The New Orleans
Pelicans Name Change
from Hornets to
Pelicans
Complied By;
Christopher Falzarano, Solomon Fisher-Smith, Jake Katz & Jack Stokes
4/30/2013
Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………
1.1 Product & Service Information…………………………………………………
1.2 Brand Equity Analysis…………………………………………………………
2.0 Organizational Mission Statement…………………………………………………….
3.0 Organizational Goals…………………………………………………………………….
4.0 Market Assessment………………………………………………………………………
4.1 Primary & Secondary Market Research…………………………………………
4.1.1 Complete Market Overview………………………………………….
4.2 SWOT Analysis…………………………………………………………………...
4.2.2 PESTL Analysis………………………………………………………..
4.3 Complete Competitive Analysis…………………………………………………
5.0 Market Selection Decisions……………………………………………………………..
5.1 Market Segmentations…………………………………………………………...
5.2 Target Markets……………………………………………………………………
5.3 Positioning………………………………………………………………………..
6.0 SMART Objective
7.0 Marketing Mix Decisions
7.1 Product……………………………………………………………………………
7.2 Price……………………………………………………………………………….
7.3 Place………………………………………………………………………………...
7.4 Promotion…………………………………………………………………………..
7.5 Public Relations……………………………………………………………………
8.0 Service Decisions
9.0 Technology Enhancements
10.0 Sales
10.1 Sales Management……………………………………………………………….
10.2 Sales Method…………………………………………………………………..
11.0 Legal issues
11.1 Risk Management………………………………………………………………
11.2 Ethical Issues…………………………………………………………………..
12.0 Areas for Increased Revenue
13.0 Financial Analysis
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Executive Summary
The New Orleans Hornets have decided that they will change their team name to the New
Orleans Pelicans for the 2013 season. There were a few other options for this New Orleans team
but in the end the Pelicans were chosen. The Pelican is the state bird and is meant to bring the
community of New Orleans together. The franchise has not been doing so well in the past years
and hopefully this change will revitalize the organization and its fans.
The overall goal is to build brand awareness and to continue reach out to new fans while
still appealing to their current fans. There was market research done to see if this would be a
successful change and to see the potential growth of the company. There was also an analysis of
our organization done to determine its strengths weaknesses opportunities and threats. We broke
down the market into segments and determined which segments would be best to target for
maximum potential.
We then determined what the New Orleans promotion ideas and how we could increase
the awareness of the new team name and logo. With this we developed a sales plan and how
technology could be used to help us reach our goals. There were also sales, income and expense
projections made to see where we think the organization is headed. Overall an analysis of what it
would take to try to successfully change an NBA team name, logo and mascot.
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1.0 Introduction
The New Orleans Hornets franchise has been an NBA franchise since the year 2002. The team
originated in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1985 and was previously known as the Charlotte
Hornets. The Charlotte Hornets were a team who did not contend until the mid-1990 when they
had stars such as Larry Johnson, Alonzo Mourning, Glen Rice, and Baron Davis. In 2002 the
NBA signed a deal that would relocate the hornets franchise to the city of New Orleans. The
hornets were the second team to be relocated after the 2001-2002 season, the other being the
Vancouver Grizzlies (now Memphis). The city of Charlotte would later have a new team called
the Charlotte Bobcats that were brought into the league in 2004.
The first three years of the New Orleans Hornets were not much for remembrance, as
they were consistently injured and not competitive. In 2005 the New Orleans Hornets drafted
Chris Paul, the star point guard out of Wake Forest University with the number 5 overall pick.
This would be a pick that would be remembered for years to come as Chris Paul became one of
the elite point guards in the league and led the hornets back to respectability. Paul led the
Hornets to multiple playoff appearances, but never made it past conference semifinals. Chris
Paul was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers prior to the 2011-2012 season.
The Hornets would end up with the number one overall pick in the 2012 draft and they
chose Naismith player of the year Anthony Davis. During the current 2011-2012 season the
Hornets were purchased by New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson. Benson wanted to make
the Hornets a main attraction in New Orleans as they were when Chris Paul was there.
During the current 2012-2013 season, Benson announced that the franchise’s name would
be changed from the Hornets to the Pelicans. The Pelican is the national bird of Louisiana, and
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Benson wanted the name to be more part of the New Orleans community. Our main focus is to
use this new Pelican name and market it to all of Louisiana as well as around America and
internationally as well. We want the New Orleans community to embrace the Pelicans as they
once did with the hornets when Chris Paul led them to the conference finals.
1.1 Product and Service information
The New Orleans Hornets have decided to change the name of their Franchise to the New
Orleans Pelicans. It is our job to market this new team name and create interest in the team and
the name. We will have to figure out who our competition is, how to beat our competition, and
how to garner more interest in our team. The new logo and team name will be put into use at the
beginning of the 2013-2014 NBA Season. The new logo for the 2013-2014 season can be seen
below.
1.2 Brand Equity Analysis
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The New Orleans Pelicans are part of an ever growing market that is the NBA. The main
target market for the Pelicans is the city of New Orleans. Since the departure of star player Chris
Paul, the New Orleans Hornets have become one of the lesser teams in the western conference.
With the new name change to the Pelicans, there comes a new star face of the franchise. This
new franchise face is Anthony Davis, the first overall pick in the 2012 draft from the University
of Kentucky.
