Red Sox, Marketing Plan Example

Offering

The main offering of the current marketing plan is the opportunity to join a discounted student scheme for watching Red Sox. The Student 9s program has several features and benefits for the target customer. It offers a price advantage, an experience to share, and a sense of belonging. Apart from the obvious benefit of being able to see the games, there are added values to the offering, such as experience, atmosphere. Overall, based on Maslow’s (1954) hierarchy of Needs, the offering satisfies customers’ following needs: belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. Enjoying a game is closely related to the lifestyle of students, and being able to purchase tickets at a discounted price makes the offering even more valuable.

Target Market

The target market of the campaign will be students on campus who are looking for opportunities to socialize at a low price. The price of a standing ticket set at $9 will be suitable for student budgets. The majority of students who are interested in the games will be those who stay at the city for the weekend due to work commitments or living far away from the college. This means that they will be motivated to socialize and relax. It has also been revealed that the majority of college students receive no or only little financial support from their family, and this means that the target population is highly price-sensitive. The decision to offer standing rooms for students is justified, as young people are willing to compromise on convenience to get a better price. Another important reason for the selection of the target market is to increase the popularity of the games. It has been revealed during the population analysis that students are extremely active on social media, and Generation Y is known for being a community of trend-setters. Therefore, providing a discount for this influential and socially active market segment could result in higher exposure in social media and free word-of-mouth advertising for the events.

Value Proposition

The below section will offer a value proposition for the discounted student ticket scheme of Red Sox Student 9s.

Value Proposition:

Customer value

A chance to see the highly respected Red Sox games, socialize with friends, and enjoy a day out with friends. Student customers can enjoy a youthful, friendly atmosphere.

They will have access to great entertainment and excellent facilities, including food booths and low price buffet food at the Big Concourse (Fenway Park, n.d.). Convenient location to get to by bike, public transport, or car (Red Sox, n.d.) is another important customer value, along with great discounts for students and groups of friends.

Collaborator Value

The corporate partners, of Red Sox, just like the company itself will benefit from greater advertising exposure, and free word-of- mouth advertising. The partners, identified as Coca-Cola, Beats, and Rolex are able to connect with this market segment and increase students’ brand awareness through their presence. Further, apart from billboard advertising, the companies could also choose to have their logo displayed on the tickets purchased by students  (Laja, n.d.).

Collaborators can benefit from increased exposure, word-of-mouth advertising, and deeper emotional connections with fans.

Company Value

The company would be able to increase the awareness of college student Red Sox fans of their branded merchandise, extra services, such as the museum and tour (Rex Sox, n.d.)

Rifkin (1999)  highlights Red Sox and Fenwell’s main strength of being able to connect with fans and branding through extra services. Increasing magazine subscription, promoting branded merchandise popular among college students will be some of the benefits for the company. Further, Red Sox can gain increased social media coverage of the event by student fans.

References

Boston Red Sox. (n.d.) Website. Retrieved from http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/bos/ballpark/index.jsp

Fenway Park. (n.d.) Where everyone knows your name. Retrieved from   http://mlb.mlb.com/bos/fenway-park-living-museum/wekyn.jsp

Laja, P. (n.d.) Useful value proposition examples. Conversion XL. Retrieved from http://conversionxl.com/value-proposition-examples-how-to-create/

 Maslow, A. (1954). Motivation and personality. New York, NY: Harper

Rifkin, G. (1999) How the Boston Red Sox Touch All the branding bases. Strategy-Business Magazine.