Sustainable Competitive Advantage - Assignment Example

Project Table of Contents Internal analysis 3 Competitive advantage 3 Sustainable competitive advantage 3 Value chain 5 External analysis 5 Competitive analysis of competitors 6 Value chain analysis of competitors 7 Direct competitive landscape 9 Strengths and weaknesses of competitors in Australian Football League 10 Form grouping 10 Strategic evaluation 11 Internal competitive advantage 12 First mover advantage 12 Innovation 13 Bibliography 14 Internal analysis The internal analysis is a strategic management process which is implemented in the report to identify weakness and strength of Australian Football League. The understanding of business operation is key part of marketing planning. For effective application of strategies, it is crucial for organization to eliminate its weaknesses and expand its strengths to achieve profitability and gain sustainable competitive advantage. Competitive advantage This part of the paper is based on analyzing internal analysis of the Australian Football League. Several top football clubs fails to maintain profit. The best possible ways to turn profit is by expanding their income streams and implement innovative tactics to enhance their businesses1.The competitive advantage of Australian Football League can be identified by sustainable competitive advantage and value chain method. Sustainable competitive advantage Price- some of the successful football clubs from Australian Football League are West Coast Eagles, Essendon and Collingwood Football club. The application of effective pricing strategy is vital for successful sporting club2. According to AFL Premiership, the ticket prices for season 2013 were 2.50 Australian Dollars for junior, 12 Australian Dollars for concession and 20 dollars for adults. The Collingwood Football club is one of the biggest sporting clubs in Australian Football League. The club has innovative legends packaging system which costs around 2366 dollars for family and 864 dollars for adults. This pricing strategy of the club is based on providing supporters with guarantee access to all home and away games. Features- there are several features entertained by Australian Football League. The continuation of improvement in the education program of football players, revamped online video with conferences and highlights, upgrade of facilities and introduction of several memberships options such as three game per season membership and one game membership. Quality- the quality of facilities and weekly broadcasting of live Australian Football League on Fox Footy and Fox Sports has enhanced. The Australian Football League has acknowledged the backing from Swisse Quality Club Program. This program is designed to enhance operations of every club in the league at bronze, silver and gold level. Furthermore, the clubs has increased their focus on quality of training facilities. Availability- the tickets, membership packages and other club accessories are available on club official website. The accessories include club t-shirt, scarfs, key chain, signature card, etc. Image- the Australian Football League is viewed as one of the largest structured sporting associations in Australia. This league reaches diverse and large number of stakeholders, spectators and participants. The rich history of every club makes the league prestigious sporting event. Bundling- the website of every football clubs provides membership packages for families, adults and kids. Value chain The effect of football spreads beyond the services and products offered to the supports3. The value network of the Australian Football League is not just only formed for communication between spectators, advertisers and sponsors, but also fans can cooperate with other spectators and group members4. The sponsors of the football league run on the basis of primary and support elements. In Australia, the internet hasformedprofound influence on consumption and production of media content. The primary element of value chain for Australian Football League is to create products that are effectively delivered to the supporters. The extensive focus on ticket sales and merchandising activities of the club can help to create value of supports and customers. The primary sources of revenue for every club in the Australian Football League are sponsorship, marketing and social gaming5. The value creation of customers is involved in the primary activities. It is believed that Australian Football League have aim to gain competitive advantage in one of the primary actions that are involved in value formation. The support activities are not related to the customer but provide assistance to the primary events. Moreover, the support elements are based on focusing on making stadium clean and supporting community programs. External analysis This part of the report is based on competitive analysis of Australian Football League. Competitive analysis of competitors The competitive analysis helps to evaluate the marketing plan of organization or business. This part of the report is based on providing effective analysis of competitors. The current competitors of Australian Football League are Collingwood, Hawthorn and Carlton football club. In football sectors, there is augmented rate of rivalry among competitors. It is crucial for a football club to understand the nature of competitors, global environment, extensive national environment and football industry related external atmosphere6. It is important to get notified about three categories of competitors such as indirect competitors, secondary competitors and direct competitors7. The on-field and of field success of Hawthorn Football Club is created by strong corporate branding and solid brand name. The three of field objective of the club are expansion of corporate fan base, life time experience for season tickets holders and attract next negation young and old season ticket holders8. The chief executive officer of the club stated that the club tries to maintain sustainability by providing supporters clear assess to the clean stadium and high quality food. According to Shilbury, the two significant feature of football club management are on-field performance and financial trading performance. The threat of new entrants in football league is negligible9. This is primarily because new football club would require heavy investment on on-field department, staff members, facilities and training center. Furthermore, three year period TV broadcast agreement was provided to every club with 5 million dollars. Every competitor of Australian Football League tries to enhance their sponsorship, training facility, membership base, and fan base. The supporters are primary success factor for every football club. Customer has options to buy season tickets with additional benefits such as discount on ticket price and merchandise. Furthermore, several benefits are provided by football clubs to adults and juniors. Value chain analysis of competitors This part of the report is based on providing value chain for two competitors in Australian Football League. Essendon Football Club Procurement- Players and coaching staff Infrastructure-Infrastructures of the club are Melbourne Cricket Ground and Docklands Stadium. Human Resource Management- Bonus system and incentives Outbound and inbound logistics- The major outbound logistics of Essendon Football club are Samsung, Kia Motors and Hutchison telecommunications. The