Gold Coast Suns Case Study

Psychologically fans at the game are going to be hungry so their mind will be thinking that it needs food, however there are no current incentives at Metricon stadium that encourages them to buy food, apart from the standard banners and advertisements around the ground. A strategy that I would develop to satisfy this psychological need of the fans, would be to delegate some staff to hand out taste testers for the crowd, this would remind them that they are hungry and encourage them to go and buy the actual product.

Engaging fans through personal factors is the best way to promote the brand its also the best way of getting more people to the game, let me explain, a strategy that I would use, would be through social media. I would create a system and advertise, that if you upload a photo via Insatgram or Facebook and # GCsuns you get your image displayed on the big screen at the game. This gives a person excitement and reward but it is also the most valuable form of marketing that the Gold Coast Suns can get. If someone at home sees their friend at the game having a great time on FB or Instagram while they are at home they will think that it looks like fun and encourage them to go in the future. This form of personal advertising is far more effective than any promo event or advert the marketing team could send out to the general public as they now have a personal link.

I would implement an environmental marketing strategy whereby FREE internet for the customers would be available at all times during the game, I would apply WIFI hotspots throughout the whole stadium for strong signal. This would encourage my ‘personal marketing strategy’ that I explained before. This may be an expensive investment but it would ultimately draw larger crowds to the game and create better brand awareness.

I believe that environmental and personal are the only factors that make a person choose between Gold Coast Suns game vs a Gold Coast Titans game. The environmental factors being where the person grew up and went to school and what influences that these environments had on them making a decision to play/follow League or AFL, people are influenced by those around them so if they lived in an area that only had a local league team, and you had to travel a distance to find an AFL club, the individual is going to be more likely to play Rugby League. Also if a person grew up in an environment where their family was rugby league mad they have much higher chance of playing or following league. What a person plays or follows has a strong influence on what game they would watch out of the Titans or the Suns. 

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Nike Case Study

Demonstrate and evaluate the stages involved in the product development, from conception of a product, through the research and development stage, to design, production, promotion and market release

One of the founders of ‘Nike’ Bill Bowerman was a track coach at the University of Oregon in 1971. Nike began when he wanted to make a better running shoe sole for his athletes so he melted rubber onto his wife’s waffle iron. This experiment has changed the world of sport as we see it today. Nike is renowned for its innovative ideas and this is what keeps them as leaders in their industry. The conception of each new product Nike releases starts with an innovative idea, from either a problem people may be facing or a completely new angle that has not been previously explored like Bowerman showed when establishing the company. When conceiving new ideas for running shoes Nike found that when athletes trained with bare feet that over time the athletes feet became stronger, when they returned to track shoes they were faster. So Nike took this information and conceived the idea of a shoe that represented bare foot running without actually running in bare feet, these shoes were named Nike FREE. Nike recommends to have a pair of Nike FREE for training and another pair of purpose built shoes for your chosen sport, this is another way Nike has been able to market and sell this product.

Nike have unbelievable research facilities all around the world but the main Nike Sports Research
Laboratory (NSRL) is located on the Nike campus in Portland, Oregon in the United States of America. The research and development (R&D) centre’s role is to identify the physiological needs of athletes. The NSRL works directly with Nike’s design teams and has established partnerships with major universities throughout Asia, Europe and North America. Nike as a brand put huge emphasis on innovation. At these laboratories is where the ideas are gathered and tested. Nike is constantly looking for new and improved ways to help benefit athletes all around the world with cutting edge technology.

For the Nike FREE shoe production, Nike had to use any materials that could resemble a bare foot. Nike came up with a design that featured an inner sole that allowed the foot to sit naturally inside the shoe, a mesh with holes in it to improve the element of running bare foot, and outer sole that can move and flex as it has many sections that are sliced to once again create that natural bare foot feel.

Nike was aware that it would be hard to get people to buy a new pair of shoes and replace old ones so they marketed them as an extra training shoe. They marketed them to be ‘an additional shoe in your kit bag’ to strengthen your feet and legs and not a replacement of the traditional running shoe. Nike was clever when releasing this product, at the beginning they only released Nike FREE shoes to podiatrists, physiotherapists, and running coaches so it was seen as a form of training equipment before releasing it to the wider market. The campaign Nike launched was called ‘Reincarnate’ it was promoting athletes to use this form of training to discover their true potential. Nike had big names such as Roger Federer, Maria Sharapova, and Cristiano Ronaldo all endorsing the product on a TV commercial that was released to promote the product, this was called ‘power to your feet’.

