SEA - Practical Application of Science Volume I, Issue 1 (1), 2013 Alexandru Lucian MIHAI Faculty: Marketing, Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania SPORT MARKETING MIX STRATEGIES Keywords Sport marketing Marketing mix Market position JEL Classification M31 Abstract This paper presents a brief overview of a significant element of the sport marketing management model called the marketing mix. The marketing mix is crucial because it defines the sport business, and much of the sport marketer’s time is spent on various functions within the marketing mix. The marketing mix is the strategic combination of the product, price, place and promotion elements. These elements are typically called the four Ps of marketing. Decisions and strategies for each are important for the marketer. Information for making educated decisions involving the four Ps comes from the marketing research involving primarily the four Cs - consumer, competitor, company and climate. A critical decision and one of the greatest challenges for the sport business is how to strategically combine the four Ps to best satisfy the consumer, meet company objectives, enhance market position, and enhance competitive advantages. INTRODUCTION The term ‘sport marketing’ was first used in the United States by the Advertising Age in 1978. Since then it has been used to describe a variety of activities associated with sport promotion. 298 SEA - Practical Application of Science Volume I, Issue 1 (1), 2013 Sport marketing is the application of decisions that will enhance the success of the marketing concepts to sport products and sport business. services, and the marketing of non-sport products through an association to sport. Sport SPORT MARKETING MIX marketing therefore has two key features. First, it is the application of general marketing After a sport organisation has divided the practices to sport-related products and services. total market into sub-groups, chosen a Second, it is the marketing of other consumer segment(s) and identified a positioning strategy and industrial products or services through sport. for that segment, they must then develop a Companies in the sport industry have marketing mix for each segment. The marketing plenty of competitors. A sport company today mix is a set of strategies and activities that cover must employ sport marketing as a significant product, price, promotion and place business function to the extent that every facet (distribution). These are commonly referred to of the company is guided by sport marketing as ‘The Four Ps’. The fact that these four concepts. It is the function that guides the sport elements are grouped into a set, or a ‘mix’, is business toward identifying the products that important, because they should be coordinated consumers need or desire, that identifies and together in an integrated fashion. analyzes competitors, that develops pricing At the heart of the decision-making strategies, that develops the promotional process regarding your mix are the research and strategies to be used for the company’s products knowledge gained about the consumer, the in order to get the consumer to the product, and competition, the company, and the climate. All that identifies how to get the product to the factors must be given careful attention. If the consumer. sport marketer ignores one or the other, this The sport marketer must be able to increases the chances of making wrong recognize and analyze business environments, decisions. determine their effects, and make strategic Figure 1: The marketing mix PRODUCT PRICE TARGET MARKET PLACE PROMOTION Source: adapted from Schwarz, E. C.; Hunter, J. D., Advanced Theory and Practice in Sport Marketing, Elsevier’s Science & Technology Department, Oxford, 2008 The centrepiece of a marketing mix is the SPORT PRODUCT product. A product is anything that satisfies a need or wish and is acquired to do so. In relation 299 SEA - Practical Application of Science Volume I, Issue 1 (1), 2013 to sport, two important concepts have order to obtain the product, such as time (e.g. implications for sport marketing. The first is the waiting in a queue) or social costs (e.g. being in core product, defined as the actual game, over an aerobics class with others instead of a one- which the sport marketer has no control. The on-one instruction). sport marketer must be very careful not to over- Price is the factor that is most visible and promise in terms of how good the game will be flexible, especially as a result of sales, discounts, or how well specific athletes may perform. The rebates, and coupons. Creating a strategy for second concept is the importance of product pricing is integral to the success of the sport extensions to the overall marketing effort. It is organization because it has a significant impact here that the marketer can ensure that acceptable on the success of the overall sport marketing levels of quality are achieved. plan. It is easy to think of the word product as In addition, pricing is directly affected by referring to a physical, manufactured item. the external factors including government However, the term product can also refer to regulations, the economic climate, and politics. services, people, places, ideas and the benefits The challenge for the sport marketer is to that a sport organisation offers consumers. Many determine the right price for the consumer. The sport organisations offer a service, such as a price of a product can be manipulated many form of physical activity, entertainment or an ways. Promotional pricing can be used: 2-for-1 experience. There is often no physical product to tickets to the game or 2-for-1 memberships to take away, but a sport organisation might offer the fitness club, special sale prices on sports some intangible benefits such as a lifestyle, a clothing for during a holiday period, special sale social group or even a belief system. The prices on sporting goods equipment for seasonal product can also include design, packaging and sports, or price breaks as the quantity purchased merchandise. increases. There are also long-term price- Packaging the sport product includes planning strategies that the sport marketer can presenting the product in the best possible use. manner to encourage selected target audiences to Sport pricing is complex and critical to the purchase it. Because consumers differ, marketers success of the marketing plan. However, price is must present the product in different ways. one aspect of the marketing plan that may be Packaging the core product of sport (the game or readily changed (i.e., increased or decreased event itself), however, involves communicating slightly). For example, sport organizations often the expectations of the product and providing alter their prices to attract different consumers information before the point of purchase. For (e.g., students may pay a different price for example, sport marketers might package the event tickets than the general public pays). Sport game or event as family entertainment and offer organizations may also change prices according family ticket plans. Or marketers might package to the market environment (e.g., lowering prices sport as a good place to make business contacts during a recession or economic downturn) or the and offer business ticket plans. A sport team’s performance (e.g., increasing prices as a organization that wants to be seen as one that team’s performance dramatically improves). In cares about the community might offer group the final analysis, sport marketers must discount ticket plans for social service and determine how consumers perceive the value of charitable organizations. the product compared with all competing products and use that information to set an SPORT PRICING appropriate price. Additionally, sport marketers should seek to offer consumers a satisfying The price of a product represents what a experience with perceived benefits that surpass consumer relinquishes in exchange for a the personal and financial costs that consumers sporting good or service. A price should also incur. reflect the value of a product. Generally, price is thought of in financial terms, but may include other things that a customer has to give up in 300 SEA - Practical Application of Science Volume I, Issue 1 (1), 2013 SPORT DISTRIBUTION (PLACE) walkways, ramps); have an attractive physical appearance (well maintained and painted); have Place is the process of getting the sport a pleasant, convenient, and functional product to the consumer. It is also called environment (quick and easy access to distribution: distributing the sport product to the concessions, clean restrooms, smoke-free and consumer. The sport marketer will analyze the odour-free environment); and have safe and types of distribution methods available and pleasant surroundings (adequate public safety select those that will deliver the product to the and security personnel, attractive right place. The right place means: where the neighbourhood). consumer is, shops, or will travel. The Wakefield and Blodgett (1996) study Place refers to the location of the sport found that layout accessibility, facility product (stadium, arena), the point of origin for aesthetics, seating comfort, electronic equipment distributing the product (ticket sales at the and displays, and facility cleanliness all have a stadium, sales by a toll-free telephone number, significant influence on how sport fans perceive or internet), the geographic location of the target the quality of the stadium. In turn, the higher this markets (global, national, regional, state, perceived quality of the sportscape, the higher communities, cities), and other channels that are the sport fan’s satisfaction with the sportscape. important to consider regarding whether target If sport fans are more satisfied, they are likely to audiences may access the product (such as time, stay in the stadium for a longer day, season, or month in which a product is period (and spend more money!); also, they are offered, as well as the media distribution outlets likely to return more often.