Sports Marketing Proposal by Becca Morrow

STRATEGIC MARKETING PROPOSAL MKTG 4870 | DR. STUART FALL 2013 MEGHAN BROWN | MATT DEBARY TRAVIS MEEKS | BECCA MORROW BOBBY SCHWARZ

Atlantic Sun Volleyball Championship Tournament Strategic Marketing Proposal By: Meghan Brown Matt DeBary Travis Meeks Becca Morrow and Bobby Schwarz

Table of Contents I.

Executive Summary………………………………………………………………………………….Pg. 3

II.

Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………….Pg. 4

III.

Mission Statement……..………………………………………………………………………….....Pg. 4

IV.

Goals……………………………………………………………………………………………………….Pg. 4

Objectives….……………………………………………………………………………………..……...Pg. 4

VI.

SWOT Analysis…………………………………………………………………………………………Pg. 5 i. Strengths…………………………………………………………………………………………..Pg. 5 ii. Weaknesses………………………………………………………………………………………Pg. 5 iii. Opportunities……………………………………………………………………………………Pg. 6 iv. Threats……………………………………………………………………………………………..Pg. 6

VII.

Target Market………………………………………………………………………………………….Pg. 6

VIII. Target Market Segmentation…………………………………………………………………….Pg. 7 IX.

Promotion Plan………………………………………………………………………………………..Pg. 7 i. Advertising……………………………………………………………………………………….Pg. 8 ii. Public Relations and Publicity……………………………………………………………Pg. 9 iii. Personal Selling………………………………………………………………………………...Pg. 9 iv. Direct Marketing……………………………………………………………………………..Pg. 10 v. Sales Promotion………………………………………………………………….…………..Pg. 10

Budget…………………………………………………………………………………………………..Pg. 11

XI.

Action Plan………………………………..…………………………………………………………..Pg. 11

XII.

Conclusion………………………………..…………………………………………………….……..Pg. 11

XIII.

References………………………………..…………………………………………………………...Pg. 12

XIV.

Appendix………………………………..……………………………………………………………...Pg. 12 i. PowerPoint attachment ii. Flyer attachment

Executive Summary Overview We plan to implement a marketing strategy that will ultimately result in new levels of attendance to the Atlantic Sun Conference Volleyball Championship Tournament on November 21-‐23, 2013. We plan to use a three-‐step model throughout our proposal to achieve this goal. • Create Awareness • Generate Interest • Results in Action (Attendance) Goals/Objectives We have created realistic and speciîc goal and objective sets that will guide us in the implementation of our strategy. • 750 KSU students and 2,000 non-‐students at îrst round of tournament. o 500 students at non-‐KSU games. • 1,000 KSU students and 2,500 non-‐students at second round of tournament. o 700 students at non-‐KSU games. • 1,750 KSU students and 3,000 non-‐students at the championship game. SWOT We have analyzed the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the tournament at Kennesaw State and have planned out how to handle such occasions accordingly. • Strength: location of the tournament. • Weakness: lack of interest in the sport. • Opportunity: exposure of KSU athletics programs. • Threat: KSU not making the tournament or getting eliminated early on. Target Market We have developed a well thought-‐out target market that is reachable and has a high potential of attending the tournament. • Elementary and middle school female volleyball players • KSU students and faculty • General population of Cobb County and Kennesaw, GA Promotion We have several promotional strategies including advertising through local media and businesses, utilizing social media, promoting at other sporting events and giving discounts. Budget/Timeline We have estimated a reasonable budget and allocated it towards beneîcial promotion and exposure channels. The timeline is also manageable and will be effective. • Budget: $4,000 ($1,800 towards ^lyers/posters. $2,000 used for student media.) • Timeline: Nov. 6-‐16. Daily promotion goals set and reachable.