The team looks to rebuild its image with Davis as the centerpiece of the team. Currently,
the New Orleans Hornets (soon to be Pelicans) are not one of the premier teams in the NBA.
The image of the organization is that of one that is in the rebuilding stages. Therefore, they are
not one of the better teams that generate more publicity and revenue. Our goal is to change that.
Forbes Magazine recently did their annual NBA team evaluations that shows their overall value
compared to other teams in the NBA. The Hornets are currently the 27th ranked team in the
NBA with an overall value of $340 million. With a new image and a new face of the Franchise,
the New Orleans Pelicans will be able to move up the ranks and become one of the more
valuable franchises in the NBA.
2.0 Organizational Mission Statement
The New Orleans Hornets (Pelicans) franchise seeks to create and sustain a winning organization
that delivers positive community impact on the New Orleans region through a commitment to
excellence throughout all business and basketball related ventures. We aspire to achieve our
mission above by accentuating the following core values:
Core Values
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Community Activeness
The organization will serve to enhance and remain active in building a better community within
the New Orleans Hornets (Pelicans) region.
Accountable Management
The organization will be proactive in making thorough business and basketball related decisions
which will guide the growth and development of the franchise.
Commitment to Entertainment
The organization will provide superior entertainment to all fans.
Respect Diversity
The organization will actively advocate diversity of all races, religions, genders, and sexual
orientations through the staff and ultimately, fans.
3.0 Organizational Goals
The New Orleans Hornets will become the New Orleans Pelicans after the 2012-2013
season comes to an end. With a new image, come new goals for the franchise to have and new
ways to reach these goals. As previously stated in the Brand Equity Analysis, the New Orleans
Hornets currently rank as the 27th most valuable franchise in the NBA. With their only being 30
teams in the NBA, being 27th means being one of the more “least valuable” teams. We believe
that changing the team name will help boost out attendance rates, help us get more fans, and
become a more valuable franchise.
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When looking back at recent history of teams that either relocated and/or changed their
team names, history seems to be on our side. In the 2007 NBA Team Valuations the Seattle
Supersonics ranked 28th with an overall team value of $269 million and revenue stood at $81
million. After the 2007-2008 season, the Supersonics were relocated to Oklahoma City and
became the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder have grown into one of the young
powerhouse teams in the NBA and has moved up to the 12th most valuable team in the NBA.
When taking a closer look at the numbers, it shows that since the team’s departure from Seattle
almost six years ago, the overall team value has risen from $268 million, to $475 million. Along
with those numbers, the revenue made has risen from $81 million to $127 million, and the
operating income went from $-5.7 million to $29 million.
We believe that if we build and market our team similar to the approach the Thunder took
we can replicate this success and possibly even surpass it. Within the first five years of the
Pelicans being an official franchise we look to become one of the fifteen most valuable
franchises in the NBA and see our fans, team value, and overall revenue increase as well. We
expect to increase our sales both ticket wise and for our team apparel. We also look to broaden
our fans not only across America, but across the globe as well. We are already looking into
playing an overseas game at some point in the near future to market our new image overseas.
4.0 Market Assessment
4.1 Primary and Secondary Market Research:
The city of New Orleans is one of the liveliest cities in America and across the globe.
When researching about the city, there were a few important statistics that needed to be pointed
out. With our main target market in Louisiana being younger people in New Orleans, the United
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States Census shows the population chopped up by demographics. We want to target young
people by the ages of 8-15 and 18-30. According to the Census 21.3% of New Orleans is 18 or
under. These are good numbers to know because it lets us know the amount of people we are
marketing to.
With a new Brand name we want the really young children to develop a rooting interest
for the team early in their lives. If they watch when they are young they will continue to watch
and become loyal fans. With 2.30 persons per household, we look to market to those primarily
who also have children so we can garner interest from them. We also want to help in the
community anyway we can. The census states that the persons below poverty level were at
25.7%. We want to help the New Orleans Community to make that lower and make the
community a brighter place.
4.12 Complete Market Overview
As stated previously, our market is not just the city of New Orleans, but America and the
rest of the world as well. We would like to expand our team across the country and along the
way generate global interest. We have chosen to target more of the younger fans in America,
and overseas target almost all ages. Basketball is not nearly as popular overseas as it is in
America because Soccer (or football in Europe) is the main sport.
We look to not only market our team and image, but also generate more interest in
basketball in general. We are looking to have a game overseas in the future and hopefully, if
successful, make it an annual event for basketball. Marketing to the younger people is key, but it
is also key to market to the middle aged people as well. If middle age people generate more of
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an interest in basketball, there will be a ripple effect on their children, and the people they know
and associate with.
4.2 SWOT Analysis
Strengths
Weaknesses
Location: New Orleans is one the best
Team is not ready to contend, and that will
cities in America and is a great sports
hurt ticket sales and apparel sales
town
The NBA is a very competitive market and
Market: New Orleans is a city full of our
the great teams are the leaders
main target market which is young people
Target market overseas will want have little
Image: Our new image is eye catching and
patience for bad teams
will generate new interest among our
Popularity of basketball in New Orleans.
market
New Orleans is a football town
The Pelicans are part of the growing
market in the NBA
Opportunities
Threats
Market the new Pelicans image to recruit
Other NBA teams in the surrounding Area
a bigger fan base.
(Thunder, Rockets)
New teams/relocated teams have a history
People unwilling to spend money to see the
of success (OKC Thunder, Charlotte
team play
hornets).
