“How to attract 20% more runners to the 2018 Utrecht Marathon compared to the number of runners in 2016” Luke Warnes 1703322 Adam Dalton 1702267 Julius Itjeshorst 1643963 1 Table of Contents External Environment 3 Competitors 3 Internal Organization 4 Marketing mix 4 SWOT Analysis 5 Confrontation Matrix 5 Marathon USP’s 6 Marketing plan 6 Research Survey 6 Problems 7 USP Marathon Website 7 Basic social media accounts 7 Sponsors Social Media Input 7 Solutions: 7 Student Social Media Team 7 Social Media 8 Video Content 8 Local Businesses in Utrecht 8 Benefits: 9 Social Media 9 2 External Environment Analyze the trends and developments in the external environment. Define your analyses in terms of threats and opportunities. 10-20 years ago, male runners dominated marathons and other running event. As of 2012, female runners outnumber their male competitors: 56% was female, 44% was male (Sebor, 2016). Caucasian runners have caught up with runners of African descent. For example, the year after the Boston Marathon attacks, the winner was Meb Keflezighi, an American (Sebor, 2016). Fitness-focused tracking apps have found their way into our lives, eg. RunKeeper, MapMyRun, TomTom, FitBit, Garmin, etc (Sebor, 2016). Running a marathon has become a goal. People start working out and choose a specific marathon which they train for, as part of their training routine. Marathons have become more and more attractive. The New York Marathon and Boston Marathon have a limit on how many runners can enter, due to excessive demand. Another example is the Color Run, where runners complete a 5K run while getting covered in colored powder, after which they join a festival with live music and drinks. (Color Run, 2017) Competitors Direct competitors: ● Rotterdam Marathon, Rotterdam, 8 & 9 of April 2017 ● Dam tot Damloop, Amsterdam, 16 & 17 of September 2017 ● Amsterdam Marathon, Amsterdam, 15 of October 2017 ● Leiden Marathon, Leiden, 20 & 21 of May 2017 ● Midwinter Marathon, Apeldoorn, Indirect competitors: ● Local Gyms ● Other sports/activities on the same day The direct competitors are the 4 biGGest marathons in the Netherlands. Amateur runners often choose 1 or 2 of the 4, as traininG for a marathon takes a lot of time and enerGy. If a runner for example chooses to run the Rotterdam Marathon or Leiden Marathon, they will not run the USP Marathon as well as two marathons in such a short period of time is impossible to do. The indirect competitors are a bit harder to explain, as ‘indirect competition’ means anythinG that people could be doinG instead of traininG and runninG the USP Marathon. This could be GoinG to the Gym on the 19th of March, visitinG your Grandparents or GoinG on a holiday. Indirect competitors are a lot harder to compete against than competinG with direct competitors. 3 Internal Organization The internal orGanization consists almost entirely of volunteers. The head of the orGanization is Arjen de Ruyter, who leads a company called 20Knots. 20Knots was responsible for planninG and executinG the USP Marathon. Below Arjen are numerous coordinators, such as a volunteer coordinator (Sibren), hospitality coordinators, a reGistration coordinator, a ceremonies coordinator, a bag-drop coordinator, loGistic coordinators and more. These coordinators are in charGe of a Group of volunteers, ranGinG from a Group of 10 up to 150 volunteers. These are mostly students from the HoGeschool Utrecht or ROC Midden Nederland. Marketing mix Product: A marathon, with distances of 1km, 1.7km, 5km, 10km, half marathon (21.1km) and full marathon (42.195km). RunninG shirt is optional. Price: 1km - €7, 1.7km - €7, 5km - €12, 10km - €18, half marathon (21.1km) - €27, full marathon (42.195km) - €50. RunninG shirt is €19. Promotion: Place: HeidelberGlaan 7 (VIP buildinG), Uppsalalaan 3 (Olympos Sport Centre), CambridGelaan (start & finish). SWOT Analysis Strengths: ● StronG orGanizational structure ● Yearly event ● Good reviews from runners ● StronG relationship with local authorities & university Weaknesses: ● Dependent on volunteers ● Volunteers don’t feel valued ● Processes are lackinG ● Too much focus on top athletes and ‘VIPs’ Opportunities: ● More information for volunteers ● ExpandinG to different location ● More attention on ‘normal’ runners ● Process development Threats: ● Too much focus on top athletes and ‘VIPs’ ● No volunteers = no marathon ● Too much different teams of volunteers ● Direct competitor 4 Confrontation Matrix A confrontation matrix connects the four dimensions from the SWOT-analysis. Below is the confrontation matrix for the USP marathon. This shows us that there are plenty of opportunities to be worked out in order to make the marathon an even bigger success. Also, it shows that there are quite some weaknesses and threats when it comes to the system of volunteers they use instead of employees. There is no real incentive, so the system may be dangerous. Marathon USP’s We have concluded that the USP Marathon doesn’t have any real USP’s. In relation to its main competitors, there are no points that stand out or makes the USP Marathon better or more special than the marathons in Leiden, Rotterdam or Amsterdam. In order to become more special and Gain specific USP’s, the marathon should keep expandinG as it has been for the last three years and find a way to enGage with a larGer audience, and keep them happy and positive about the marathon afterwards. An example can be to place TV screens beside the runninG course, with personalized messages from family or friends as we have seen in a Sports MarketinG lecture. 