Introduction The purpose of this proposal is to suggest a strategic sports marketing plan for the Atlantic Sun Volleyball Championship Tournament at Kennesaw State University from November 21-‐23, 2013. Our team plans on using a three-‐step model to execute our strategy within our target market. Each step in the process is reliant on the success of the former. We will begin by creating awareness through the use of various promotional channels such as advertising and direct marketing. We then will use that awareness to peak interest by introducing sales promotions. Finally we will turn that interest into action resulting in new levels of attendance and participation at this annual championship tournament. Mission Statement The Atlantic Sun is a southeastern conference consisting of ten schools. For 35 years, the conference has “supported its member institutions in providing intercollegiate athletics programs committed to Building Winners for Life.” While we plan and implement our marketing strategy, we realize that we must keep the Atlantic Sun Conference mission statement in mind at all times. This will ensure that the values and beliefs held by Kennesaw State University and the Atlantic Sun Conference do not con^lict with the actions or ideas of our marketing plan. Goals The îrst goal is to increase awareness of the Atlantic Sun volleyball tournament that is being held on the KSU campus. Students need to be aware that the tournament is going to be held on campus. If the KSU volleyball team makes the tournament the team needs as much student support as it can get. Awareness can be increased by using social media outlets, traditional media/ school outlets and the strategies and tactics that will be used for this campaign. The next goal is to get people at the games, preferably KSU students, but for the most part get as many people as possible at every game. This will create exposure for KSU and bring in revenue for the university and athletic department. The next goal is to get the student body involved via social media campaigns and through the strategies and tactics. By getting the student body involved it will get students more excited about the tournament and will show the school spirit of KSU and what KSU is all about. The overall goal of this campaign is to get people to attend the games and have students excited and interactive for the tournament. Objectives The îrst objective is to have 750 KSU students attend the îrst round of the tournament, but this is in hopes that KSU will clinch a playoff spot. Next we would like to have 500 KSU students attend non-‐KSU games in the îrst bracket of the tournament. After that round, we would like to have 1,000 KSU students at the second round of KSU games in the tournament, assuming that KSU makes it that far, and 700 KSU students attend non-‐KSU games in the second round of the tournament. Next, regardless of the teams in the championship games, we would like to have 1,750 KSU students attend the championship 4

game. Having KSU students attend games that the KSU volleyball team does not actually play could beneît the campus in attracting more tournaments like this to KSU. We would also like to attract other people from the community to attend this event such as: parents, youth volleyball and high school students. This tournament will be an exciting family friendly environment and we hope to encourage many members of the community to attend. We would like to have 2,000 non-‐KSU students attend the îrst round of the tournament, 2,500 non-‐KSU students attend the second round of the tournament and 3,000 non-‐KSU students attend the championship game of the tournament. We would reach this speciîc audience through the use of promotional tactics and strategies. Finally we would like to create a social media buzz by gaining 500 new Twitter followers and 500 Facebook page likes by the beginning of the tournament. We would do this by promoting through the KSU athletics Twitter feed and Facebook page, as well as utilizing the Atlantic Sun’s existing social media. SWOT Analysis Strengths The îrst strength for KSU of the Atlantic Sun volleyball tournament is that the tournament is being held on the KSU campus. Because this is the îrst such tournament to be held at KSU, we believe students will want to experience the excitement of a championship tournament. It is also convenient to students that it is held on campus rather than another off site location. Next, admission is free for all Atlantic Sun students. Because lack of money is usually a deterring factor for students, we are more likely to see higher attendance as this tournament wins out over other more expensive entertainment options. Another strength included in the tournament is the excellent opportunity to gain exposure for KSU and the community. Kennesaw State’s national exposure levels are rising, but this still leaves many people unaware about the university. This tournament is a great way to increase KSU’s exposure as an athletics facility as well as a well-‐respected university. Students will be able to show their school spirit in front of a huge audience. Finally the games are going to be broadcasted online on EPSN3. This is another great way for KSU to gain exposure and also it is exciting for students to know that their school is going to be televised in front of a mass audience. Weaknesses One major weakness is that some students may not be a fan of volleyball, or sports in general. Students or members of the community are less likely to attend an event that they have no interest in seeing. Another weakness is budget constraints. Because there is such a limited budget, it greatly affects the athletic department on how much they are able to do. Promotional efforts will be limited with a tight budget and this could lead to low exposure and awareness of the tournament. Another potential weakness could be how games are all being broadcasted on ESPN3. As stated in before this is a huge strength but it could also be a weakness. If all of the games are broadcasted online, people may stay home to watch while avoiding inconveniences, such as parking, rather than attend the event. One last weakness is that people in the community may not be aware of the event. This could be linked back to budget and not having the necessary money and promotional efforts to reach 5