Surrounding venues for entertainment around
Have fan card rewards to attract more
New Orleans
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fans and have in game promotions
The Economy: While the economy is not
Use Anthony Davis to market your team
strong less money will be spent on games and
and generate more fans in the league
or apparel
4.22 PESTL Analysis
P.E.S.T.L
POLITICAL
Making sure that the New Orleans Pelicans
organization adheres to the rules and
regulations of the National Basketball
Association (NBA). Also, making sure that
our Image is great by doing various public
relations events such as food drives.
ECONOMICAL
There will be time and effort put into
building the Pelicans into a championship
contender while maintaining balance through
the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement
(CBA). As the team grows, we plan to
maximize profits and the teams overall value
SOCIO – CULTURAL
With a new image comes a new culture. We
want to make the Pelicans culture so fans and
players alike resemble the team. We will
have an organizational culture where we
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embody professionalism, have an open and
enjoyable environment, and look to have the
best satisfaction among our fans.
TECHNOLOGICAL
Technology is changing and advancing at an
almost daily rate. We look to use all the
technology that is accessible to us and use it
to help with fan interaction among their
mobile devices as well as tablets such as an
Ipad. We also look to use new technology to
help scout and evaluate players for the NBA
draft as well as through free agency.
LEGAL
Most specifically follow the government’s
and NBA policy on the scouting and
recruitment of foreign players to your
franchise. Along with this, the team must
make do everything we can do avoid going
over the Luxury Tax given by the current
CBA.
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4.3 Competitive Analysis
Direct Competition:
Normally our direct competition would be an NFL Franchise that is located in the similar
city. The New Orleans Saints could be considered a direct competitor because they are one of
the city of New Orleans biggest attractions as well as one of the premier NFL Franchises.
However, the new owner of the New Orleans Pelicans Tom Benson also happens to beg the
owner of the New Orleans Saints.
One team that can be considered direct competition is the Louisiana State University
(LSU) Football Team. They are only an hour and twenty minute drive from the city of New
Orleans and pose as one of the biggest competitors. They play in the Southeastern Conference
(SEC), which is widely believed to be the best football conference in America. With LSU being
a consistently ranked team every year, their following is enormous. Other competitors are the
Houston Rockets and the San Antonio Spurs. These are the two closest NBA franchises to the
Pelicans. It is our job to make sure that the city of New Orleans embraces the Pelicans team and
does not choose teams that are in close vicinity such as the Rockets or Spurs.
Indirect Competition:
When looking at our indirect competition, there is a good amount of it in the city of New
Orleans. The New Orleans Pelicans want to attract as many fans as possible to the home games
and increase the amount of fans in our fan base. With indirect competition so close to our arena,
it is harder to do these things. Some of our indirect competition is high school sporting events in
the surrounding area, bars and restaurants in the city of New Orleans, and outside events such as
Mardi Gras. We want people to come to our games. We want as many fans as possible and the
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more the team grows into a competitor we expect the fan base to increase dramatically. Right
now, people might rather choose to go watch a high school sporting event if they are a good
team, or if they have a premier player. We want them to choose us instead of the other options.
Bars and Restaurants are part of our competition as well because some fans like to watch
sporting events at a bar with friends. We want them to come to our game rather than watch at a
bar with friends. Outside events can be indirect competition as well. Mardi Gras is an exception
because it is usually the biggest event every year in New Orleans (unless the super bowl is here).
However, sometimes there are big events in the city that people choose to go to. We believe that
with our new image, that we attract these people who choose other areas of entertainment to
come to our games.
5.0 Market Selection Decisions
5.1 Market Segmentation.
The New Orleans Pelicans are wishing to break the market down into two large market
segmentation groups, which they will then pursue more in-depth; discussed later on in the report.
Shank refers to market segmentation as classifying different groups of consumers based on their
common needs (Shank, 1999). Shank goes on to further to say that market segmentation is the
most efficient and effective way of marketing compared to mass marketing, as mass marketing
treats all consumers the same (Shank, 1999). We are segmenting our market up in multiple
different ways, which are as follows; Demographic segmentation which is one of the most
commonly used segments for consumer markets. Demographic segmentation refers to the
following variables age, gender, ethnic background and family lifecycle. We will also be looking
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at using Geographical segmentation, as this can be useful in making comprehensive differences
between local, regional, national and international markets.
The New Orleans Pelicans want to promote the new name change in a positive way. The
Owner of the New Orleans Pelicans, Tom Benson, who is a Louisianan local himself states, “The
nickname Hornets didn't mean anything to this community; the pelican represents New Orleans,
just like the Saints. They have incredible resolve. If they can do that, the team can do the same."
(Fox Sports, 2013). The Brown Pelican is the state bird of Louisiana, this innovative name
change it will give the people of Louisiana a reason to follow the new team. This is where
Geographic market segmentation comes in. We are segmenting the people in the region of
Louisiana and hoping for regionalism to kick and they will identify with the new name change
and there for support this team.
The Pelicans will also dig deeper into the demographical side of market segmentation.
The aim of demographically segmenting the market is to create awareness amongst different age
groups and genders about the new name change and meaning behind the name change.
5.2 Target Markets
Target Marketing is the application of choosing the right target segments which will
allow the most efficient and effective process of obtaining our marketing goals. The pelicans will
have multiple strategic target market plans and goal set, each with a slightly different perspective
on how they want to attack each target audience.