inbound logistics are player transfers and manager alteration. Operations- the Bomber TV is the official television partner of the football club. Marketing and sales- The marketing and sales segment of the club is done through PremiumSeats.Com.au for membership tickets and ProLine and BlueStar for marketing initiative. Service- Online website used for 24/7 customer service. The Essendon Football Club tried to change their focus to move in to secondary market segment. The aim of the club is to provide elite business network with great caliber of financial management, quality facilities and match day live experience10. The emerging leaders of Essendon Football Club provide opportunity to pursue professional prospects and meet liveliest mind in Melbourne. The Red and Black jumper is the symbol of the club. It can be notified that these football clubs in Australian Football League is built on high level of belonging, commitment, passion and loyalty11. It is believed that this club claims an unrivaled combination of entrepreneurs, corporate executives and business identities12. Hawthron Football Club Procurement- Football players and coaching staff members Infrastructure- Melbourne Cricket Ground and the York Park Ground Human Resource Management- Incentives and bonus system are human resource management. Service- Websites. In-bound and outbound logistics- The outbound logistics are Shirt sponsorship by Adidas and Kia motors Operations- The operations of Hawthorne Football Club are done through Hawks TV and providing weekly interviews of players and staff management on Nova FM and Gold FM13. Marketing and sales- The marketing sales components are Swisse, Simply energy, Ricoh and Tasmania. On the other hand, the primary activities of Hawthorne Football Club operations and marketing sales are effectively done by sponsorships and television channels14. The sponsorship program initiated by club to business networks and supports effective chance to involve with the internal sanctum of Hawthorne Football Club15. Direct competitive landscape The strength and weaknesses of the competitors in Australian Football League can be identified effectively by direct competitive landscape analysis. Strengths and weaknesses of competitors in Australian Football League The Hawthorn and Collingwood Football clubs have created strong brand name by increasing their concerns on supporter loyalty and facilities16. The Collingwood has introduced difference ranges of prices for tickets and membership based on high-performance industry and innovation. There is a significant rate of investment on training facilities to enhance football quality of Australia. On the other hand, the success stories of Hawthron Football club are quality of caterers, clean stadium, merchandising deals and facilities17. Furthermore, the club has created deal with Tasmanian government to play football and provide supporters opportunity to view their club. Some of the negative aspects of these competitors can be controversy and off-field behavior of their star players18. The rise of controversy can sometimes force football club to sell their star players. Form grouping Every club in Australian Football League has their personal way to making profit and maintaining growth. The competitive analysis of form grouping about competitors in AustralianFootball League can be analyzed by comparing profit growth rate of the competitors. The ability of funding on marketing, investment on stadium quality and application of effective merchandising strategy can reduce weaknesses and drawbacks of the competitors19. The football supporters plays pivotal role towards the functioning of a particular competitor club20. The competitors in Australian Football League have options to exploit on the globalization of their brand and make broadcasting revenue improvements21. Furthermore, the partnership with shirt sponsors and other companies to create business activity that can enhance revenue. The Collingwood Football Club provides vivid explanation that implementation of online marketing strategy can act as productive approach for other competitors in Australian Football League. The successful football club in this league can enhance their monopolies by focusing on broadcasting right, advertising, tickets and merchandise. Over past 10 years, there is as considerable amount of increased on revenue on television broadcasting22. Therefore, it can be notified that loyalty of fan base is required to be maintained to provide several benefits to the club. Strategic evaluation This part of the report is based on providing strategic evaluation on Australian Football League. Internal competitive advantage It is believed that sustainable competitive advantage can be achieved by focusing on innovation and first mover advantage and internal resources23. First mover advantage The first mover advantage is a competitive advantage gained by company or organization by becoming initial first-mover in to specific industry or market. In this scenario, the specific market is Australian Football League. Buyer choice, technological leadership and preemption of scarce assets are beneficial primary sources for first mover advantage24. Economics of scale- the potential revenue generation options for clubs in Australian Football League is investment done from sponsorships deals. The revenue of the club can be increased by introduction of innovative strategies25. Supporter around the world- the prime success of the Australian Football League is supporters from all over the world supporting their favorite clubs. The official airline sponsor of the league is Virgin Australia. 26This successful airline company has benefited the league to enhance their brand image and market portfolio27. Innovation In the year 2013, the continued growth, development and innovation has in Australian Football League has resulted in to 6.6% uplift on sales. The key projects introduced by the league are to provide opportunity for supporters to have potential access to a centralized AFL shop and club e-commerce website. In the year 2014, the Australian Football League has brought improved and innovative online retail atmosphere to the supporters. The growth of digital audiences has been substantial contributor towards the content generated approach by Australian Football League clubs28. AFL live app provides live broadcasting of all live Australian Football League matches on smart phone devise. Furthermore, Australian Football League started innovative approach to enhance course development by providing online junior Coaching course to identify talent for Australian Football League clubs, state and regional development programs29. Some of the clubs in Australian Football League such as Collingwood Football Club tried to increase their online followers and paid members by partnering with PENSO to create operation for global awareness30. Bibliography Anderton, John. Economics. New Jersey: Pearson, 2012. Barker, Stephen. “Planning key to promotions development”. Marketing Week 35(2012): 10. Blainey, Geoffrey. A game of our own. London: Sage, 2010. Bradshaw, Alan. “Remembering Chet: theorizing the mythology of the self-destructive bohemian artist as self-producer and self-consumer in the market for romanticism”. Journal of Marketing Theory 7(2007) :115-136. Broughton, Philip. Management Matters. London: Pearson, 2013. Brown, Sean. Football fans around the world. 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