Music festivals with a closer look on Wiesen

Table Of Contents

ABSTRACT

TABLE OF FIGURERS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION
1.1. Problem statement
1.2. Significance of study
1.3. Methodolog
1.4. Review of literature

CHAPTER 2 – OVEREVIEW OF A FESTIVAL
2.1. Definition of an event and festival tourism
2.2. The importance and complexity of a music festival
2.3. The effects of an event
2.3.1. Events are influencing the social and cultural life
2.3.2. Events and the environmental impact
2.3.3. Events and their sphere on tourism and economic..
2.4. Wiesen – the festival place in Austria

CHAPTER 3 – ORGANIZATION OF A FESTIVAL
3.1. The organization and leadership style
3.2. Vision and mission statement
3.3. Aims and objectives
3.4. Managing of the festival
3.5. Human resources strategy
3.6. Stakeholders in these events
3.6.1. Participants and Spectators
3.6.2. The Host Community
3.6.3. Sponsors
3.6.4. The Media
3.6.5. The Co-Workers

CHAPTER 4 – FUNDING OF FESTIVALS
4.1. Budgeting
4.1.1. Cash Flow
4.1.2. Costing
4.1.3. Reducing costs and increasing income
4.2. Sponsorship
4.2.1. Culture sponsoring
4.2.2. Sponsoring in Austria
4.2.3. Sponsoring in Wiesen

CHAPTER 5 – MARKETING OF THE WIESEN FESTIVALS
5.1. Marketing definition
5.2. The importance of marketing in the music festival industry
5.3. MC Marketing
5.4. Marketing mix
5.5. Customer decision process
5.6. Consumer expectations
5.7. The target market
5.7.1. The Jazz Festival’s target group vs. the Kick Off’s target group
5.8. The festival tourist – Why does he visit a festival
5.8.1. Festival Promotion
5.9. SWOT analyse
5.8. The image of the Wiesen festivals

CHAPTER 6 – THE FESTIVALS TECHNICAL FEATURES

6.1. The stage

6.2. Power

6.3. Lights

6.4. Sound

CHAPTER 7 – THE FESTIVALS INFRASTRUCTURE WITH ITS BEST OUTCOME
7.1. Transportation
7.2. Parking space
7.3. Accommodation
7.4. Sanitary equipment
7.5. Catering inside the festival
7.6. Medical aid and safety
7.7. The infrastructure outside the festival
7.8. Waste Management

CHAPTER 8 – THE CUSTOMER AND THE ARTIST AS THE FESTIVAL MAIN ATTRACTION
8.1. Customer care
8.2. Problems with the crowd
8.3. Managing the crowd
8.4. Performers needs

CHAPTER 9 – EVALUATION
9.1. Evalution of the festival
9.2. Customer evaluation

CHAPTER 10 – CONCLUSION

REFERENCES AND SOURCES

APPENDIX

Abstract

The most famous place for international music festivals in Austria is Wiesen. It is located in Burgenland and Mr. Bogner, the founder of these festivals has satisfied millions of people, including myself, with his events by now.

Due to my general interest in event management I decided to do my studies on music festivals. It gave me the chance to have a deeper sight into this subject.

Music festivals are special events, which can give a great experience to musicians, organizers and customers if they are properly organized. Everyone can gain a profit out of it – musicians with promoting their music, organizers with making profit and visitors with enjoying several concerts in one or more days.

Furthermore I wanted to go into detail of the indirect profitability. The buying behaviour is not just influenced by media but also by transfer of visitors, accommodation abilities, food and beverage choice and many more. The marketing mix should address not just inbound but also outbound tourists to increase the customer awareness in the European festival market.

The Wiesen Festival & Concert Veranstaltungs GMBH provides customers with high quality in concerts, F&B, security, waste management, etc.

Nevertheless, no event passes by without any crisis. The reader should get an idea about upcoming problems and their solution during the festival.

This diploma is focused on the positive consumer satisfaction which is only reached by proper planning. A customer is highly satisfied when the product is better than promised.

Studies are done on the organizational methods, the customers feedback and the different service providers.

The primary research is based on interviews with members of the organization team, journalists of music magazines, public transfer members, involved companies and festival visitors.

The secondary research consisted of information from special event books, magazines and the Internet.