One of the Pelicans target markets is teenagers in the Greater New Orleans community.
We aim to get the young children under the age of 18 involved in the marketing process and
engage them in the brand, as getting the younger audience involved is a key way of reaching out
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to them and getting their support. “21.3% of the population of the New Orleans area is under 18
years of age, and 24.7% of the population in the state of Louisiana is also under 18” (united
states census bureau). The New Orleans Pelicans believe that targeting the younger populations
that we can generate and sustain long term affection of the brand the Pelicans from this audience,
and in the near future receive a boost in season ticket holders to our games in the future.
The New Orleans Pelicans are also targeting the group of people between ages 25-35.
These groups of young adults are out in the workforce earning a living. The idea behind targeting
this group is the potential for this assembly to have grown up in the community and will feel a
sense of ownership and pride to the new name change as it has a deeper meaning to them
compared to that of the old name the New Orleans Hornets. With a previous New Orleans
baseball team being called the Pelicans this older Target group of adults may feel a sense of
belonging and ownership to the name that has already been once associated to the region, and
with the basketball team now adopting that they may feel a sense of wanting to go back and
supporting them. With a large percent of people in New Orleans having children, the Pelicans
have released this and have bought this audience targeting the adults we are in a sense targeting
the previous target market. If the adults get involved they are more likely to get the children
involved and vice versa, producing a forever able turn of season ticket holders.
The Pelicans also believe that by changing their name to an already established name and
a meaningful name that they can grow the brand into a premier brand amongst the competition in
the National Basketball Association. The Pelicans have done research and have evidence to
believe that every team in the competition that has changed their name they have had increase in
wealth in multiple fascist of the company. When you look at team like the Washington wizards
they have had a team wealth increase since the names changes and same with such teams as the
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Oklahoma City Thunder. The wealth of their team has skyrocketed. So through the large push to
target the state of Louisiana we believe that we can grow this team into a wealthy enterprise.
The Pelicans also wish to expand their audience to international markets as well as
national markets. The NBA is one of the fastest globalizing sports in the world and the Pelicans
have realized this and hope to expand their reach internationally.
“At the beginning of the 2010 – 2011 season the NBA’s roster had players from 38
countries outside of the United States which is an increase of almost 100 percent in just under 10
years. In addition the NBA has created and continues to manage its Basketball without boarders
program, a global community outreach program that uses basketball to unite young people in
foreign lands.” (Byon, K. Crow, B. Yosuke, T, 2012)
The NBA also “….broadcasts in 215 countries and 41 languages around the world.”
(Swangard, 2008) with this huge reach from the media into international countries the ability for
the Pelicans to break into the International market is there and easily accessible. The Pelicans
currently have one International player on their roster Greivis Vasquez who hails from
Venezuela. The Pelicans have realized that Venezuelan basketball is an emerging sport with the
national team being selected to participate in its second ever Olympic Games appearance in the
2016 game in Rio (IOC, 2013). The Pelicans player Greivis Vasquez is also a starting shooting
guard for the Venezuelan national team making him a perfect marketing tool to attract attention
to the Pelicans from people within Venezuela. The Pelicans with to make this their first
international market that reach out to, too market the new name change to as they can use
Greivis Vasquez as the poster boy for their marketing campaign in Venezuela. With the success
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of this campaign in Venezuela the Pelicans will look to market in new international areas, and
potentially look to draft players from such areas to help market the team in such foreign regions.
5.3 Positioning
The Pelicans are currently ranked 27th on Forbes NBA team value list with a value of
$340 million dollars. The Value of the team has increase by fifty five million dollars in the past
season according to Forbes. The team went from “$285 million to $340 million from 2011-2012”
(Forbes, 2013) much of this is thanks to the new owner of the Pelicans Tom Benson.
The Pelicans are hoping through the strategic management and new marketing campaigns
they are implementing that the position and the value of the team can be on the increase. They
looked closely how the revenue and position of many other teams who have either moved cities
or changed their names, and all teams have had a positive increase. The Pelicans are seen as a
weak and not well respected team amongst the NBA community, as the team hasn’t been very
good for years. Through the new ownership of the team by a local Louisianan who has pride in
his state a move in the right direction is in order.
Tom Benson owner of The New Orleans Pelicans is hoping by name change that the
position and image of the Pelicans can move up. The Pelicans are hoping to mimic the position
of the Oklahoma City Thunder and how they have gone from the position that the Pelicans are in
now to one of the Premium brands on the NBA. According to Forbes the Oklahoma City
Thunders team value has gone from “$196 million in 2004 to an astonishing $475 million in
2013” (Forbes, 2013). The Pelicans realize that you can’t change your team’s position over night
and know that it is a long term plan, but believe the name change is something local Louisianan
people can relate to and support with pride and no feel embarrassed about it.
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6.0 SMART Objective
The New Orleans Pelicans hope to increase the overall team value by 25% over the next
5 years.
7.0 Marketing Mix Decisions
7.1 Product
In order to implement our strategic marketing plan, the whole process starts with
understanding our product, which is the New Orleans Pelicans professional basketball team.
Branding, quality of our product and product design are all factors we believe contribute to our
overall product. In our case, the new brand for our team is just one of our plans to get the
consumers in stadium seats, and to gain league wide popularity for our newly renovated
team/product. In efforts to create “buzz” among NBA fans, our organization has decided to
change our brand name from the New Orleans Hornets to the New Orleans Pelicans.
