the difference between European hockey uniforms and NHL

Abstract... a fancy way of saying a summary

Natalie Heltman

Reardon

Sports marketing

The sports industry has changed into a booming business that needs many different branches to make it function as a business. And in order for these teams to function they need people to go to the games and buy merchandise. How does this happen? Not just in Cincinnati but in the bigger picture of the US or even the world sports arenas. Just like any business with time comes change.

At first the whole concept was not even thought of but as the years went on it evolved in to a huge business with sophisticated marketing to go along with it. Red Smith started writing about sports legends, and made them who they are.  Now as in a business marketing scenario the web is becoming huge so is the web in sports. Where ever marketing goes Sports will be right there with them because they are a part of marketing and the global economy.

 The success of a business is on a certain few people and to make the sports world go around they need marketers to sell products and fill stands. There are some very traditional marketing tricks like billboards and commercials but they have also become some of the first to utilize the internets long tail for more exposure like the NHL who has many different countries represented so their players use the web to reach the home land and make NHL a large sport in Europe.

So now with all the information out on marketing, its strategies and how much effort goes into the business it is no wonder why so much of what we see on TV is commercials and why a company is willing to pay big bucks for a time slot And big bucks for the day that it might take to shoot a commercial. Because so much of what we do and buy is affected by marketing.   

the Final paper all 13 pages

Natalie Heltman

Senior Capstone

Sports and Marketing

I. Introduction

Popular thirty second commercials like the Old Spice, Doritos and always popular super bowl commercials take almost an entire day of filming. So why, after an entire day of filming there must be more than a thirty second clip to be published. This is all worth the efforts of pro marketers because during an hour long TV show there are about twenty minuets of commercials this means 40 commercials and 40 marketers taking about 40 days trying to get your attention. So if all that effort and attention goes into one hour of TV ads than there must be some sort of reason for it and the fact that not many Americans know just how much they are affected by marketing. When you tune into the radio or TV marketing is all around with everything from product placement and signs in sports arenas to commercials and infomercials. This is relevant to today's society because marketing effects everyone not just sports marketing. Branding is one of the slyest forms of marketing. My topic is the marketing of sports what goes in to marketing a sport and the products that come out and what are the new tools and how they can be used.

Athletes like Chad OchoCinco and Carey Hart put themselves out in the social media forum. Is this to market themselves or is it also a ploy to market a sport like football and motocross. If we get an insight in to one specific form of marketing we might become more aware of what is around us. In our community we have two major teams and one semi pro team. So this is a big town for sports marketing  with a large fan base. And in order for these teams to function they need people to go to the games and buy merchandise. How dose this happen not only in Cincinnati but in the bigger picture of the US or even the world sports arenas.

II. Relevant Literature

Marketing is dealing with how goods are transferred so sports marketing are how the entertainment of sports gets to the public and the fans. The main studies on marketing are sociological of how people choose goods or how to change the mind set of customers. The literature that I have been reading is pure marketing books and also sports books. The sports books are not just a book on baseball but a book on sponsorship called Athlete's Guide to Sponsorship: How to Find an Individual, Team, or Event Sponsor by Drury, Jennifer E., and Cheri Elliott and the business behind sports over the years called Sports, Inc.: 100 Years of Sports Business : Event Evolution ... by Schaaf, Phil. I have thus far only read a few books on the topic that have to do with sports not being as much sport as it is a business and a way to make money one is Sports Marketing: Competitive Business Strategies for Sports by Brooks, Christine M. Not just an entertainment factor but a money maker. Another book is one that shows all the work that happens to be sponsored and how to throw an event that patrons will buy in to. The book sports Inc gets in to the gritty details of how sports became fan phenomena. Another book I have is Called Marketing by Scott, David Meerman and is a newer book with many resources on social media and how to get to where the customers are looking online. My last book deals with the numbers of sports and it is called Sports Economics: Current Research by Fizel, John, Elizabeth Gustafson, and Lawrence Hadley. Other sources I have used  are the daily twitter updating feed of some local and other sports marketers and social media marketers, this way I have a direct connection to them. I can ask them questions and they answer just like an interview but they are also sometimes miles away. Watching twitter timelines also helps finding new information fast. Marketing is always developing and changing so having a frequently updated site like twitter helps.      

