2. To provide a fun, active and memorable day for everybody involved through lively sport activities.
Csikszentmihalyi (1990) discusses despite the economic crisis, consumers are driven to seek memorable and compelling experiences by the need to become psychologically self-dependent and mentally well. Emphasising that having fun and making memories is a key motivation for attending event and should be used as a tool to attract attendees and enhance attendees experiences.
In attempt to create a fun and memorable experience; knowing the attendee was vital. Prior to designing the event it was essential to acknowledge the stakeholders involved and their personal objectives, one of these stakeholders being the attendees. A Forbes report recently illustrated the importance of knowing the target audience as "Creating a content strategy without a clear understanding of your audience is a bit like setting a boat adrift without navigational tools. You’re out there and you’re taking action, but you’re not working toward a specific goal. These are the situations that marketers dread: huge amounts of time and money, without a clear potential for good ROI" (DeMers, 2013). During the early event stages a target profile was created (diagram below).
Through this it was identified that a world cup themed football tournament would be most appropriate to meet the interests of the target audience, the food would be simple and 'manly' as well as in line with the Brazilian world cup theme. To design the event to meet the objectives set a experience design approach was taken, Berridge (2012) outlines this design approach has wider boundaries than traditional design; striving to create experience beyond just products and services, and to fulfil a wider objective, the view of creating a relationship with individuals, not targeting a mass market, concerned with invoking and creating an environment that connect on an emotional or value level with the consumer.
Holbrook and Hirschman (1982) discussed that experience should include fun fantasy and feeling. Sheffield World MenCup endeavoured for this by crafting a Brazilian world cup theme. The Brazilian world cup is very relevant right now due to the games commencing this summer meaning there is great hype around the topic. Bowdin (2011) declares that the theming of an event differentiates the event from other events. London Metropolitan University (2014) highlights the advantages of theming: stimulates the 5 senses, enhances experiences, creates unique happening, and transcends from the ordinary to the extraordinary. Bowdin (2011) diagram represents the domains of theming, the diagram (to the right) displays how Sheffield World MenCup themed each domain, to create an escapism for the attendees and alter their sense of reality to represent the Brazilian world cup (Pine and Gilmore, 1999).
Figure 1.2