Marketing of Sport, Research Paper Example

Introduction

Sport has always been an indispensible part of human life – even in the times of Antiquity the art of physical training was actively promoted and worshipped in the forms of ancient sculptures and in poems. Since the ancient times the stereotype of people’s health depending on the active life he or she leads was created, and millions of people around the world have become obsessed by different vocations that individually suiting them. Sport has been evolving, so there appeared a huge quantity of kinds of sports that managed to fit the unique statures, states of health, likes and dislikes of those who decided to take up sports.

Although sports has always been popular with the particular parts of population of the Earth who took care about their health and physical state, the true sense of sports and its potential to become a product that can be efficiently sold. Thus, in the modern world of business it has become a regular product that also passes through the stages of development, promotion, culmination of demand and the decline in demand from the side of consumers. These marketing characteristics of sports can be seen in some kinds becoming the worldwide hits and others being neglected, or surviving the second revival in a certain period of time.

Football or basketball matches of major importance are gathering hundreds of thousands of people at the stadiums and millions of spectators near the screens of their TV sets; some fans follow their teams to support them in other countries and create fan clubs that are famous around the world; sports accessories with the brands of famous, favorite teams are profitably sold in sportswear shops. All these facts prove the fact that marketing in sports not only exists – it is actively applied in all spheres of sports, including promotion of sports events, distribution of sports goods and equipment as well as advertising of sports establishments where people can do the sports they like.

Summing up the current situation in sports, it becomes necessary to research the marketing strategies that are applied to promote sports and sports-related goods and services in the business sphere, the tools used to manage customers and to shape their demand etc. To understand marketing in sports, it is important to know how in general it functions, what essential elements are taken into consideration and what issues related to marketing it touches upon. One should know what marketers do to raise demand for certain kinds of sports, how they predict the prospective popularity of particular kinds of events and sports and make financial profits from going in for sports or watching sports. The following literature review will give answers to some of these questions – through the thorough investigation of some significant literary works in the sphere of sports marketing it will be possible to find out what major issues are taken into consideration, how marketers achieve their goals and what indicators they take into consideration while marketing sports.

Sports Marketing Media

Importance and good, constructive influence of marketing on sports has been long ago recognized, so there emerged many periodicals, magazines and journals that are dedicated to the issues relating to sports in the economic paradigm. They investigate the strategies applied by some popular and successful countries, discuss the issues taken into consideration by sports companies when planning the marketing campaigns for their goods, as well as other issues concerning sports and financial aspects connected with them. Attention to marketing in sports has become not only popular, but necessary and effective at the same time. As Riccardo Tafa (2009) notes in his article dedicated to the increasing popularity of sports marketing, it “gives a company the opportunity to leverage on the passion that consumers have for sports”. He also argues that sport is one of the products that can be sold the most effectively because of the main marketing rule – each promotion campaign being targeted at the target consumers. It is obvious that sport has a huge number of customers who like to watch or to go in for sports, thus becoming active customers who spend money on sports.

Sport marketing has its own peculiarities that have to be taken into consideration in order to make the marketing plan like that effective. According to the opinion of Lewitt (1983), the main emphasis in marketing is made on the imagination and creative spirit of marketers who work on promotion of certain products. He states that imagination is the “starting point of success in marketing”, places much importance into the segmentation of the market because, according to his opinion, it is impossible to create a good marketing plan if the creators do not know for whom they do this. Coming to such conclusions outlined by Lewitt (1983), one should remember that creation of a sports marketing program requires such elements as preliminary research for the connection a product and a kind of sports to establish the level of potential success thereof, examination of the market in which the product will be launched, PR and communication channels establishment and creation of a marketing team who will work efficiently on the accomplishment of the marketing goal (Tafa, 2009).

When the theory of creating mass media sources of sports marketing is applied to practice, it is possible to see how much effect it produces through the diverse periodicals and magazines that discuss issues that are critical for the subject and interesting for fans as well as economists connected with the business called sports. There are many periodicals that should be considered in the present work as they provide a very sufficient basis for studying, understanding and working with sports marketing.