III. Rationale

With this topic of sports marketing I have very little background knowledge. To the contrary I have a basic knowledge on marketing as a whole and how decisions on buying goods are made. Marketing is all around me I see it every where and the products that they are selling are all around me. I chose marketing because I thought it might be interesting to see or at least get a glimpse of the flip side of marketing, or what goes on behind the scenes how the product is advertised and gets delivered. I hope to learn about marketing because I want to be more aware of the marketing and maybe make more informed decisions on buying things. What I want anyone who reads this paper to just be a little more self aware, and maybe help equip them to make more informed decisions. My major question is what goes into marketing a sport? And my secondary question is if sports marketing big in some areas and not in others? Or how a company uses social networking to play a role in marketing? And what are the tricks to marketing today? So how did we make the switch from traditional athletes to extreme athletes? Finally how are sponsors involved in sports, what purpose do they serve?  My thoughts are that my questions are not yet complete and I am not sure if I can get a lot of information on these questions or even have them remotely answered. I came up with these questions because they are what I hope to learn from my research. When I first thought of this project I thought I would be answering questions about the difference between extreme sports and traditional but now I have started reading books on the topic and they have me more interested on the topic of sports marketing as a whole. But based on what I already know I think I have my original question already answered. Originally I thought that I would find a big business that would have a virtual monopoly on sports marketing but I have yet to find that. And also sports’ marketing is a newer concept that is still developing and getting harder to do.

Sports business has been around for over one hundred years yet is now only starting to be written about on an intellectual level. With this becoming a booming business strategies are being placed so that the players no longer have to pay their way to the top being an athlete is their job. This now means that a third party of a sponsor has to come in and pay for these select few people to be a sportsman for a living. In big sports teams the players have individual sponsors along with the franchise having sponsors this along with people attending events leads to the pay check. But why would a company choose to put there name on an athlete or a tem? What is the cost and benefit of this move? Now with advertising being about 249 billion dollars a year and about 2.5 percent of GDP, marketing must be a big part of American culture. So if something intrusive like marketing is such a big deal we should all have a way to equip ourselves to making decisions that are right for us. Sponsorship in sports is when a seller attaches a price to a piece of an event that has some commercial value. Then with this they develop customers and it becomes a cycle of buying and selling a piece of a sport. With sponsor ship the seller and the sport must have an integrated partnership that will give both sides opportunities.   

IV. Research and findings

To market a sport of products related to sports marketers must know their demographics such as who watches and plays this sport (Brooks 9). Once the demographics are figured out than it is easier to get sponsors because you have a slight insight in to what your fans want. For example a product that is heavily advertised during football games are alcoholic beverages. This is because market studies or a set of questions given to the viewers of these event stated that most of the people watching from home buy products that are compliments to what they are watching (Fizel, Gustafson, Hadley 177).With this said advertises set a president that alcoholic beverages are a compliment to football there for making it marketable at events and on TV during events. This is not a one way street; teams also use press given to them by advertisers to promote their own brand (Drury, Elliott 1).  These bonds between advertiser and sport help put up events and stadiums, so that the sport is not just a game. They have become structured corporate business; this is for everything from baseball to snowboarding teams. And that it is not just a game it is a brand athletes like Shaun White and Roger Feder are taking their success and making it a personal brand with hats, Tshirs and pants. Whit this it has all become more sophisticated. The marketing tool is no longer a logo on a jersey but putting that same logo where the eyes will see it and now that is on the internet.   

