Product Life Cycle of the Marketing Idea - SportUNE - Case Study Example

SportUNE Name: Registration No.: Unit Code: Name of Instructor: Date of Submission: TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary 2 1.Introduction to SportUNE 3 2.Product Life Cycle of the Marketing idea 6 3.Application of New Market Strategy 7 4.Application of Pioneer strategy in the marketing process 8 5.Application of Market Leader Strategy during marketing 9 6.Marketing processes during Shake-Out, Mature and Declining Market Stages 10 7.Role of New Economy in marketing process 12 8.Organizational structure 13 9.Marketing Plan and SWOT Analysis 14 10.Market Metric and Market Audits Processes 15 References 16 Executive Summary When a business organization starts producing a product or service, it aims at making maximum profit from the activity by reaching many customers and markets as possible. This is aimed at improving profitability for business sustenance as well as coping with competition from similar businesses. SportUNE has been involved in provision of a number of sports facilities and physical exercises services in various parts of Australia. It has been necessary to ensure the products and services provided by the company are availed to customers and customer awareness is enhanced. The solution to this problem has been concluded to be a strategic marketing plan that will ensure the relevant consumers of products and services of the company are reached so that popularity of those products is increased. This paper presents a strategic marketing plan aimed at achieving the objectives of profitability and competitiveness in sports facilities provision in Australia. It explains the nature of goods and services provided by the company, the stages of product life cycle that the products will go through during marketing processes, the application of new market strategy improve marketing process, the application of pioneer strategy of entry into the market and marketing activities to be implemented during the shake-out, mature and declining market stages. This is because these stages are significant to be understood during marketing. This paper also explains how the new economy strategies will be applied during marketing of facilities of the company, the organizational structure to be used during marketing process, marketing plan, marketing metrics and market audit strategies to be implemented. 1. Introduction to SportUNE SportUNE was formed with the objectives of meeting sports needs of students in the nearby colleges and universities but it became a major facility for the University of New England. Due to high demand for its services, the company was expanded to meet the needs of people such as the public and sports clubs in various parts of Australia (Westerbeek, 2005). Increased demand for a variety of sports services and facilities contributed to expansion of these requirements into the functions of SportUNE. Consequently, the organization is currently involved in provision of a number of sports services and facilities for hire by the public. In order to benefit from the services of the company, users are required to obtain membership where subscriptions can be on monthly basis, semi-annually basis or annual basis. Thos who subscribe are entitled to a number of benefits such as free gym sessions and discounts. It also offers corporate health and well beings for employees in corporate organizations who need to build their teams. SportUNE has been regarded as one of the greatest university precincts in Australia and all members of the community are allowed to attend to get services of the company. The company offers gym services in expansive rooms where other indoor sports such as badminton, squash, table tennis, basketball and netball are played. There are also playing fields where games such as rugby, netball, volleyball and hockey can be played. Furthermore, there is a 6 lane, 25 meter pool that can be used by all members of the public during swimming or other activities such as aerobics (Shilbury et al, 2014). There is a Bellevue grandstand at the recently improved Bellevue Oval that acts as a home ground for most rugby teams in the university and has other facilities such as change rooms, kiosks and first-aid rooms. There are also crèche services for children between the ages of 2 and 5 years and a renovation has been done to the climbing walls so that it can be used at any time of the day under the assistance of club supervisors. SportUNE also has a number of multipurpose halls where sporting activities such as badminton, soccer, volleyball, basketball, netball and squash can be played. There are also tennis courts that are available during working hours. The organization has a team of competent instructors who provide efficient training on various forms of physical exercises with the goal of achieving customer satisfaction and enabling customers have fun. There are personal trainers who can assist in achieving individual training needs and time utility with the aim of motivating the individuals achieve fitness goals. The trainers also offer fitness programs for corporate so that employees of a particular organization can be motivated to achieve their goals (Miller & Nendel, 2011). A number of first aid facilities are also available and there is an online training program that equips the users of its facilities with fists aid skills in accordance with the requirements of the law. There are also crèche services and vacation centers. The main function of crèche services is to offer resting places for children as their parents are performing exercises in the gyms. There are also cafes where parents and their children can get small quantities of snacks and meals that improve their energy levels after workout in the gyms. SportUNE has also joined child care programs by offering vacation programs for children during holidays. This ensures families