The first magazine to be analyzed is the International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing – this journal is published four times a year and is always dedicated to the current issues in the area discussed in the present work. The use and importance of the present periodical is that it can be interesting and helpful for any of the readers in any aspect of theory or practice of sports marketing and management. The language of the publications is more official and academic because the main emphasis is still scientific basis of sports marketing – such types of materials as case studies, business reports, news and calendar of sports events, reviews and empirical research papers are published in it. The International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing covers such topics as extensive research in the sphere of sports technologies, innovation in sports, international sports management, quality management in sports, strategic management in organizations related to sports, economics, marketing, financial management and other issues connected with sports (International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing, 2009).

Another periodical that should be analyzed in the context of the present discussion is Sports Marketing and Sponsorship. The target readers planned for this magazine are in-depth specialists, sports marketing academics who will be interested in the current economic analysis of sports issues. The range of topics covered by this magazine is the following: sports management (economics of sport, cross-border and international activities, management of sporting clubs and associations, management of sporting venues and events, marketing of sports organizations, merchandizing etc.), sports marketing and sponsorship (sponsorship objectives and activation, public relations, promotions, corporate hospitality, advertising, forecasting, pricing strategies etc.), sports law (including intellectual property rights, ambush marketing, contractual issues, licensing etc.) and sports media (sports-casting technologies, rights and ownerships, audiences measurements and targeted advertising) (International Marketing Reports Ltd., 2009). As one can see from the list, the magazine represents a very serious publication that takes into account various aspects of sports marketing, so every specialist taking an active interest in this sphere will find much useful and informative data on any subject.

Another periodical is Cyber-Journal of Sport Marketing – this journal is published in Australia, possesses a convenient digital format and also pertains to the most important theoretical and practical issues connected with sports and sport marketing. It analyzes the current sport marketing events, theoretical research and case studies, provides much sufficient information about the results of studies and activities in the discussed sphere (Pandora Archive, 2009).

European Sport Management Quarterly is one more periodical that discusses many issues relevant to sports and sports marketing and enhances the readers’ understanding of sports from the economic side – the main issues discussed in the periodical is the internal structure of different organizations, the rules to which they subdue in the process of their functioning, the way the sports marketing plans are designed and the nature of mutual impact the society produces on sports, sportsmen and organizations, and the influence they have on customers who are spectators and participants. The interesting peculiarity that helps to expand the range of readers of the journal is that the articles that can be found in the issues of European Sport Management Quarterly are both amateur and specific, written by professionals in the fields of marketing and economics on the whole. The reason for this is that the periodical was initially created by the European Association for Sports Management to reduce the gap between sportsmen and sports organizations and the society, thus creating a journal that would contain enough useful information for those who are seriously interested in sports.

The next journal, the International Journal of Sport Policy, is more concerned about the multi-disciplinary approach to discussing sport policy. Its articles are diverse and multi-dimensional; they are written in different styles and on different topics, thus being not attached to some certain spheres of studies and providing the reader with a much broader vision of the subject (International Journal of Sport Policy, 2009).  The International Sports Law Review is the journal that, in contrast to the latter, concerns a narrower aspect of sport marketing – only legal aspects of this field are discussed in both national and international scale. The journal is produced by a group of law specialists who are knowledgeable about sport legislation and keep track of the new laws and regulations that appear in this field (International Sports Law Review, 2009). Thus, they provide a sound legal basis for everyone connected with the sports issues and who have to be competent in the legal spheres to sustain lawfulness and legitimacy of their actions in sport.

Journal of Sport Management is one more periodical worth considering in the context of discussing sport marketing. Since marketing and management are very closely interconnected, it will be very useful for any researcher, manager or just an interested customer to read the articles that inform the audience about the latest developments and novelties in the sphere of sport management. The task of the periodical is transparent – the professionals working in it are highly concerned about tying the economical theory with practice, namely sports, to ensure the creation of a theoretical and practical basis for implementation of business research and creation of marketing strategies for sport-related companies.

The last journal to be discussed in the present work is Sport Marketing Quarterly – this is a journal that is also directed at the creation of complete, high-quality knowledge of sport management both for professionals in marketing and for academicians who study marketing in sports (Sport Marketing Quarterly, 2009). The essence of the journal is to provide empirical research and theoretical considerations on the topic to give the clear idea of the current situation in the economics of sports and to give guidelines for potential development for those interested in enhancement of sport marketing technologies.

