Strategic Integrated Marketing Communications - Example

Strategic Marketing Plan for SportUNE Student’s Name: Institutional Affiliation: Date of submission: Executive summary SportUNE is one of the best university sporting precincts in Australia. Sport UNE offers a variety of sporting facilities and services to University of New England students and the regional community. Sport UNE has the highest student participation rates in Australian universities making it a market leader in the industry. This plan lays out a new idea for Sport UNE to enhance the competitiveness of the brand. Sport UNE should adopt a pioneer strategy for new-market entry plans as it is a leading brand in the industry. To grow in the new market, Sport UNE should adopt market leader strategies of expansion and flanker to gain market share. The plan will discuss the suitability of new competitive idea for Sport UNE. Finally the plan will discuss relevant marketing metric and audit methods that can be used to test the effectiveness of the new idea for Sport UNE. Table of Contents Executive summary 2 Strategic Marketing Plan for SportUNE 3 Introduction 3 1.1 Product life cycle 4 1.1.1 Introductory stage 5 1.1.2 Growth stage 5 1.1.3 Shakeout stage 5 1.1.4 Maturity stage 6 1.1.5 Decline 6 2 New market entry 7 3 Pioneer strategy 8 4 Growth strategy 9 4.1 Shake-out stage strategies 10 4.2 Maturity stage strategy 11 4.3 Decline stage 12 5 New economy emergence 12 6 Organization structures 13 7 Marketing plans 14 7.1 Sport UNE strengths 14 7.2 Sport UNE weaknesses 15 7.3 Sport UNE opportunities 15 7.4 Sport UNE threats 15 8 Marketing metrics 17 9 Marketing audit 17 10 Conclusion 18 References 19 Strategic Marketing Plan for SportUNE Introduction Sport UNE is a controlled entity of the University of New England, SporUNE is a non-profit organization an. The organization has over fifty employees from both the University of New England and the wider community. These employees offer expertise in a wide range of disciplines .SportUNE has the highest student participation rates as far as the Australian Universities are concerned. Additionally, the institution boasts an extensive community involvement in health programs and exercise (Sport UNE, 2014). However, the institution operates within a very competitive market condition since other key institutions of higher learning are intending to start and operate sports and fitness centres to boost their competitiveness using state of the art technology facilities and new offerings. Sport UNE’s facilities, work force, administration and resources have not yet been fully exploited. For instance, the sporting facilities are in a position to hold an international sporting tournaments but that has never been realised (Andrew, 2011). This plan intends to introduce a new idea that will enhance Sport UNE competitiveness in the market. The plan will discuss the suitability of pioneer and market leader strategies to be used by Sport UNE in penetrating new markets and growing them. 1.1 Product life cycle New products in the market go through five basic stages of a product life cycle. Each stage presents a unique set of challenges and opportunities for the business in regards to its products. A business must come up with an appropriate strategy suiting every stage of a product’s lifecycle. With a suitable strategy, a business will be able to take advantage of opportunities and its strengths to remain competitive while reducing weaknesses and threats to survive in competitive markets (Porter, 2010). The product lifecycle stages are: Introductory stage, Growth stage, Shakeout stage, Maturity stage, and Decline stage (Stark, 2011). 1.1.1 Introductory stage A new product in the market starts at the introductory stage. The market for the new product is still very small and consumer awareness of the products existence and benefits is very low. Profit from product sales is relatively low. The business incurs huge expenses in advertisement and promotion to enhance awareness. Skimming and penetration pricing strategies to gain market share are the best-suited competitive approaches in this product lifecycle stage (Stark, 2011). 1.1.2 Growth stage This is the second stage in a product’s lifecycle. The product has already grown its market share at this stage owing to marketing and promotion efforts at the introductory stage. Due to the attractiveness of the market, the product experiences new competition directly or indirectly from other businesses. There is rise in revenue and expansion of the market share. Competitive pricing strategy is usually recommended at the growth stage in order to gain more market share and achieve sales growth. A business may consider increasing promotion efforts to deal with increasing competition threat (Stark, 2011). 1.1.3 Shakeout stage Increased competition and entry of many sellers in the market lead to low growth in revenue and market expansion. Pioneer firms consolidate their market share through differentiation while weaker firms leave the market due to high operational costs and low revenues. There is little innovation in the market as firms concentrate on maintaining market share of the leading brands (Stark, 2011). 