all intended audiences. The goal is to get people to go to the games and if people are not aware of the tournament then they will not be in attendance. Opportunity There are many great opportunities in having this tournament held on the KSU campus. First it will attract volleyball fans, whether it is college or youth fan base. Fans should be able to appreciate this event, especially because it is a huge conference tournament. Youth volleyball players could beneît greatly from watching live college action and the level of competition at a tournament such as this. This is also an opportunity for KSU students to get involved with the behind-‐the-‐scenes process of the event. There are going to be many volunteers needed to help out with the event in many areas, such as: media volunteers, planning and promotion and volunteers during the games taking tickets, helping with set-‐up and break-‐down, etc. This is a great way for students with an interest in sports marketing or management to get involved and get real world experience. This is also a great opportunity for KSU to show its school spirit and help put KSU on the map by gaining exposure. If we have students getting into the games and showing their school spirit it can demonstrate how KSU has a great sporting environment and could attract potential students and athletes to the school. It is a chance for people to know what KSU is and who we are. Threats The threats for this tournament could greatly hurt the success of the tournament. The greatest threat is that KSU does not earn a playoff spot, which will make it more difîcult to get students to come to the games. Students want to show their loyalty to KSU, but if they are not playing in the tournament, there is no major incentive to attend. This would result in the loss of a major target market. Another threat is that people may not be on campus during the times of the games. Because majority of students do not live on campus, it may result in lower attendance due to students not wanting to drive to campus to attend games. Another threat is that students may be working or studying the times of the games. Many students have other priorities, and since the tournament falls close to înals, a lot of students may want to be spending their time studying instead of attending this event. Finally, awareness of the tournament is another threat. People may not receive the message as intended or not receive the message at all. This can greatly affect attendance and the overall outcome of the tournament. The right promotional channels must be selected to distribute the message to the intended audience. Target Market Our primary target audience is elementary and middle school volleyball players, who have already indicated an interest in the sport. We want to stay away from high school volleyball players, as to not violate any NCAA rules or regulations. This is a great event for young players to see competitive volleyball at the collegiate championship level, learn more 6

about volleyball, and encourage them to continue to pursue the sport throughout high school, and possibly college. Volley-‐One is a program located in Kennesaw that provides a solid foundation, based on the fundamentals of volleyball, for young ladies between the ages of 6 to 18. This is a great program with participants who we think would really enjoy the volleyball tournament. They hold tournaments throughout Cobb County, and we believe this is the perfect group to target for the tournament. KSU students are another primary target group. It is important that KSU students come to the event and show their school pride. Qualifying for this tournament would be a great accomplishment for our team and for the school, so we really need to rally our own students to come to the event. It shows that we have pride in our athletics, and the team will play better with the support of students in the stands cheering them on. We are also targeting students because the event will be easier to promote to them. Many students live in walking distance to the Convocation Center, so it will be easy to reach students and promote the event. Some of the secondary target markets include the general population in Kennesaw, families of players, and members of the faculty. KSU is growing each year, and so are our athletics programs. With football around the corner, people in the community are getting increasingly excited about KSU events and athletics. This volleyball tournament is an opportunity to get people in the community to come see the facilities, and enjoy competitive volleyball with their family and friends. Like students, we also would like to see members of the faculty come to support our team. It is important to have as many KSU staff and faculty as possible attend the tournament, and encourage them to bring along their families. Target Market Segmentation There are many reasons why we picked these groups to target. We want to see young volleyball players at the event, because it could lead them to becoming more involved when they get older. We also wanted to target more young college students to create a younger and louder atmosphere at the event. From a demographic standpoint, because this is a women’s volleyball tournament, it makes sense to target more females than males. Young female volleyball players can see older women succeed and having fun competing in the tournament, which could inspire them to do the same when they are older. Location is also a segmentation variable that we researched. Because Kennesaw is a suburban community, we saw great potential in targeting the large population in the community. This tournament is a great way to exhibit KSU athletics, and get people in the area more involved with KSU and its events. This is a great event for families, especially ones who enjoy volleyball, to come, watch and enjoy. Promotion Plan A promotion plan is an outline of the channels, tools, and strategies that a company intends to use to help develop their product or service. Our team of sports marketers and the Atlantic Sun Volleyball Championship are no different than any other business and 7

