The Importance of Customer Personas in Cable Beach Polo

Cable Beach Polo

Cable Beach Polo is a spectacular sporting event that attracts people from Australia and the world, with tourists, celebrities, media, and leading polo players being the main participants in the event amongst others (Qantas, 2018). The uniqueness of Cable Beach Polo is not only to Broom but it is a rare event in the world. Hence, this event will be amongst a chosen number of exotic locations that host the beach polo. Owing to the large number of people expected to attend the event, the event marketing manager must have knowledge of the nature of participants expected so that he plans what will interest them and ensure that particular facilities and services are in place to make the visitors comfortable as they enjoy the event (Lee & Brown, 2017). Subsequently, it is critical to have customer personas that match the interests of relevant parties in the event. The two crucial customer personas should constitute the leading polo players and the tourists, all that must meet their comfort needs to make the event outstanding.

Leading Polo Players

Most of the Polo Beach Players are individuals between the age of 17 to 35 years. Most of these individuals are either in white- and blue-collar jobs, hold an associate, bachelor or graduate degrees or are still in their late college/university years. Their salaries or financial status is majorly middle-income individuals, though the sporting has enabled some to earn more than their basic salaries. Polo players are individuals who must have ball anticipation and striking capabilities, hard riding skills, and love and possess a passion for the game, which forms part of their special interest.

Thus, what is expected of this group is their great love (positive attitude) to have access to things that make their horses comfortable, strong and get the agility to win the game. Hence, a polo player desires to be flexible, physically fit, and emotionally positioned for the game. As such, they must have a much-disciplined lifestyle that prioritizes their mental and physical well-being due to the demanding nature of the game. Polo players require healthy bank balances since polo is one of the expensive sports that involves not only purchasing good polo pinches and ponies but also acquiring the best care and nutrition to deliver best in the field. This group will be motivated to attend the game by the burning desire to be champions. By attending the event, polo players will not only have the chance to drive their potential, skill, and strength to absolute limits but will get a chance to learn skills from other players from other regions. Given that most of the polo players are young teenagers to young adults of up to 35 years, they have access to information from the internet, or from their coaches.

Cable Beach Polo event has gained momentum and popularity over the last two decades, with more players driven by love and passion willing to participate in this lifetime event. To ensure maximum attendance, the event marketing manager must put into consideration the following strategies. First, s/he must ensure that programs such as exercise, nutrition for the players and food for horses are well-communicated to the public across different media and social platforms. Second is to create the excitement of the event by not only tapping on players competitive nature but by also informing them to have friends and families attend the event.

The third strategy is setting expectations for the players, where s/he should state clearly that it is an event for heroes and winning for each team is not an option. The last is monitoring reactions from the public and players worldwide to gather information on where to improve to attract more players.

Tourists

It is an understatement to call Broome’s yearly Cable Beach Polo game a hot ticket (Event Planet, 2018). In fact, since its founding in 2010, the event has taken diverse form, incorporating in it concoctions of natural beauty and glamour that spread across two days of sport, sun and fine dining. Thus, it is a gorgeously-positioned event that will bring not only local, international and Australia’s indigenous polo players but will see an attraction of tourists to the remote and most pristine Western Australia’s coastlines shown below.

Tourists will be expected to be of all ages, ranging from children who come with their families, old individuals with the love of the game and middle-aged individuals.

Cable Beach Polo event is positioned as an event that is expensive to participate or attend due to the price of tickets. Hence, expected visitors are those whose income is from middle-level income and above and who can afford the ticket to enjoy the two-day event. Education levels for the tourists are diverse. Rich and high-ranking individuals are also expected as tourists. Tourists love life and to entertain themselves, ranging from drinking and dining at prestigious hotels, swimming, skating, sandbathing, amongst others.

Nonetheless, the primary expectations of tourists are to enjoy and feel comfortable when spending their money (Andereck et al, 2012). What inspires tourists to this event is the aggressiveness and competitive nature of the game while others may be motivated to attend due to the love of the game or need to relax from their routine engagements. Most tourists hope that by the end of the event, they will have enjoyed themselves maximumly by watching different teams strike the ball to overcome their opponents, feel relaxed and happy and more so to have an exemplary experience that is worth their money. Most tourists will get information about the event either through referrals from friends and families, through social media buzz, or through media advertisements for the event.

To ensure that visitors or tourists attend the event in large numbers, the event marketing manager must have several approaches in place. The manager must ensure that several property facilities are available in restaurants to accommodate visitors and these include; carpark, bar, shop, public toilet, smoking and non-smoking zones, swimming pools, different drinks and meals, especially culturally congruent menu, and facilities for the disabled ones such as mobility aids, walking frames, wheelchairs, ramps for buildings and maximum security. To achieve this, the event marketing manager must liaise with restaurants owners, contract security firms and make sure there are clear signboards for directions to particular facilities or sites for guiding tourists. Some of the tourist’s restaurants and accommodations are shown in the pictures below.

With the manager realizing that customer personas for the players and tourists are crucial for the success of the event and to create a long-lasting memory, it is important that their needs and expectations be prioritized. Nevertheless, other parties needs must also be met, which means that the manager must have firsthand information of every group expected to attend the event.

Works Cited

Andereck, K., McGehee, N.G., Lee, S., and Clemmons, D., 2012. Experience expectations of prospective volunteer tourists. Journal of Travel Research, 51(2), pp.130-141.

Event Planet, 2018. cable beach polo. [Online]

Available at: https://www.eventplanet.com.au/case-study/cable-beach-polo/

Lee, I.S. and Brown, G., 2017. Sports event management. Understanding Sports Management: International perspectives, p.243.

Qantas, 2018. Event: Airnorth Cable Beach Polo 2019. [Online]

Available at: https://www.westernaustralia.com/en/Event/Airnorth_Cable_Beach_Polo_2018/589ccafb3510eb89598ee06f#/