Chartered Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing (Level 7) 561 – Analysis and Decision Case Study June and September 2014 Association Football with a focus on Liverpool Football Club © The Chartered Institute of Marketing 2014 Page 2 Analysis and Decision – Case Study Important guidance notes for candidates regarding the pre-prepared analysis The examination is designed to assess knowledge and understanding of the Analysis and Decision syllabus, in the context of the relevant case study. The examiners will be marking candidates’ scripts on the basis of the tasks set. Candidates are advised to pay particular attention to the mark allocation on the examination paper and plan their time accordingly. The role is outlined in the Candidate’s Brief and candidates will be required to recommend clear courses of action. Candidates should acquaint themselves thoroughly with the case study and be prepared to follow closely the instructions given to them on the examination day. Candidates are advised not to waste valuable time collecting unnecessary data. The cases are based upon real-life situations and all the information about the chosen organisation is contained within the case study. No useful purpose will therefore be served by contacting companies in the industry and candidates are strictly instructed not to do so as it may cause unnecessary confusion. As in real life, anomalies may be found in the information provided within this case study. Please state any assumptions, where necessary, when answering tasks. The Chartered Institute of Marketing is not in a position to answer queries on case data. Candidates are tested on their overall understanding of the case and its key issues, not on minor details. In preparation for the examination, candidates need to carry out a detailed strategic marketing audit of the case study. The audit allows candidates to demonstrate their ability to: apply the appropriate models and techniques to analyse information on an organisation/sector facing particular circumstances interpret the results of this audit to provide insights into the current situation and the conclusions they are able to draw utilise their own ideas and create their own models for interpreting the data. When compiling their audit, candidates should only use the information found within the case, supported by their knowledge and understanding of the syllabus. Candidates are expected to bring individuality to their audit and submit their own work. In doing so, they must not attach essay-style descriptive work that could be considered as an attempt to gain unfair advantage whilst responding to the examination tasks. The copying of pre-prepared ‘group’ answers, including those written by consultants/tutors, or by any third party, is strictly forbidden and will be penalised by failure. The tasks will demand analysis in the examination itself and individually composed answers are required to pass. Candidates will then need to condense their strategic marketing audit into a SIX page summary (a maximum of six sides of A4, no smaller than font size 11. The content of tables, models or diagrams must be in a minimum of font size 8). The six sides must contain a summary of the audit only. It should not contain decisions, objectives or plans. The audit should be numbered for ease of reference when answering the examination tasks. Although no marks are awarded for the audit itself, candidates will be awarded marks for how the audit is used and referred to in answering the tasks set. Page 3 Candidates are advised not to repeat or copy the audit summary when answering the exam tasks. It is important that candidates refer the examiner to the audit summary, where and when appropriate, when answering the tasks. Candidates must hole-punch and staple their summary audit in the top left hand corner. They should have written their CIM membership number and examination centre name on the top of the right hand corner of each page of the audit. It should then be attached to the answer book on completion of their examination, using the treasury tag provided. Candidates must take their original copy of the case study (not a photocopy) and summary audit into the examination room. The case study may be annotated with ideas for possible decisions or courses of action. Candidates may not attach any other additional information in any format to their answer book. Any attempt to introduce such additional material will result in the candidate’s paper being declared null and void. The Chartered Institute of Marketing reserves the right not to mark any submission that does not comply with these guidelines. Important Notice The following data has been based on real-life organisations, but details have been changed for assessment purposes and do not necessarily reflect current management practices of the industries or the views and opinions of The Chartered Institute of Marketing. Candidates are strictly instructed NOT to contact individuals or organisations mentioned in the case study or any other organisations in the industry. Copies of the case study may be obtained from: The Chartered Institute of Marketing, Moor Hall, Cookham, Berkshire SL6 9QH, UK or may be downloaded from the CIM student website www.cimlearningzone.co.uk. © The Chartered Institute of Marketing 2014. All rights reserved. This assessment, in full or in part, cannot be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of The Chartered Institute of Marketing. Page 4 Candidate brief Scenario You are a self-employed Marketing Consultant who has been hired by Liverpool Football Club (LFC). You have been asked by LFC to undertake a strategic marketing audit to analyse its current market position, brand strategy and key factors impacting success and growth, including consideration of competitive positioning, competitive advantage and value creation. LFC is keen to exploit opportunities in international markets and you have been asked to consider how the organisation can work with its stakeholders to maximise opportunities. Consideration should be given to the organisation’s financial position, its strategic risks, organisation risks and mitigating strategies to overcome risks. Page 5 Index Contents Page Important guidance notes for candidates regarding the pre-prepared analysis 3 Candidate brief 5 Background and introduction 8 History of Liverpool Football Club 11 Key issues in the Football Market 15 Liverpool Football Club Limited 18 LFC Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Initiatives 20 LFC International Markets 21 The Future is Red 23 Page 6 Appendices Contents Page 1 LFC and Warrior announcement 25 2 Chelsea FC: the green team? 25 3 Beer and football: A game of four brands 25 4 Sports sponsorship moves into the fast lane 26 5 Man Utd’s tactics a whole new ball game 26 6 Sponsorship: Associations with football do no harm to marketing 26 7 Fenway Sports Management and LRMR Marketing & Branding 26 Announce a Strategic Business Partnership 8 Has the beautiful game dropped the ball? 27 9 Football clubs offset match-day revenues dip with real-time 27 marketing 10 Capital Expenditure on stadia/facilities, by division, 2001/02-2010/11 28 11 FA Premier League television audience distribution, by continent, 28 2011/12 12 Premiership clubs’ revenues, on-field performance and average 29 attendances, 2011/12 and 2011/12 13 Key financial indicators, Liverpool Football Club, 2005/06-2010/11 29 14 Forecast of English professional football club revenues, 30 2012/13-2017/18 15 Forecast of English professional football club attendances, 30 2012/13-2017/18 16 Frequency of attending live football matches, July 2012 31 17 Liverpool Football Club and Athletic Grounds Limited balance sheet 31 18 Liverpool Football Club and Athletic Grounds Limited profit and loss 32 account 19 Deloitte Football Money League 2011 (top 15) 33 20 Deloitte Football Money League 2012 (top 15) 34 Page 7 Association Football with a focus on Liverpool Football Club Background and Introduction Association football, which is more commonly referred to as simply football or soccer, traces its modern history from the formation of the first Football Association in London, England, in 1863. This formal organisation was motivated by a desire to regulate and standardise the game and hence create an undisputed format that was suitable for a multiple team competition. The Football Association proceeded to draw up the first Laws of the Game, and these laws are the foundation upon which football is played today, all over the world. The Football Association of England became the first official football association in the world, and consequently is now widely known and referred to as simply The FA. The game came to be known as ‘soccer’, drawn from a shortened derivative of ‘association’. The next challenge for The FA was to create a competition that would attract and recruit participant teams under the defined rules and other parameters of the game. A number of competitions were proposed, with little success, until in 1872 The FA Challenge Cup gave birth to the first formally accepted and recognised model. Fifteen clubs entered the first competition in the same year. In the final, watched by around 2,000 paying spectators, a team from London called Wanderers defeated The Royal Engineers by 1 goal to 0 to win The FA Cup. Within a few years, all of the teams in England wanted to take part and were able to do so only after signing up to The FA Codes and Laws of the Game. Because of problems of limited resources, and distance to travel for many teams from around the United Kingdom and Ireland, The Scottish Football Association was formed in 1873, The Football Association of Wales was formed in 1876 and The Irish Football Association was formed in 1880, to organise competitions in the respective countries.