The Final Insight: A Reflection MKT 372

Throughout this semester, the project has helped me to realize many aspects to customer insight that I’ve never quite understood, such as ethical and privacy issues in gathering data and James Webb Young’s concept of creativity. By understanding these concepts, I feel better prepared to enter into a company and immediately perform high level customer evaluation. This insight gathering will prove invaluable in ensuring that my company’s product meets the needs of consumers.

First, I will focus on the ethical and privacy issues in gathering customer insight. In class, we discussed how consumers are very concerned with giving out personal, observable, and used data. As a result, as a marketing professional, we must carefully evaluate our research methodology for gathering insight to ensure we decrease respondents concerns. Additionally, we also discussed how customer’s concerns for privacy can result in inconclusive results. For instance, a customer may be fearful of looking negative; thus, he or she is unwilling to answer certain sensitive questions truthfully. Through the class project, I was able to better understand how to adjust to consumers’ privacy concerns. In my group’s case, we ran into the problem of asking consumers to let us enter into their private domain—their bedroom —and ask personal questions about their parenting style. Due to this personal nature, we learned to strategically ask our questions so that they seemed less imposing. For instance, instead of directly asking our respondents to take pictures of their bedroom, we strategically asked them to take pictures of their favorite/least favorite item in the bedroom. This questioning helped to eliminate the embarrassment people may have felt if they had a messy bedroom because they were able to take an isolated picture of a single item in the bedroom. In addition, we learned that due to privacy concerns certain data may not be entirely true. For example, my group asked several questions implying that the baby is still in parent’s bedroom rather than in his or her own room. This sort of question can result in skewed data because it leaves no room for parents who keep the baby in a separate room. Consequently, many parents may feel compelled to answer the questions even if they keep the baby in another room because they didn’t want to sound like bad parents for keeping the baby outside their personal bedroom. Consequently, some data may be skewed because of these parents’ answers to a situation that doesn’t really apply to them.

Second, I will discuss my increased understanding of James Young’s concept of creativity. Young’s perspective says that there are two key principles to creativity:

(1) Ideas are simple a new combination of existing elements
(2) New combinations are enabled through understanding relationships

While I have never considered myself to be a creative person, I’ve realized as I get further into my marketing classes that I may possess some hidden creativity. For instance, my group chose to create a new baby monitor that uses wi-fi technology to alert parents via cell phone, ipod, etc. that their baby needs attention. This product is intended to allow parents to continue their regular lifestyle without being tethered to the baby monitor. We believe this product would actually sell in the real market place (assuming a reasonable price point). The important learning point came from the fact that this product innovation was a “new combination of existing elements,” and we decided to do this combination based on the different needs of our segment, such as a desire for personal time, tech savy, and busy young professionals. No so called new ideas were in our product design; it consisted of a new combination of existing ideas. Thus, I have learned to look at creativity in a new way. Now I look at creativity as any way that meets a need that previously wasn’t being met. I think this definition will serve me well in the future because it keeps my ideas centric to the needs of customer. As a result, I am more likely to generate ideas that meet customer needs rather than ideas that seem “cool” or “innovative” in the office.

Third, the project overall gave me a valuable experience with collaboratively to better understand customer insight. As previously mentioned, I was able to complete the idea generation process involved in gathering customer insight. However, it was rather stressful because there were no checks on group members. Certain members had other priorities that were placed before school. Therefore, I was forced to become a more vocal leader that initiated tasks for others to complete. I believe this stressful situation helped to increase my leadership skills and adaptation to a weaker team. In addition, I enjoyed applying the concepts from class to the customer insight process, but I would like class concepts to be more explicitly included in the project. For instance, one slide for each project update could directly state class concepts. I believe this would force students to better apply particular customer insight knowledge to the project. Lastly, Professor Walls did an excellent job of helping us overcome little obstacles. Whenever we weren’t quite sure how to approach a particular option, Professor Walls helped us to use the proper frame of reference. Through his insight, I was able to better learn how to use similar techniques to solve customer evaluation problems in the future.

Everybody's Green Right...?

Everyone is going green! Green t-shirts. Green water bottles. Green cars. Green Houses. Green Everything. Recently, the trendy thing to do is go green. Therefore, marketers have aimed to capture this green market by investing millions of dollars in green marketing. While this investment may be worth while in some segments, it may not work for all segments. In particular, the rising Hispanic population in America may not be quite ready to embrace the green frenzy.

In Miguel Gomez Winebrenner’s blog titled “Man vs. Naturaleza: How “green” are Hispanics?” he argues that Hispanics lifestyle and cultural origins may not be ready for the green movement. To prove his point, the author cites numerous examples as to why Hispanics may not go green. Through these examples, the author shows that Hispanics are already subconsciously green due to their spending habits and historical origins.

