Chapter 1 The Special Nature of Sport Marketing

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The Special Nature of The Special Nature of Sport MarketingSport Marketing

C H A P T E R

Key Ingredients of a Successful Sport Branding Effort

• Stickiness of an idea: How does brand capture fans’ imagination?

• Reach of brand: How far does influence of brand extend?

• Social identity: Do different segments of the population relate to the brand in a personal way?

(continued)

Key Ingredients of a Successful Sport Branding Effort (continued)

Media interest:

Are members of the media captivated in some way by the influence of a brand?

Global Marketing Strategy

• Growth of North American professional sport leagues is a global phenomenon.

• Building sport participation has been a key tool in marketing sport brands on the international stage.

Weathering Recessions

• Sport marketing has been affected by prevailing economic conditions.

• Recessions have a major effect on sport brands:

– The 1990s saw fans decrease identity with major league sports.

– Sport venue construction decreased during the 1990s.

– Significant MLB attendance drops occurred in 2002 and 2009.

– Several major corporate sponsors reduced spending in the early 2000s.

Competitive Marketplace

• Leisure spending on spectator sports has decreased in the United States.

• Expansion of sport entertainment and participation options creates greater marketplace competition.

(continued)

Competitive Marketplace (continued)

Maintaining market share can be difficult for sport products.

Popularity of some sports, such as action sports, is plateauing or declining.

Sport Marketing Defined

• All activities are designed to meet the wants and needs of sport consumers through an exchange process.

• Sport consumers are involved in sport through playing, officiating, watching, listening, reading, and collecting.

Two Major Thrusts of Sport Marketing

1. The marketing of sport products to the sport consumer

2. The marketing of sport and nonsport products through sport

Marketing Myopia• Focus on producing and selling goods and

services rather than on identifying and satisfying the needs and wants of consumers and their markets

• Belief that winning absolves all other sins

• Confusion between promotions and marketing

• Ignorance of competition inside and outside sport

(continued)

Marketing Myopia (continued)

• Short-sighted focus on quick-return price hikes or investments such as sponsorships rather than long-term investments in research and in relationship marketing

• Poor-quality research

• Poor sales and service

• Arrogance and laziness

• Failure to adapt to industry, market, and consumer change

Change in the Sport Marketing Profession

• Sport marketing pioneers paving the way

– Bill Veeck,

– Tex Rickard,

– Mark McCormack,

– Don Canham,

– David Stern

– Assignment: Each panel group will report on selected name given by instructor.

Uniqueness of Sport Marketing

Sport product

Sport marketplace

Sport finance

Sport promotion

Sport Product

• Any bundle or combination of qualities, processes, and capabilities (goods, services, or ideas) that a sport consumer expects will deliver want satisfaction.

• Sport marketers must understand why consumers make consumption decisions.

Figure 1.1

Why Sport Product Is Unique

• (continued)An intangible, ephemeral, experiential, and subjective nature

Strong personal and emotional identification

Simultaneous production and consumption

Why Sport Product Is Unique (continued)

• Dependence on social facilitation

• Inconsistency and unpredictability

• Core product beyond marketers’ control

Why Sport Marketplace Is Unique

Many sport organizations simultaneously compete and cooperate.

Demand tends to fluctuate widely.

Sport has an almost universal appeal and pervades all elements of life.

Why Sport Finance Is Unique

• Pricing the individual sport product unit by traditional job costing is difficult.

• The price of the sport product itself is invariably quite small in comparison with the total cost paid by the consumer.

• Indirect revenues are frequently greater than direct operating revenues.

Why Sport Promotion Is Unique• . Widespread

media exposure is a double-edged sword.

• Media and sponsors emphasize celebrities

THE NATURE OF THE SPORT MARKETING