1.1.4 Maturity stage At maturity stage, the product’s market share is more stable and well established as a reputable brand. There is low growth of the market share and businesses concentrate on maintaining the market share through product features improvement. Competition in the market is high and sophisticated from firms with similar products and capabilities. Competitive pricing in this stage helps firms to protect their market share (Stark, 2011). 1.1.5 Decline This is the final stage in a product lifecycle where the product sales start to fall due to changing consumer preferences or increased competition in the market. Firms survive the decline stage by innovating less, keeping expenses low and concentrating improvement and marketing efforts on the best-performing products (Stark, 2011). Sport UNE can be considered to be in the maturity stage of product lifecycle. Sport UNE has a very strong brand reputation amongst Australian universities in sporting and wellbeing. Sport UNE has the largest market share in sporting and fitness business as compared to other institutions of higher learning such as Ballarat University and Deakin University. At the maturity stage, market share growth is very minimal but pioneering firms such as Sport UNE can increase revenues by differentiating the product offering through innovation and augmentation. Sport UNE has recently completed expansion of its facilities to offer crèche and cafe services. This augmentation is expected to increase consumer satisfaction and maintain the existing clientele of Sport UNE. Sport UNE is competing at a sophisticated level with high capital investment. Extension of Sport UNE facilities and construction of a state-of-the-art strength and conditioning gym cost Sport UNE $5.5 million (Sport UNE, 2014). Such investment capability makes it possible for Sport UNE to maintain its market share and attract new consumers. 2 New market entry Sport UNE may not be experiencing a lot of direct competition from other fitness facilities in universities but there exists substantial competition to keep Sport UNE strategising on ways to stay ahead of competition. Footscray Park Aquatic and Fitness centre offers facilities and services that are similar to what is offered by Sport UNE. There are several other gyms and health clubs spread throughout Australia including Jetts Fitness Australia and AnytimeFitness Australia. Sport UNE needs to develop new marketing strategies in order to maintain its market share and attract more members to its programs. Sport UNE may consider new product offering to diversify its revenue generation and reduce its exposure to competitors offering similar or less differentiated products. One of the products that Sport UNE can consider is corporate team building. Sport UNE is already offering corporate health and wellness packages to corporate clientele. The corporate clients are likely to pay for quality teambuilding activities using Sport UNE facilities including pools, fields, multipurpose halls and the indoor climbing wall. Corporate teambuilding may also be accompanied by training and development of employee in skills such as teamwork, leadership and critical thinking by professional motivators and speakers drawn from UNE faculties. This new product offering and augmentation strategy will set Sport UNE apart from the competitors in the fitness and wellness industry. Sport UNE may also consider lowering its operational costs in order to make its membership program more affordable particularly to the surrounding community. Corporate bodies will also find it more benefiting to take advantage of Sport UNE offering if the programs offered are less costly than the rest in the market. Unlike followers, market leaders with huge capital backing can be able to explore cost reduction measures to lower the price of their final products (Shankar, Carpenter, & Hamilton, 2012). Cost reduction can benefit Sport UNE in attracting more clientele to its facilities. 3 Pioneer strategy The pioneer strategy offers a company several benefits such strong brand reputation associated with genuine innovation and value creation. Consumers are more likely to recall a pioneer’s brand whenever they need a product or service (Neubert, 2013). Pioneer strategy will be the suitable strategy for Sport UNE in offering corporate training and teambuilding. Sport UNE will set the standards in the industry and generate as much revenue and experience in the field before competition sets in. By employing a pioneer strategy in corporate training and teambuilding, Sport UNE will be carving a market niche for itself in training and development as well as in fitness and wellness. Niche targeting will shield Sport UNE from price-based competition from other facilities and fitness centres in the country. Niche marketing is always beneficial to a business as the focus is mainly centred on improving the product features to enhance customer satisfaction. The business is not threatened by competition due to high levels of consumer loyalty in the brand. Advertisement and promotional costs are therefore, kept low (Percy, 2012). Sport UNE will also be able to set good margins for its new product offering through niche marketing. Identifying a market segment that is not being serviced by the rest of the players in the market offers a business pricing monopoly as it is the only supplier in the market (Burkard, 2013). Through skimming, Sport UNE will enjoy high initial profits as a pioneer before competition sets in. a pioneer strategy is indeed the best approach for Sport UNE in offering corporate training and teambuilding programs. 