When I read the author’s blog, I could immediately relate to the author’s examples through personal experiences. For instance, Gomez discusses the tendency of Hispanics to have grown up in a home where economic thriftiness forced families to saved pennies wherever possible. These money saving techniques include washing dishes by hand, always turning off the lights, and conserving hot water. As a child, my family constantly raised me to do all these things because we were always watching our spending. Consequently, I have grown up partaking in green living without really even intending to do so. These tendencies make me a less profitable target for marketers aiming to sell me the latest green product. While I do care about going green, I do not see it necessary to always buy the latest energy saving dish washer because I have always been conservative in my electricity and water usage.

This blog made me realize the importance of gaining proper customer insights about the entire population before developing a marketing program. In particular, as a marketer, you must take into account race and ethnic origins to best fit the needs of consumers. While I may be classified in the same Millennial groups as my Asian, Indian, and white friends, I still possess many different needs than these other Millennials. Therefore, it is important for marketers to discover the diverse needs of a group that is largely considered homogeneous (i.e. different ethnic groups within generation y).

Another point made in Gomez’s blog that I could relate to involved how pragmatic Hispanic consumers are in their purchase decisions. The author cites an example that a Hispanic may purchase a hybrid not because “it says that they are sophisticated, compassionate, smart etc. (which is what hybrid cars seem to have embodied for many in the general market);” rather, they would buy it because it saves money in gas in the long-run. This pragmatic tendency completely relates to how my family and I make purchase decisions. We often tend to stick to the necessities we need rather than opting for the more expensive, trendy items.

Based on the insight gained from Hispanic practicality, markets should aim to target products to Hispanics that have functionality. These basic tools will attract the Hispanic population who is looking for something simple and efficient in getting the job done. The important learning point comes from the fact that ethnographic research must be done to gather insight. Without going beyond surveys, marketers would miss the little details that make a certain population unique. Therefore, as future marketers, we must encourage our companies to not make decisions based solely on a few data collection methods. Instead, marketing programs should be developed from a conglomerate of many research methods that discover new customer insight.

Despite the blogs impact on customer insight, I felt like its scope was too small. The author tended to make gross generalizations about the Hispanic race. He even goes as far as to say that most of the Hispanic population is uneducated so they do not see the value in recycling. While I’m unsure if this is true, I would like to have received more support to his reasoning behind his conclusions. This additional information would have helped me gain more insight into the social problems occurring amongst the Hispanic population. Based on this insight, I would better understand how to create more suitable marketing programs for the Hispanic population.

Extensive NBA Outline

Hey Professor Walls,

Thanks for taking the time to read my rather extensive outline. Please pay special attention to the following:
1. Whether thesis is broad enough to include all information
2. Applicability to customer insights topics
3. Potential organization problems from current outline design
4. Suggestions to keep paper concise and on point
5. Page length estimations/Too Much information in outline

Any other feedback you have would be great. Also, I would be more than happy to explain anything that doesn’t quite make sense.


I. Introduction (1-2 paragraphs)
a. Thesis: The National Basketball Association utilizes a deep understanding of consumers’ subconscious needs to sustain its global appeal to the sport consumer.
i. SubThesis: NBA uses it resources well to develop marketing programs that impact its goals: (1) Revenue (2)Growth

Relevant Articles: “Stern wants to renew IV rights early with incumbent partners” by John Consoli; “The Business of Basketball” by Forbes.com; “Fitch Rates NBA's $1.6B Revolving Facility & Senior Notes 'BBB+'; Outlook Stable” by Business Wire


II. Current Marketing Programs (1 page)
a. State of the NBA
i. Current Business Success
1. Ticket Revenues, Merchandise, TV Contracts, etc.
ii. Identify Key Competitors
1. Sports
2. Non-Sports
Transition:

Relevant Articles : ESPN Article “How Stern Showed the NBA Money” by Darren Rovell; NBA Case from Consumer Behavior: A Framework by John Mowen & Michael Minor

III. David Stern Effect (2 pages)
a. Before Stern
i. NBA hitting Downfall
b. Stern Approach
i. Broad Perspective
1. Sterns Compares NBA to Disney
a. Analyze Comparison
2. Leads to Longevity
ii. Sharing Marketing Research
1. Team Access to league Data
2. League Control = Monopoly
a. Exclusivity of Product
b. Higher Brand Value
c. Consistent Message
Transition:

Relevant Articles: Section A: “Walk That Way: For Amare, Nelly and the NBA, hip-hop is nothing more than business as usual” By Chris Broussard; “NBA clubs see new opening to market globally” by John Lombardo; “By Adding Yi, Nets Hope to Expand Their Market” by Joshua Robinson; “NBA Announces Noche Latina 2009” by NBA.com; “A Slam Dunk for the NBA in China” by Frederik Balfour; “Welcome to the Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA Program!” by NBA.com


Section C: “The NBA’s Maestro of Marketing” by Ohm Youngmisuk; “Wrigley Nets NBA Sponsorship Deal” by Food Business Review; “NBA All-Star Committee unveils corporate packages” by Austin Business Chronicle