Issues Discussed in Sport Marketing Literature

Since the present work considers sport as a business sphere, it is important to understand that any marketing strategy is chiefly directed at the consumer – it is important for marketers to investigate consumer behavior and to find out the range of possible ways to enhance demand for certain products and shape the demand the way their organization needs. For this reason the majority of sport marketing literature is dedicated to the analysis of consumers and their behavior. In this respect it is relevant to have a look at the book of Kahle (2004) in which the writer attributes much attention to the psychology of marketing communication in shaping marketing of sports. Such issues as consumer behavior, fanatical consumption, engagement of celebrities in advertising campaigns and the effect of such actions are discussed. Besides, the author pays much attention to aggressive and ambush marketing, different approaches to segmenting the consumers in the sport market etc.

Mullin, Hardy and Sutton (2007) also examine the phenomenon of sport marketing in great detail. They first of all mark the specific nature of this type of marketing; discuss the strategic marketing management and peculiarities that arise in the course of studying the sport consumption market and making forecasts about the potential sport consumer behavior (Mullin et al., 2007). They pay much attention to different types of knowledge and research in the field of sport marketing and emphasize the necessity of thorough market segmentation that possesses its own peculiarities. In general, they provide a detailed vision of the whole sport marketing process complete with pricing and merchandizing strategies, promotion procedures, licensing, sales etc. (Mullin et al., 2007).

One more piece of literature dedicated to sport marketing on the whole, its concepts and terminology, is the work of Shank (2004) in which the author also analyses a wide range of sport marketing aspects, facilitating our understanding of the issue and connecting the marketing theory to sports practices naturally and efficiently. Among the issues previously discussed the author describes different contingency approaches to sport marketing and distinguishes both participants and spectators as consumers at whom the sport marketing strategies are directed. Judging from this point, it is clear that different categories of consumers have to be appealed by marketers in a different way (Shank, 2004). In addition, Shank (2004) also enumerates the procedures of implementing and controlling the strategic marketing process.

As it comes from the previous analysis, the issue of managing this set of objectives comes to the fore in the process of establishment of effective sport marketing. This idea is also supported by Watt (2003) in his book dedicated to sports management and administration in which he discusses such issues as the importance of leadership in marketing teams that handle sports products promotion and introduction in the specific market segments. He also analyzes event management, the key role that personal skills, education and training for the success of marketing plans. These ideas voiced by Watt (2003) indicate how important the background of marketers becomes in the changing business world and how only well-trained and specifically educated individuals can create a strong and potentially successful marketing team.

It is clear that sport management is still more directed at fans as major consumers – these are active participants of the sport market who have to be more motivated as the most stable consumer group. Thus, much literature is also dedicated to handling fans as consumers and working out specific marketing strategies to keep them interested in the sport market products. This inference can be found in the article of Shank and Beasley (1998) who discuss the difference between fans and fanatics and stipulate the problem of treating both categories in the sport market, and the research of Bee and Kahle (2006) who summarize the range of actions consumers undertake in the sport market.

Finally, the financial issues related to sports cannot be neglected because of the chief goal of sport management – raising profits through sales and promotion. Here the question of sponsorship comes to the fore. It is explicitly explained in the work of Farrelly, Quester and Burton (1997) who expand the idea of sponsorship beyond the borders of sports and analyze the potential issues of sponsorship in the sport market. Other objectives, purposes and aims of sponsorship have been outlined in the work of Olkkan (2001) about the network approach to sponsorship in the international context. The author arranges his research in the form of a case study, indicating the main characteristics of sponsorship, its conditions, and processes connected with its formation and maintenance etc. The article of Walisser (2003) is also highly helpful in the process of investigating issues of sponsorship and its role in sports marketing. He conducts an extended research in the sphere of sponsorship in sports and evaluates the changes, evolution that occurred with sponsorship within the recent years, stating that sponsorship objectives and areas have recently changed.