are provided with active and fun holiday activities which provide children with access to a stimulating environment and a healthy lifestyle. In order to benefit from the services, customers are required to book in advance before they can be provided with them. The main customers of SportUNE are former and current students of University of New England who have been fond of the quality of sporting services provided by the organization. This has been facilitated through inter-university competitions, intercollegiate sporting competitions and fitness classes. Students at UNE have been able to balance academic and social life and facilitating relief to the body (Leberman, Collins & Trenberth, 2005). There are also e-bikes that can be haired for a trimester at a bond of $ 200 which can be refunded when the period of hire expires. Those who opt to hire e-bikes benefit from e-bike keys, safety vest, lock and key and an attached shopping basket. The main intercollegiate competitions that have been held at SportUNE facilities include Tennis, Field Athletics, Basketball, Badminton, Running Events and Touch Football. The participation in these games is based on personal choice provided the person is willing to participate. Students who are willing to participate in higher levels of these games can get the opportunity to represent UNE in their sport of choice. Those who have the interest in representing UNE can get in contact with SportUNE Sports Development Coordinator through his telephone number or email so that their requests can be approved. 2. Product Life Cycle of the Marketing idea In order for the marketing team to conduct marketing of SportUNE products and services efficiently, there will be the need to understand product life cycle stages that the products ill undergo. This will ensure the right promotion and pricing strategies are used so that the company is able to makes its products competitive irrespective of the stages of the products. The first stage will be the introduction stage where most people will not be aware of the existence of the facilities at the organization and thus the demand will be low (Hall, Boreham & Stokes, 2004). In order to attract customers at this usage, the company will enhance promotion and introduction of the benefits of seeking physical exercise help from the company at a low price. Following the introduction stage will be the growth stage. This stage will be reached as a result of increasing customer awareness of the products and services of the company following promotion activities in the introduction stage. SportUNE will respond to this stage by varying the range of products and services offered while maintaining high level of promotion. Promotion services will result into the products and services getting into the third stage of product development referred to as the shake-out stage. In this stage, the main characteristics will be low market growth but demand will be higher than the growth stage and the introduction stage, profitability will be high but at a decreasing rate (Edwards, Gilbert & Skinner, 2003). SportUNE marketing team will respond to this stage by introducing more products into the market and maintaining a high level of promotion. The fourth stage that the products will undergo is the maturity stage where there will be no growth of market as a result of exhaustion of the available markets and familiarity of consumers with the products and services of the company. SportUNE will respond to this stage by ensuring the already covered markets are utilized through increased supply of improved products to maintain a high level of demand while ensuring promotion is enhanced. Finally the products and services will reach the decline stage where there will be a genitive demand for the products and services of the company. This will result into the need for the company to improve the current facilities to create a new impression so that old customers can be attracted. 3. Application of New Market Strategy The main market entry strategies in a new market are pioneer and follower strategies. In the Pioneer strategy, the market entrant is the first company to introduce a product of a similar kind to consumers. Thus, it has the command of controlling the supply of the product or service in the market. This gives it the advantage of experiencing low competition and having control over all the demands in the market. However, the company that uses this form of strategy has to carry out intensive promotion to enable consumers understand the benefits of obtaining products and services. The advantage of this strategy is that it ensures high profitability is achieved due to low competition (Donovan & Henley, 2010). This strategy can be implemented by SportUNE through finding areas in Australia where promotion of sports facilities and services have not been done so that consumers are not aware of the products but have the need to have them it then embarks on promotion and distribution of its products and services to these groups of people. In the follower strategy, the market entrant takes advantage of the mistakes and inefficiencies of the pioneers in a new market and enters into the market with a better strategy. For instance, if the first entrant used a wrong promotion strategy, the follower implements a better promotional strategy that ensures customers are attracted to its products and services compared with the initial entrants. SportUNE can implement this strategy by finding faults made by similar companies during promotion to promote its products and services. This can be achieved by entering into areas served by other companies and finding weaknesses in products and services offered. A better strategy of promotion and pricing is then implemented to attract the customers from the opponents’ products and services. 