IV. Marketing Strategy
a. Target Market Selection (3 pages)
i. Gradual Adaption to Changing Market
1. Understand New Needs
2. Scope Broad to Avoid Train Problem
3. Example of marketing programs
a. Hispanic Week
b. Green Week
ii. Youth Sports
1. Draft Camps at Disney World
2. AAU Camps
iii. Expanding Market
1. International NBA
a. Specific Marketing Programs
i. Basketball W/O Borders
b. Foreign Players
2. NBA Games in Europe
b. Experiential Marketing (3 pages)
i. Fan Experience
1. “Where Amazing Happens Campaign”
2. Nostalgic Value
a. Living out American Dream
i. Glory
ii. Pride
3. Escape from reality
a. Forget Current Troubles
b. Sense of Obligation to leisure time
ii. In-Game Experience
1. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
a. Social Acceptance
i. Cheering for Hometown Team
ii. Uniting 1000s for Common Goals
b. Belonging
i. Beijing Olympics
ii. 2008 Basketball Gold Medal
2. Fan Identification
a. Merchandise
b. Relating to Player/Team Traits
i. Pittsburg Steelers
3. Connection to Past History
a. BaseballAmerica’s Past Time
b. Dallas Cowboys America’s Team
c. Player Glorification (2 pages)
i. Selling the Players
1. Michael Jordan/Lebron James Effect
a. Nostalgic Value
i. Living out American Dream
1. Glory
2. Pride
b. Next MJ (like Mike Gatorade Commercial)
2. Sponsorship Reliance
a. Aid NBA in marketing Players
i. Nike and Lebron James
ii. Local player sponsorships
b. Strategic Partnerships
i. Creating Goodwill through non-profits
ii. Selling Access to New Markets
1. FundingDrives Revenue
2. Tickets as Part of Package
3. Additional Product Mentions
a. Ads in Company literature
b. Goodwill with large corporations
Transition:

Relevant Articles: “XFL Known As Extreme Failure” by Vincent DeFruscio; “XFL Doomed to Failure” by Barry Wilner; “Gold standard NFL: Marketing challenges at Super Bowl XXXIX” by Rick Horrow; “World Cup Marketing: It’s Not Just Football Results That Are Hard to Predict” by Experian Consumer Research


V. Comparison To Other Sports Leagues (2 pages)
a. Other League Failures
i. NBA Examples
1. CBA, IBL
2. Lack Same Core Product
a. Prestige
b. Value as Entertainment
ii. XFL Failure
1. Loss Touch With Primal Urges
2. Failed to Understand Deeper Value of Sports
a. Social Needs
b. Belonging
b. Successful Leagues
i. Very similar to NFL
ii. World Cup Soccer
Transition:

Relevant Articles: “NBA, NHL budgets stressed by flat ticket revenue outlook” by John Lombardo and Tripp Mickle; “NBA Development Team Ties Ticket Sales To Dow 10,000” by Darren Rovell; “As economy flounders, selling sports will only get harder” by Frank Deford; “A Dying Breed” by Melissa Isaacson


VI. Current Challenges (1 page)
a. Economic Crisis
i. Less Discretionary Income
ii. Adapt Strategy to Changing Needs
1. Examples
a. Price Freezes on Tickets
b. Increased Promotion of D-League
Transition:
VII. Conclusion (1 page)
a. Restate Thesis: The National Basketball Association uses deep customer insights to exploit the experiential and social factors consumers desire in entertainment.
b. Impact to Future Sports Marketers
c. Connection to Customer Insights
i. Listening to Customers Needs
ii. Create product/experience Aimed at Satisfying Needs

Major Points:
1) Current Marketing Programs
2) David Stern Effect
3) Adapting Target market
4) Experiential Marketing
5) Lebron James Effect
6) Sponsorship
7) Impact of Economic Crisis
8) Other Sports Leagues
9) Global Expansion

Mind Readers: What Sponsors Really Want

Based on The Persuaders, Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink, and Malcolm Gladwell’s Spaghetti Sauce podcast, it seems like it is almost impossible to understand what customers really want. Along those same lines, it seems like companies have to spend thousands of dollars paying outside consultants just to discover these “primal urges” that lead to consumer satisfaction. This search for the Reptilian Code of the human unconsciousness hit close to home for me. As a future sports marketer, a portion of my work will involve satisfying the needs and desires of sponsors. In particular, to reach my professional goals, I need to satisfy these sponsors’ desires in a whole new way by creating marketing programs that effectively create the activation/brand recognition that these sponsors covet. Thus, the question arises of how do I discover what sponsors really want if they are unaware of the real desires of their target customers as well as their personal business needs?



For example, USA Track and Field is sponsored by Nike, Visa, 24 Hour Fitness, and Hersheys. These primary sponsors pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to host events, post signage, display their logo on uniforms, and gain exclusive access to a distinct target market. Are these sponsorships the best ways to reach a target audience? Does the desired audience even notice these sponsors?