The purpose of this thesis was to get a better view of creating a music festival. The reader should get a more complex idea of the whole performance in Wiesen. Furthermore it shows how the individual needs for an event are linked together.

Chapter 1 Introduction

1.1 Problem Statements

Organizing an event or a festival can be quite an experience as hidden risks and obvious risks are likely to turn the event into an adventure.

An event or festival always features live performances, which means that the organizers can’t revise the performing acts in order to get it done properly.

Therefore, if an event is not correctly planned with reaching objects, staff planning, time planning, etc the organizers will fail badly.

Festivals in particular have a great influence on their surrounding. Due to the large number of people and the noise, which is created, it affects the people as well as the infrastructure outside the venue.

Consequently the neighbouring environment has to be involved, with the purpose of achieving the best outcome for all parties concerned.

Masses of people also increase dangerous risks for the organization itself. Alcohol and narrow places are the basis for chaos. The management has to be prepared for the worst and must also have to have alternative solutions at hand before the event starts.

1.2. Significance of the Study

The reason why this study is done is because the author wants to show in what way events and festivals in particular are done. The study should give readers an overview on certain steps. It should also give hints on upcoming problems and how to avoid them.

1.3. Methodology

This study is underlined by interviews with people from the music festival industry, magazines, sponsor companies and public transport organizations.

Particularly, subjects such as sponsoring, marketing, the target customer and the artists needs are based on interviews and information provided by the Wiesen Festival und Veranstaltungs GmbH.

Other chapters include statements made by journalists, public transport employees and other companies involved, which highlight certain statements.

1.4. Review of Literature

As a secondary research method special event management books have been used as a basis for this work.

Furthermore the internet as well as certain magazines were used in order to compare different announcements, articles and to provide a better understanding of the event management industry.

Chapter 2 Overview of a festival

2.1. Definition of events and music festivals

An event is defined as anything that happens. It can range from local village events to international spectacles featuring participants from around the world.

There are a wide variety of events, such as trade exhibitions, carnivals, sport competitions, street parties and music festivals. Therefore it is important to recognize the diversity and treat each event differently. Every event has its own characteristics and requirements, which have to be met.

A special event recognises a unique moment in time with ceremony and ritual to satisfy needs. (Goldblatt)

2.2 The Importance and Complexity of a Music Festival

A special event for instance is a music festival. All over the world millions of people are coming together for music festivals. Their main motivation is the music itself. From one to twelve bands are presented on one single day.

Furthermore, the experience itself is worth attending such an event. In this atmosphere a special sense of closeness is created as people visit the concerts together. People share emotions and common styles. On the camping sites, visitors build their own tents next to each other. They eat, chat, and celebrate with their neighbours. Often people do not even watch the actual festival acts, because they just want to spend a nice time at the camping site with their friends.

Apart from visitors, also record companies and musicians have recognised that festivals open great possibilities. First of all it is a way to present the music. Famous bands often use such an event for presenting their new albums, whereby artists who are not well known have the possibility to introduce themselves.

Secondly, for groups it is always a challenge to play live on stage because they can see the audience’s reaction right away. Feedback can range from a big applause to a big laugh. Performing on at a festival is even more difficult because of the mixed audiences the artists meet. The festival might have a theme, which represents one direction of music. Nevertheless there are so many differences and the performers have to be aware of the diversity of tastes.

The motivation for organizers depends on whether they are profit or non-profit operations. This thesis is pointing out at a profit run organization, thus the motive is to gain profit.

To make such an event happen many points have to be considered, as e.g. funding. The amount, which is needed, depends drastically on the nature of the occasion, as well on media attention, media provision or sponsorship.

The complexity of the event is influencing the amount of time, personnel and commitment required. The bigger, the more money, people or technical support is required in order to fulfil the event’s needs.

2.3. Some general positive and negative impacts of an event

2.3.1. Events are influencing the social and cultural life

As mentioned above, a festival is a way of sharing experiences, which leads to a stronger community feeling. Being in a community gives people a feeling of pride and increases their actual participation in an event. Furthermore, a festival expands the cultural perspectives.

On a music festival, such as the Chiemsee Reggae Festival or the Chemnitz Sunsplash Festival, multicultural communities come together. People have the chance to a cultural exchange, which increases their mutual understanding. People show that living together peacefully is possible. Events have the power to challenge imaginations and explore possibilities.