product. We must relentlessly promote our product through the use of the following promotional channels: advertising, public relations and publicity, personal selling, direct marketing, sales promotion.

Advertising

Advertising consists of presenting your message to your target market in such a way that it evokes a response. The response we are hoping to bring about is attending the Atlantic Sun Volleyball Championship on campus. We plan on getting this response through the utilization of well-‐placed, attractive posters and ^lyers. The posters will clearly display the Atlantic Sun logo and the logo of every team playing (when available), along with the game schedules and times. We hope that fans of every team participating will notice their logo and come out to support, regardless who they are cheering for. The advertisements will also make viewers aware of sales promotions that will occur at the actual tournament, mentioned later in the plan. Essentially, the ^lyers will be a portable version of the posters that potential consumers can take with them as a reminder. Although they may be used in different ways, the posters and ^lyers will serve the same purpose. As a team, we will place these posters and ^lyers in strategic locations that will reach our target market. We will place posters around campus to attract Kennesaw State students, an important target market. Our team will also put up posters at various locations around the community, speciîcally a local establishment called Volley One. Volley One is a member of the United States Volleyball Association and is not afîliated with any school. This is a facility where younger girls try out for teams, practice, and play volleyball tournaments. These young girls and their families have an interest in volleyball and would most likely be interested in an opportunity to see college-‐level competition. Other supporters of Kennesaw State will be utilized for advertising as well. For example, the Zaxby’s one of our team members works for will put a ^lyer with all relevant information about the tournament in every bag and on every tray of every customer until the tournament. We also would set up stands with ^lyers to leave where Kennesaw State merchandise is sold for customers to take. Advertising is this manner will reach a vast audience who may not otherwise be informed of the tournament. We will also employ the use of the student organization called Kennesaw State University Student Media. This group creates and delivers Kennesaw State’s newspaper, magazine, and radio show. University afîliated causes receive discounts on advertising through these channels. We will take advantage of these reduced prices to advertise directly to Kennesaw students and alumni. The Sentinel, our newspaper, runs every Tuesday. This gives us the opportunity to advertise to our target market 3 times. The Talon, our magazine, runs 7-‐8 times a semester, allowing us to advertise in that way 1-‐2 times before the tournament. These ads will be attractive and eye catching. They will present information in an efîcient way that is easily understood and absorbed. OWLRadio is Kennesaw State’s radio program that reaches approximately 700 listeners daily. We could advertise this way 40 times before the tournament. The ads will include all relevant information consistent with all other forms of promotion used in this plan, schedule, teams, times, prices, and promotions. Providing a consistent message across all channels is an important task we will accomplish so consumers receive all necessary knowledge to make a decision. 8