According to a recent article at NPR.org titled “Many Ask If Olympic Sponsorship Is Worth Cost” By Louisa Kim, the author argues that sponsors may not be getting the return they think. For example, the article provides a quote referring to the recent Beijing Olympic Games where a market research group found some consumer confusion as to whether Coke or Pepsi was the title sponsor. It goes as follows: "We've done research in ten cities throughout China and we've found most consumers have no idea who the actual official sponsors are," says Shaun Rein, head of the China Market Research Group. "We found 40 percent of consumers thought Coke was the sponsor, versus sixty percent for Pepsi." Unfortunately for Coke, 60 percent of the sample population didn’t even realize Coke was the title sponsor. Yet, Coke spent over $70 million to be one of twelve title sponsors for the event.

Now as a future sports marketer, I face the problem of developing new marketing programs that actually provide ROI to sponsors. Since I’m not blessed with unprecedented creativity, I will be forced to engage in typical marketing research to gain the customer insight necessary to unlock these unconscious desires of consumers. Based on the lectures, I feel like some sort of non-traditional approach will be the most effective. For instance, Dr. Rapaille’s three step technique provides million dollar insight just because he knows how to look at a problem and develop a unique solution. Thus, I think the most effective way to research sponsors needs comes from ethnographic approach where you study consumers in their natural environment. Specifically, I would use a qualitative research technique known as “Free Association.” I think this technique will allow sports marketers to discover whether sponsors’ customers are receiving the effect sponsors desires. Also, I think this technique will allow sports marketers to adapt their marketing programs to build the correct associations.

To discover what new marketing programs would be desirable, I think an experiment would provide interesting insight. For example, in class, we watched a very unscientific experiment about neuroscience where a grocery store shoppers brain waives were measured to see her responsiveness to different promotions. I think it would be interesting to do a similar type of analysis in regards to sponsorship, but this experiment could be tailored to sponsorships by also using a conjunct analysis (most sponsorship come in packages). These two methods of research seem particularly effective to gather insight into the customers’ needs. Consequently, a sports marketer can use this insight to tailor sponsorships more to what consumers want. While this may seem simple, many sports organization are so caught up in what’s always been done that many sports organization have forgotten to look for what customers truly want (i.e. Song Airlines desires to pitch the flying experiences rather than cheap rates).

Lastly, I wanted to comment on the importance of using secondary research in marketing. Often times, many publications and marketing groups have already done studies similar to the information you are trying to gather. Therefore, it’s important for a sports marketer to stay up-to-date with modern marketing research. Even if the information is not directly related, it may provide applicable information that can be used to gain insights into your customers.

The Persuaders

Dr. Rapaille is known as the “Marketing Guru” to many Fortune 500 companies. These companies strongly believe in Dr. Rapaille’s ability to reveal consumer’s unconscious desires. While it may seem ridiculous for a company to invest millions of dollars based on Dr. Rapaille’s ideology, his method has proven effective. For example, in the movie The Persuaders Dr. Rapaille claims credit for the success of the Cadillac SUV. Originally, Cadillac did not market their SUVs correctly;thus, they were not selling. These vehicles were not selling because the product did not meet a consumer need; rather, Cadillac failed to properly identify the need consumers wanted satisfied out of an SUV. As a result, Dr. Rapaille recommended selling domination because his researched showed that consumers where looking for power and strength in an SUV.

To discover what consumers really desire, Dr. Rapaille uses a three-stage technique in his market research. The three stage technique is as follows:

1) Understand the Deep Reasoning Behind People’s Thoughts
2) Examine the Emotional Aspects of those Thoughts
3) Diving into the Primal Core of the True Rationale Used in those Thoughts to Understand Consumer Behavior

In the movie The Persuaders, Dr. Rapaille uses this three stage technique to better understand what consumers are searching for in the word luxury.

The first stage of this technique involves Dr. Rapaille building a level of comfort with the consumer. He gathers a small focus group and asks them to share their thoughts on luxury. In this stage, Dr. Rapaille expects the typical responses people usually say about luxury, such as expensive and ritzy. Additionally, Dr. Rapaille uses this stage to allow the focus group participants a chance to feel good about themselves and feel like they are really contributing to the research.

Once the first stage is completed, Dr. Rapaille is able to continue the other two more important stages. In stage two, the focus groups are asked to dig deeper into themselves and find the emotional feelings they connect with luxury. Specifically, Dr. Rapaille asks the participants to describe luxury to a five year old from another planet. As a result, the participants are forced to dig for the most basic dimensions of the word luxury.

This second stage seems to relate to Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink. This three stage technique essentially aims to identify the unconscious thoughts people have about certain products. Without going through all three stages, many individuals tend to tell marketers what they think they want. Dr. Rapaille has realized that what consumers think they want doesn’t always match with the primal core of what consumers subconsciously desire.

