Chapter 2
Marketing Through
Sports
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
2-1
©2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved
Sports Marketing Environment
• Two key dimensions
– Products
• Non-sports products
• Sports products
– Integration
• Traditional strategies
• Sports-sponsorship-based strategies
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Non-sports Products
• Examples of non-sports products often
marketed with a sports platform
– Cars
– Beers
– Colas
– Watches
– Fast foods
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Sports Products
• Broad array of products associated with
spectator and participation sports
• Examples
– Tickets to the World Cup Final
– A new golf course
– A logo shirt
– A pay-per-view boxing match
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Traditional Strategies
• Focus on two basic components of any
marketing strategy
– Target market
– Marketing mix (4 Ps)
•
•
•
•
Product
Price
Promotion
Place (Distribution)
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Sports Sponsorship-Based
Strategies
• Marketing products through higher level of
integration: Sports Sponsorship
– Traditional (Coca-Cola & the Olympics)
– Endorsements (Pepsi & Shaquille O’Neal)
– Venue Naming Rights (FedEx Field)
– Licensing (Rival Crock Pots & NASCAR)
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The Sports Marketing
Environment Matrix
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Mainstream Strategies
• Non-sports products using traditional
marketing strategy elements
– Target Market – Ad in Golf for Women
magazine
– Product – Clothing with sports design
– Distribution – Restaurant at sports arena
– Price – Discounts for patrons in uniforms
– Promotion – Ad featuring a sports setting
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Target Market Access
• Segment the market
• Select appropriate target markets
– Identify target market for product reachable
via a sports platform
– Examples:
• Minivan ads featuring kids playing soccer
• Investment company ads featuring potential
investors chatting during a gym workout
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Target Marketing Applications
Using Mainstream Strategies
• Other examples:
– Advertising beer during TV broadcast of a
baseball or rugby game
– Luxury automobile ad featuring golf in its
brochures that promote its cars
– Energy drink ads on billboards along a
marathon race route
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Examples of Product Decisions in
a Mainstream Strategy
• Packaging featuring sports images
• Sports bar showing sports events on TVs
• Hospitality package featuring tickets to a
sports event (e.g., golf packages)
• Credit card company providing special
access to tickets for sports events
• University offering course/degree in sports
marketing
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Examples of Pricing Decisions in a
Mainstream Strategy
• Company offers discounts to venue
operators to have its food or beverage
products sold on site
• Hospitality industry (restaurants & hotels)
provides discount prices for certain
categories of athletes or fans
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Incorporating Promotion Decisions
in a Mainstream Strategy
• Traditional promotional mix components
– Advertising
– Personal selling
– Sales promotion
– Public relations / Publicity
• Excludes sponsorship
– Sponsorship a domain-focused strategy
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Examples of Advertising in
a Mainstream Strategy
•
•
•
•
Advertise during the Super Bowl
Advertise in sports magazines
Advertise on sports talk radio
Advertise on Dorna boards at sports
venues
• Creative aspect of ad featuring actors in
sports setting
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Examples of Personal Selling in
a Mainstream Strategy
• Salesperson providing tickets for a sports
event to customers and prospects
– Possibly ethically problematic
• Conducting business on a golf course
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Examples of Sales Promotion in
a Mainstream Strategy
• Specialty advertising
– Calendar featuring marketer’s logo and a
team’s schedule
• Coupons
– Distributed at game or in package
• Distribute free samples at sports venue
• Consumer expo
– Golf show for public
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Examples of Sales Promotion in
a Mainstream Strategy (cont’d)
• Customer loyalty program
– Credit cards that accumulate benefit points
• Contests
– Chance to win event tickets
• Point-of-Sale (POS) Display
– Supermarket signage featuring sports themes
• Premiums
– Sports-oriented giveaways
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Using Public Relations/Publicity in
a Mainstream Strategy
• Objective of PR is to disseminate positive
publicity through the media
• Examples:
– Aligning with sport for a charitable cause (i.e.,
cause related marketing)
• MLB and breast or prostate cancer awareness
– Press release regarding support of a local
athlete
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Emerging Promotional Tools in a
Mainstream Strategy
• Product Placement
– Product featured in movie or TV program
• Virtual Advertising
– Computer-generated signage on field of play
• Internet
– Advertise on sports web site
• Hospitality
– Staff tent at golf tournament
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Examples of Place Decisions in a
Mainstream Strategy
• Selling non-sports goods and services at a
sports venue
– e.g., foods and beverages
• Selling non-sports goods at a retail store
specializing in sporting goods
– Especially useful for introduction of new
product
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Closing Capsule
• Many marketing efforts for non-sports
product try to influence consumer
purchases by using a sports platform
• Mainstream strategies use traditional
marketing strategy elements–target
markets and the marketing mix–to sell
non-sports products
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