Media Startup and Lacrosse Network - Research Paper Example

Executive Summary This report aims to provide a business plan for a media startup. The network will be called LaxTV, a dedicated network for everything about lacrosse, specifically for the lacrosse enthusiasts and sports fans-at-large. LaxTV aims to provide complete entertainment and general information about the lacrosse sports all in all. With the growth of the sports within the country, a network like LaxTV that will enable viewers to watch games, learn about the sport, new products, and new players everyday without having to search the Internet all in one network channel. LaxTV aims to cater to lacrosse enthusiasts – both current and potential, sports fans-at-large, even non-fans and people who are not familiar with the game, as well as people who are looking for some kind of entertainment by watching sport programs on a national TV. The primary target market for LaxTV are basically lacrosse enthusiasts – students who play lacrosse in high schools, colleges, and universities within North America – both US and Canada. The primary target market has been chosen because this is the segment who could best relate to the game, and where the sport is most popular. This is apparent in the tournaments that are held and the games that are being watched. The age range is about 16-30, both male and female, and lacrosse enthusiasts. These lacrosse enthusiasts play sports either for recreation, outlet for their passion, or to become professional athletes in the future. Their affinity with the game makes them appealing as the primary target market for LaxTV. LaxTV will generate income by the combination of paid subscription and advertising. The fee will be minimal and lower relative to its competitors because advertising is also a key revenue generator. With a target market profile that is consistent with the companys positioning of being the ultimate lacrosse network, it will be easier to attract advertisers. LaxTV can also generate other income through licensing and franchises. Lacrosse is not only played in the US and Canada; the 2010 World Lacrosse has 30 nations with 64 teams as participant (2010worldlacrosse.com 2010). The business will also be able to partner with other companies in selling LaxTV merchandise and capitalizing on the businesss brand equity. Selling licenses to apparel manufacturers for example, or co-branding merchandises with certain products will strengthen the brands awareness and association as well as its ability to profit. The competitive advantage of LaxTV lies on the original content that it can provide the audience on a very focused topic – lacrosse. Everything relevant to lacrosse should be incorporated in the programs; thus the companys brand essence is the network for lacrosse. Based on the current competitive environment, if LaxTV offers only what the other competitors are already offering, i.e. game coverages, it cannot differentiate itself from the competition and create a meaningful brand essence. Also, this minimizes the companys capability to grow, as there are growth prospects internationally where LaxTV can license and franchise its shows to other lacrosse enthusiasts around the world. This should be put in mind when creating a competitive edge over the rest of the competition. I. Description of your enterprise A. Company Mission – Vision LaxTV aims to provide complete entertainment and general information about the lacrosse sports all in all. With the growth of the sports within the country, a network like LaxTV that will enable viewers to watch games, learn about the sport, new products, and new players everyday without having to search the Internet all in one network channel. LaxTV aims to cater to lacrosse enthusiasts – both current and potential, sports fans-at-large, even non-fans and people who are not familiar with the game, as well as people who are looking for some kind of entertainment by watching sport programs on a national TV. B. Marketing strategy i. Segmentation a) Description of the overall market Television networks part of the bigger entertainment market. Since sports has become one of peoples favorite past times, a sports sub-market has evolved in this bigger entertainment market, where television networks which focus on delivering broadcast coverage of games have been started up. This is the market where LaxTV is going to operate in. b) Segmentation criteria The sports television market can be segmented using different variables – the most commonly used are the demographics of the target audience, which can influence their ability and willingness to pay for some subscription fee, or the type of sports, which is more of segmentation based on interests, which is determined by the popularity of the sport and the relative size of the enthusiasts. This has been true for very prominent sports like basketball and football. The size of these segments will determine the relative profitability to the company as well as feasibility of operations. c) Key segments Key segments of the sports market includes different types of sports, varying from basketball, to volleyball, to football, etc. Lacrosse is not a new sport, however, it has gained popularity over the masses only recently. With the fast growth among its enthusiasts, it may emerge as a lucrative industry such as football and basketball. The market can also be segmented