At the same time, negative impacts of an event can influence social and cultural life. An event is used to convey a message. The better it is presented the higher is the appreciation for the product. The best examples are events related to elections. Especially a few weeks prior to an election, the parties want to reach the greatest attention in order to get their votes. It is a fight where manipulation is used to win the crowds over.

Substance abuse is another negative impact, which is common for many festivals. Drinking alcohol is part of many cultures and especially on celebrations the flow of alcohol is hardly under control. It leads to a bad behaviour because people loose the feeling of right and wrong. As a result a negative community image is created.

2.3.2. Events and the environmental impact

Nowadays it is globally common to ‘go green’, which means, more and more people are increasingly conscious about the environment.

Festivals attract a wide range of people; some of them are ‘thinking green’ and some of them do not care about anything. Therefore a festival can help to increase the environmental awareness.

Being a model in e.g. waste separation can lead to an acceptance of this habit. Such strategies are lowering the negative impacts of environmental damage and pollution, which is increased when more people are coming together for one purpose.

A festival means traffic congestion because thousands of people are travelling there by car. For that reason many festival providers try to improve the transportation infrastructure to avoid traffic jams and pollution. Besides it leads to a diminishing of noise disturbance, which is another negative impact.

2.3.3. Events and the sphere on tourism and economic

The advantage of event tourism is that it attracts visitors coming to places where rare tourism exists. The economic benefit derives from visitors using facilities, which would otherwise be under-utilised. Hotel rooms will be booked, restaurants will be visited and other facilities, such as food and beverage shops will be used as well. Furthermore a festival creates new jobs within and outside the event. Accommodation, transport, food and beverage outlets need to increase their staff in order to fulfil the customers’ needs during the time of the event.

Events can provide newness, freshness and change, which sustain local interest in a destination and enhance its appeal to visitors. As mentioned above, a festival is a great possibility to increase the awareness of the existence of a village, such as e.g. Wiesen. As soon as the first festival visitor arrives, high season starts for the village.

If they like it or not, they are part of the festival. Visitors automatically create an image of the village. This chance could be used to make this place attractive enough to gain repeat customers, not just for the festival.

The tactic of increasing interest through implementing events is used all over the world. A festival can be used as a marketing strategy for stakeholders. A company might develop a new image through this event. A city or village is able to make itself more attractive because of the land, which is provided. The local festivals can strengthen the local tourism image and create a new cultural image of the city or village.

The negative side of concentrating too much on tourism is, that the community might watch resistance of tourism because they loose their authenticity. Furthermore, it could be an exploitation of the community. In this case the local way of living is presented as an attraction. Organizers use the locals’ good will as an advantage without giving them anything in return.

In addition, prices are inflated in order to achieve good revenues. The host community has to pay increased prices for several things just because tourists tend to accept them and pay higher prices as usual.

All in all, event organizers have to be aware of the Ying Yang effect. The positive sides do not exist without the negative ones. How it works out in the special case of the Wiesen Festivals will be shown in detail in several chapters.

2.4. Wiesen – the first Festival Place in Austria

Austria is known as a place full of mountains, Dirndln and Leather trousers. Many tourists come to enjoy classical and traditional concerts but many others come to take part in the Wiesen Music Festivals.

Wiesen is located in Burgenland and it is known for being the place for strawberries in Austria. Around 2779 people live on 1891 ha. Although, Wiesen is also known for hiking and cycling it is more famous for the festivals, which take place every year for about three months.

The first Jazz Festival took place in the 1979 in the old sports- arena in Wiesen. The initiator of this event was Mr. Franz Bogner. In 1980 he decided to buy the Wiesen Festival ground and one year later the first festival took place there.

The next step was building a new tent, which was done in 1989. It was especially designed to meet the needs of a music festival, such as optimising the acoustics or presenting the best view to the stage. The tent is a unique construction of steal ropes, which also makes it an imposing scenery sight.

Figure 1: Wiesen festival tent bird view

illustration not visible in this excerpt

Source: www.wiesen.at

In 1993, Mr. Bogner, who originally ran a one-man business, changed his business into Bogner Veranstaltungs GesmbH. This again was sub-divided into the Wiesen Festival & Concerts Veranstaltungs GmbH in 2001. The Wiesen Festival & Concerts Veranstaltungs GmbH became part of the MC Marketing group. They have a 51 % stake of the Wiesen Festivals.