The name was chosen because it has been a symbol of Louisiana since the 1800’s and the
pelican is the state bird, leading to the states coined nickname “The Pelican State”. The pelican
is known to be a skilled hunter and loyal protector, possessing speed, precision and
resourcefulness unmatched to any other species. It consists of the qualities needed for any team
to be successful. Even the colors represent the city itself; the primary color being blue represents
the state flag, secondary color gold ties into the city and the other main sharing franchise the
New Orleans Saints, lastly red representing blood and unity shared by the city during Hurricane
Katrina.
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Our rebuilt roster consists of many young athletes with potential to compete among the
best in the league. Players like Anthony Davis and Eric Gordon are key features to our team that
are set to put up numbers. Anthony Davis was a popular player during his years at Duke, and this
could ultimately bring a strong fan base to the franchise. Eric Gordon is an established player
who has been a productive player his whole career. Also with the new team jersey these popular
young players could sell merchandise for our team. Therefore the popularity the team could gain
with a new name, and a new roster consisting of high draft picks could draw in a large crowd
from fans within the city, eventually leading to high profit gained from keeping the team within
in the state.
The product quality that we are providing to the consumers will only get better as our
young players start to develop, and the team starts to gain exposure. New Orleans already has a
successful football team that draws interest from its consumers throughout the country, our
product could see the same interest if the team is competitive among the league’s best and our
marketing mix is implemented in the ways we want it to. An example of a successful team that
changed their brand name, and even relocated is the Oklahoma City Thunder. The New Orleans
Pelicans have the potential to get to that status given the amount of people already in the
surrounding area looking for a reason to come to the
games.
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7.2 Price
Considering that our product is the “new” basketball team in New Orleans, our pricing
strategy is going to be sensitive considering we are in the introductory stage of our products life
cycle. We are still establishing brand awareness, focusing on creating a price to help cover our
promotional costs for advertising the new brand. Our price should be relatively low to gain quick
market share, and since Louisiana is not a wealthy state, keeping a lower price on tickets should
bring fans in to give our product a try, while keeping the old loyal Hornets fans at our games as
well. The (New Orleans) Times- Picayune- the New Orleans Pelicans will cost a lot cheaper to
watch than the Hornets because 13, 598 out of 16,767 seats will cost less, which is translated to
eighty one percent of the seats in the arena.
We are using this pricing strategy because it’s a counter intuitive way that doing what
most teams don’t do. Our organization is going to reduce prices while giving more options. For
current ticket holders, we are establishing an option so that if you are loyal, and love the seat you
currently have you are going to pay less for it, and if you want to spend more money we are
creating options that would entertain those people so that these high paying consumers are
getting exactly what they want for cheaper than previous years.
Our most drastic reductions are placed on the most expensive seats in the arena with
intentions to get fans to purchase our more expensive seats because of the offered discount.
Season ticket price reductions are ranging from a high of $2,124, a discount of 44 percent from
the New Orleans Hornets season ticket price. Each game there is going to be 2,000 or more seats
that will be ten dollars or less. This pricing strategy reaches out to our demographic with
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consideration of the rebuilding process that our city has gone through with the natural disaster of
Hurricane Katrina in recent years.
Another pricing strategy we are going create is the ticket swap programs, where
consumers can swap out tickets to games that they cannot make, rewarding the consumer with
credit so they can purchase tickets to a game they can make. The purpose of this strategy is to try
and get fans into the seats for every game of the season. The main goal of our pricing strategies
is to get the city of New Orleans to buy into the rebranding process of their beloved basketball
team, while filling up the seats at games, selling more merchandise, and most importantly build
our customer loyalty. Offering a quality product for a price that our local fans could afford will
generate exposure, and appeal to our target market leading to more profit for our organization.
7.3 Place
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Since our “new” team is the product being marketed, it is important to consider new
changes to our current playing arena the New Orleans Arena. We plan on bringing on new
renovations to our arena so pelican basketball fans will get an updated facility that will stand tall
next to the most well-known arenas nationwide. The aim of this project is to increase amenities
and attractions primarily toward making the fans experience more pleasurable and
accommodating.
Our renovations had to be approved by Louisiana State, and it did get passed for the next
upcoming NBA season. Renovations that fans will be seeing are new club locations, an internal
bandstand/bar, suite renovations, interior club renovations, as well as the creation of exterior club
space. Also included are expansions to our existing clubs such as the “Capital One Club” and
our most popular “Hub Club.” The most appealing change will be a new grand lobby that will
give the arena an astonishing main entrance it has lacked in the past. This 50 million dollar
project will benefit our players as well, bringing them a new locker room that is more modern,
and also a visiting locker room that will be renovated too. This could also benefit our
organization in the long run by attracting key potential free agents that could lead to giving our
brand more exposure throughout the league.
Another key aspect for rebuilding our arena is to generate revenue with the sharing of the
New Orleans Superdome. Since both of our venues are going to be attached with the new plans
consisting of a bridge connecting the two and Champions Square could bring more revenue
because fan traffic could increase from the 2.2 million people that annually pass through the
Superdome and Champions Square alone. Another reason why renovations to the stadium is so
important is that if we upgrade our arena with the new brand could bring a naming rights sponsor
like the Superdome did.