Demographics rule a marketing plan (Schaaf 175). So a city such as New York is likely to have more sports advertising than a smaller town away from the city, because cost benefit is greater in the city with the huge population than in the small town where they might not get to the game. So yes location dose matter when it comes to print marketing. This means that on a California road you are probably not going to see an advertisement for a Russian stadium. Based not on whom they are advertising for, but because of how many people it is getting to. So an ad on TV only gets to the people who watch but internet gets to almost anyone. With the internet, this means I can get advertising for any sport anywhere I go, all I have to do is type in to my search engine different teams and locations. The internet has been useful for one sport inparticular and that is the NHL. One might ask how hockey is any different from other sports. It is because hockey payers from all around the world come to play hockey in the United States and Canada and on way to connect with the home country is on the internet (Conway).

Some brands are finding that they get more views if they give away products on a social networking site they spend less money than on formal advertisements and they keep customers happy by giving them the chance to win the product. This informal way is just one trick that they have for a lot of eyes to see their brand. With this they save money and time and get peoples attention. When a person sees free items online most pass them up but for some one who wins an item they might be a repeat customer because of their good experience. Marketing is about how to sway some one to choose a certain product and the marketers want them to feel good so they come back (Gilbert).   

There is room for social media in the sports industry. Many teams and player have pages and websites for themselves (Conway). And social networks constantly stream updates of information on games. Fans can even watch events happening a world away. So it is as if you don’t need to be at the game to get the game. But there is always the appeal of going and sitting in the crowed and cheering on your favorite team that no amount of watching at home and a TV or computer will give you. Having all the advertisements, sensory overload and overprices goods there is still the appeal of going to a sporting event.      

The tricks to marketing today are the “long tail of marketing.” The long tail is instead of going out and putting your product in a magazine or on TV. You go after blogs and internet sources. This is all because in the traditional forms you have to find a demographic and target them but on the internet you can see many different people whom might be affected by your campaign. And putting these things on blogs, search engines and news websites there is a constant stream of people passing the word and than buying or passing on your campaign. Another tool is to have a hands off approach let the consumer write there experience and shape the brand to how they want to see it in there own eyes. Create an incentive to using the brand makes it worth the effort just like making the product fast speed and quality should be a priority (Scott 25).

The only way to explain why we as a society have shifted from traditional to nontraditional athletes is by a quote from Marcia Clemmitt saying “That’s a boon for advertisers, who use images of backflipping snowboarders and kayakers navigating Class 5 rapids to sell products from soda and energy drinks to antihistamines. Extreme sports images and tv programming are especially good for capturing advertisers’ highly sought-after “young male” demographic, who are the most likely among us to harbor pent-up desires for adrenaline-pumping thrills, marketing experts say.” So these athletes are being sought after so that young men can be pulled into some sort of marketer’s ad.  

Sponsors are involved in many parts of sports. They have some say in events, athletes and on venues like stadiums and tracks. Sponsorship is also just a general term that means to support another (Dury Elliott 1). Companies can provide support to pro or armature athletes. According to the Athletes guide to sponsorship, for decade’s sports companies have used athletes to enhance marketing. But recently other non sports companies have used the same tactics. And they seem to be paying off because this is the mechanism that sustains the sports industry (Schaff 165).

V. conclusion

And in order for these teams to function they need people to go to the games and buy merchandise. How dose this happen not only in Cincinnati but in the bigger picture of the US or even the world sports arenas. Just like any business with time comes change. At first the whole concept was not even thought of but as the years went on it evolved in to a huge business with sophisticated marketing to go along with it. Now as in a business marketing scenario the web is becoming huge so is the web in sports. Where ever marketing goes Sports will be right there with them because they are a part of marketing and the global economy.  The success of a business is on a certain few people and to make the sports world go around they need marketers to sell products and fill stands. There are some very traditional marketing tricks like billboards and commercials but they have also become some of the first to utilize the internet for more exposure. So now with all the information out on marketing, its strategies and how much effort goes into the business it is no wonder why so much of what we see on TV is commercials and why a company is willing to pay big bucks for a time slot And big bucks for the day that it might take to shoot a commercial. Because so much of what we do and buy is affected by marketing.    

