute is high in the market of Sydney because there is the presence of the ARIA Music Awards (ARIA Awards, 2018). · Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards can be preferred by the talented black people who have the talent of Black music.
Competitive rivalry	· The rivalry in the market of Sydney is intense because of the presence of ARIA Music Awards (ARIA Awards, 2018). · These awards can grab the attention of different people who have the talent and the people generally participate in these awards because these awards are considered as the public voted awards. · This is the reason due to which MOBO Awards organizers might find the issues.

Porter’s Five Forces analysis of competition

In Sydney, Australia it is essential for the MOBO awards event manager to decide the target segment of customers which is possible with the help of segmentation. In addition, the positioning of the Awards can be analysed after considering the views of the targeted customers.

Segmentation 

The market segmentation refers to as the distribution or division of the market in groups of different categories that are present in the market (Armstrong, Adam, Denize and Kotler, 2014). The segmentation for MOBO awards is given below: –

Demographic: – This market group is divided on the basis of age, income, gender and others. The event organizer can segment the people with different age groups which include 5-14 years, 14-24 years, 24-48 years and above. The participants who can participate are required to be in the age group of 14 or above (MOBO, 2018).  

Geographic: – This segment divided the market considering the geographic regions where the product or services are offered. The geographic segment for the event is urban and rural people who reside in Sydney and in other parts of Australia.

Behavioural: – This segment divides the customer or group on the basis of the consumption. Most of the people in Sydney are willing to enjoy the events that take place in Sydney as they feel it makes them refresh and they get a chance to appraise the talent of black music.

Target market 

The event organizer makes use of the differentiation targeting strategy in which they target the different segments. MOBO award event is open for the people who fall under the age group of 5-14 years and14-24 years mainly and on the secondary basis, the organizer targets 24-48 years and above. Along with this, this segment includes male and female irrespective of their income group. Along with this, the organizers welcome the people from different areas with different perception for the event.  

Positioning 

Positioning refers to as the value of goods and services in the mind of customers (Armstrong, Adam, et al 2014). The positioning of MOBO awards events lies in between the high entertainment and low popularity. On the other hand, the competitor’s position lies between the moderate entertainments with the high popularity.

Ansoff matrix is the marketing planning model that supports the business in identifying the growth of product and services in the market of Sydney. It includes the major strategies that are product development, market penetration, market development and diversification.

Market segmentation

Out of this, the event organizer has made use of the market development strategy. In this growth strategy, the existing products are taken into the new markets (Frynas and Mellahi, 2015). The organizers selected this strategy for the MOBO awards in which they decided to take the existing services into the market of Sydney, Australia.

It is essential for every business to decide the mode of entry which means the way that is opted by them to enter the market. There are different types of market mode of entry that can be selected and this includes a joint venture, licensing, wholly owned subsidiaries, strategic alliances and others.

Over here, the event manager should opt for the licensing mode of entry to enter into the market of Sydney for their MOBO awards event. In this, the manager needs to take the permission from the government to organize an event in Australia. After the approval, they will be to organize the event within the country.

This section of the report includes the sociodemographic data which helps in analysing the number of target customers. The below image include the details of the sociodemographic of Sydney.

(Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016)

The data which is reflected in the data for the year 2016 and the numbers of people which are present in Sydney also include the African Australian.

(Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016)

The above images include the details related to the age group of people who are living in Sydney with the total %.

The above data shows that the target market of the event MOBO awards includes people mainly from Sydney that are 17,252 in numbers with the targeted % of 2.1, 1.1, 0.8, 3.5, 16, 23.2, 18.5, 10.1 and 5.2 (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016). The people that mainly targeted falls are between the age of 5-14 years and 14-24 years. The percentages of people that are present in the market of Sydney with this age group are discussed above.

Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions is a framework for the cross-cultural communication and this framework was introduced by the Geert Hofstede (Hofstede Insights, 2018).

Power distance- In Sydney, believe is in the hierarchy for the convenience superior are always accessible and manager rely on the team expertise. The event organizer can easily find the expert who can contribute in achieving event.

Individualism- The culture of Sydney is highly individualism as the employees are expected to be self-reliant and display initiative. Every employee in event performs their own work effectively.

Conclusion

Masculinity- Sydney is a masculine society in which the people are proud of their successes and achievement in their life. MOBO awards will get the benefit in terms of the success of the event.

Uncertainty Avoidance- Sydney place is very intermediate on this dimension which means that they might get affected or might be not due to uncertainty in events (Hofstede Insights, 2018).

Long-Term Orientation- The people of the country are normative in culture due to which they have strongly believed in cultural event or value. Considering the same, the MOBO awards reflect the heritage of UK culture.

Indulgence- Sydney is high indulgence country as it has the positive attitude towards the MOBO awards event that is going to take place in the country.

In the point of view of Hall and hall, the communication style is influenced by the closeness of the human relationships, strong behavioural norms and well-structured social hierarchy. The communication style stated by Hall and hall is high context and low context.

In HC, the communication takes place with the deep morning and the listeners are expected to read between the lines and understand. On the other side, IC; reflect communication meanings are explicitly stated through language (Nishimura, Nevgi and Tella, 2008). In this communication, people generally need the explanation related to the information. The event organizer of the MOBO awards makes use of the low context communication style in which clear communication is done with an explanation.

This section of the report includes the details related to the MOBO awards events theme and design that will attract the people towards the event. The theme and design of the event include catering, entertainment, environment, content, production, programme and theme. All these elements can be explained with the help of the EMBOK model.

EMBOK model is a three-dimensional description of Knowledge and skills that are essential to create, develop and deliver a MOBO awards event. The key dimensions of the EMBOK event include Domains, Phases and processes (EMBOK, 2018). This framework provides the support to the event manager of MOBO awards to meet the needs of different cultures, governments, education, organisations and programs.