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Our players, fans and organization will all benefit in the long run if our arena renovations
are successfully implemented with the teams rebranding process. The last marketing strategy
involved with place, is scheduling games for a newly branded teams in other countries like
London. The NBA has recently sent teams overseas to play to gain national exposure, and if the
Pelicans play in other countries it could generate interest to our team for new NBA fans around
the world. Fans in other countries will be picking a favorite team without any bias, so our New
Orleans Pelicans could be a landing spot for these fans.
7.4 Promotion
In order to get the exposure needed for our product to be successful the use of several
promotions are key to getting fans in the seats and satisfied. Since social media has been so
popular among people, it would make sense to use social media sites like twitter, instagram, and
Facebook to get the New Orleans Pelicans logo and team on the map. Some ways we can do this
is by having a ticket lottery on Facebook and the 1,000th user to like the post will win VIP tickets
to one of our newly renovated clubs in our arena.
Using a site like instagram to post the pictures of our progress with stadium renovations
will give our loyal fans what they want to see from their favorite basketball organization.
Another way we can use instagram is by posting pictures of our new logos, team jerseys, and
new important acquisitions to our roster. Twitter can be used by having our players interact with
our fans, and ask the fans questions about what they want the New Orleans Pelicans to do
differently to make their experience at our games satisfying to their standards. Creating a new
website for our team, which is more interactive with fans, will help us gain exposure, and also
help get our new brand name out there to all NBA fans worldwide.
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Locally, we would like to post ticket advertising and billboards of our rising stars to reach
out to our fans within the state. Also to attract the whole state of Louisiana to become aware of
the new team name and the arena, tri-state commercials could be an effective way to get the
exposure to fill up the seats. Since we want to reward the fans that actually come to our games,
in game promotions such as a half court shooting contest and a three point shooting contest will
bring a family like atmosphere to our games while satisfying our consumer by awarding them
with free merchandise or upcoming tickets to games. The use of promotions geared towards
basketball fans in the United States is our main goal, but since new technologies have been
introduced and adopted in recent years, social media websites such as the one listed above will
also allow us to interact with fans around the world.
7.5 Public Relations
Maintaining mutually beneficial relationships between our organization and the publics in which
we depend on is our main goal in the area of public relations. Positive relationships with the
NBA and other corporations that we have had dealt with in the past, along with our employees,
athletes and everyone inside the organization can be done if we execute our goals. Community
involvement is a big way we could strengthen our organizations public relations.
The idea of an “Annual New Orleans Pelicans Community Day” where our players will
interact with fans down bourbon street, and we will host the event with activities for basketball
loving families from anywhere in Louisiana that decides to come down. Having scheduled
basketball games where our players will wear a charity patch on the jersey will show the league,
and basketball fans that we are an organization that does not only want to benefit ourselves, but
the whole community our team revolves around. In these efforts we will have a positive image
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for our new brand, and this may gain interest from other sponsors to establish a relationship with
our new team.
8.0 Service Decisions
Service quality consists of physical, interactive and corporate dimensions. Physically, our
product is a sporting entertainment event that consumers buy tickets for to enjoy the aspect of
competitiveness that the NBA brings to the table. Since, we are in the process of obtaining player
personnel that will allow our team to be competitive will help our organization keep the
consumers coming from season to season. Our new physical facilities that will now be available
to our future consumers, is another part that we used to consider to keep the quality of our
product at the top. Interactive quality will be kept successful by our hiring process of stadium
employees, so that the two-way flow of information between our organization and consumers.
Evaluating these potential employees by asking them several questions about dealing
with all types of people will help make sure we have “people friendly” workers at our venue, and
within our organization. Dimensions of service quality within our employees such as reliability,
assurance, empathy, and responsiveness are needed to be guaranteed before presenting our
product to the public. Another way in which we can make sure that our employees are helping
consumers is by having the fans who attend the first couple of games fill out a questionnaire
about their experience at the game, and direct telephone calls to season ticket holders could
maintain a positive relationship, and let the consumers know our organization cares about its
fans.
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9.0 New Technology
The Internet is the most rapidly changing environment that we need to consider,
especially when it comes to sports. In order to keep up with the changing times, the use of the
internet to allow fans to watch games from miles away. A fan that creates a log in account with
our organizations official website will be able to watch up to 10 games for free, and once the ten
day trial is up they can purchase a season package for a relatively low cost. This could boost up
profits while allowing the fans to watch each and every game even if they cannot watch it live.
Several MLB teams have use the “Player Tracker” which allows fans to get updates on their
computer even when they are at work, when their favorite player is up to bat, and what they did
in the at bat.
Bringing this to our online viewing package is a way to get basketball fans that are not
necessarily rooting for our team to visit the site, resulting in brand exposure. Tickets being
available online and a system of a New Orleans Pelicans fan ticket exchange site will keep the
fans coming to our games, even if they purchased a ticket that they suddenly cannot attend. This
is beneficial for our organization and the fan because they are not losing out on money, and the
seat that is supposed to be empty will be filled with a fan trying to make that certain game. Our
arena will be equipped with the most updated means of technology creating the ultimate fan
experience while being at the game.
Free Wi-Fi will be another technology used, so our fans can visit our site while at the
game, and get updates from around the league on what other teams are doing so they don’t miss
a beat. Since people are always on cellphones Wi-Fi will also allow us to use in game
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promotions at the game via the internet to keep the fans involved, and rely the statistical
information they desire at all times.
