STRATEGIC SPORT MARKETING PLAN

Strategic Sport Marketing Plan

Table of Contents

Executive Summary3

Introduction4

Sport Consumer Behavior4

Sport Regulation5

Strategy in Sport6

Organizational Structure7

Human Resource Management7

Sport Culture8

Internationalisation of Professional-Football Brands9

Professional-football brands' perceived equity10

Methodology11

Population and sample13

Findings15

Brand awareness15

The key factors of a powerful professional-sport brand16

Personal and social factors17

Sports Promotion18

Concluding Comments18

References20

Appendix25

Executive Summary

The business sector has long recognized the contribution of marketing planning in the financial success. The sport sector has begun to recognize the usefulness of strategic marketing planning as well. Many sport researchers have argued that without the improvement of strategic marketing planning activities, sport will not survive to the competitive environment of the entertainment industry. The purposes of this study are to examine the strategic marketing planning process of Downtown Soccer Club, and propose a strategic marketing planning process for the sport sector and analyze its various elements. If the sport managers follow the proposed strategic marketing planning process, they will be able to handle the complicated sport business environment and deliver high economic benefits.

Strategic Sport Marketing Plan

Introduction

Sport managers operating within community level sport organizations such as local clubs and associations must be able to provide safe and enjoyable sport participation opportunities. To do this, they manage risks for participants; they design, build, and manage sport facilities; they provide hospitality and support services for players, spectators, volunteers, and officials; they plan, implement, and manage events and competitions; they manage human resources that include volunteers and paid staff; they negotiate with commercial sponsors and government funding agencies for financial support for their organizations; and they identify, train, and educate athletes, coaches, and officials to sustain sporting activities. They also apply management principles in developing and sustaining positive organizational cultures within sport organizations, in regulating the actions of members and organizations involved in sporting endeavors, and in governing their organizations, which have no owners as is the case in the corporate sector.

Sport Consumer Behavior

Sport can stimulate an emotional intensity in its consumers that commercial products are rarely able to stimulate. Sport fans can develop powerful emotional attachments to players, teams, and the sport itself. We know that some followers are so passionate that their interests border on obsession. This addiction provides the emotional glue that binds fans to teams, and maintains loyalty even in the face of on-field failure. We also know, however, that other supporters have a more casual relationship with sport leagues and teams and that their attendance at games can change in response to the likelihood of a close contest, previous wins and losses, the state of the venue, and even the weather.

Sport Regulation

In most industries, it is common for organizations to aspire to put their competitors out of business. This is not habitually the case in sport. In fact, sport organizations competing in leagues rely on the health of their competitors for their own success. Sport is one of the few products or services that benefit from a balance between competitors. In fact, sport leagues profit more at those times when it is difficult to predict who will win a ...