(Source: EMBOK, 2018)

The domain dimension of the model includes the five areas through which event can be managed (EMBOK, 2018). These are: –

• Design
• Administration
• Operations
• Marketing
• Risk

The above-given elements are further divided into different 7 categories and these are explained with the help of the table below: –

(Source: EMBOK, 2018)

Over here, for the MOBO awards event, the company need to manage every area.

• Administration- The event manager needs to analyse the financial and human resources system managing the MOBO awards in Sydney. One of the dedicated team will ensure for recruiting the human beings and for managing a budget.
• Design- The theme of Black music is selected according to Sydney as it can be hip-hop night, Jazz the beat and many others.
• Marketing- Promotion tools like an advertisement, sales and others are an effective way through which marketing can be done. These tools will help in generating the awareness in the market.
• Operations- The event manager needs to ensure that logistics are completed according to the need of event.
• Risk- In the Sydney market, the manager can face the legal and security risk for the MOBO awards.

The Major focus is done on the design which includes content, theme, program, environment, production, entertainment and catering. Sydney is the place where the design of the MOBO awards needs to be selected. The below given is the description related to the sub-part of the Design area: –

Catering: – The catering include the selection related to menu, quantities, service styles and other which is essential to meet the event successful (EMBOK, 2018). Dinner party catering services will suit the best to the MOBO awards in Sydney. This dinner party catering will include the gala dinner in which the food will be served with different cuisines loved by people in Sydney with drinks. Drinks will include fruit drinks, juice, mocktails, shakes and others.

Content: – This includes the appropriate topic, formats to achieve the event objective. MOBO awards needs to follow the hip-hop night in the Sydney for the black music. This will help in generating the awareness for the hip-hop of black music in Sydney.

Entertainment: – It encompasses of sourcing, selection and control of the suitable entertainment with include the recreational activities for the project of event. MOBO awards include the popular black music artist who can spread their talent within the audience which is an effective source to entertain the audience. The recreational activities that will grab the attention of audience in MOBO awards event include Open Mic, Song writer competition and ball pint for kids.

Environment: – The environment includes the creation or acquisition and arrangement related to the décor items, props, furnishing, decorative embellishments and many others. MOBO awards in Sydney will be entirely decorated with the props that reflect the concert of the black music.

Production: – The production element includes the sourcing and selection of the sound, lighting, special effects with the multimedia. The lighting in the MOBO award has been done according to the music and preference of black people. This will include the lighting with the blue and white combination. Along with this, at the event place the symbol of MOBO awards will display on top.

Program: – The program concerns the formation and choreography of the activities, elements, exhibits and amenities that can shape the composition of the event to experience the hospitality (EMBOK, 2018). MOBO awards event include the tables and seats with the starters that has been served on the tables for the guest.

Theme: – The application of the theme development principles and culture iconography with the aim to integrate the message, image, branding of the project. According to the hip hop music night theme, the place will include the posture of the hip hop artist. This will enhance the attractiveness and grab the attention of the audience who visit the place.

The marketing plan for the event includes the marketing mix that is a foundation model in marketing. It is a set of marketing tools that the firm uses to pursue its marketing objectives in the target (Luca and Suggs, 2010).

(Source: Luca and Suggs, 2010)

The product is the event of the MOBO awards that has been taken by the event manager in the market in Sydney. The award appreciates the talent of black people that are present in the market in Sydney. The service that is offered to the customers in the form of the event includes the entertainment which is the essence of the product.  

The MOBO awards include a certain amount as fees for the contestant. Along with this, the organizer of the event also charges a certain amount from the visitors who visit the event (Luca and Suggs, 2010). This amount is charged because the people can see the live performance and also the winner who will win the MOBO awards.

In Sydney, the place where the MOBO awards event is conducted is mattered a lot. The event always takes place on the prime location where the maximum crowd can visit and get attracted. The event can grab the attention of thousands of people if it is located at the prime location. Moreover, the place needs to be near to the market from where the major resources or contact with the suppliers can be done easily.

The organizer of the MOBO awards event needs to generate the awareness among the market of Sydney. The promotion tool that is used by the organiser for promoting the product is an advertisement (Lovelock and Patterson, 2015). The advertisement of awards can be done with the help of the print media and TV commercial. Along with this, the online advertisement can also take place for promoting the product.

MOBO awards involve numerous employees who contribute in managing the event. Along with this, it includes the numerous contributors who play the role in entertaining the audience.

This process includes the execution of the services that are offered (Van der Wagen and White, 2018). In the event of MOBO awards, it is essential to follow the set process as this the way through which the event can come to the completion. In addition, this includes the effective management of logistics that are essential for a successful event.

In the event, the physical evidence can be understood in the form of live performance that is given by the participants of MOBO awards. The presence of MOBO awards in Sydney market at the specific place reflects the physical evidence.

The analysis reflects that the event manager can face the issue related to the management and leadership of the event. The contribution and their decision can bring the challenge of managing the influence of the external factors. The solution for the same is that the manager should divide and distribute the work according to the capabilities, skills and knowledge of the individual while taking the event to the Sydney market.

Conclusion 

In the end, it can be concluded that it is very essential for the event manager to conduct the internal and external analysis of the location where they are looking to arrange the event. The analysis has been conducted with the support of tools, framework and techniques such as PESTLE analysis, Porter’s five forces, Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions, EMBOK and other. In addition, it is very essential for the event manager to analyse the relevance of the target audience. The target audience is important because according to that only the event themes and design will be set by the event manager for MOBO awards. Some of the issues and their solutions are discussed which might be faced by the manager.

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