Sports Marketing, Case Study Example

The sports industry is one of today’s most lucrative sources of income especially for advertisers and producers of particular products that are consumed by the public in accordance with the sports fanaticism they usually are engaged with. Although not everyone is into sports, a relative number of the overall population is. Around the globe, several sports fans are given the chance to fully create a distinct sense of mark on how the whole industry thrives. Football, among all others, is one of the most celebrated sports in an international scale of recognition. In this case discussion and analysis, the Real Madrid Club de Futbol in Spain shall be focused upon in determining the marketing strategies used by the organization in determining the market position that the sports and the company ought to take in the local state of market segmentation it is expected to take into account.

The primary concern on determining its local-market’s worth, it is important to respond to the questions: what is the Real Madrid business model? Is it unique? How does it reflect the special nature of sports marketing? Real Madrid’s business model has basically been changing through the years of its operation. From one president to another, the strategies taken into account by the company particularly embrace what is determined by the trend that sports fans establish in the local market. For instance, the company shifted from marketing the players of the team individually, instead, now the more effective approach has been to market the whole team; establishing a sense of unity that appeals to the market it serves in relation to nationalism and patriarchal culture to which the company is strongly noted for. This strategy reflects the uniqueness of Real Madrid’s approach to competition which attracts the culture of the Spanish community to which it basically hopes to make a good name in.

Who are Real Madrid’s customers? How is the market segmented? For this query, not only is Real Madrid trying to cater to individual fans, but to families who consider sports as one of the main elements that get them together. This way, the market sector influenced by the company could be taken to follow a general trend than a centralized concentration of a particular age and genre.

For the sake of understanding the whole marketing approach, it is important to note who has more power, Real Madrid or the players?  In this case, as the fact-sheet points out, Real Madrid players are given the liberty to work things out, making sure that they make a name on the game; nevertheless, whether they win or not, the company makes sure that every play is worth the penny of every customer. This strategy gives the power of direction of operations to the administration of Real Madrid. The cooperative existence between the administrators and the players create a more definitely determinable sense of market existence for the whole company to fully thrive in co-dependence of existence.

In this strategy, what risks does Real Madrid face? Relatively, while the strategy works now, the teams it is competing with try to create another sense of distinctively understanding what football is all about. In this case, it is important to take note of the fact that Real Madrid is facing the risk of losing to individual fanatics who are of course more willing to spend as they would be spending for themselves alone. The income of most individual sports fanatics are much easily decided upon [for spending] compared to groups such as families and friends to which Real Madrid hopes to appeal to.

In sports marketing, the strategy of getting people’s interest is what makes the system work. While sports itself is interesting, it should be realized that not everyone is able to appreciate it. Getting the attention of those who are not in to sports could be considered as a relative success for marketers. Targeting families, friends and other grouped units in the society is what makes the strategy of Real Madrid work at present; nevertheless, exploring other strategies might be the key behind the company’s success in the business for several years more to come.

Works Cited

Lovelock, Christopher; Reynoso, Javier; D’Andrea, Guillermo; Huete, Luis (2004). Lovelock, Christopher; Reynoso, Javier; D’Andrea, Guillermo; et al., eds. Administración de Servicios [Service’s Administration] (in English) Pearson Educación Times. p. 760.

Beech, John; Chadwick, Simon (2006). Beech, John; Chadwick, Simon, eds. The marketing of Sport. Prentice Hall and Financial Times. p. 592.

Lynn R. Kahle, Angeline G. Close (2011). Consumer Behavior Knowledge for Effective Sports and Event Marketing. New York: Routledge. Business dictionary.com. “Event marketing”.  (October 15, 2015).