4 Growth strategy Sport UNE is considered one of the best university sporting precincts in Australia. Sport UNE can be considered a market leader in attracting students and communities on its health and wellness programs. A market leader will suit Sport UNE’s market entry strategy into corporate training and teambuilding. Being a market leader, Sport UNE will be able to pursue a relevant growth strategy that will increase its market share and reduce its exposure to competitor’s products. By reducing operational cost and employing a competitive pricing model for its membership program, Sport UNE will be able to expand its market share. Operational cost can be reduced through economies of scale. Market expansion results in increase of revenue generation to aid in product improvement and promotion. Market expansion will also ensure Sport UNE brand is more visible in the market, therefore, reduce the threat of new entrants in the market. Pioneers can only dominate a market if their brand is well established in a new market, notes (Neubert, 2013). Sport UNE might as well implement a flanker strategy; a strategy where the leading firm prevents competitors from capturing market share through targeting a market that it’s not catering for (Porter, 2010). By offering new products such as corporate training and teambuilding, Sport UNE will be taking advantage of its strategic association with University of New England and its facilities to serve a new market that is not yet part of its business. Corporate training and team building programs will enhance Sport UNE brand visibility in the market as a diversified player in health, wellness and development programs. Sport UNE will prevent competitors from capturing its market share by increasing its revenue base through diversified product offering. 4.1 Shake-out stage strategies The shake out stage is characterized by a high growth trend mainly because the consumers are familiar with the benefits of the product (Shankar et al, 2012). The situation is not different for Sport UNE in the Australian fitness and wellness market. Sport UNE will have to adopt a strategy that will help it gain a competitive advantage in the Australian market. This stage attracts a lot of competition either from existing players or new entrants as a result of impressive growth record of the pioneer in the market (Stark, 2011). Sport UNE is the pioneer or the market leader in the corporate training and teambuilding by university sporting precincts. To gain a competitive advantage Sport UNE will have to innovate continuously to improve the training and teambuilding program in order to offer clients more value for their money. Sport UNE can also develop new product features to differentiate its product offering in the market. Gaining higher market share will also be a suitable strategy in this stage to ensure a market leader generates enough revenues. With adequate funds, a market leader will be able to engage in research and development to come up with innovative product features (Terrill & Middlebrooks, 2000). Sport UNE will need to be more focused on growing its market share before competitors establish their brands in the market. With a higher market share and strong financial capability, Sport UNE can be guaranteed of its ability to compete effectively through product innovation and development. 4.2 Maturity stage strategy At the maturity stage products usually have gained a considerable market share and have attracted more competitors in the market. Buyer power is high and maintaining a market share is the prime concern of a business (Stark, 2011). To sustain the profitability Sport UNE will have to adopt a market expansion strategy to compensate for the increased competition encroaching into its market share. Market expansion will be achieved through extension of the product line to ensure Sport UNE is serving a huge segment of Australian recreational, sporting and corporate or personal development. This way, more consumers will be using Sport UNE’s facilities and paying for its services resulting in an increase of the organisation’s market share. Market leaders can increase penetration into the market with a view to satisfying the needs of certain niche markets. Penetration will sustain growth and revenue generation at this stage for such a market leader (Terrill & Middlebrooks, 2000). By targeting corporate clients for training and improvement of employee performance through health, wellness and interpersonal skills, Sport UNE will be offering a much needed product to a niche market. The penetration strategy into niche markets will protect Sport UNE from increased competition at the maturity stage and help in retaining a market share that is so valuable for the organisations survival. 4.3 Decline stage For this stage the main focus for an organisation is usually to remain profitable in a market where competition is high and revenue from sales is low. Some businesses are forced to close due to high losses (Stark, 2011). The strategy that Sport UNE can adopt in this stage is to maintain good sales revenue by eliminating product lines that are not yielding impressive revenues or those that attract little membership for the organisation. This will lower maintenance cost associated with the product such as staff remuneration. Operating at minimal cost possible will also help Sport UNE create a good revenue margin from competitively priced programs. 