depending on demographics, more specifically, age brackets. Since lacrosse is more popular among students, it can be assumed that for the current, the sports appeal to the younger generation of sports enthusiasts. This is in contrast to football and basketball, where the range is much wider – including the more mature population who patronizes these games. ii. Targeting a) Consumers heart The primary target market for LaxTV are basically lacrosse enthusiasts – students who play lacrosse in high schools, colleges, and universities within North America – both US and Canada. The primary target market has been chosen because this is the segment who could best relate to the game, and where the sport is most popular. This is apparent in the tournaments that are held and the games that are being watched. The age range is about 16-30, both male and female, and lacrosse enthusiasts. These lacrosse enthusiasts play sports either for recreation, outlet for their passion, or to become professional athletes in the future. Their affinity with the game makes them appealing as the primary target market for LaxTV. For the secondary target market, since LaxTV belongs to the sports sub-market, sports-fans-at large are chosen. While these people may not be able to relate to lacrosse just yet, because they are not informed about the sports basics, they are still sports enthusiasts who would love to see some active competitive physical activities. Most of the growth in the LaxTVs target audience comes from this secondary target market, who may be converted into becoming lacrosse enthusiasts in the future, thus, becoming part of the network primary target market. b) Consumer behavior Subscribing to a cable or television network is partly an emotional decision – it is what consumers like, as regards what they feel that matters. The AIDA (awareness-interest-desire-action) is a helpful framework to predict consumer behavior, as well as tailor marketing communications efforts in the process. When it comes to choosing a network where these target markets will subscribe to, in the absence of concrete market research data, the following attributes are assumed: the network has to show college lacrosse game coverages, both live and encore telecasts; in order for people to be engaged with the sport, more information about the sport should be included in the programs; the price of subscription relative to the target markets entertainment budget. These attributes are also important for a later discussion on strategic canvas and the LaxTVs building advantage in its competitive environment. It is also vital to analyze the key players in the decision-making unit of this target market. Some of the key players in the target markets DMUs are the influencer and buyer, and the decision-maker. For the primary target market, the influencer includes coaches, teammates, peers, schoolmates, friends, and family members. Since these are students, the question of who pays for the services – either them, a parent or a guardian, should also be considered. The primary target market, can also be an influencer to the decision-maker, if they cannot decide on the purchasing the service (more applicable to high school students) where they are instead considered users of the service. iii. Positioning a) Brand framework Values and personality. Because LaxTV primarily caters to the younger target audience, the brand has to be youthful and easy to relate with. If LaxTV were a person, he would be more like a coach – both informative and inspiring, as well as entertaining for some times, to the target audience. Brand identity. The brand identity has to include youthful, bright and alive colors such as orange and white, with fonts and graphics that are casual yet energetic, which supports the brands personality. Unique selling proposition. LaxTV is aimed to provide tangible benefits in the form of entertainment and general information all when it comes to lacrosse. Aside from this, the network provides emotional benefits by creating some sort of bond, feeling of camaraderie and community among lacrosse enthusiasts by associating with the brand. Reason to believe. This is apparent in the networks choice of programs, and program layouts in order to suit the needs and wants of the target market. C. Marketing tactics i. Product The products of LaxTV are the programs that it provides the audience. These are as follows: Lacrosse in School. Instead of viewing game coverage for high school lacrosse, college and university lacrosse in different networks, this is a staple in the viewers list. Lacrosse Professionals. Professional games such as games for the National Lacrosse League, Major League Lacrosse, Canadian Box Lacrosse, and International Lacrosse Tournaments are to be shown here. These are also a staple in the lacrosse enthusiasts list, which can be seen in one dedicated network, which is LaxTV. Lacrosse Primer. This is a feature-style show where viewers will be introduced to lacrosse terminologies, strategies, and other information regarding the game. In order for the show to not alienate viewers who are already familiar with the basics of lacrosse, show segments such as lacrosse history and trivia can be included, as well as guides to buying lacrosse equipment. Life of a Lacrosse Player. In order to inspire the target market, one prominent professional lacrosse player has to be featured for the