After the second stage is completed, the focus group participants are utterly confused as to what they are doing. This confusion is exactly what Dr. Rapaille wants because it encourages the participants to step out of their comfort zones and share their true feelings. To further help this process, Dr. Rapaille has all the chairs removed from the room and the lights turned off. Once the lights are turned back on, Dr. Rapaille believes the participants are in a vulnerable state and ready to share their deeper primal urges. He believes that many of these deeper urges lie dormant unless the participants all go through this complete three stage process. After completing this process, Dr. Rapaille is able to understand the so called Reptilian Code of consumer decision making. This Reptilian Code is basically the unconscious desires consumers have for a certain product and/or service.

In addition to explaining the three stage technique used by Dr. Rapaille, The Persuaders describes an all new Delta airline known as Song Airlines. This airline aims to compete with other airlines in a whole new way. Specifically, it plans to compete on the experience of flying Song. Also, the airlines planes to primarily appeal to women because this segment is generally ignored in the airline industry.

Overall, I feel like this Airline is a little too far ahead of its time. Eventually, I think all airlines will have to switch to this strategy, but right now I think most consumers still look for cheap rates when flying. Thus, it’s important to express these reasonable rates to consumers in marketing programs. No matter the product, all business must remember that they cannot succeed unless they meet a consumer need. At this time, consumers desire cheap rates. While creative, Song marketing programs failed to show consumers how they satisfied this need.

The best example of Song being too forward thinking comes from the movie The Persuaders. In one scene, a man comes to a Song store in a mall completely confused. He does not know that Song is an airline. As a result, he does not seem interested in flying song because he appears frustrated with the ambiguity of the company. Thus, I think Song poorly launched their new form of flying. While the marketing program should create buzz, it should not create frustration. I think the Song airline created negative feelings towards flying Song because consumers had no idea what product/service Song offered.

With that said, I think Song did a great job in creating a Song culture. The training ensured that all employees associated with Song gave off a similar message. This similar message is vital to creating a new brand. Through these well trained employees, Song ensured consistency in their brand image. In that sense, Song actually reminds me of Disney in the way that they make sure all guest receive the exact same type of service experience.

Think Different

In chapter five of Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink, the author takes an interesting approach to gaining customer insights. In particular, he examines how difficult it can be to gather primary data because sources often cannot describe spontaneous opinions and decisions that arise out of the unconsciousness. As a result, Gladwell tries to educate the reader on the right and wrong ways to obtain insight from customers. Despite the many lessons in Gladwell’s piece, I will exam the two subsections focused on “A Second Look at First Impressions” and “The Gift of Expertise.”

First, “A Second Look at First Impressions” describes how many peoples’ initial explanations of how they feel about a product or service is not always accurate. Therefore, special care must be taken when gathering information from surveys and focus groups. An immediate example that comes to mind is America’s Guilty Pleasure-reality TV. On a pure quality standpoint, these T.V. shows are horrible, but yet they receive outstanding ratings. For instance, “Hole in the Wall” is a Fox reality show that involves contestants contorting their bodies in an attempt to fit through a massive moving wall. If this concept was given on paper, many respondents may ridicule it and find it incredibly stupid. This type of review would actually be wrong. This TV show is widely successful across many countries and recently has shown some success in America. Fox is actually still airing the show on Sunday nights.



The main point of this example is to supplement Gladwell’s point that peoples’ first impressions are not always correct. As marketers, we must consider this when creating new innovative marketing programs. If an idea is new, it may be considered weird and not receive good initial reviews. Despite these negative reviews, marketers must dig deeper to ensure that people’s first impressions are really indicative of their true feelings. Otherwise, marketers may throw aside the best marketing program in centuries only because people do not understand what they really like. As the famous Think Different Apple Quote goes, … “the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” This mindset must be maintained by marketers to ensure that the appropriate marketing programs are used even if the target population does not immediately understand it.

Since the average person cannot always identify their preferences, it’s important to take into consideration the opinions of experts. Malcolm Gladwell stresses this idea in his subsection titled “The Gift of Expertise.” Specifically, the author expands on how the average person knows how he/she feels about a certain product, but has trouble explaining these feelings. Consequently, it is important to seek the advice of experts who know how to articulate their thoughts about a product. Essentially, these experts have a better grasp of what most people act and feel unconsciously.

For example, I strongly believe there are two aspects to the world of sports. For most, sports are a simple game in which X amount of players aim to score more points than the other team. On the other hand, a sports expert, such as myself, would not describe sports that way. To an expert, sports are an escape from reality that allows individuals to unite and believe in a common cause. As this sports example shows, an expert and an average person can see the same thing in very different ways. These differences are not a result of variance in the population, but rather just an example of experts having a better understanding of their unconscious thought.