Understand what is meant by product or brand positioning and analyse market research methods

According to the business dictionary brand positioning is a marketing strategy that aims to make a brand occupy a distinct position, relative to competing brands, in the mind of the customer. Nike applies this strategy by emphasising the unique features of the Nike FREE shoe, the main one being the bare foot feel, through the slits in the outer sole. Once a brand is positioned, it is very difficult to reposition it without destroying its credibility, meaning it would be very difficult for Nike to change customers thoughts on the Nike FREE running shoes from a shoe that’s used to strengthen your foot and give it a bare foot feel, to making them think its an all purpose shoe built for racing.

Identify promotion strategies and their application as they apply to Nike Free and other Nike products.

Nike is such a world-renowned company it can afford to promote its products through the top athletes from around the globe. Nike uses the same promotion strategies for both Nike FREE and other Nike products. The top strategies that Nike implement are TV and commercial advertising with elite athletes, but are also heavily focusing on the website and social media advertising as this is the current trend in society. These promotional activities are applied with extreme attention to detail, Nike has over 1000 employees working on advertising and marketing alone, so there is a huge amount of time and effort put into in this section of the business.

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Lucozade – Product Lifecycle

Background on Lucozade

The original Lucozade, now branded Lucozade Energy, is an energy drink produced by GlaxoSmithKlein in Gloucestershire. It was first manufactured in 1927 by William Owen, a chemist from Newcastle, who experimented for several years to provide a source of energy for those who were sick with common illnesses, like the common cold or influenza. It became available throughout the United Kingdom for use in hospitals under the name Glucozade. This was changed to Lucozade in 1929.

1972

Lucozade was being targeted at all ages and genders, it was implicating that it provides energy and helps deal with young energetic children, and also provides a kick to help with sickness (as shown when the mother gives some Lucozade to her son in bed).

Lucozade was sold in a large bottle as its was being targeted at a whole family, meaning that there was enough for everyone to enjoy, it was almost a hinting at it being a necessary thing to have in a household.

The drink is said to help with tiredness and produce energy for the consumer, it also shows a young boy drinking Lucozade at will, which creates the image that it has a great taste to complement the effects it provides.

The slogan ‘Lucozade aids recovery’ is referring to Lucozade being a recovery aid in term of helping with rehydrating the body and providing electrolytes to create energy for the consumer.

 

Mid 1980’s

The target market has changed, the company has changed its target market from targeting families to targeting the working class man, this is potentially because they see a more profitable opportunity in this area.

Lucozade is looking to be seen as an ‘energy drink’ and be used as a meal replacement. This is shown when the mother yells at her middle aged son saying “Jimmy, I made you some sandwiches”, Jimmy shakes his head in disgust as if to say “why do I need them, I have Lucozade”.

The bottle has shrunk as Lucozade is now targeted at working men for ‘on the go’ use, it would be impractical to carry around a bottle the size of the 1970’s bottles. It has been ergonomically designed to fit into cup holders and large pockets.

The slogan has changed from ‘Lucozade aids recovery’ to ‘The original solution’ because Lucozade it trying to create an image that the drink is a solution to all problems.

Late 1980’s

The 1980’s marketing campaign is targeting athletes. Lucozade has an athletic and strong looking sprinter running for the advertisement to create an image of strength for the target market. The product was sold in a glass bottle with a Cellophane wrap until 1983, when the advertising agency Ogilvy & Marther set about rebranding Lucozade as an energy drink. The rebranding was informed by several breakthrough insights by consumer psychologist Roy Langmaid, who recognised that there was a need to shift the brand’s associations away from illness and towards empowerment. They use the word ‘refreshing’ as an adjective to enhance the product, and make the target market believe that its not only a great sports drink with glucose to provide energy, but is also refreshing and great for after a work out or exertion of physical activity.

‘Glucose’ is mentioned to enhance the product and promote it as a sports drink glucose is actually just sugar, Lucozade uses the word glucose to hide the fact that the drink has a high percentage of sugar and help the image of the brand. Lucozade promote glucose as an energy source.

1990’s

Lucozade have introduced the word ‘Isotonic’, in the 1990’s as not many people were very familiar with this word, they say it balances your body fluids and clenches your thirst fast, these are two very desirable things that would appeal to athletes. In the advert it shows when the football player drinks the Lucozade the blue colour flow throughout the body, and create the image of refreshing the player he then stands up and kick the can into the bin with precision, also adding to the image of a strong athlete.

