A Sports marketing plan
Executive summary
Sports organizations may also have
some unique characteristics that separate them from other voluntary sector
organizations in terms of their very clearly determined role, the disciplinary
control over participants and officials, and their need to link and liaise with
other organizations such as district leagues,
national bodies or even international bodies. Such differences mean that it is
often difficult for any sports voluntary group to remain totally autonomous and
independent except for solely recreational organizations. As soon as a higher
level of competition or performance is involved, the body must become very
complex (2003).
It is essential for a sports
organization to have a clearly identified structure probably
hierarchical, where each individual has a clearly identified role to play in
achieving progress for the organization. This type of structure is perhaps a little dated because it
relies on clearly defined levels of management, but it gets things done and
means that people are quite clear as to what they are in the organization to
do. It can be especially useful in spare-time amateur organizations. In essence
a highly structured organization can be quite helpful in that it helps clarify
and delineate individual roles, and allows people to achieve their tasks within the clear structure. It is vitally important
that sports organizations have an open approach to involving everyone who has
something to offer to the sport and its participants. An attitude which
excludes individuals is most inefficient, ineffective, divisive and damaging,
and can create strife within the organization (2003).
The ethos of any sports
organization is a key in the sense that the morals, attitudes and standards it
portrays will be carried right into the games hall or sports field, through its
organizational structures. The absolutely vital necessity for anyone working in
a sports organization or a sports setting is to have a fundamental interest and
an empathy with all the other people involved. It is not necessary to be a
fanatic, and sometimes it is a distinct disadvantage because fanatics can
become blinkered to new ideas and different ways of doing things. It is,
however, quite important that people understand the fanaticism and the love
that people have for a sport so that they can relate to them on a meaningful
level. There are many examples of people trying to come into the leisure scene,
including sport, and telling others how to operate, while clearly not
understanding where the sports volunteer organization or
agency is coming from in terms of interest and commitment. This is a recipe for
disaster, and has proved extremely unsuccessful in a number of situations and
caused a good deal of antagonism and upset within organizations ( 2003).
The paper will create a
sports marketing
plan. This sports marketing
plan will include a Mission
Statement, A market audit & situational analysis, a Justified 1yr and 3yr
marketing objectives , a Viable marketing strategies and
implementation and control systems for the 1st year. After which the other part of
the paper will focus on making a PR plan that intends to include General
objectives for the campaign, Target market definition, specific objectives for
the separate target markets, Identify types of media to be used, Budget
formulation, Implementation plan, including examples of promotional literature
and lastly an Evaluation plan. The information gathered from such will be used
to make a proper conclusion.
Background of the public
sector sports organization
Federation International de Football Association (FIFA)
The Football Association that gave
the rules to what became known as Association Football was founded in London in
October 1863. Two years later the International Board was established to
standardize the rules of the game among
the four nations of the United Kingdom and to set up the Home International
Tournament to be played on an annual basis-the games between Scotland and
England, begun in 1872, would last until 1988. At the turn of the century,
football in Great Britain, particularly in England and Scotland, was so far
ahead of the rest of the world that the authorities in these countries did not
take seriously the growth of the
game elsewhere. This supremacy
was recognized everywhere the
game was played at the turn of
the century. It was perfectly natural, then, that when some ambitious
individuals on the Continent had the idea of setting up a body to oversee the
progress of the game on the international stage, they
should look to the homeland of the game for advice.
This attention was not welcomed and the advice was not forthcoming, but the
enthusiasts from the other side of the Channel went ahead with their plans
anyway. The main force behind what was to become the controlling body of world
football, however, was the French engineer and newspaper man, and they hosted the
inaugural meeting of what became the Federation International de Football Association
(FIFA), in Paris on 21 May 1904 (1999).
FIFA,
the controlling body for football throughout the globe, has an influence in the
sports world that can be matched only by the International Olympic Committee
(IOC). When it was founded in Paris in 1904, it had seven members; today that
number is close to 200, more than the member nations of the United Nations.
The IOC presides over what once were amateur sport and its Olympic Games acts
every four years in tandem with FIFA's showpiece, the World Cup. Much of the
IOC's time is spent gearing up for its quadrennial feast of sport, and it is
only in the bidding for the host city for the games, and the four weeks or so
of the actual games, that it occupies centre stage. FIFA, on the other hand,
presiding over the world's most popular game, has no off-season: the World Cup
may be the climax, but hardly has it been played than other competitions in
each of the six confederations under its control take over; throughout the
world at any one time a league or a cup championship is being played with all
the fury and devotion that see Association Football dominating the sporting
pages and television screens of the media throughout the world. Countries
within each of the confederations controlling specific areas of the globe have
their own autonomy in certain matters, as have the confederations within FIFA,
but it is FIFA that is the ultimate arbiter in all matters concerning the world
game (1999).