Public Relations and Publicity Public relations is a cornerstone of any type of marketing, and we all have heard that there is “no such thing as bad press”, making this portion of our promotion plan particularly important. This will involve informing potential consumers of the positive things we have to offer. We want as many people as possible to be aware of exactly what this tournament has to offer. We feel we can do this extremely effectively through the use of the Event Team and various social media outlets. The Event Team is a part of our athletic department that helps with game day activities. They are involved with promotion as well as making sure things run smoothly, such as what announcements are announced, what music is played, what is on the Jumbotrons, and more. We will utilize the use of a loud speakers and gigantic screens to communicate our message with a target market that is already attending a sporting event at KSU. We feel that gives us an obvious advantage at getting them to repeat their attendance at the Atlantic Sun Volleyball Championship. We will work announcements into the PA script regarding the tournament, speci^ically the date and time, schedule, and what teams are participating. We will also communicate the same message and information in a visual manner via us of Jumbotrons. Social media is another resource that could potentially reach and attract members of our target audience to the tournament. Because most outlets are free, we have chosen to include it in our promotional plan. We will create Facebook and Twitter accounts dedicated the Atlantic Sun Volleyball Tournament at Kennesaw State University. We hope to reach the younger members of our target markets and create a buzz regarding the tournament. We hope to provide viewers with all information needed to make a decision on attending. We also will provide users with an incentive to “like” or “follow” our pages. They will receive a coupon for 50% off admission to a single day’s event. We feel this offer before the tournament will attract those unsure if they will be attending.

Personal Selling The Event Team is not the only effective marketing resource that reaches the community at a personal level we have available at Kennesaw State University. The athletic department also has composed a Street Team. This group of students goes to various events throughout the Cobb County community promoting our athletic department by setting up a tent, attracting consumers, and handing out information. For this promotion plan, we will send a Street Team to Volley One as well to speci^ically market the tournament to younger volleyball players. We will supply the Street Team with our ^lyers and posters containing all relevant information relating to the volleyball tournament. The Street Team can distribute these to a very large and diverse number of community members in an ef^icient, personal manner. Viewing a poster or ^lyer can be extremely effective way to absorb information as a consumer, but with the right people in place, the personal touch offered by the Street Team could boost attendance in a way other promotional tools cannot. Street Team members would be equip with all necessary knowledge to answer any questions regarding the tournament. While continuing to promote our athletic department, 9

the Street Team can simply insert dates, times, and ^lyers related to the tournament on campus. Because they will already have attracted customers engaged, the dispersion of information dealing with the tournament should be seamless and effective. Direct Marketing Perhaps not the ^lashiest of promotional tools, but direct marketing cannot be left out of a promotional mix. We will market the championship directly to student and faculty via Kennesaw State email. With the help of the university, we will distribute weekly emails to every student and faculty member. These emails will contain the same consistent message our marketing team is trying to deliver on all other channels. They will be informed of dates, times, prices, active teams (when known), and promotions in each email. We also plan to include links to both social media pages to increase attendance. Direct marketing communicates the information needed to consumers in a simple manner and will not be ignored by our team. Sales Promotions Sales promotions are a huge part of our promotional plan. We want to make every fan’s experience worthwhile. While all channels of promotion will inform consumers of most of the promotions, these are the things that really attract consumers and generate the interest that is crucial to the success of our three-‐step model. Consumers must come and be present to experience these marketing tools, in addition to the tournament. Our team of marketers plans on giving tournament goers, value from the start. As previously mentioned, if you “like” our Facebook page or “follow” us on Twitter you get one day’s single admission 50% off. We also plan to hold a “tailgate” outside the Convocation Center the îrst two days of the championship. This event will be very similar to what occurred before Flight Night or Hoot-‐A-‐Palooza. Vendors, KSU afîliated groups, and companies within the Kennesaw community will come with giveaways and information regarding their products. Events similar to this in the past have attracted large quantities of consumers. Every consumer walks away informed and far from empty handed. Speaking of value, we plan to offer fans a chance to win money, while supporting Kennesaw Athletics. We plan to hold a 50/50 raf^le by supplying every fan with a raf^le ticket upon entry to the Convocation Center. To enter the raf^le, fans must îll out the back of the raf^le ticket, pay $5.00 and turn it in at a designated area. Tickets will not be accepted without $5.00. Fans may do this every day of the tournament, giving them 3 chances to enter. The drawing will be held at intermission of the championship round. The winning fan must be present, giving incentive to come back. They will win 50% of the money collected from the raf^le and the other 50% will go to the Kennesaw State Athletic Department. We hope this offers fans a fun activity to participate in while creating large, repeat attendance. We also plan to keep fans entertained during down time speciîcally in between matches by providing games for the fans. Participants for various games such as, hitting a target, making a basket like a volleyball player, and others, will be chosen at random before each match with our target market in mind. We hope to give fans a memorable an fun experience and believe both can be accomplished through active participation such as games and all other sales promotions. 10