And surely no business area can do without the consideration of ethical issues involved in the business process, so sport marketing is no exception. The book of Lumpkin, Stoll and Beller (1999) is completely dedicated to morality and ethical values in sports. The authors argue that sport is an initially immoral sphere of human activity thus investigating the impact of this fact on business spheres connected with sports. The work surely contains much important information on ethics and morality that have to be sustained in the course of marketing sports.

Conclusion

Marketing of sport has obtained key importance in the contemporary reality in which no product survives unless it is efficiently promoted. Sport has also become a product that is, by the way, sold very actively nowadays, which can be seen from the growing popularity of sports events, sportswear and equipment and the growing financial highlights of sports companies. Surely, it is not easy to handle sports marketing strategies and implementing them requires a whole set of skills and competencies that can be obtained only through proper education and training. However, taking into consideration the growing demand for sports and sports-related goods in the context of healthy life promotion, it is possible to say that marketing of sport possesses a huge potential for those who plan to connect their business activity with sports. Complete knowledge and full understanding of the marketing concepts, competences in creation and implementation of marketing plans and strategies as well as experience in all aspects of marketing can obtain a crucial role in the process of sports marketing, which should be realized by the management team of every sports organization. Thus, only through systematic study of marketing-related literature one can obtain a clear idea of what to do to make one’s sports business effectively functioning.

References

Bee, C.C., & Kahle, L.R. (2006). Relationship Marketing in Sports: A Functional Approach. Sport Marketing Quarterly, No.15, pp. 102-110.

Cyber-Journal of Sport Marketing (2009). Pandora: Australia’s Web Archive. Retrieved November 5, 2009, from http://pandora.nla.gov.au/tep/10007

European Sport Management Quarterly (2009). Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group Official Site. Retrieved November 5, 2009, from http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t716100711~db=all

Farrelly, F.J., Quester, P.G., & Burton, R. (1997). Integrating sports sponsorship into the corporate marketing function: an international comparative study. International Marketing Review. Vol.14, Iss.3, pp. 170-182.

International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing (2009). InderScience Publishers. Retrieved November 5, 2009, from http://www.inderscience.com/browse/index.php?journalCODE=ijsmm

International Journal of Sport Policy (2009). Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group Official Site. Retrieved November 5, 2009, from http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t790627367~db=all

International Sports Law Review (2009). Sweet & Maxwell. Retrieved November 5, 2009, from http://www.sweetandmaxwell.co.uk/Catalogue/ProductDetails.aspx ?recordid=369&productid=6753

Journal of Sport Management (2009). Human Kinetics Official Site. Retrieved November 5, 2009, from http://hk.humankinetics.com/JSM/journalAbout.cfm

Kahle, L.R., & Riley, C. (2004). Sports Marketing and Psychology of Marketing Community. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Lewitt, T. (1983). The Marketing Imagination. New York/London: The Free Press.

Lumpkin, A., Stoll, S.K., & Beller, J. (1999). Sports Ethics: Application for Fair Play. McGraw Hill, 214 pp.

Mullin, B.J., Hardy, S., & Sutton, W.A. (2007). Sport Marketing (3^rd ed.). Vol. 13.Human Kinetics.

Olkkonen, R. (2001). Case study: The network approach to international sport sponsorship arrangement. Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, Vol.16, Iss.4, pp. 309-329.

Shank, M.D. (2004). Sports Marketing: a Strategic Perspective. Prentice Hall.

Shank, M.D., & Beasley, F.M. (1998). Fan or Fanatic: Refining a Measure of Sports Involvement. Journal of Sport Behavior, Vol. 21, pp. 435-443.

Sport Marketing Quarterly (2009). International Center for Performance Excellence. Retrieved November 5, 2009, from http://www.fitinfotech.com/smq/smq.tpl

Sports Marketing and Sponsorship (2009). International Marketing Reports, Ltd. Retrieved November 5, 2009, from http://www.imrpublications.com/JSMS/?type=index

Tafa, R. (2009). Why more and more companies are choosing sports marketing. Sports Marketing. Retrieved November 5, 2009, from http://www.topendsports.com/marketing/articles.htm

Walliser, B. (2003). An international review of sponsorship research: extension and update. International Journal of Advertising, No.22, pp. 5-40.

Watt, D.C. (2003). Sports Management and Administration. Routledge, 283 pp.