Mission Statement
The company wants to make sure that
the rules, laws, and ethical values are maintained in games as well as when
there is no game. The company makes sure that the laws and the rules are well
implemented and followed by the member teams. Through the organization there is
order in the every league that is part of the organization. Through the
organization leagues can be given guidance on what to do on certain situations
and events. FIFA intends to make football a sport that can be played by all
with lesser problems encountered, with enough entertainment gained, and with
appropriate health
benefits achieved thus
making football world renowned and more popular.
Market Audit and Situational Analysis
Market is any established operating
means or exchange for business dealings between buyers and sellers. As opposed
to simple selling, a market implies trade that is transacted with some
regularity and regulation, and in which a certain amount of competition is
involved. The earliest markets in history conducted bartering. After the
introduction of money, commercial codes were developed that ultimately led to
modern national and international enterprise. As production expanded and became
less practical, communications and so-called middlemen came to play an ever
growing role in markets. Types of markets include retail, wholesale or
distributors', producers', raw material, and stock (1998).
A competitive market
system creates incentives for firms to vie for large market shares. Sometimes
one firm is so successful in this fight, it acquires a dominant position in a
market. From the firm's point of view, a large market share is good. After all,
dominance implies power and control. It creates a real potential to increase
profits. From society's point of view, however, dominance may not be quite so
desirable. For the power that goes with dominance can be acquired and used in a
number of ways. While some of these ways may promote economic welfare, others
might reduce it. If the reductions are large and long-lived, people may want to
reconsider whether dominance should be affirmed in all cases (1998). FIFA is
one of the most influential and known sports organization in the world. The
said organization has reach over most football organizations in the world thus
it can reach more people; the market it has is wider in size and different
kinds of people can be reached. The said organization is established and has a
fan base.
Marketing objectives
Marketing management covers the
application of management techniques in the utilization of marketing resources.
It is concerned with the responsibility for planning, organizing, actuating,
and controlling marketing activities. It achieves its aims by establishing
marketing objectives, policies, plans, programs, and standards, allocating
marketing resources, and evaluating the effectiveness of marketing activities
(1971).
For 1 year
To make sure that everything goes well and there is a
specific direction for the company a marketing objective can be used. These
marketing objectives will be divided in two categories one is for 1 year and
another is for 3 years. For 1 year the marketing objectives include the
following.
- Introduce football to people/
countries not knowing it.
- Give the benefits of playing such
sport
- Compare football with other sports
to entice more people to engage in it.
- Relate football to other
activities in life, to some situations in life and its relevance in
everyday living.
- Make football popular not only in
one country but in most countries all over the world.
For 3 years
The marketing objectives can be
obtained in one year if plans are executed properly but its effectivity can
last longer through following it up with a three year marketing objective. For
three years the marketing objectives include.
- Increase the knowledge of football
- Improve the different rules and laws
in the said sport so that people will find it interesting to play.
- Increase the profitability of the
organization so that its services can be improved thus it can improve the
sport.
- Make a study on how people
would like the sport to improve and what the people thinks about the
sport.
- Maintain and then improve the
popularity of the sport.
Viable marketing strategies
Marketing is the process by which a
product or service originates and is then priced, promoted, and distributed to
consumers. In large corporations the principal marketing functions precede the
manufacture of a product. They involve market research and product development,
design, and testing. Marketing concentrates primarily on the buyers, or
consumers. After determining the customers’ needs and desires, marketers
develop strategies that are designed to educate customers about a product’s
most important features, persuade them to buy it, and then to enhance their
satisfaction with the purchase. Where marketing once stopped with the sale, today
businesses believe that it is more profitable to sell to existing customers
than to new ones. As a result, marketing now also involves finding ways to turn
one-time purchasers into lifelong customers. Marketing includes planning,
organizing, directing, and controlling the decision-making regarding product
lines, pricing, promotion, and servicing. In most of these areas marketing has
overall authority; in others, as in product-line development, its function is
primarily advisory. In addition, the marketing department of a business firm is
responsible for the physical distribution of the products, determining the
channels of distribution that will be used, and supervising the profitable flow
of goods from the factory or warehouse (1967).