By considering the added value of expert opinion, a marketer can learn to appreciate a certain tier of a segment. Like the 80/20 Rule, marketers may want to develop a similar approach to marketing research. It may quite possible be true that most of your quality data only comes from a small section of your target population. Consequently, a marketer must learn to cultivate and indulge in the relationship he/she has with that small portion of the population considered an expert.

Overall, Malcolm Gladwell has provided a foundation to look at customer feedback in a whole new way. These unconventional thoughts will help me to probe deeper to gain new insights from customers. I really believe that this deeper examination will lead to the next brilliant marketing campaign.

Where Amazing [Marketing] Happens: An Analysis of the NBA’s Marketing Strategy

As an avid sports fan, the NBA has fascinated me with its large, diverse fan base. As a result, I will analyze the NBA’s marketing strategy so that I can better understand the league’s long-term success. Since the appointment of David Stern as NBA Commissioner in 1984, the NBA has seen tremendous growth in popularity. While I do acknowledge the NBA has somewhat stagnated in North American growth, the league continues to expand in other key markets, such as China, Latin America, and Great Britain. Thus, I would like to learn more about how the NBA has successfully marketed itself to maintain its status as a leading entertainment option.

Specifically, I would like to focus on how the NBA uses the four p’s of marketing to create its success. By examining the four p’s, I will be able to gain insight into ticket pricing (price), nba franchising (place), promotion development (promotion), and experiential marketing (product). Moreover, for the product aspect of the 4 p’s, I will be focusing extensively on experiential marketing rather than pure product marketing. Based on my experience in the sports industry, marketing sports does not focus on the benefits of the game itself; instead, sport marketing requires a focus on the sports experience.


While I performed preliminary research, a few questions came to mind.

1. What differentiates the marketing strategy of the NBA from other failed
professional American sports leagues?
2. How does the NBA market itself compared to international basketball leagues?
3. How has the NBA adapted its marketing strategy to a changing audience?
4. Does the NBA’s marketing strategy change due to the economic recession?
5. What does the NBA do to shape its image through marketing?
6. Who is really the NBA’s target market? Demographics? Psychographics?


After completing preliminary research, I’m excited about learning more about this topic. This topic excites me because I aim to work in the sports industry. In particular, I want to work in the league office headquarters for the NBA in New York City. By researching the NBA’s marketing strategy, I feel like I will be better prepared to make a smoother transition into my dream job. Despite my interest, I am slightly concerned that it will be difficult to find articles specifically related to the NBA’s marketing strategy. I may be forced to search for references to the NBA’s marketing strategy within other articles.

If I am able to find enough relevant information, I feel like this analysis will allow me to better understand many Customer Insight topics. Specifically, it will give me a better understanding of experiential marketing because of the way sports are marketed. Also, I will learn how the NBA segments its target customers so that it can most effectively market to its large fan base. Additionally, I will gain insight into the type of customer I, as a sports marketer, will encounter in my future. Lastly, I will gain insight into how consumers make purchasing decisions. Specifically, how they choose to spend their time and money in one entertainment option—the NBA—over competing entertainment options.

In relation to segmentation, I found an article titled “Walk This Way” by ESPN the magazine writer Chris Broussard. The article discusses how the NBA cringed at the thought of players wearing skull caps and baggy shorts because of its association to the “streets.” Now, the NBA has learned to embrace its connection to hip-hop because of how mainstream hip-hip culture has become part of modern America. Since the hip-hop culture is now entrenched in modern America, the NBA risked detachment from its young (generation y) fans if it did not embrace this new culture. Therefore, the NBA now has a bigger connection to hip-hop culture than ever before.

Based on this article, I was able to gain insight into how the NBA markets to a particular segment. This article focuses on how the NBA is using hip-hop music to reach the younger generation of basketball fans. For example, the NBA now allows hip-hop music to be loudly blasted in all NBA arenas so long as the content is appropriate. While the young generation is not the NBA’s only fan base, this articles shows how the NBA adapts its experience to a particular segment. Upon further development of my top paper, I would like better understand other segments the NBA targets and how they adapt their marketing programs to that segment.

I Am Witness...To The Importance of Those Three Little Words: "Just Do It"

Nike Co-founder Bill Bowerman once said, “If you have a body, you are an athlete.” This statement embodies the ideas and goals of the world-renowned “Just Do It” campaign. The “Just Do It” campaign began in 1988 as an effort to overcome decreasing market share to Nike’s competitors, such as Reebok and Adidas. At the time, Nike took a gamble by developing a marketing campaign that aimed to express Nike products as more than just shoes, but rather as athletic fashion statement. Nike aimed to promote the experience that when you buy Nike’s you are not just getting a top of line athletic shoe, you are joining the in-crowd that lives an active lifestyle. This new lifestyle was active, hip, and trendy; three qualities Nike believed were very desirable to their consumers.

