Market Opportunities of Fair Game International Plc for Exploring the Betting Market of the UK - Case Study Example

The marketing planning consultancy report for Fair Game International Product life cycle in UK Table of contents Sl. No. Heading 1 Executive summary 2 Main report Corporate objectives Marketing audit SWOT Analysis Marketing strategies Marketing mix decisions Implementation and control measures 3 Bibliography 4 Appendix Executive Summary: This report takes a deep insight into the market opportunities of Fair Game international Plc for exploring the betting market of UK. Fair Game International Plc has very good market presence in America where it provides entertainment services in sports, leisure and betting games. The Licensed offices spread over in many American states have been a very good aid for improving the market share though a threat was imposed on the company by the law passed against the gambling industry by the government. Since the company is already established in US and has very less support by the law in the country, an expansion from the domestic market will be favorable. The expansion has to be done towards a country where the market and other related factors are favorable. UK is a promising market for betting industry and the company can be very successful in the UK market. The total value of the betting market of UK in 2007 is £36 billion. The UK betting market is more liberalized than the US. Betting is a mainstream activity in UK irrespective of the age and sex. This report is a marketing plan for the company to explore the UK market. This shows what strategies the company should adopt when they enter the UK market. A SWOT analysis for Fair Game International is also prepared inorder to learn the actual environment in detail. The decisions on the marketing mix to be adopted by the company are also referred in the report. Main report: UK is the world leader in gambling industry. This result was due to the encouragement given by the government for the industry. The gambling industry in UK is also employing better technologies. Therefore, the entire scenario in UK betting industry is different from that of US. “The future seems to smile to UK casinos and the gambling industry as more and more companies are opened in its territory. Unlike the conservative US, the UK is willing to go straight into the future with the unique entertainment industry which is consisted of super-casinos, online casinos and UK mobile betting services.” (UK Gambling and Online Casinos Preface. 2007). The company should lay down proper objectives before they enter the new market. This should be done by the company because the UK market is entirely different from that of the US market. The market is more competitive in UK. The company has to provide services and games with varied features as the customers are very selective. Corporate objectives: The company should have clear objectives regarding the way market should be approached. The market is highly competitive with strong players like William Hill, Ladbrokes, and Coral EuroBet. The core objectives of the company when they enter the UK market should be as follows. 1) Understand the customer preferences 2) Provide the needful product 3) Penetrate into the market 4) Grab a very competent market share The company must first try to understand the taste and preferences of the new customers. The market scenario is different in UK than US. The company should not expect the UK customers to be of the same attitude with that of the US. After studying the customers and their taste properly the company can frame the products accordingly. There are chances for both gambling and betting business in UK. The customers are also wider. The company can frame different games in order attract the customers from all the age groups. The company must have the objective of skimming the market in UK. It is not possible for the company to operate full-fledged in the beginning stage. Therefore the company should keep the objective to penetrate into the market gradually. It is seen that the gambling industry in UK is highly competitive. Fair Game International Plc is trying to enter a market which is a playing field of many gambling tycoons. Therefore, the company should also have an objective to be one of the best gambling companies in the future. Marketing Audit: “In spite of the US ban in online gaming, the outlook for UK gambling is a bright one with the market forecast to grow by over 30% in the next four years says Glynn Davis of The Fleet Street Letter.” (Davis 2007). The UK market is very much promising for the company. The people of UK spent a lot of time every day for gambling purpose. The statistical information regarding the time spent by the people is attached in the appendix. There are several types of gambling games that is done in UK. They are Betting, Bingo, Lottery, Machine, Spread betting and Casino games. Fair game can choose to offer any of these or all to offer to the new market. Betting game has more popularity in the industry as there are many events being held in the region on which people show interest to bet. The events vary from sports to reality shows in the television. Machines are also used widely in the market. In Casino games the people play a variety of card games. Bingo is a game that is based on numbers. Lottery is another most popular gambling game. This is also based on numbers. Spread betting is the riskiest betting as the betting is based on stock market index, sports and other events. SWOT Analysis: Strength: The strength of Fair Game International Plc is that it is an established company in US. Therefore, the company has good experience in the delivering betting and gambling products to the customers. The company is aware about the general attitude and behavior of the people towards betting and gambling. Weakness: Though the company is an established betting company in US the company has very limited knowledge about the UK market. The attitude of US and UK customers are different. The company cannot exercise the principles that were applied in the US market. The company is totally ignorant about the nature of UK market. Opportunities: The Company has a very good opportunity to grab the UK market. The gambling and betting market in UK is booming at high intensity. More and more people are into the gambling games. There are even very high rates of women involved in betting games. So the gambling market is always opened for the company. Threats: Fair Game will have to face a very tough competition from the larger players in the market. There are many betting companies who have proved it to be the strongest companies in UK. The customers will always have less credibility about the new gambling company. They will consider the company only when success stories are being proved. Marketing strategies: Fair Game International Plc will be a new entrant in the UK market. The company has limited knowledge about the taste and preferences of the customers. Fair Game can explore the market only when proper strategies are adopted to deal with the new market. Some of the strategies that the company should adopt while entering the new market are as follows. 1) Customer oriented approach: The market for betting and gambling games is higher in UK. The company should not provide all forms of gambling games soon after they begin operations. At first the requirements of the customers should be studied well. 2) Awareness about the age group: The Company should develop a good knowledge about the games preferred by the customers of different age group. The women customers mostly prefer betting games based on reality shows. The middle aged group prefers the betting on the basis of stock markets and the younger generation mostly prefers the betting on games and sports. 3) Understanding the strategy of the competitors: The Company must make sure to look into the strategies that the competitors adopt for their survival. The view of competitors regarding the customers must be considered by the company as this can be highly helpful for Fair Game to survive in the competitive environment. Marketing mix decisions: Fair Game can succeed only when it makes sufficient planning in its marketing mix in order to make it viable for the UK market. Marketing Mix also known as the 4 P’s of marketing are Product, Price, Promotion and Place. The product to be introduced to the customers here are the different games such as lottery, betting, casino games, bingo and machines. The company should not introduce all the products initially. Lottery, betting and casino games can be introduced at first. Once the company gains sufficient popularity in the market it can move on to introducing the others. Price factor is a major consideration of the customers. The price should not be higher compared to the competitors. The betting game has to be divided on the basis of the range of price amount. This strategy will attract the customers from lower financial background too. The company should adopt aggressive advertisement strategy as this is the primary method through which it can attract customers. Place also plays a very important role in the success of the company. The company should open up its outlets in those areas where the rich group of the society lives. Implementation and control measures: Fair Game should note that the company is entering in an entirely new market where then attitude of the customers are different from the one that is experienced in the US market. The product or services of the company is entirely different from the normal business organization. There are more chances for the experienced players to commit fraudulent activities in the game. The company should employ a team of experts in order to watch the commitment of such activities. Bibliography DAVIS, Glynn (2007). UK Gambling Market: A Good Investment? [online]. Daily Reckoning. Last accessed 30 November 2007 at: http://www.dailyreckoning.co.uk/article/ukgamblingmarketagoodinvestment0079.html UK Gambling and Online Casinos Preface. (2007). [online]. UK 777 House of Gambling. Last accessed 30 November 2007 at: http://www.uk777.com/ UK Casino Market Statistics. (2007). Computer and video game survey. Last accessed 30 November 2007 at: http://www.video-games-survey.com/uk_casino.htm Appendix (UK Casino Market Statistics. 2007). Read More