4. Application of Pioneer strategy in the marketing process Various forms of pioneer strategy will be used to promote products and services of SportUNE. The basic form of pioneer strategy will be accessing regions and institutions where spots facilities and services have not been marketed and informing them about the need to get these products and services. For instance, hospitals have been in need of physical exercises facilities for patients who stay in wards while sports clubs have been in need of venues where they can conduct their training and sporting events. There are sport clubs and hospitals that are not aware of these services offered by SportUNE (Davies, Wistreich & Davies, 2007). By accessing these groups of customers, the company can ensure they are informed of these products and services so that they can start seeking them. This will result into additional group of customers who use its facilities. The niche market strategy can also be used to ensure pioneer strategy is successful. This is where specific groups of people who are likely to need the use of sporting facilities and services will be approached and a specific marketing strategy implemented based on the demands of these groups of people. For instance, there are professional organizations that organize physical training sessions for team members as a method of team building. Marketing team of SportUNE will access these groups and inform them about the facilities that can enable them achieve these objectives. They will be informed about any discounts and benefits of becoming members of the organization. This will be followed by the introduction of a range of products and services such as gym facilities to meet the needs of the people in the niche. The skimming and early withdrawal strategies will also be significant during the use of pioneer strategy. In this form of pioneers’ strategy, marketing team will use the previous marketing methods to inform consumers about the products and services of the company (DaCosta & Miragaya, 2002). This is because they might have forgotten about the benefits of using these facilities and when they are reminded, they can become aware of them and continue using these products and services. 5. Application of Market Leader Strategy during marketing Market leader strategy will be of great importance to SportUNE during the marketing process. Since SportUNE is a leading provider of sports facilities and services of various forms to people who need physical exercises and sports activities, it is important that the company implements market leaders’ strategy. This can be achieved through improvement of competence of professionals involved in provisions of these services such as instructors in the physical exercises rooms and improvement of the effectiveness of facilities used during physical exercises and sporting activities (Chaker & Council of Europe, 2004). In addition, the professionals involved in marketing must implement the right approach to customers to create the right impression about the products and services of the company so that customers who learnt about these products and services for the first time can be convinced to buy them. There are certain guidelines that can ensure the success of a market leader strategy. For instance, the improvement of product lines can be of great significance towards the attraction of late adaptors. This is because late adaptors are groups of customers who have a different attraction to the products and services of the company. By introducing new product lines, it will be possible to meet the demand requirements of these groups of customers. This will be achieved through improvement in the quality of physical exercises training and addition of other forms of physical exercises training services to the list of existing services. The confrontation strategy will also play a significant role in the implementation of the market leader strategy through the change in pricing so that the pricing systems is better that that of competitors such as the provision of discounts and free services to loyal customers. In addition confrontation strategy will be achieved by applying promotional methods that are more efficient compared with those of competitors. For instance, the company may implement the use of media such as television and posters to advertise its products and services with the goals of surpassing the level of promotion used by competitors. Market withdrawal strategy will also be useful in areas where SportUNE observes that there is low demand for its products and services. This is where the company will withdraw from providing services and facilities that are not highly demanded and focusing on those that are highly demanded. 6. Marketing processes during Shake-Out, Mature and Declining Market Stages In each of the stages of Shake-out, Mature and Declining stages, various strategies of marketing will be implemented. In the shake-out stage, the market will be growing but at a declining rate (Westerbeek, 2005). In order to respond to this stage, marketing activities will involve the focus on a small capacity of the products and services with the focus on improving the efficiency of provision of these products and services, reducing product differentiation by modifying the existing products while keeping the cost of advertising as low as possible. Marketing will also involve improving market share through informing more customers about the products and services of the company. In the mature stage, marketing will involve improving service quality to ensure the anticipation of customers that better products and services will be provided to them when they seek these products and services. For instance, the appearance of physical facilities such as events halls and playing fields will be modified by including seats for spectators and communication materials will be created while equipment in the gyms will be improved through replacement with high performance equipment (Shilbury et