Apart from these changes, the festivals were extended. Everything started with one single Jazz Festival, today there are seven different kinds of Festivals. The highlight is still the Jazz festival, but reggae, alternative and hip-hop festivals have been added in the last years. In order to fulfil the increasing demand in music festivals, Wiesen Gmbh has opened two new festival places in Austria since 2002.

Chapter 3 Organization of a Festival

3.1. The Organization and leadership style

An organization exists to serve its purpose. The main reason for any festival organization is to offer quality service, which makes the event successful. This leads to satisfying the needs of all festival customers. The organization has to focus on the achievement of the required steps of action through its personnel.

Flexibility is an important influential factor due to organizational system. It needs to cope with the changing circumstances, which appear during an event.

In determining the organizational structure, several facts have to be taken into consideration. One of them is defining the aims and objectives, analysing the internal and external environment and specifying the tasks, which have to be undertaken. The other is grouping and linking them together, establishing an understanding of respective roles for all those involved and identifying possible communication lines between various groups.

The size of the structure heavily depends on the size of the event but it does not mean that there is a great difference between various structures. Being bigger is not necessarily better. The organisational structure has to cover planning, developing, working out relationships and ways to achieve objectives. The chains of command, span of control and areas of delegated responsibility are shown in this system. The importance is that everyone involved knows, of whom he or she is in charge of and who to sub co-ordinate. They also have to know what their duties are and where their place in the system is.

Nevertheless, each structure has to be made individually depending on the nature of the event in order to meet all specific wants and needs.

For instance the Wiesen Festival organisation is divided into several departments such as marketing, booking, catering, promotion, etc. All of them have their own style of working and they do it more or less independently. The process is controlled and guided through policies and objectives which are set by the heads of the Wiesen Concerts and Veranstanltungs GmbH and Mr. Bogner.

It is a bottom up management, which means that not just the heads of the organisation make decisions but also every department head is included in his team.

3.2. Vision and Mission Statement

A vision statement need not be the same as the mission statement. In general the vision statement describes the long-term desires of an operation. In basic they are brief and motivational.

For instance, the Wiesen Festivals should be the biggest and most famous festival and concert providers in Austria.

Whereby the mission statement is referred to the near future. It is implementing the way of getting close to the vision. The mission statement defines an event’s purpose; it identifies major benefits and customer groups. It is an overall philosophy of the organisation. Once established, the basis is set for implementing goals, objectives and strategies.

Furthermore, it helps the staff (paid/ voluntary) understanding the event and what it is trying to achieve.

For instance, the Wiesen Festivals provide a high quality in music and service to meet the needs of the target customers.

3.3. Aims and Objectives

Any event has to have specific aims and objectives to create an all over understanding of the reason why this event is made.

A clear and specified aim is important for the search of finance and staff. Through the developing of aims a special direction is outlined in which the event will go. Therefore the event manager already has limitations in finding sources of money and staff which are matching the stated aim. Besides that, if the aim is clearly stated and a certain outcome is expected, investors have a reason to invest and people have a reason to work for.

If you don’t know where you are going you will probably end up somewhere else

(Dr. Laurence J Peter and Raymond Hill)

The aim is only reached by developing a way to get there. This way has to be broken down into objectives, which should be agreed upon and understood by everyone who involved.

Communicating these objectives to all people is one of the most important tasks. Therefore they have to be simple, appropriate, clear unambiguous and achievable.

3.4. Managing of the Festival

The next step, which follows almost automatically, is establishing the individual organisational structure. The developed objectives help to scope the work. Individual tasks can be given to groups of people who are capable of achieving the best outcome. Through this kind of structure a unity of purpose and an atmosphere of co-operation is created. Consequently an overlapping of responsibilities, confusion and conflicts are avoided.

These teams have to be properly delegated to come to a result. Delegation does not mean just giving out commands. It should lead to commitment and motivation. The group leader has to give directions on how things have to be done, but he can never achieve anything without the group behind him. Therefore it is very important to give positive and negative feedback to the staff. It is essential to make the group aware of their purpose and to encourage them.