This call for an active lifestyle comes from the type of marketing known as strategic experience modeling, in particular act marketing. In a book titled Experiental Marketing: How to Get Your Customers to Sense, Feel, Think, Act, and Relate to Your Company and Brand by Bernd H. Schmitt, the author argues about the importance of marketing the experience of your brand to your consumers. Nike excellently challenged their customers to not only use their products, but also to create a new lifestyle. This type of challenge to action is known as act marketing. It encouraged potential customers to perceive the need to go out and exercise(Check Out The Original Just Do It Commercial). Whether your exercise of choice was walking in the mall for 30 minutes or running a marathon, Nike didn’t care. The company just wanted to cash in on the fitness craze of the 1980s by getting everyone to do some form of exercise. By empowering individuals to “just do it” and start exercising, Nike was implicitly improving its bottom-line. Nike knew if they were able sell this “Just Do It” concept, consumers would need athletic shoes and equipment to exercise. As the motivation for people’s workout, Nike was confident that their shoes would be the customers’ product of choice.

Before the “Just Do It” campaign, Nike like most athletic shoe companies at the time only focused on the benefits of the shoe. Through the “Just Do It” campaign, Nike was able to say all they needed to about the Nike product without ever discussing the show or even saying the Nike name. This lack of direct selling is the beauty of experiential marketing. As discussed extensively in marketing literature, people do not like to feel like they are being sold to. Rather, people desire to feel like buying a product provides them something more. For example, L’Oreal Paris’ hair treatment is more than just another brand of hair dye. Through their celebrity spokespersons, L’Oreal Paris has created an image of the woman you can become by using their product. Therefore, countless women will only use L’Oreal Paris products because it represents the lifestyle they live or presently desire.

Like Loreal, Nike also uses opinion leaders to create an image of a certain experience you can have with Nike. In one of the original 12 “Just Do It” commercials, Nike relied on two-sport superstar Bo Jackson to give the image that you can be an athletic superstar by using Nikes (See Original Bo Jackson Commercial). Even today, Nike is known for their innovative marketing programs that make you feel like an athlete and they inspire you to go out and “Just Do It.”

If Nike did not rely on multiple senses of Schmitt’s strategic experience marketing. It can be argued that it would not be as successful as it is today. As a former athlete and avid runner, I understand that Nike’s athletic shoes are usually not the best quality product in the market. Yet, Nike is the leader of athletic shoe revenues in the world. If Nikes aren’t the best shoes, but yet they sell at a tremendous rate, there must be something extra about Nike (besides the extra mark-up they are now able to charge because of their brand equity). The something extra is the experience, the fashion, and the coolness that both star athletes and average individuals feel when they put on their Nikes. And to think, this Nike experience all started because some marketing executives understood the power of a hybrid approach to experiential marketing. “Just Do It!”

I Don't Know What To Do...Too Many Choices

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.” –Robert Frost

The great poet Robert Frost showed it best. The choices you make will cause a huge difference in your life. Or will they? Depending on how you look at it, these choices can be a good thing or a bad thing. Barry Schwartz is his talk about “The Paradox of Choice” indicates that having too many choices is a bad thing. While I don’t necessarily disagree with him, I find his arguments contrary to current product and service marketing. In the year 2009, it seems like consumers are forced to make a choice about every product or service they buy. Businesses seem to be very choice oriented. Most businesses aim to give consumers every possible combination of goods and services imaginable.

Granted, many consumers have different needs, but I think consumers are spoiled. They are no longer satisfied with just getting soap, shampoo, or laundry detergent. Now it must disinfect a certain way, smell another way, and clean a specific spot. Consequently, companies are constantly putting out new products to satisfy those specific desires. Then, consumers get tired of that product and want something new. Since we’ve always received tons of options, we always want more. Basically, the ability to have a choice has made consumers more needy. We want more because we know that companies need to satisfy us because we drive their bottom line. As a result, consumers begin to get this feeling of well they company owes it to me to give me a new product. Once we get a new product, we become overly critical about that product. If the company doesn’t exactly meet our needs, we threaten to switch to a competitor. Now I ask, what we did when we didn’t have so many other options.

Another interesting thought involves the fact that most consumers use their close friends and relatives opinions to select a product. Since we cannot decide on our own, we must rely on people we trust to tell us what to do. For instance, at the grocery store, I find myself calling my mom just to ask her what brand of bacon is better. While this is important for my breakfast, it’s a little ridiculous that consumers cannot make a simple decision on their own anymore. Consequently, marketers must work heavily to reach the decision maker in the family. The ultimate example of this is the success Nintendo has had in marketing the Wii to stay at home moms.



On a personal level, I face my own paradox of choice recently. I decided to move into an off-campus apartment after living in an on-campus dorm for three years. I tormented myself for three weeks about whether to move off-campus or not. Even when I decided to move off campus, I immediately faced regret. I kept thinking about the reasons I should have just stayed on-campus. Yet, I originally was really confident in my decisions. I realized I was in a paradox. Either decision I made was really right and that’s why the decision was so difficult.