al 2014). The reliability of equipment in the events halls such as rackets for playing various games will be improved and customer service will also be improved through quick response to customer needs. The assurance of customer service will also be improved through training on courtesy when talking to customers and focus on accountability on provision of customer service. Individualized attention will also be enhanced when providing customer service to enhance customer loyalty. In marketing process, the company will take advantage of its resources to develop new global market by improving sales promotion in other countries where the demand for its products and services is available. In the decline stage, there will be a low demand for the products and services of the company. However, there are marketing strategies that will contribute to the survival of the company. For instance, harvesting strategy will be used. This is where short-term cash flow will be used to maintain high margin despite the decline in the market share (Miller & Nendel, 2011). It will also involve focusing on loyal customers by enhancing marketing activities among them. Another strategy will be the profitable survivor strategy where the share of declining market will be increased by creating opportunities for weaker competitors. Finally, marketing in the decline stage will involve the focus on strengthening position in a particular niche by selecting few segments of customers and providing them with the products and services of the company. For instance, SportUNE can focus on providing customers from professional organizations when they are loyal to the company by focusing on resources which ensure they training needs are achieved. 7. Role of New Economy in marketing process SportUNE can apply new economy strategies to market its sports facilities and services. This is because there are a number of opportunities created by new economy that can ensure the process of marketing is improved. For instance new economy practices involve the use of the internet and improved methods of telecommunication (Leberman, Collins & Trenberth, 2005). It also involves the use of newly developed software and technologies that can propel marketing activities to great heights. During marketing process, SportUNE will implement techniques such as posting products and services offered by the company in the internet so that potential customers are able to see these products and order them. The internet will also be used to post any benefits customers are likely to get from obtaining products and services of the company. The new economy strategy of latest telecommunication methods will be used to promote communication between staff of the company and customers (Hall, Boreham & Stokes, 2004). This will be achieved by replacing old methods of communication such as old telephone lines and replacing them with new telephone services. As a result, customers who need services such as those se provided by instructors will be able to contact them and get their services. Those who need sports equipment for hire will communicate with customer service agents to enable them get these services. New economy strategy will also be used during payment for goods and services. These will include facilitating payments through the use of ATMs and the use of new methods of payments such as wire transfer to transfer funds from customers to the company during payment of goods and services. 8. Organizational structure Due to the diversity in the products and services offered by SportUNE, the strategy of market management will be used as an organizational structure. The main focus will be the designing of marketing management so that the right level of demand can be created to meet customer expectations (Edwards, Gilbert & Skinner, 2003). In the top positions will be the Marketing Director who will serve the function of formulating marketing policies and also represent marketing activities in meetings with other stakeholders in the company. Due to variations in the demand for various activities in the marketing of products and services of SportUNE, it will involve the use of various managerial positions with the focus on achieving market demands such as communication, sales, and marketing activities. In the middle position of marketing management will be the Communication manager who will be responsible for ensuring the right communication methods are used to communicate with customers so that they can access products and services of the company. The communication managers in each department will come up with customer a service system that enables communication with customers through telephone lines (Donovan & Henley, 2010). Another managerial position in the middle level will be the sales managerial position where the manager will communicate sales policies that govern sales activities such as sales strategies when providing services to customers who attend physical exercises and hire sports facilities of the company. The Marketing Manager will be responsible for communicating marketing information to the marketing team such as locations where promotion needs to be enhanced and the forms of communication that customers need to be informed about. In the bottom position of management will be junior staffs that perform actual marketing activities with the focus on managing the sports services and facilities market. For instance, they will use the information from communication manager to communicate the right information to customers so that they are convinced about the products and services of the company. They will also use marketing principles suggested by marketing manager to improve access to the market and use advice from sales manager to improve sales of products and services of the company. 