Furthermore it is easier to add additional functions, as the needs of the event might require them. Each unit has its own assigned resource such as e.g. money, time, staff, equipment and supplies. This again is used as a basis for cost and risk management. In the end, costs of each “project” are summed up to give the total cost of the work to create the event.

With these steps a schedule of work is created which helps later on when all tasks are reunited into one.

Nevertheless an overall plan has to be carried out to make the event successful. Considering the fact that planning it produces everything that happens, is the most important thing to do. Therefore it has to be carefully done because it decreases mistakes and increases the working process.

Each Wiesen Festival department has its own objectives to achieve. For instance, the Wiesen Concerts and Veranstaltungs GmbH want to increase its foreign customers by up to 5%. This would be an objective for the marketing department.

3.5. Human Resources Strategy

The process of human resources strategy has to cover a wide area. It includes the establishment of strategies and objectives, as well as the establishment of guiding strategies and objectives. The human resources manager is responsible for determining staff needs and producing job descriptions and specification.

Another significant factor is staffing itself. Decisions have to be made based on the number of paid and voluntary staff needed. Furthermore the right mix of skills, qualifications and experience are required to be successful. Personnel reflects the quality of the event, thus employees should be carefully chosen and trained in handling customers. Last but not least, the planning process needs to include the point in time these staff/ volunteers will be required.

The co-ordinating of the human resources starts with identifying all tasks, which are linked to the event creation, delivery and shutdown. Site-related tasks, such as, setting up fences, stage building, toilets, placing signs…etc., help to structure the work, which has to be done.

Secondly, it has to be determined how many people are needed to complete the range of tasks and which ones are more important to fulfil. Furthermore, the level of supervision plays an important role, because without supervision people will be lost.

Along with the job analysis comes the job description. It is a statement on why a job has come into existence, what the duties are and under what conditions the job has to be done.

Generally, it includes information on the paid or voluntary positions, the functional area and the working hours. The wage, salary or hourly rate must be stated, as well as bonuses. Volunteers should receive give-aways (T-shirts, stickers, limited edition souvenirs programmes, etc), free / discounted meals and free meal, basically anything that increases their interest in working at an event.

Additionally it gives information about the primary purpose of the job and the duties and responsibilities. Due to avoiding confusion, the list of duties and responsibilities should not be too detailed, and should only include the information central to the performance of the job.

The job description deals with relationship positions within and outside the organisation. Staff will be informed about to whom they have to report to.

Policies and Procedures are needed to provide a framework in the human resources planning. A range of laws influences the freedom of management in the human resource area. There are laws about discrimination, dismissal, working hours, holidays, health and safety.

These policies and procedures must be communicated to all staff and must be applied.

The last step in the human resources strategy is the recruitment and selection. The right people have to be attracted for the right job. The budget determines the way of searching for the right employees. For large events there often is a budget set aside to cover costs of recruitment agency fees, advertising and travel expenses of non-local applicants.

Nevertheless there are ways of cutting costs in this operating field. The sponsorship agreement may include a clause which says, that they will provide temporary workers with particular skills, for instance in marketing.

Another’s source of potential workers is universities, colleges, specific schools, community centres, job centres, etc. Students with a specific educational background can be gained from educational institutes. In community or job centres volunteers will easily be found.

Additionally gaining the assistance of volunteer agencies, which can provide the festival organisers with volunteers, is essential. The application process is based on the needs of position.

For instance, Paul Korbatits, who is responsible for the backstage area, is often asked for a job directly at festivals. Therefore it could happen that this person is recruited straight away. Mr. Korbatits is not interested in receiving Curriculum Vitas because in his opinion this is not important for this position. He wants to talk to future workers thus he gets an impression about their personality.

Some people do write him application letters. If there is a need in increasing staff this would be another source but it is not that common in his working field.

Other departments, which require more specialised workers, such as Marketing or Accounting, go the usual way of recruiting. Written Curriculum Vitas and an application letter are required. The chosen people are invited to an interview, which is necessary for the final decision.

3.6 Stakeholders in events

An outstanding factor in the creation of any event understands the event environment. Firstly, major players, such as stakeholders, people and organisations likely affected by it, must be identified. Secondly, the event manager must examine the objectives of these major players. What each of them expects to gain from the event, and what forces acting on them are likely to affect their response to the event.