We feel we have a valuable product to offer in the Atlantic Sun Volleyball Championship. If consumers know exactly what we have to offer, we feel we can be successful in attracting them to attend. We will do so by providing a consistent message on all channels through multiple outlets to reach a large audience. Budget For this project, it was clear that there was not a signiîcant or unlimited budget to carry our plan through. As a group we decided that it was safe to stay under $4,000.00 for the budget. How the budget is allocated is as follows; the cost of the 305 posters would be $1,000.00, the ^lyers that are to be distributed carry a cost of around $800.00. The KSU newspaper ad is $1,250.00. To run an ad in the KSU magazine Talon is $350.00, and to run an ad through Owl Radio is $400.00. Although this may seem like a lot of money, we believe that by using these channels, it will bring a lot of people out to the tournament. We are potentially exposing a lot of people to this event and believe it will be beneîcial in the end. Action Plan An action plan is a plan that reveals how you are going to carry your promotion plan out. Our action plan spans over the next 2 weeks leading up to the volleyball tournament. On November 6, 2013, we will hang 20 posters at Volley-‐One and set up a booth and distribute ^lyers during the set tryouts Volley-‐One is hosting that day. On November 7, 2013 we will hang 10 posters at the Zaxby’s on Old 41 and Chastain Road. We will also leave 1,000 ^lyers with the staff to be distributed to customers on their trays and placed in their bags if they place a to-‐go order. On November 8, 2013 we will distribute 1,000 ^lyers to the retailers that sell KSU merchandise such as Wal-‐Mart, KSU bookstore, etc. On November 11, 2013 we will begin to push our social media channel by tweeting and posting on Facebook and Twitter. We will share our plans for the tournament and push the promotions we will be providing in between matches. On November 8 and 11, 2013 we will hand out ^lyers at the men’s home basketball games. We will also make announcements at half-‐time about the upcoming tournament. We will do the same thing on November 11 and 17, 2013 at the women’s home basketball games. On November 16, 2013 we will hand out ^lyers at the home volleyball matches and make the same announcement in between matches. Making announcements and handing out ^lyers at these home events will target the people that already enjoy attending KSU events and will hopefully make them want to come out to the tournament. Conclusion We believe our marketing plan will attract a sufîcient audience to the Atlantic Sun Conference Volleyball Championship Tournament. The tools that we propose to implement reach unexplored markets in enticing and inviting ways. We have managed to do so while staying in a realistic budget and following a reasonable timeline. We have created a consistent message across all channels, appealed to our target market, and taken action to ensure our success. In conclusion, our marketing plan will rise to the challenge of promoting such an honorable event being held at Kennesaw State University. 11

References About Us. 2013. Retrieved October 28, 2013 from http://www.atlanticsun.org/quickhits/aboutus/. About Us. 2013. Retrieved October 30, 2013 from http://www.kennesaw.edu/ksumedia/. KSUSM. 2012. Retrieved October 27, 2013 from http://www.kennesaw.edu/ksumedia/. Appendix Includes attached PowerPoint presentation and mock-‐up ^lyer design.