10.0 Sales
10.1 Sales Management.
The New Orleans Pelicans plans on using multiple different key performance indicators
to help us effectively evaluate our sales success. The four key performance indicators that the
Pelicans are planning on using are as follows.
1. New customer attainment, through season ticket holders
2. Demographic analysis of customers outside of Louisiana.
3. Status of existing customers, renewal of season tickets.
4. Revenue generated from merchandise sales.
The reason behind the choice of the previously listed key performance indicators is that the
New Orleans Pelicans believe these performance indicators are ideal to measure against the
SMART objective and goals that they have set forth for them to go forward and grow as an
organisation and a business. The Pelicans realise that the key performance indicators depend on a
good understanding of what is important to the organization
10.2 Sales Method
The New Orleans Pelicans methods of sales are fairly basic to start with for the
emergence of the new name change. The Pelicans plan of doing a large amount of advertising to
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create exposure of the new name changes, as advertising is the quickest and most cost effective
way of getting the word across to a large audience.
Price premiums are another sales method that the Pelicans are looking to exploit. The
Pelicans are looking at offering such things as a complementary bobble head doll of Anthony
Davis and a free Pelicans cap with the renewal of season tickets for the 2013 – 2014 season.
There will also be premiums for new people who sign up for season tickets they will receive a
free cap in exchange for becoming season ticket holders. The Pelicans believe it is a small
incentive that can increase the sales and exposure of the new name change and the start of a new
beginning for the club.
The Pelicans are also looking at doing media scheduling also to create awareness of the
new products. The Pelicans are looking at have a pulsing schedule which will mean there will
always be some sort of media attention, but the attention will increase a couple days before a
home game and on game day and then die right down after the game has been played or if there
is no home game that week.
10.3 Customer Relations Plan
The New Orleans Pelicans are committed to providing a professional, high quality and efficient
service to clients, stakeholders and the general public.
The Customer Relations Plan covers the following topics:
• Tickets
• Refunds/Exchanges
• Player Pass List
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• Child Supervision/Child Tickets
• Lost or Stolen Possessions
• Prohibited Items
• Right to Ejection
• Fan Conduct
• Emergency Information
•Contact Us
Tickets
Tickets to any Pelicans game or even operated by the New Orleans Pelicans can be purchased in
advanced online through our website nba.com/pelicans or by phoning Ticketmaster directly or on
their website ticketmaster.com. Tickets can be purchased on the day of the game at the box office
located out the front of the stadium. The box office is open 2 hours prior to the game in order for
people to purchase last minute tickets.
Refunds/Exchanges
The New Orleans Pelicans has a no refund or exchange policy.
Child Supervision/Child Tickets
Children under the age of 10 are required to be accompanied by an adult at all times when they
are inside the New Orleans Arena. The ticketholder accepts all risks and dangers associated to
the event, where occurring prior to or during the actual game for both themselves and their child
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upon entry into the New Orleans Arena. The New Orleans Pelicans are not responsible for any
injuries that may occur during you visit to the arena. All Children that are over the age of 5 are
required to purchase a ticket, in order to gain entry to the arena.
Lost or Stolen Possessions
The New Orleans Pelicans are not held responsible for any lost or stolen items whilst inside the
New Orleans Arena, or at any event that is associated with the New Orleans Pelicans.
Prohibited Items
The following list of items is band from entry into The New Orleans Arena;
• Clothing containing vulgar language
• Umbrellas
• Firearms, weapons, or explosives
• Alcohol or tobacco
• Outside food or drink
• Artificial noisemakers (whistles, horns, cowbells, etc.)
• Containers/coolers
• Flags or poles
• Inappropriate or abusive signs
• Fireworks
• Pepper spray/mace
• Large bags
• Absolutely no pets
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• Laser pointers
• Any item deemed by management to be dangerous or inappropriate
Right to Ejection
The New Orleans Pelican and New Orleans Arena staff reserve the right to remove a person from
the arena for the following reasons;
• Intoxicated
• Abusive Behavior
• Inappropriate language
• Fighting
• Entering the field of play
Fan Conduct
In order for The New Orleans Pelicans to provide the best environment for spectators, please be
respectful of the other spectators that will be seated around you. If deemed to be not following
the above guidelines, this will result in ejection the arena.
Emergency Information
In case of an emergency during a game please contact the nearest staff member associated with
either the Pelicans or the arena it’s self. In the event that you’re unable to contact a staff member,
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please get to the nearest safety phones which are located strategically around the arena, pick up
and you will be in touch with a staff member.
Contact Us
Please feel free to contact the staff of the New Orleans Pelicans for any further questions or
comments that you may have in regards to our customer relations plan. You can contact the
Pelicans staff directly at 1300 PELICAN (735-4226). You may also email the Pelicans at
customerrelations@pelicans.com
11.0 Legal Issues
Prior to Tom Benson owning the New Orleans Hornets the NBA purchased the struggling
team from then owner George Shinn. Since Benson has taken over the team has been
continuously improving and gaining support. With the immediate improvements and potential
for growth commissioner David Stern was fully supportive of changing the teams name from the
Hornets to the Pelicans.
For the name changing process to begin it must first be discussed and approved by the
NBA, and then the team can move on from there. The process for changing names usually takes
two years in order for the trademark protections fillings to go through, logo and merchandise
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design and re-branding to take place. Once all of this is in place the team can then officially
announce of its name change and start building a new strong fan base from there.