5 New economy emergence Computing, internet and digital media have changed how organisations do business and even how they relate with their clients (Ryan & Jones, 2012). It will be a strategic move if Sport UNE uses its website to market its programs to consumers in the targeted market segments. The website can be used to highlight the benefits offered by particular programs and who can benefit more from them. Consumers can also get to know the membership plans available and the benefits that each membership plan offers to them. The website can also be used as a customer relations tool by responding to consumer queries through a chat application or FAQs. The website can also be used to conduct research by asking feedback or comments from Sport UNE members. With market data, Sport UNE will identify what can be improved on and what should be sustained in its programs. Sport UNE can also take advantage of social media to increase brand visibility in the market and market its brands as well. The social media has been accepted as part of new digital media by a majority of people in the world. People use it to socialize and keep in touch with their favourite brands (Ryan & Jones, 2012). Social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter provide an opportunity to conduct promotions, advertisements and engage with Sport UNE members in Australia and beyond. 6 Organization structures Sport UNE is the most popular university sporting precinct in Australia boasting of very high student and community participation rates. Sport UNE is leadership at the highest level is the management committee which includes among others: the vice-chancellor of UNE representative, chief executive of Sport UNE and UNE student representative. Sport UNE organisational structure has the chief executive officer at the top management level. The chief executive officer has two managers below him; Operations manager and Business manager. Both managers have several coordinators under them to assist them in executing commands from the top management. In total, Sport UNE employs over 50 staff from the wider community and the UNE student body, offering expertise across a broad range of disciplines (Sport UNE, 2014). A functional management structure is the most appropriate for Sport UNE there are several activities and products in offering by Sport UNE. It is imperative that Sport UNE ensures there are effective and efficient coordinators to ensure all products are offered with minimal dissatisfaction suffered by consumers. A functional structure is founded on the functions of each department where a hierarchy is utilized. Functional structures ensure that managers and supervisors report to a senior manager in regards to the functions given to their departments such as sales, marketing, operations and R&D (Baligh, 2006). 7 Marketing plans 7.1 Sport UNE strengths Sport UNE is one of the best university sporting precincts in Australia boasting of state-of-the-art facilities and professional trainers at its facilities. Sport UNE has more than 15 hectares of playing fields, a 25-metre indoor heated pool, gyms, multipurpose halls and more. These facilities have been developed by Sport UNE since 1938 through the support of its sponsors, UNE funding and from its own revenue (Sport UNE, 2014). The facilities give Sport UNE an edge over other players in the market. Sport UNE is already offering corporate health and wellness programs that offer it linkage to the corporate market for the training and teambuilding program. Strong financial performance also enables Sport UNE to improve its facilities and introduce new products to its portfolio. 7.2 Sport UNE weaknesses Being a non-profit organisation and a controlled entity of the University of New England, Sport UNE may be limited in its financing options. Sport UNE may be less attractive to investment funds and strategic partners in the health, wellness and corporate training businesses. Partnerships are usually made for the purposes of benefiting both parties. In this regard, Sport UNE has limited benefits to offer partners interested in profitability. Sport UNE is a controlled entity of University of New England (UNE) (Sport UNE, 2014). Sport UNE cannot make independent decisions on strategic matters without involving the management of UNE. This limits Sport UNE flexibility and competitiveness in situations requiring faster decision-making. Sport UNE may also be trapped in UNE’s bureaucracies and inefficiencies thus limiting its competitiveness. 7.3 Sport UNE opportunities By offering corporate training and teambuilding, Sport UNE will be in a position to introduce its other health and wellbeing programs to individuals from corporate bodies. This opportunity will enable Sport UNE increase its membership numbers for the rest of the programs in order to generate extra income and increase its market share in a less costly way. Sport UNE can offer benefits such as discounted rates and free first sessions to such consumers to encourage them to join the programs. 