             

Works Cited

Brooks, Christine M. Sports Marketing: Competitive Business Strategies for Sports. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1994. Print.

Clemmitt, Marcia. "What the Athletes Told Me." Web log post. The CQ Researcher Blog. CQ cccccccResearch, 21 May 2009. Web. 17 Apr. 2011. ccccccc<http://cqresearcherblog.blogspot.com/2009/05/what-athletes-told-me.html>.

Conway, Chris. "From Social Media to Traditional Marketing Coke Maintains Its Fizz." Sports and Social Media Marketing Tips. 22 Mar. 2011. Web. 23 Mar. 2011.  <http://www.sportsnetworker.com/2011/03/22/from-social-media-to-traditional-marketing-coke-maintains-its-fizz/>.

                            

Drury, Jennifer E., and Cheri Elliott. The Athlete's Guide to Sponsorship: How to Find an Individual, Team, or Event Sponsor. Boulder, CO: Velo, 1998. Print.

Fizel, John, Elizabeth Gustafson, and Lawrence Hadley. Sports Economics: Current Research. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1999. Print.

Grunau, William. "Social Networking." Online interview. 14 Mar. 2011.

Gilbert, Sarah Jane. "Social Network Marketing: What Works? — HBS Working Knowledge." HBS    Working Knowledge - Faculty Research at Harvard Business School. 27 July 2009. Web. 23 Mar.   2011. <http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/6187.html>.

Schaaf, Phil. Sports, Inc.: 100 Years of Sports Business : Event Evolution ... Amherst, NY: Prometheus, 2004. Print.

Scott, David Meerman. The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use Social Media, Blogs, News Releases, Online Video, & Viral Marketing to Reach Buyers Directly. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2010. Print.

Robbie Paul

Robbie Paul said in the sports business confrence that the generation before him were just rugby palyers. So all they did was play rugby there was no hype around them. His generation are sportsman live breath and eat the sport. but the next gerneration the professional athlete is all of the above plus has aknow how in to how the sport works.

Videos and news

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ofQEbwRWzM Migic Johnson talking about using himself as a sports figure to grow his brand.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAAIYX00EqA Confrence on sports marketing. How should the brand grow. Sports need to be on youtube, that is whre the fans are.
http://sanfrancisco.dbusinessnews.com/shownews.php?articletitle=UHC%20Pro%20Cycling%20and%20Socialarc:%20Valuing%20Sponsorship%20in%20Digital%20&%20Social&newsid=232650&type_news=latest&s=sbcn this says that social media was made for sports social media. Allowing  direct communication.
http://www.longislandpress.com/2011/04/07/lebron-james-signs-deal-with-fenway-sports-marketing/

product ad and athlete promo

 this is a great example of product placement and of self promotion.

Thanks for the twitter interview

I would like to thank Bill Grunau and Sima Dahl for helping me on twitter. The two of them led me to some interesting blogs and thought leaders that would help me write my final capstone paper.

Revised section 3

III. Rationale

With this topic of sports marketing I have very little background knowledge. To the contrary I have a basic knowledge on marketing as a whole and how decisions on buying goods are made. Marketing is all around me I see it every where and the products that they are selling are all around me. I chose marketing because I thought it might be interesting to see or at least get a glimpse of the flip side of marketing, or what goes on behind the scenes how the product is advertised and gets delivered. I hope to learn about marketing because I want to be that weasel marketer who gets you to buy a product that you might not even need but you just have to have it because of when you saw it. What I want anyone who reads this paper to just be a little more self aware, and maybe help equip them to make more informed decisions. My major question is what goes into marketing a sport? And my secondary question is if sports marketing big in some areas and not in others? Or how a company uses social networking to play a role in marketing? And what are the tricks to marketing today? My thoughts are that my questions are not yet complete and I am not sure if I can get a lot of information on these questions. I came up with these questions because they are what I hope to learn from my research. When I first thought of this project I thought I would be answering questions about the difference between extreme sports and traditional but now I have started reading books on the topic and they have me more interested on the topic of sports marketing as a whole. But based on what I already know I think I have my original question already answered. Originally I thought that I would find a big business that would have a virtual monopoly on sports marketing but I have yet to find that. And also sports’ marketing is a newer concept that is still developing and getting harder to do.