11.1 Risk Management
There are several risks involved in changing the team name from the Hornets to the
Pelicans. One is loss of the current loyal fans who do not agree with the team changing its name.
The Pelican brand may not be as strong as it is predicted to be, which could lead to the loss of
assets spent on rebranding the image of New Orleans basketball. The expenses incurred from the
changing of the team name and mascot might set back the team financially, possibly effecting
ticket prices.
To prevent the loss of current fans we would need to explain to them why we are
changing the name of the team and how it benefits the community and hopefully they appreciate
our efforts. Secondly we could run promotional events that free apparel and tickets would be
given away. To combat a weak brand, this just means we would have to approach our brand
marketing different. Maybe we are targeting the wrong segments or using the wrong strategy to
build our brand image. We would have to reevaluate we was done and with diligence
determination and dedication make our brand the New Orleans Pelicans a successful one. The
expenses accumulated from promoting and building our brand image we can try to reduce. Using
the “get the most bang for your buck” motto, we would use the most effective and cheapest ways
to market our brand, build brand awareness, and build a stronger image.
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11.2 Ethical Issues
Going back to 2010 the Gulf of Mexico oil spill devastated the area and the images of
pelicans covered in oil were shocking and unbelievable. Still recovering from that and Hurricane
Katrina that took place in 2005 the pelican symbolizes the determination and resiliency of the
state and city to continue fighting and rebuilding. The pelican is the state bird of Louisiana and
was chosen to represent culture and a sense of community throughout the city of New Orleans.
The pelican will also serve as symbol for a healthy habitat, and will provide the centerpiece for a
program of healthy living, exercise and education to that of protecting, saving and restoring our
coastal wetlands and wildlife
12.0 Areas for Incremental Revenue
With the creation of a new logo and brand image this means that all of the old
merchandise and apparel will be irrelevant, which opens up and area for incremental revenue.
This also means that current fans of New Orleans would potentially have to buy the new
merchandise and apparel with the new Pelican logo. There is also the possibility of new fans that
like the logo or just want to buy the Pelican apparel because it’s a new team. This would be a
large increase in sales for the first few months, because no one has Pelican apparel and it would
be a hot commodity.
Comparisons can be made to the Brooklyn Nets who relocated from New Jersey to
Brooklyn and changed their logo and color scheme. In the first two days of releasing apparel (not
including jerseys) the Brooklyn Nets Sold more than ten times the total sales volume that the
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New Jersey Nets sold the previous year. We hope to have that same success with the New
Orleans Pelican apparel.
13.0 Financial Analysis
Sales Projections
Year
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
Tickets
20.4M
19.9M
16.4M
18.7M
20.2M
21.5M
22M
We plan to increase in ticket sales over the next few years and this chart shows our
projections. They are based off of the number of wins from the previous season and how we plan
to do the following season. Since we plan to be a winning organization we hope that this drives
up attendance in turn increasing ticket sales. In the later year if we are still doing well like we
intend to be we can slightly raise the price increasing profits.
Income Projections
Year
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
Income
95M
100M
109M
100M
110M
108M
109M
The income projections are based off of the number of tickets sales combined with
stadium revenue and apparel sales. The reason for the large increase from 2013 to 2014 is that
we believe that we will make a large amount of income off apparel and merchandise sales. Also
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like stated before we plan to be a winning organization and that is also another reason for the
continued growth that we hope to see.
Expenses Projections
year
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
expenses
68M
74M
73M
59M
65M
68M
70M
The expenses projections are based on the salaries of players and staff along with the
costs to the stadium. We expect expenses to increase over the new few years because of the
increase cost of advertising and marketing the brand image. Also salaries will most likely
continue to rise.
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Appendix

United States Census Bureau, retrieve from
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/22/2255000.html

Swangard, P. (2008) Executive interview with Heidi Ueberroth. International Journal of
Sport Finance, 3 (4), 185 – 188. Van Gelder, S. (2004, September) Global Brand
Strategy. Brand Management, 12 (1), 39 – 48. Wann, D.L. & Branscombe, N.R.

Crow, Brian R., Kevin K. Byon, and Tsuji Yosuke. "International Sport
Marketing."International Sport Management. Champaign, IL: Human Kinectics, 2012.
399-400

"New Orleans Hornets." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, Retrieved from
http://www.forbes.com/teams/new-orleans-hornets/

Olympic Organization Committee, Retrieved from http://www.olympic.org/ioc

Shank, Matthew D. Sports Marketing: A Strategic Perspective. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice Hall, 1999.

"Hornets Changing Name to Pelicans." FOX Sports. Retrieved from
http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/new-orleans-hornets-name-change-pelicans-012313

-http://www.hornets247.com/2013/03/07/pros-and-cons-2013-2014-pelicans-seasonticket-holder-changes

- http://www.nba.com/pelicans/new-orleans-pelicans-logos-unveiled

http://www.nola.com/hornets/index.ssf/2013/02/new_orleans_hornets_unveil_are.html

http://www.forbes.com/teams/oklahoma-city-thunder/

http://hornets.wiki.usfca.edu/Mission+Statement

http://www.forbes.com/teams/oklahoma-city-thunder/
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
http://www.forbes.com/teams/oklahoma-city-thunder/

http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/22/2255000.html
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