The packaging has made a dramatic change it now has ‘SPORT’ printed on the packaging as it has focused on this niche market of sport athletes. English and British athletes are also endorsing Lucozade.

Lucozade now use cans as they are cheaper to produce, they are easier to recycle, can be sold in vending machines, and convenient for athletes as they are compact and easy to carry in a sports bag.

2012

The 2012 advert is completely different from the first advert in 1972. This is mainly due to the target market and the use of the drink changing from targeting mothers and children and using it as a form of medical treatment that revitalises and improves health, to being a sports drink that enhances an athletes ability and replenishes athletes needs.

The rebranding of Lucozade was a success, the original packaging was changed to PET (type of plastic) bottling. The effect of the rebranding was dramatic. Between 1984 and 1989, the value of UK sales of the drink tripled to almost $115 million.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzbEHCZwgPE

Strange Merchandise Product #1

The days when it was all about triangular team flag banners, team jerseys, coffee mugs and foam hands that sports enthusiasts would wave around at games to express unwavering team spirit. Oversized T-shirts with silk-screened team logos were also the trend, although they may have been easy to wear and comfortable they were not to be worn outside of the stadiums of the advertised team; definitely not a fashionable item or anything you would wear in mixed company.

These days, sports fans have a larger and more accepted selection of products to choose from to support their favourite teams.

However I will show you some of the strangest items of merchandise that I have come across during my research:

Gold Coast Titans – Coffin

Strange Merchandise Product #2

All Blacks – Mirror Cover

Strange Merchandise Product #3

Manchester United – Rubber Duck

Marketing Myopia

What did you get out of reading this article?

In ‘Marketing Myopia’ many companies and businesses mistakenly have a narrow minded approach to marketing, only considering it as a way of selling their product. Instead, he argued that companies should look at marketing from the consumer’s point of view. For example, a company that sells hiking boots should not define its marketing in terms of sales of hiking boots, but market itself as a company concerned with outdoor exploration and adventure. Levitt believed that products should be viewed as a consequence of marketing rather than marketing being a necessary consequence of a product. Again, the focus should be on filling customer needs through goods and services rather than creating goods and services and then attempting to find customers. A business will showcase marketing myopia when a business views marketing as specifically a way of selling their product, rather than from the standpoint of fulfilling customer needs. If you view marketing from the broader perspective of fulfilling customer needs, you will be able to adapt to changes in the market. On the other hand, if you take the myopic view that marketing is only selling products to customers, your company may die when the product falls out of favor in the marketplace.

What was the result of the railroad industry not defining its industry correctly?

The Railroad industries growth halted as they chose product over customer. This is a result of them defining their industry to be in the railroad business opposed to the transportation business. In other words the industry was focusing on the wrong area, they were concentrating on a product instead of being customer orientated. The article suggests the railroad industry should have targeted developing further in the area of transportation for people and not focusing solely on products, this would have created greater opportunity for a constant expansion of the industry for many years.

In Levitt’s article what did the oil industry continue to do and what was its
consequence?

The oil industry did not look to develop and grow as an industry and look at gas as an alternative, this is a result of all the focus being put on oil, and they only saw gas as a mineral that would deplete the oil industry. Oil companies soon fell behind when some oil executives explored the gas industry by themselves, it is now a multi billion-dollar industry and the way of the future.

What are the implications of this article to sport in general and to sport
marketing industry in particular?

With relation to sport, ‘Marketing Myopia’ has significant relevance. In most cases, if a sport as a product remains the same for a long enough period of time customers will lose interest. The sport must continue to develop as an industry and appeal to the customers to ensure a continual growth. Many sports have evolved through rule changes, some through equipment development, and a few even purely based on entertainment value. Many of these changes are to improve spectators enjoyment of the game,  but the over riding reason being the appeal to customers rather than staying focused on the product (marketing myopia). Look at it this way, rugby union has changed its scrum call from ‘crouch…touch…pause…engage’ to ‘crouch…bind…set’ In the hope that it would speed up the game and create better viewing for the customers watching the game. Also the technology being used in sports like tennis and cricket has been set in place to continue the growth of the two sports, the ‘hawk eye’ systems being used are to reduce human error and create more fair and entertaining games. Cricket is a great example of targeting costumers rather than the product, cricket was doing fine as sport in its test match format, but for this interest to continue they had to keep developing, they did this with the introduction of the one day format (a shortened version of the game). Even still cricket went the extra step and created a game largely focused at customers for entertainment, ‘twenty20’ cricket. It has been a huge success and cricket viewing is at an all time high.