duration of the show. This includes the personal background of the athlete, his motivations, early years, routines and practice habits, and some motivational advice to aspiring lacrosse athletes. This will highlight the humanity of the lacrosse players and make the professional field more attainable to viewers. Lacrosse Featured Player. This is a mini-segment, where every now and then one lacrosse player, who is not necessarily a professional athlete, will appear in order to share experiences regarding lacrosse, which is more aimed for those who are not familiar with the game and who would like to give the game a try. This is to connect lacrosse to real life people through amateur players. Lacrosse Reality TV. This will be a competition in the form of reality-based series where amateur lacrosse players develop their playing skills, leadership, camaraderie, as well as team-playing skills with the advice and supervision of professional lacrosse coaches. Because this will be patterned with styles of most reality shows, the show will incorporate the humanity, struggles and feelings of the lacrosse players while experiencing the game both for recreation and competition. The audience will have a first-hand grasp of what it is like to play the game just by watching the show. Lacrosse News. This will serve as a sports news program which will report the recent highlights with regard to different tournaments as well as lacrosse celebrities. ii. IMC Referring to the earlier part of the report – the primary target market of LaxTV chooses subscription programs based on how they feel. Association is very important in this case. In order to set IMC goals, the emotional / AIDA framework has to be used for the choice of marketing communications mix. In order to gain awareness, LaxTV has to target both the gatekeepers and influencers. These include coaches, key lacrosse personalities, prominent lacrosse players in schools, etc. LaxTV can use advertising to create a teasing effect among these influencers. In order to generate interest, public relations with its publicity function can be used, when it is aimed to be integrated with functions like advertising (in the form of brochures / Internet teasers). A publicity stunt in the form of a media-catching event can be staged, which will make it to news in all types of media, including blogs in the Internet and social networks. With this publicity stunt, LaxTV can invite key sports journalism personalities, bloggers and influential people in the sports media world in order to create a publicity hype. Desire will be created by direct marketing – this can be best accomplished by utilizing the Internet and creating a website that will feature LaxTV, its programs, the program schedules as well as an interactive feature to create a community. In order to prompt action, people can opt to subscribe to LaxTV via their cable distributors or through the companys website. II. Sources of operating income and of content A. Sources of operating income LaxTV will generate income by the combination of paid subscription and advertising. The fee will be minimal and lower relative to its competitors because advertising is also a key revenue generator. With a target market profile that is consistent with the companys positioning of being the ultimate lacrosse network, it will be easier to attract advertisers. Some of these advertisements will be for shows with higher ratings; since the other coverages can be seen on other networks, LaxTV must aim to attract higher viewership to its other shows by making them more interesting, unique and engaging. B. Licensing and franchises LaxTV can also generate other income through licensing and franchises. Lacrosse is not only played in the US and Canada; the 2010 World Lacrosse has 30 nations with 64 teams as participant (2010worldlacrosse.com 2010). This means that the businesss prospect for growth can also be found overseas. If the business can make its feature-style shows very interesting and engaging, those shows can be licensed to other countries where the business will be able to receive revenues. The business will also be able to partner with other companies in selling LaxTV merchandise and capitalizing on the businesss brand equity. Selling licenses to apparel manufacturers for example, or co-branding merchandises with certain products will strengthen the brands awareness and association as well as its ability to profit. C. Sources of content Sources of content are as discussed above – the rights to air coverages will be bought from their respective producers. This is applicable to Lacrosse in School and Lacrosse Professionals. The source of Lacrosse news will be acquired from other publishers such as Inside Lacrosse (website and magazine), NLL.com, MLL.com. The other feature-style shows are produced by LaxTV in order to maintain uniqueness and originality of content for prospects of licensing the shows overseas for additional profits. This is also important in order to reinforce the brands identity and personality through its shows. III. The competitive environment A. Indirect competitors Since LaxTV operates in order to provide entertainment and general information with regard to lacrosse, the Internet is a major indirect competitor. Consumers can instantly look for information and watch other shows in order to get what they need. Another major advantage of the Internet is