5 Marketing plan Research Survey In a study amonGst a Group of 27 students, we found 23 of them believed the entry costs are too expensive for students to afford. 19 of them have not seen any noticeable presence on their social media or around their university. 100% of Groups have not heard or seen and promotional material around the city or in their local gyms. From this, a much larGer focus must be focused on promotion and a more sophisticated marketinG plan must be conducted in order to achieve recoGnition of the event in the city. Problems USP Marathon Website We found that the Website for the USP marathon was very difficult to naviGate. There is a lot of information but it is not easily accessible. The website also was only in Dutch. The marathon is mainly ran by Dutch citizens so this is not a major problem but for any international runners/students it meant the siGn-up process was very difficult and had to be translated usinG GooGle translate. This may not have a huGe effect on the amount of participants joininG the marathon, however may veer an international student or runner to run in the Rotterdam or Amsterdam marathons due to the easier website and siGn up situation involved. Basic social media accounts From investiGatinG the Social Media accounts of the Marathon, we found them to be lackinG in terms of content. We looked at twitter, Facebook, Instagram, snapchat and YouTube. Social Media is a biG part of our lives especially for students and we feel as thouGh the basic content on the existinG social media accounts is not eye catchinG enouGh to draw someone’s attention to siGn up for the marathon. Sponsors Social Media Input Another observation we made was that the sponsors of the event had little to zero posts on their social medias or websites about the USP Marathon. We found this surprisinG considerinG they have donated money to the race but have not decided to reap the benefits of advertisinG alonGside the marathon online. Solutions: Student Social Media Team Students are professionals at social media, therefore we came up with a solution in terms of a social media team. In return for Students runninG the USP Marathons social media pages, the USP Marathon will leave a contact for the students which they would be allowed to use as a Resume or Curriculum Vitae (CV) Reference. The job for the students would mean minimal workinG hours just updatinG all the social media accounts with constant flow of innovative content and posts tarGetinG all audiences to Get involved. This may include runninG competitions online and interactinG with interested people who may have questions about the marathon or how to siGn up. Also, the student social media team would be able to create 6 readymade posts for the sponsors, so that the sponsors of the event will not have to Go out of their way in order to promote the marathon on their social media pages, the team will be able to send them posts that just can just copy and paste onto their social medias to save money and time for the business and create awareness and boost advertisinG of the marathon. Social Media In terms of the content that we believe would really boost the interest in the marathon would be to update all social media accounts with hiGh quality pictures of key landmarks and snippets of the culture around Utrecht that you would see alonG your marathon run. To really Get the people interested in the marathon we came up with a hashtag “#USPMarathon2018” on twitter and Instagram, follower’s supporters and runners can all post pictures related to the marathon under this hashtag. This creates an online community already before the race even beGins. Competitions will be run durinG the 2018 marathon under the hashtag “#USPMarathon2018”. The competition will be split into two cateGories or “Best Runner photo” and “Best Supporter Photo” so we are not just involvinG the runners but also friends and family. The Prize may be free entry to the 2019 Marathon or some free merchandise from the event dependinG on the winner’s choice. After the event, we see it as essential that an After movie is made to celebrate the marathon but also to promote the marathon on all social media platforms.