Sports business has been around for over one hundred years yet is now only starting to be written about on an intellectual level. With this becoming a booming business strategies are being placed so that the players no longer have to pay their way to the top being an athlete is their job. This now means that a third party of a sponsor has to come in and pay for these select few people to be a sportsman for a living. In big sports teams the players have individual sponsors along with the franchise having sponsors this along with people attending events leads to the pay check. But why would a company choose to put there name on an athlete or a tem? What is the cost and benefit of this move? Now with advertising being about 249 billion dollars a year and about 2.5 percent of GDP, marketing must be a big part of American culture. So if something intrusive like marketing is such a big deal we should all have a way to equip ourselves to making decisions that are right for us. Sponsorship in sports is when a seller attaches a price to a piece of an event that has some commercial value. Then with this they develop customers and it becomes a cycle of buying and selling a piece of a sport. With sponsor ship the seller and the sport must have an integrated partnership that will give both sides opportunities.    

Review of relevant lit.

I have thus far only read a few books on the topic that have to do with sports not being as much sport as it is a business and a way to make money. Not just an entertainment factor but a money maker. another book is one that shows all the work that happens to be sponsored and how to throw an event that patrons will buy in to.

Brief introduction

My topic is the marketing of sports what goes in to marketing a sport and the products that come out. What are the new generation of marketing tools like social media such as face book and twitter. athletes Like Chad OchoCinco and Carey Hart put themselves out in the social media forum. Is this to market themselves or is it also a ply to market a sport like football and motocross. this is relevant to today's society because marketing effects everyone not just sports marketing but branding and in a recent article i read it talked about it used to be put a basketball player on a product and kids will come but no it is put Shawn White on a product and kids will come. So haw did we make the switch from traditional athletes to extreme athletes. In our community we have two major teams and one semi pro team. In order for these teams to function they need people to go to the games and buy merchandise. How dose this happen not only in Cincinnati but in the bigger picture of the US or even the world sports arena.

blog 3

 In this entry you should list any new materials you've found, new research you've done, tweaks made to to your product, etc.  In short, what have you been doing with your time?  And what do you see as your biggest challenges going forward?
With my time I have been reading the books and websites that I have been finding.
The only tweek i have made is that i am going to make my assignmen more abou this blog.
At this point finding experts is the hardest point. There is not just one person who is the almost "perfect" expert.

Key people

Fredrik Carlström Creative advertizing director.

Gary Vaynerchuk one of the best business marketers for sports who is dealing with social networking

Kenny Moscot  Big on marketing your brand or your self as a brand.

Bob Leffler- one of the best sports marketere in the US.

Tom Stewart- works at harvard and teaches marketing/ owns his own firm.
these peole all have to do with marketing and sports. both of them are going to be helpful with my project right now i am not shure who is going to be the most helpful person.

1. What's your subject?  Can you frame your subject in the format suggested by Craft of Research?

Marketing but specificaly the marketing of sports or specific athletes.
I would like to study _Marketing_ because I want to find out _about the business_ in order to see what it takes to market an athlete_.

1. Who knows a lot about your topic?  Who are you going to interview about this?

althetic marketers. athletic markerters

1. You've just joined a peer group.  What is your role in helping this peer group work effectively?

to be a positive influence.

1. Have you thought of a product?  What do you imagine Presentation Night will look like for you?

No, I imagine that it will be awsome.

1. What else do you want to say about the class so far?

um... nothing