its interactivity, which is very beneficial in bringing up-to-date information such as game scores, etc. What the Internet lacks for the moment is an alternative to printed articles in the form of shows that will bring lacrosse closer to the hearts of the viewers. While people can read about lacrosse, the community that the shows and the network create by fostering a bond through the brand is one of the major advantages of TV as a medium. Videos of course can be shown over the Internet. However, since there is no media company that has done that, LaxTV competes indirectly against printed articles and other sort of information on the web. Aside from the Internet, the companys indirect competitors include magazines such as Inside Lacrosse. Although, magazines do not usually provide the type of engagement that television as a medium can bring when communicating to the audience. B. Direct competitors Some of the businesss direct competitors are major sports network such as CBS College Sport, ESPN, Sports Time Ohio, MSG. Plus., and MASN. CBS College Sport offers college lacrosse coverage, coverage of professional lacrosse tournaments such as A10 Womens Lacrosse Championship, Patriot Leagues, Big East Womens and NCAA tournament (CBS College Sport 2010). The networks market share is estimated at 38 million households over the country, since this is a national channel (Rice 2010). In order to watch lacrosse games in CBS College Sport, a viewer has to pay a subscription fee of $0.19 a month (Cable Sub-fees 2010). These are all game coverages. ESPN also provides college lacrosse coverage through its ESPNU, with some additional segments such as the Warrior Lacrosse Invitational. NCAA tournament is also shown in ESPN (ESPN.com 2010). The network has an estimated viewership of 92.6 million (ESPNcms.com 2010), and its target market are males under the age of 40, with an annual household income of over $60,000. ESPN is a national sports television network. In order to watch games in ESPN, viewers have to pay $4.08 per month (Cable Sub-fees 2010). The company claims to have less intrusive advertising, which is essentially what its customers paid for the high price of subscription (ESPNcms.com 2010). BehindLacrosse.tv is a network over the Internet in the form of podcasts through iTunes. These podcasts include college lacrosse highlights as well as documentary-style shows (Blip.tv 2010). Some of these episodes can be watched for free. The three other sports networks include Sports Time Ohio, MSG. Plus, and MASN. These television networks have 4 million, 9.7 million, and 5.5 million households in market share, respectively. However, the scope of these competitors are smaller, since they are concentrated on certain states only. These networks offer showing ECAC Lacrosse “Game of the Week” broadcast. C. Creating competitive advantage The competitive advantage of LaxTV lies on the original content that it can provide the audience on a very focused topic – lacrosse. Everything relevant to lacrosse should be incorporated in the programs; thus the companys brand essence is the network for lacrosse. Based on the current competitive environment, if LaxTV offers only what the other competitors are already offering, i.e. game coverages, it cannot differentiate itself from the competition and create a meaningful brand essence. Also, this minimizes the companys capability to grow, as there are growth prospects internationally where LaxTV can license and franchise its shows to other lacrosse enthusiasts around the world. This should be put in mind when creating a competitive edge over the rest of the competition. The larger networks may not pay much attention to the hype that LaxTV is creating. For now, lacrosse is just one of the many sports, and creating some focus to compete on smaller competition such as LaxTV will be economically disadvantageous, unless lacrosse goes to become an industry as big as, say basketball or football, like the NFL or the NBA. The companys pricing, however should reflect value. This can range below CBS College Sport, in order to create less-for-more value proposition, at least to lacrosse enthusiasts. IV. Overcoming competitive obstacles A. Porters five forces model i. Threat of entrance The threat of entrance for the sports television industry is quite low, because of the high startup costs for producing original shows in order to entice viewers. Aside from these, the cost of marketing the brand during the initial phases of the business can also be substantial. A new comer has to invest big in terms of acquiring new customers. However, in order to increase the barriers to entry in the lacrosse niche of the sports market, LaxTV has to set a very high standard on its commencement. The shows should be astounding, satisfying the wants of the customers as well as promoting lacrosse through the network. The more people get interested in lacrosse, the more viewers it will have and the more revenues it will get. Once it gets the first mover advantage in the lacrosse niche, competitors will find it hard, or at least economically costly to follow. ii. Threat of substitutes The industry has a high threat of substitutes. These substitutes have been discussed earlier in the indirect competitors section of the report. Theses substitute includes the Internet and magazines. The threat of substitutes are inherent in the characteristics of the