9. Marketing Plan and SWOT Analysis The marketing plan will involve establishing costs that will be incurred, determining contingency plans and conducting SWOT analysis. These plans will ensure the marketing team implements with suggested marketing idea with high possibility of success. The main costs that the company needs to be prepared to incur are the advertisement costs such as the use of the media such as radio and television to conduct marketing activities. Another area where costs will be incurred is the transport costs such as cost of delivery of products and services to customers in various locations. Costs will also be incurred during renovation of facilities such as playing fields and construction of spectator zones where they can sit while watching the events. The contingency plans that SportUNE needs to be prepared for include the need to provide the instructors in the gyms and wall climbing sites with safety equipment such as protective gear that ensure they are protected from cases of injury during the process of performing their tasks. There is also the need to equip them with the latest fist aid skills so that customers who are involved in accidents can be treated within a short time provided with first aid to reduce the severity of injuries before they are taken to hospital. Another contingency plan is that the organization needs to be aware of any shortage of funds to manage its activities in marketing processes by allocating reserve funds to be used in these functions. The main strengths of SportUNE during the marketing process is that it is a leader in provision of sporting services and facilities thus commands a greater influence in the distribution of these products and services. There is a high possibility of success in this marketing idea based on the leader position of the company (Davies, Wistreich & Davies, 2007). The weakness is that the company needs to improve the quality of its services such as the competence of instructors in regular basis to meet customer demands such as quality customer service. The opportunity is that there is a growing popularity of sports and the need to perform physical exercises in Australia. SportUNE can take advantage of these opportunities to improve marketing of its products and services. The threat is that the company faces stiff competition from upcoming organizations with more efficient facilities and highly trained professionals with the target of accomplishing customer demands. This is likely to have an impact on the demand for its products and services. 10. Market Metric and Market Audits Processes Market metrics during the implementation of the marketing idea will include customer satisfaction, increased number of customers who use the products and services of the company and increased profitability as a result of implementation of the marketing strategy. The source of data for establishing these market audits will be records of customers’ attendance in the gyms, indoor games halls and field events (DaCosta & Miragaya, 2002). It will also involve the use of invoices as a result of the hire of sports equipment by outside users. Corrective action will be taken by establishing the nature of the difficulty that resulted into a particular problem. When corrective actions have been performed, the marketing idea will be monitored by determining the extent to which it contributes to the accomplishment of the goals of the organization. Strategy reassessment will be used to inform the management about any environmental change such as change in the general outlook of sports facilities such as fields, stadia and courts. Marketing audit will involve establishing the role of marketing activities towards achievement of the goals of marketing process. The marketing audit that will be conducted is the marketing functions audit. This will involve conducting an investigation on various functions of marketing activities and establishing whether they are contributing to the marketing goals set during the design of marketing process (Chaker & Council of Europe, 2004). For instance, the function of online advertising will be investigated to determine whether the goal of a positive increase in online customers has been achieved. This will enable the organization to make a decision whether to use the current marketing functions or substitute these functions with other functions. The function of hiring facilities will also be investigated to establish whether there has been an increase in the number of customers who hire sports facilities and equipment. This will enable the managers’ decide whether to apply similar marketing strategies or seek alternatives. References Chaker, A.-N., & Council of Europe. (2004). Good governance in sport: A European survey. Strasbourg: Council of Europe Pub. DaCosta, L. P., & Miragaya, A. (2002). Worldwide experiences and trends in sport for all. Aachen [u.a.: Meyer & Meyer Sport. Davies, A. P., Wistreich, N., & Davies, A. P. (2007). Film finance handbook: How to fund your film. London: Netribution. Donovan, R., & Henley, N. (2010). Principles and practice of social marketing: An international perspective. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Edwards, A., Gilbert, K., & Skinner, J. (2003). Some like it hot: The beach as a cultural dimension. Oxford: Meyer & Meyer Sport. Hall, R., Boreham, P., & Stokes, G. (2004). The politics of Australian society: Political issues for the new century. Frenchs Forest, N.S.W: Pearson Education. Leberman, S., Collins, C. W., & Trenberth, L. (2005). Sport business management in Aotearoa/ New Zealand. Southbank, Vic: Thomson Learning. Miller, M. P., & Nendel, J. D. (2011). Service-learning in physical education and related professions: A global perspective. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Shilbury, D., Westerbeek, H., Quick, S. P., Funk, D. C., & Karg, A. (2014). Strategic sport marketing. Sydney: Allen & Unwin. Westerbeek, H. S. A. (2005). Managing sport facilities and major events. S.l.: Allen & Unwin. Read More