Similar to my situation, consumers are faced with a paradox. They may be indecisive as to what product to buy or what service to use. This indecisiveness arises from the fact that either decision is really correct. For example, I highly doubt that axe body wash is any better than old spice body wash. Its just now that men have a choice they ponder the pros and cons of each purchase. As a result of so many options, consumers are unsure of their decisions and experience buyers’ remorse.

Consumer indecisiveness relates to the argument in the article “Get Closer to Your Customers by Understanding How They Make Choices” by Itamar Simonson. It seems like all companies have done by diversifying their product portfolio is make it more difficult for them to understand their own consumers. Thus, companies must work to ensure that their products are the most satisfying to the consumer. This satisfaction oriented approach will help to minimize buyers remorse and help the decision making process easier. Now the question becomes, “What satisfies consumers?” If there is one thing being argued here, it is that marketers really don’t know exactly what drives consumer decisions. Marketers may have a pretty good idea, but it seems nearly impossible to completely understand the complex minds of a consumers. As a future marketer, I will definitely try to find the “golden ticket” to consumer decision making.

The "New" Generation Y

It’s amazing to me how far we have technologically progressed since I was a kid. Fortunately, I’ve always grown up with some sort of computer access. Of course, when I was younger the internet was a little more primitive (Oregon Trail anyone?), but I guess I shouldn’t complain considering my computer didn’t tack up an entire room. Now, we have these great inventions known as Iphones. This all-in-one gadget does a great job of summarizing the needs of Generation Y. I’m sure many Baby Boomers find this Apple product a little unnecessary. I, as a member of Generation Y, find it essential. It provides access to all the specific needs of a trendy professional. In the fast pace world we live in, it seems like you would be at a disadvantage if you could not receive email on the go. It’s perfect for us!

'

With that said, I think the podcast “The Myspace Generation” by David Byrne captures Generation Y fairly accurately. In its accurate depiction, I feel like it also shows that maybe the generation gap really isn’t that large. The podcast seems to argue that Generation Y is very socially driven (i.e. the comment about music being the social currency in high schools). I’m sure most would agree that every modern generation is very socially driven. It seems like this generation is just using better technology than others. Despite this technology, we are still searching for all the levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. We want social acceptance, confidence, and strong relationships. I think many people look at these Generation Y kids as a puzzle. On the contrary, I think Generation Y kids are quite easy to figure out. They are looking to satisfy the same needs that generations before them have longed for. Fortunately, it’s now a lot easier for this generation to access their needs through the internet. Specifically, one need can be satisfied through MySpace and/or Facebook. These social networking sites help Generation Y to feel socially accepted because they can meet people from across the world that are exactly like them. Marketers need to further focus on how to expand on this ancient need for acceptance.
'

On the other hand, I think the Business Week article about Generation Y does not accurately depict Generation Y. It seems to make arguments about many of the brands Generation Ys prefer. I would have to argue that Nike, Converse, and many other established brands are tremendously popular. For instance, I cannot walk to school without seeing nearly three-fourths of The University of Texas student body sporting some sort of Nike, Inc (includes Hurley and Converse brands) product. Thus, I think the article grossly underestimates the amount of brand loyalty teens have to established brands. With that said, I do agree that Generation Ys are easily influenced by peers and celebrities. For instance, the Secret Sparkle deodorant was tremendously popular in large part due to its association with Rihanna. Even so, this desire to follow favorite celebrities brings me back to the need for social acceptance. It seems like marketers should continue to use grassroots efforts to make products seem socially cool. Once this socially cool factor is established, no matter the product, it seams like Generation Y will buy. Some modern examples of this cool factor include Apple’s trendy business strategy and Mountain Dew’s connection with extreme sports.

'

To get a little more personal, I think I’m somewhat atypical to Generation Y. While I am driven and already had a 10 year plan entering college, I tend to enjoy classic simplicities. For example, I actually do not have Facebook. According to many, no facebook means social suicide, but I look it as a way to continue to have more personal face-to-face and/or phone conversations. Moreover, I think it’s unnecessary to constantly let people know what you’ve been doing. I want to keep my life as private as possible. Thus, I enjoy life without the hassles of checking my facebook.
'

Despite my personal philosophy, I’ve realized that I’m quite rare in my generation. Therefore, I would highly recommend marketers continue to tap into these trendy, alternative styles that most Generation Ys desire. I think marketers must strive to find unique niches and take chances in trying to find the next big thing. The worse thing a marketer could do is to stop evolving their strategies because they think they have figured out Generation Y. If we know anything about Generation Y, it is that we are always changing and looking for the easiest way to do multiple things.

Hello Everyone

Hey,

I'm a third year BHP/Marketing/Sport Management major. I'm curious to see how my blogs turn out because I wouldn't consider myself an interesting writer. Despite this, I look forward to reading other people's blogs and learning from each other