medium. For example, with the Internets interactivity and fast rate of providing information, it is more advantageous from the point of view of the viewer to search the games results rather than wait for the news and highlight part. What LaxTVs medium has, the television that has an advantage over the other media is its ability to engage the audience by its moving pictures – a record of reality. Thus, if people are not able to watch games live in the field, they can still see the action on television. Also, as apparent in the other programs of LaxTV, the ability of television in providing stories to which the audience can relate is another good point which should be utilized. This enables the network to humanize lacrosse players and make them more accessible to ordinary sports fans. These should be done in order to minimize the threat of substitutes. iii. Bargaining forces of suppliers Suppliers to LaxTV are content providers. These include the producers of rights to air certain coverages, such as for programs like Lacrosse in School and Lacrosse Professionals. LaxTVs major concern should be the price of these rights – larger TV networks such as ESPN and CBS College Sport are able to obtain all those because of their ability to haggle, with the huge customer base that they have. For this industry, there are many customers such as distributors to which the rights can be sold. Therefore, the bargaining forces of suppliers are a bit moderate. In order to address this, the company has to make sure enough revenues in order to pay for these coverages. Without the coverages, even though the company can produce good feature shows, it will not be a lacrosse television network at all. This can be done by also generating revenues from advertisers. Also, aside from these, the companys reliance on these suppliers is lower because the LaxTV will produce the rest of its shows. iv. Bargaining forces of customers The bargaining forces of customers are a bit moderate for the case of LaxTV. Customers have other substitutes, as well as other choices for watching the coverages such as the other larger networks. Customers can easily change networks because the shifting cost to them is low, when compared to subscription fees. Therefore, what the company must do is to provide genuine value. Also, aside from focusing on lacrosse enthusiasts who want to watch game coverages, they can also focus on potential lacrosse enthusiasts, or the sports fans-at-large. This will lessen the companys dependence on its primary target market, while expanding the market by promoting the brand. Also, producing original content which could be of interest to the networks primary target market will be a good move in order to differentiate itself. Since these contents cannot be watched in other networks, LaxTV lowers their bargaining forces in the process. v. Rivalry The sports television industry is already a bit saturated because of bigger sports television companies. For the lacrosse niche, however, these companies have smaller market share, and the lacrosse industry is relatively in the introduction phase. Because of this, the rivalry is low or almost non-existent for the current since there are no strong contenders that specifically cater to the lacrosse enthusiasts. This is a good thing for LaxTV; and it can get the first mover advantage in the lacrosse niche. Appendices Competitors of LaxTV Mock Schedule and program content details References _________ (2010). “2009 Basic and Basic Digital Cable Networks and Subscriber Fees.” Mediamemo.allthingsd.com. Accessed on April 25, 2010 from 2010 World Lacrosse Championships (2010). “2010 World Lacrosse Championships” 2010worldlacrosse.com. Accessed on April 25, 2010 from Burch, Sheehan Stanwick (Host), Schwartz, Michael Ivaen (Producer) (2010). “Behind Lacrosse.” Blip.tv. Accessed on April 25, 2010 from Burns, Sean (2010 February 24). “2010 NCAA Lacrosse Television Schedule” InsideLacrosse.com. Accessed on April 25, 2010 from CBS College Sports (2010). “About.” CBSCollegeSports.org. Accessed on April 25, 2010 from ESPN (2010). “ESPN” ESPNCMS.com. Accessed on April 25, 2010 from Facebook 2010 World Lacrosse Championships (2010). “2010 World Lacrosse Championships Fan Page” Facebook.com. Accessed on April 25, 2010 from FilaCrosse (2010). “Federation of International Lacrosse” FiLacrosse.com. Accessed on April 25, 2010 from InsideLacrosse (2010). “Inside Lacrosse” InsideLacrosse.com. Accessed on April 25, 2010 from Lax Power (2010). “College and High School Lacrosse Schedules, Scores, Ratings, and Rankings” LaxPower.com. Accessed on April 25, 2010 from MASN Sports (2010). “About MASN” MASNSports.com. Accessed on April 25, 2010 from MSG (2010). “About Madison Square Garden, Inc.” MSG.com. Accessed on April 25, 2010 from National Lacrosse League (2010). “National Lacrosse League” NLL.com. Accessed on April 25, 2010 from Professional Lacrosse Players Association (2010). “Welcome to the Professional Lacrosse Players Association Website” PLPA.com. Accessed on April 25, 2010 from Rice John (2010 February 24). “AT&T U-verse TV Adds CBS College Sports Network to Its Lineup.” Sportsvideo.org. Accessed on April 25, 2010 from Sports Time Ohio (2010). “About Us” SportsTimeOhio.com. Accessed on April 25, 2010 from USLacrosse (2010). “US Lacrosse: The National Governing Body of Lacrosse” USLacrosse.org. Accessed on April 25, 2010 from Read More