7.4 Sport UNE threats There is strong competition in the health and wellbeing market from other university sporting precincts such as CQ University which is proposing a $72 million Mackay regional Sports Precinct (CQ University, 2014). Bond University has recently developed several sports facilities which can compete effectively with Sport UNE facilities (Unisport, 2013). The proposed precincts by CQ and Bond Universities have features which are similar to those being offered by Sport UNE. Threat of new entrants in the market is very real especially in the growth stage of the products lifecycle. The idea of offering corporate training and teambuilding is not very complex for another firm with capacity and technical knowhow. Sport UNE will only be relying on its brand strength and unique service delivery to counter the threat. Sport UNE will loose considerable revenue and market share if the threat materialises. Sport UNE is set to gain a share of the $9.5 billion corporate training and teambuilding industry in Australia. There are competition and new entrant risks that may reduce Sport UNE’s projected revenues from the industry. However, Sport UNE’s management has adequate experience in introduction and marketing of new products at its facilities. With an experienced management team and effective marketing strategies, Sport UNE’s new product offering will be successful. Sport UNE can welcome student and community ideas continuously to develop new products that will satisfy the needs of the consumers. With such a plan, Sport UNE will reduce the threat of competition and new market entrants. Sport UNE will have a strong contingency plan by having a research and development department focused on consumer satisfaction. 8 Marketing metrics Sport UNE’s objective is to expand increasingly and develop its sporting facilities adequately to meet the sporting and wellness needs of UNE students and the community at large. In 2013, the annual report of Sport UNE showed some substantial progress towards Sport UNEs objectives. Sport UNE reported completion of its two-year major capital works projects plan of upgrading both the indoor Sport and Recreation Centre and the Bellevue Oval. Sport UNE will be able to achieve high levels of customer satisfaction with its state-of-the-art facilities and a wide offering to consumers. With enhanced customer satisfaction, Sport UNE will ensure it generates more memberships and reduce the number of members dropping its programs. In addition, Sport UNE wide product offering will increase its revenue generation capacity. 9 Marketing audit Sport UNE will through conduct comprehensive feasibility studies to assess the viability of its new idea in the market. Despite the fact that the feasibility study will guarantee a high degree of success, it will be important to analyse the success of the idea. This can only be done through a marketing audit. Marketing audit according to Neubert (2013) will regularly analyse the progress of the product in market in relation to the set objectives. This analysis will indicate how much progress has been made towards achievement of the goals reflected in the specific objectives such as sales increase and market share increase. Marketing audit will also be conducted in the market to understand how well the pioneer and market leader strategies of Sport UNE fit with the market dynamics. It will be important to know whether the target markets are satisfied with the product offering. Discrepancy between what the customers want and what companies often offer derails a company from reaching its goals as set out in its strategic objectives (Neubert, 2013). 10 Conclusion This marketing plan outlines Sport UNE strategic orientation towards achievements of its objectives and a competitive position in a market that is slowly transforming due to increasing competition and changing consumer trends. The Sport UNE marketing plan addresses new market entry plan, pioneering strategy, growth strategy, growth stages strategies, marketing plan and audit. Sport UNE has to adopt a pioneer or market leader position as it is a leading brand in university sporting precincts in Australia. As a market leader, Sport UNE will continuously innovate and take advantage of its strong brand to beat competition. However, Sport UNE will have to shield itself from growing threats of competition and new entrants with high degree of consumer satisfaction and competitive pricing. Sport UNE should also take advantage of opportunities available to it such as access to corporate clients to boost its membership thus reducing the effect of competition. References Baligh, H. (2006). Organization Structures: Theory and Design, Analysis and Prescription. Springer. Burkard, N. (2013). Market Segmentation and Branding in the Hotel Industry with Special References to Hilton Cooperation. GRIN Verlag. CQ University. 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Retrieved September 22, 2014, from http://www.sportune.com.au/facilities.aspx Stark, J. (2011). Product Lifecycle Management: 21st Century Paradigm for Product Realisation. London: Springer Science & Business Media. Terrill, C., & Middlebrooks, A. (2000). Market Leadership Strategies for Service Companies: Creating Growth, Profits, and Customer Loyalty. McGraw Hill Professional. Unisport. (2013, May 24). Bond University leaps forward with sport strategy success. Retrieved September 22, 20414, from Unisport: http://www.unisport.com.au/News/Pages/Bondleapsforwardwithsportstrategysuccess.aspx Read More