Chapter 8
Marketing the
Facility and
Events
Chapter Objectives
1. Clearly understand the elements of a
marketing plan
2. Recognize the importance of a welldeveloped marketing strategy and plan
3. Develop an integrated marketing
communications plan
4. Realize the importance of knowing and
building a relationship with the consumer
5. Identify how the unique marketing elements
can influence an event
Introduction
• Organizations, including sport events and facilities,
need customers to survive. To attract and retain those
customers while building demand for a brand, an
organization must:
• Develop a brand that will stick in the mind of
the consumer
• Create awareness about the products and/or
services offered
• Generate a perception in the mind of the
consumer that leads to brand equity and loyalty
• Differentiate the organization and
products/services from the competitor
The Uniqueness of Sport Marketing
• Sport is even more unique than other business fields
and industries for a number of reasons as denoted by
Mullin, Hardy, and Sutton (2007):
– Sport is consumed as it is produced.
– Sport is intangible.
– Sport is emotional, subjective, and heterogeneous.
– Sport is inconsistent and unpredictable.
– The core product is uncontrollable.
– Sport organizations compete and cooperate
simultaneously.
Feasibility
• To develop a strong marketing strategy and formulate
a plan, a facility and/or event must determine what is
feasible.
• A feasibility study provides information for event
directors to:
– Provide quality information to support decisionmaking
– Identify reasons not to proceed (such as risk, cost,
lack of resources, etc.)
– Develop a strong marketing strategy and plan, if
the event is a “go”
– Help establish a vision, mission, and concept for
the event
– Assist in securing funding or other support
Feasibility Assessments
• Assessment of market characteristics,
geographical location factors, and analysis of
financial aspects
• Breakeven analysis
• SWOT analysis
Developing the Marketing Strategy and
Plan
• Mission statement: the purpose of the
organization (or event)
• Vision statement: what the organization
would like to achieve or accomplish
• Event goals and objectives
• Potential product extensions
Segmentation
• Categorizing consumers into smaller clusters or
groups identified by certain characteristics
– Demographics: categorize consumers based on
age, gender, ethnicity, education, income, socioeconomic status, profession, geographic location,
religion, type of sport played, and other such
identifiers
– Psychographics: categorize based on the
consumers’ interests, beliefs, and attitudes
– Media preference and use
– Purchasing behavior
Building the Relationship
• Customer profile: a description of the customer or
set of customer based on their demographic,
psychographic, media preferences, and purchasing
behavior
• The profile gives you:
– Information needed to further develop
relationships
– Information needed to further increase spending
with existing customers
– Uses information gathered from current
consumers to attract new customers
Building the Relationship (cont.)
• In order to build a relationship, organizations
require a means to maintain vital information
on customers.
• Data-based marketing (DBM) software: a
comprehensive system that captures critical
information to enable direct marketing
strategies.
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
systems provide deeper background
information including key relationships,
birthdays, and anniversaries, among other info.
Positioning
• Understanding customer needs and delivering
a product that is perceived as more valuable
and distinctly different.
• Differentiating: positioning the product by
highlighting the important attributes and
benefits.
• To stand out in a highly cluttered sport
marketplace, organizations use a number of
strategies.
Price
• There are a number of philosophies on what
constitutes a fair price.
• Price must cover the cover the cost of the
product and the return to the producer to
compensate for the risk incurred.
• Customers equate price to value and quality.
• Price versus cost.
Place
• Place refers to:
– The location of the sport product (e.g., stadium,
park)
– Where the product is distributed (e.g., online
event registration, event admission sales on-site at
the venue)
– The geographical location of the target market
(e.g., international, national, local)
– Other channels that might be relevant to the sport
product (e.g., media distribution, availability of the
product by season, broadcast)
Promotion
• Promotion is the most visible aspect of the marketing
plan and, in fact, many confuse the two terms
• Marketing versus promotion
• Promotional mix is used to:
– Communicate the desired message and image
about the product
– Create awareness and educate the consumer
– Persuade the consumer to buy the product
Communicating the Message
• An emerging way to harness the synergy across
various marketing tactics to achieve marketing
outcomes is known as integrated marketing
communication (IMC).
• IMC uses a consistent delivery strategy that brand
positioning, personality, and key messaging are
delivered synergistically across every element of
communication.
Digital Marketing
• Guerrilla and viral marketing tactics have grown in an
effort to creatively capture new audiences through
innovation and surprise.
• The objective of guerrilla marketing is to gain large
effects at low expenses.
• Viral marketing uses social networks to increase
brand awareness through self-replicating processes.