Everyone who has an interest in an event is defined as a stakeholder. Accordingly it is not longer sufficient just to meet the needs of the audience. It involves a range of requirements such as government objectives and regulations, media requirements, sponsors’ needs and community expectations.

3.6.1.Participants and spectators

The process of giving and taking in this particular case is paying for entertainment. This interest group spends money for tickets, accommodation, food and beverage, which is supporting the event. The event gives entertainment back, which is increasing the customer’s participation. The participants and spectators reflect the festival success or failure, therefore the event manager must be mindful of the needs of the audience. The needs, which have to be fulfilled, are physical needs as wells as needs in comfort, safety and security. These basic requirements can make an event special, connected with feelings. It has to be achieved to make this event meaningful, magical and memorable.

Hemmerling 1997, describes the criteria by which spectators judge and event:

Their main focus is on the content, location, substance and operation of the event itself. For them the ease with which they can see the event activities, the program content, their access to food and drinks, amenities, access and egress etc., are the keys to their enjoyment. Simple factors such as whether or not their team won or lost, or whether they had a good experience at the event will sometimes influence their measures for success.

Secondary issues, such as mixing with the stars of the show, sociocultural opportunities, corporate hospitality and capacity to move up the seating chain from general admission to premium seating are all part of the evaluation of spectator success.

An event theme creates an image in the audience minds before the actual happening takes place. They go there with certain expectations, which have to be fulfilled to make it memorable in a positive way.

On a music festival the main interest is focused on music and how it is presented. It is important that the theme of the festival is represented in the musical acts. If it were headlined as a Folksong Festival, a heavy metal band such as Metallica would not be appropriate.

The chosen bands have to play the headlined music or have to be connected with it. Otherwise the audience’s expectations are not met.

The surrounding in which the event takes place has a great impact on the audience’s expectations. Food is one of the basic needs; therefore the customers taste has to be met. There has to be at least a choice between vegetarian food and non-vegetarian food. In Wiesen for instance, they offer eight different kinds of food stands, which offer rice, vegetables, meat and sweet dishes.

3.6.2. The Host Community

Event managers have to determine and evaluate the trends. He forces acting on their host community, as these will have an impact on the operating environment of the event. Their mood desires and needs is the deciding factor whether the event styles and fashions are accepted or not. This again has a great influence of the event success.

Globalisation and technology are the two major forces, which affect everyone’s life. World-wide social relations became stronger through the globalisation, which increases the awareness of the international festival industry.

Technology and media institutions underline this. If a significant event is broadcasted on television or a radio station it can get a world-wide attention as barriers and cultural differences are overcome.

Nowadays, almost every household has a television set with international channels. On quite a lot TV channels you receive reports about festivals and live recordings. Thus people are getting high knowledge about international festivals.

Event managers have to meet the challenge how to function in this increasing global environment. Therefore they need the acceptance of the host community because for them it is channel to confirm their uniqueness in culture and individuality. In return, the host community supports the festival with fire and ambulance brigade, police and transport.

To ensure a success for both parties it is important to understand the needs of each other. Councils have certain requirement, which have to be met by the event organiser and the other way round.

Event mangers need to actively involve the community leaders in their planning process. Police, fire and ambulance brigade has to be prepared for such a festival to ensure security and safety.

As the Wiesen Festivals have taken place for 28 years now the host community and the festival organisers make a good team. People can convince themselves about their good relationship on the Wiesen Festivals homepage. www.wiesen.at

Readers get to know who is operating, where to find it and address security, police, and fire brigade and medical aid. Furthermore working processes are described which emphasises the feeling of security and safety. In addition this publication leads to a higher attention towards this public services. This in return is a good advertising for the host community.

Unfortunately the understanding between the festival organisers and the host community does not work all that well.

For instance, the local government of Wiesen is not very supportive in compromising on giving out approvals for further construction work and they do not give any financial support to the Wiesen festival organisers. Moreover they increased the “Lustbarkeitssteuer” – a tax which has to be paid if entertainment is provided, by about 100%, which means they doubled the amount. This fact is raising the difficulty of staying competitive.

The municipal government of Vienna does not require a tax for entertainment at all.

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