Volunteering Role in Marketing for Dubai Expo 2020 Event
Context and Relevance of the Study
Dubai Expo 2020 is a significant international event that gathers the world’s leading thinkers and innovators for generating new inventions and new business directions that will change the world. Under the theme “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future”, Dubai Expo 2020 aims to pioneer new developments and innovation in business, in sustainability (energy and water) and in mobility (expo2020dubai, official website). Because of its global proportions and human advancement goal, the event needs consistent and intense promotion, which can be supported by volunteers in marketing the event. For better understanding the implications of volunteering role in marketing Dubai Expo 2020 event it is required a Capstone research. Volunteering in the marketing activities for Dubai Expo 2020 is a significant challenge for both the volunteers their role is to grow the interest towards the event and to attract participants and visitors for the Expo.
It is important to understand the specific role of the volunteers in promoting the event. With the advancement of social media and new promotional strategies, the main role of volunteers in marketing would be to exercise considerable effort for making the event visible online. However, there are other types of marketing activities, such as participating in organising non-conventional marketing activities, commercials and visual materials for promoting Dubai Expo 2020.
Questions for Study
Questions such as “How marketing volunteers in Dubai Expo 2020 can contribute to the smooth organisation of the event?” or “Why marketing volunteers are needed for Dubai Expo 2020?” can make the content of further research. Likewise, investigating “What are the direct and indirect benefits and advantages of volunteers in marketing for Dubai Expo 2020?” is another significant direction for research. It is also worth investigating “What types of marketing activities can volunteers handle?” in order to have a clear perspective upon the volunteers’ level of involvement in promoting the event.
Stebbins and Graham (52) indicate that although the volunteering seems an altruistic activity, it incorporates multiple benefits for volunteers, such as the opportunity of learning, of participating in exciting programmes, of increasing the professional competencies and of gaining prestige. For volunteering organisations, participating in this event through volunteering in marketing the event is of high interest because they would interact with members of cultures from the entire world, giving them the opportunity to exchange knowledge about the marketing strategies of various countries. In this way, such marketing volunteering organisations could learn “best practices” strategies on marketing from marketing experts from other countries.
Similarly, volunteering in marketing for Dubai Expo 2020 would allow organisations to participate in the organization an event of high proportions, where they would be challenged to face various new marketing approaches to event management and advertising/promotional strategies. They would learn new methods of promoting companies and brands, combining technology, advertising techniques, new media and space optimization. They could learn new unconventional methods for promoting events, brands or programmes, which they could later apply and accommodate to their marketing plans. They could learn new logistical strategies and approaches for maximizing their business efficiency. They could absorb significant knowledge about new business opportunities (which is one of the three sub-themes of the event) and integrate it in their future business plans. They could learn how becoming a sustainable business (optimising water and energy consumption) would generate decreased costs for their businesses and for their clients’ or their partners businesses, as they could propose sustainable solutions to boost their businesses.
Participating as a volunteer in marketing in Expo 2020 would generate long-term competitive advantage for the companies that will approach this opportunity, because they will have the chance to absorb all the novelty in marketing from revolutionary companies. This envisioning could represent an added value for companies that volunteer for Expo 2020 in marketing, which can be emphasized for attracting new business opportunities.
On the other hand, organisations that work with volunteers for marketing the event are directly interested to develop a strong relationship with volunteers, because they will gain dedicated and committed workforce who will not be remunerated as full time employees. Cost reduction is the main advantage of organisations working with volunteers for promoting the event. However, there are other implications that need to be considered, such as the coordination, monitoring, follow-up and evaluation of the volunteers, which makes the issue of interest for organisations.
Why is this issue important and worth investigated?
The issue is important and worth investigated because it will contribute to the progress of global marketing strategies, defining new trends and “must haves” in marketing industry. It is important to research this issue for understanding how marketing organisations can contribute to this world event and how they could come together and redefine the concept of global work efforts.
Volunteering in marketing for Dubai Expo 2020 is an important issue for study because it will indicate to marketing focused organisations how they can boost their competitiveness by participating in the organisation of this event. Likewise, this issue is of high importance for study because it reveals the areas of marketing that can be further improved and modernized from the shared know-how of marketing volunteers and professionals from all over the world.