Marketing is about satisfying
customer wants and needs and in the course of doing so facilitating the
achievement of an organization’s objectives. By paying attention to customer
wants and needs, organizations are more likely to achieve their objectives in
the marketplace. Of course, organizations have to compete with each other and
so also have to satisfy customers’ wants and needs at least as well as their
competitors. Fortunately, organizations can do this in different ways (2000).
Competition involves finding a different way to satisfy customers from other
organizations in the market place. In the pursuit of this end, products and
services need to be seen as more than physical entities. It is the benefits
they offer customers that are being purchased. Competition involves positioning
products and services in the minds of customers in such a way that the products
and services are perceived to be different from one another. Marketing is about
the competitive positioning of products and services in the minds of the customers.
It is also about the communication of messages and images and the means which
are used to convey these messages and images to the customers (2000).
The corporate strategy of an
organization reflects its objectives and goals, and produces the principal
policies and plans for achieving those goals. The corporate strategy normally
defines the nature of the business the organization is to pursue which in turn
has a great bearing on the kind of economic and human organization it needs to
possess. Goals and objectives are usually set within a time framework. Strategy
entails matching the company’s activities to its resource capability. There is
little point in trying to take advantage of some new opportunity if the
resources needed are not available or cannot be made available. An organization
must formulate strategy within the boundaries of the resources that are likely
to be made available. This is a fundamental consideration that must be
addressed when formulating corporate strategy. Strategy is also to do with the
matching of the activities of a company to the environment in which it
operates. Since the environment is continually changing, strategic decisions
necessarily involve coping with change. The extent and speed of environmental
change will vary and the pace at which strategy must change will necessarily
vary too (2000).
Since the company intends to
achieve their objectives they have to make use of strategies to achieve these
goals. One strategy they can make use is to know the people first. By studying
the people, their qualities, likes, dislikes, and characteristics ways to
entice them to play football can be formulated. Another strategy is put the
organization and football as the main focus of marketing advertisements. In
this strategy different methods can be used like Television, newspaper,
magazines, internet advertisements and others. Through such strategy more
people will be informed about the company and the sport. The marketing
strategies can help the company achieve its goal. The marketing strategies will
only be effective if it is being used and done properly. The advertisements
will encourage people to know more about the company and the sport if such
advertisements will be attractive and eye catching.
Implementation
and control systems for the 1st year
Implementation has received
increasing attention as an important determinant of marketing strategy
performance. The implementation of marketing planning, interaction of marketing
personnel with other functional areas, and marketing strategy implementation as
a make or buy choice are exemplars of work in this area. Yet, both conceptual
and empirical work provides little insight into the potential moderating effect
of firm stage of development on implementation (1994). Results from entrepreneurship
research indicate implementation issues are strongly influenced by
organizational characteristics. The reported dominant problems of firms were a
function of the firm's life cycle stage. Marketing problems occurred most in
the firm's growth stage. Marketing is also a commonly reported problem in the
firm's initial development and product/market problems are cited as major
reason for new venture failure. The perception of problems is an important
indicator of implementation issues. Control of marketing systems and strategies
is an important element of implementation. Empirical evidence that control
systems evolve over time within the firm has been reported. A metamorphosis of
marketing control systems was found as firms grew in age and size (1994).
Strategy choice and implementation
are the primary determinants of strategy success. The analysis of strategy
performance over time provides important diagnostic inputs into the development
of strategy choice concepts. The early discussion highlights the importance of
matching the strategy choice with the conditions of the environment and the
organization's skills and resources. The long-term importance of selecting a
sound initial strategy has research support. Several strategy choice guidelines
that offer success potential depending on the type of firm and the stage of
market maturity. It is suggested that small-scale pioneers are the best
performers in embryonic markets, whereas early followers with established
businesses in related markets are the most successful organizational forms in
developing and maturing markets. Small-scale late entrants may also be
successful by occupying narrow market segments in mature markets. Several
research findings and case studies provide support for the strategic framework
(1994).
The marketing strategy
should be slowly initialized and put into action. Rushing its implementation
can bring problems to the company. The marketing strategy could be given
some test run to see what problems come out of it. The test run see what difficulties
may arise, the test run also helps in knowing if the strategy can be effective.
After the test run it should be slowly implemented at the same time
caution on the effects should be made. In implementing the strategy problems
may exist. These problems may be due to different things, with proper
perseverance and quick resolutions made these problems may not be a big thing
for the company. If things go out of hand there should be contingency measures.
These contingency measures are prepared together with the strategy. The
first year of implementation can be the difficult one because it is the
adjustment period, as time goes by things can change for the better.