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Marketing Through Sport

Definition:

through Sport is, marketing or advertising a product or service through any particular sport, it could be at a stadium on a billboard, on the players jerseys, or on a tv commercial during a sporting event. The product or service does not have to be related to the sport. This is done to attract the viewers to the product being advertised not the sport being played.

Example 1:

The New Zealand All Blacks rugby team has recently signed an $80m deal with ‘AIG’ that is a global insurance company. AIG said “We didn’t take our search for a new team to sponsor lightly – we wanted to make sure we chose a sport whose values were aligned with our own.” AIG is advertising their company logo on the front of the rugby Jerseys. The All Blacks being the best rugby team in the world, and rugby being a very global sport means that they are watched by millions of people across the globe and they will see this brand on the jerseys even though they have not real link to the sport.

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Example 2:

BMW sponsor the PGA tour, which is a series of golfing tournaments run throughout the year in America. BMW has no relation to golf, but is using the sport to advertise their product. Golf is a sport that has been known to be played by wealthy people all around the world and watched by millions. BMW are high-class expensive machines, this is why they choose to target the sport of golf where there tends to be people with the money to by one of their cars.

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Example 3:

Doritos advertising their product during NFL games. Once again Doritos chips have nothing to do with the sport but because it is watched be millions of people it is a great way to market their product. It is also a time where food may be on peoples mind, and watching the advertisement may encourage the viewers to purchase that product.

Picture:

The advertisement link: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5192E9Pnfo

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Marketing Of Sport

Definition:

Marketing of sport is advertising any particular sport. It is to expand a sport in either fan numbers, player numbers, viewership of the sport, or just general awareness to build interest.

 

Example 1:

Playing a sport in a country where it is non existent or very small to build interest within the public. For example Canada played USA in an international match on New Zealand soil, this was to show a country where the sport was very small what a spectacle it can be, to create numbers, and build interest in a new area.

Link address for more info:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/other-sports/4732130/New-Zealand-to-host-ice-hockey-showdown

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Promotional Poster

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Example 2:

The New Zealand All Blacks promoting rugby in Asia. they played their first game ever in Japan in 2013, and as they are a world renowned team this was a great way to showcase rugby in one of the most populated areas in the world. As a result the whole stadium sold out in a matter of hours.

Link address for more info:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/04/sports/rugby/04iht-rugby04.html?_r=0

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Japan vs New Zealand

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Example 3:

In 2010 the New Zealand cricket team played Sri Lanka in Florida to promote cricket in America. They played series consisting of three T20 games. (the most entertaining of the three formats for a crowd thats not sure what was happening)

Link address for more info:

http://www.blackcaps.co.nz/news/historic-twenty20-series-between-the-blackcaps-and-sri-lanka-announced/6971/article.aspx

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Sport as A Service

 Heterogeneity

Heterogeneity in terms of sport is the unpredictability of the event and the many outcomes that are possible. This can be a good and a bad thing for people, it can create a tense and exciting environment, nonetheless it can create disappointment when the outcome of the product is not in favour of the customer.

Inseparability

Service inseparability is basically states that services are produced and consumed at the same time and can’t be isolated from their providers. Providers can be people or machines.  Further, both the consumer and the provider equally affect the service outcome. Inseparability means that the services provided to the customers can not be separated or detached from the service provider. The employee becomes a part of the service if service employee provides the service. The physical presence of the consumer is a must for service inseparability.

Intangibility

Fundamental Characteristic of services referring to the fact that a service (since it lacks physical existence or form) cannot be seen, smelled, tasted, touched, or stored.

In sport intangibility is the experience when the game or event is over and you cannot take anything from it, once it has happened that is it.

Perishability

A service that has an expiring date and after that date the service cannot be sold. For example a ticket to the RWC final, and after the game is played the ticket is useless, and you cannot keep that exact experience with you.

Simultaneous production and consumption

The production of the product ‘sport’ is during the game and the consumption of the product ‘sport’ is at the same time when people are watching the game. This defines ‘sport’ as a service not a good.

 

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