B. PR plan
Introduction
The PR plan is done to develop a
publicity campaign for FIFA that centers around a special event that must be
developed. The aims of the event include an increased awareness for the
organization on both a local and a regional scale and an increase in long-term
customer revenue and retention for the organization. This can be done through
creating general objectives for the campaign, making a target market
definition, having specific objectives for the separate target markets,
identifying types of media to be used, making budget adjustments, having an
implementation plan, and creating an evaluation plan.
Main Body of the report
General Objectives for the campaign
For the whole campaign different objectives are needed to
achieve for it to be properly guided. These objectives includes
- The campaign should make the company
and the sport popular than ever
- The campaign should bring a renewed
interest in the company through such effect the sport can then attract
interest as well.
- The publicity campaign should make
the company be always remembered by the people.
Target market definition
The target market is divided into
two categories. The first target market is the citizens in a country. These
groups of people are the ones that need to undergo sports activities. The
benefits the sport gives to them can be one that has lasting effect. Another
target market is the students. These students need such sport programs so that
when they grow up they won’t grow up and encounter big problems. The students
would gain better advantage when they engage in such activity not only in terms
of health but in terms of social life and mental being.
Specific objectives for the separate target
markets
For the separate target market of citizens in a country
there are different objectives. These include.
- The campaign should introduce health
consciousness to the citizens of a country.
- The campaign should bring a renewed
interest for sports in the people
- Through the campaign people can
determine the benefits of sports to their health.
- The campaign should give them
renewed ideas on proper characteristics and attitudes they should have.
For the separate target market of students in a country
there are different objectives. These include.
1. The campaign should create a better
habits and lifestyles for the students that they can use until they grow up.
2. The campaign should lead the
students away from vices like gambling, smoking, drinking, drugs and others.
3. The campaign should give the students
proper values that these students can use when they grow up.
4. Through the campaign the students will
grow up to be responsible citizens of their respective country.
Type of media to use
The scope of direct marketing
media is wide. It uses traditional mass media channels, such as television and
print, but also specific techniques such as direct mail, telemarketing,
tele-shopping and mail order selling. Direct mail is material distributed
through the postal system to the customer at his or her home or business
address to promote a product. In telemarketing a direct and verbal interaction
with the individuals of the target group is effectuated. It can be inbound or
outbound (2004). In outbound calling, the marketer takes the initiative to
contact the potential customer. Inbound calls are initiated by someone who
wants to make a complaint, ask for inquiries, participate in a contest or any
other form of sales promotion, or buy a product. Mail order involves the
purchase of a product featured in a catalogue. Direct response advertising is a
message in a traditional mass medium that asks the reader, viewer, or listener
to respond directly to the sender to ask for further information or to buy a
product (2004). The best media to use for such campaign is television. Since
the campaign is a mini league featuring different teams, using television can
help in making sure that people will see the campaign and through such more
people can be interested in playing the game at the same time they will come to
know of the company.
Budget
For the campaign the budget would not be too big. The things that will be spent
upon include the hotel accommodation of the players, officials and media; the
food of these people, the equipments used; the venue used; the commercials to
advertise the event; and other expenditures. This budget could be not a big
waste for the company in the future when the goals and objectives are reached.
Implementation plan
In organizing the campaign the first thing done is the inviting the teams and
players to play in the mini league. After the teams are complete the next thing
that should be given attention is the officials for the games. Afterwards the
venue, the equipments used, the food and lodging is then being put into
consideration. If everything is already in place the next thing done is the
starting the campaign wherein a simple opening and closing ceremony is
prepared. During the games its impact to the observers and the television
viewers is observed.
Evaluation plan
Evaluation of what was implemented is important, it checks if the objectives
were reached. After the campaign has finished the effects can be seen towards
the people. If people talks about the games, wears some of the teams uniforms,
imitates the players moves the campaign is successful. If there is no conversation
about the campaign then the campaign is not effective. Another way to evaluate
the campaign is the increase in the interest in the company and the sport. If
there is increase in the search for information about the game and the company
the campaign is successful.
Conclusion
Sports organizations may also have some unique characteristics that separate
them from other voluntary sector organizations in terms of their very clearly
determined role. The role sports organizations play towards people depends and
its effect to people depend on how well people accept sports programs. One
sport organization is FIFA. This organization intends to make football known to
some countries in the world. Through an effective marketing plan and an
effective PR plan people can have a better understanding of FIFA and its goals
as well as the sport. Through these plans the people can have a better idea on
how to beneficial sports is to them.
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River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. ISBN: 9780132285353
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