APPLICATION OF SPORTS MARKETING OF OLYMPIC SPORTS TO AMATEUR & NON-TRADITIONAL SPORTING EVENTS IN THE UK
Introduction
In sports, there are professional sporting events that are often carried out in mainstream society. This includes athletics, football, basketball and amongst others. The Olympic Games in today’s world features a number of professional sporting events that presented to large numbers of people through television rights. The London Olympics provided global marketing processes and rights that was worth over £20 billion and this included the sale of direct television rights to sponsors and other non-official brands that were advertised as well as the sale of local television rights in the over 200 countries around the world.
Marketing involves the use of various techniques including official advertising which are slots that are sold and associated marketing processes which includes various activities to promote and enhance brands. Aside the general processes involving the event oriented marketing, there are third-party advertising rights that are sold by media outlets in different parts of the world.
The Olympics are very well organised and carefully planned. However, marketing is not so well coordinated for amateur and non-traditional sports. The purpose of the proposed research is to identify the best way through which traditional marketing techniques of the Olympics can be applied to Non-Olympic Sports. This will include the evaluation of different measures and processes that can lead to successful results in promoting and marketing non-Olympic sports in the UK.
In order to meet the core purpose of the research, there will be several research questions that will be operationalised in order to formulate the parameters for the conduct of the study. First of all, there is a question of how marketing is done in the Olympic events. What is the main marketing process and how are marketing priced and how do firms benefit from these marketing processes? This is because there is a world-class marketing process that is used to market and promote the Olympics. This research will figure out what this process is exactly and how it operates. Secondly, there is a question of whether a model can be deduced from marketing in Olympic events. Thirdly, there is a question of how this model can be applied to amateur and non-traditional sporting events in Britain.
Research Aims and Objectives
The aim of the research is to define a model for the application of marketing techniques in Olympic Games to amateur and non-traditional sporting events. In order to attain this end, the following objectives will be explored:
A critical analysis of the approach of marketing in the Olympics;
A review of the financial requirements and sales benefits of Olympic marketing to corporate entities;
An evaluation of the economic, social and technological features of amateur and non-traditional sports;
An assessment of the best methods of applying the elements of Olympic marketing to amateur and non-traditional sporting events.
Literature Review
Sports marketing is a field of marketing which focuses on advertising and promoting products and services in sporting events. Sports marketing is done through a centralised authority and figure that guides the way and manner things are done within the actual sport. The International Olympic Committee is the centralised and credible source that provides authorisation for all marketing processes and drives.
The main process of sports marketing in major Olympic Games include:
Declaration of various classes of sponsors;
Event branding and brand exposure for top-tier brands;
Specific event broadcasting and processes including ticket, signature tune and top tier sponsorship drives;
Television rights and media screening exposure arrangements;
Third party disclosure processes and systems
Thus, the economics and pointers for marketing a given Olympic Game will be done by defining the costs and the revenues that are expected. This will be done under the auspices and control of the authority of the games. They set up the targets and define the limits that every sponsor must be willing to pay. The economic evaluation of the marketing requirements will meet affects and is affected by the type of host city for the Olympic Games.
The model also seeks to control various forms of ambush marketing which is viewed as “a system whereby competitors of legally accepted sponsors try to use unethical systems to gain some marketing benefits without paying appropriate royalties”. This therefore creates a process through which companies try to benefit from things that they have not paid for. This leads to major marketing limitations which causes problems and issues for the essence and economic goals of the marketers of the Olympic Games.
Amateur sports are sporting events that are conducted without the full remuneration for their efforts. These are sporting events that occur with sportsmen and women who are not held to the same standards as professionals. The athletes are usually people with other preoccupations other than the sport itself. However, there are notable cases whereby amateurs are paid in various forms – this includes university games and other professional services sporting events where the spirit of competitiveness and the raising of funds is an important part of the entire events. Thus, there are various processes and systems whereby the organisers might seek to gain money and revenue. This means that the use of traditional marketing processes and systems will almost always lead to results.
Non-traditional sporting events are those events that do not follow the rules of mainstream sporting events. Notable amongst them are extreme sports and sports that are not listed as conventional in Olympic events. Therefore, they do not go through normal and standardised measures and processes to achieve the same level of results. They are popular amongst a small niche of consumers who might have a motive for following such sports. These sports are often attractive to energy drinks and other outdoor fashion entities because they are more likely to have enthusiasts who might want to acquire these products and services who follow these events.
There are economic, social and technological features of these amateur and traditional sporting events that could be adjusted and streamlined in order to be placed in sync with the normal marketing process and system. Marketing is a major process that is flexible and can be used as a means to define the price, product, promotion and place. This therefore means that there are many different features and processes that can be adapted for the different products and the different services that could potentially be marketed by a range of various approaches and methods.
The gaps in the research indicates that Olympic Games are highly well organised. They are based on the authority that is delegated to the organisers. This authority is transposed to financial metrics that are used as basis for the creation of parameters for the definition of the different pointers for categorising marketing themes. These pointers then inform the way marketing requirements are presented. Corporate entities and brands advertise services on the basis of the way these advertising and promotion processes will enhance their brands and make it possible for consumers to gain sales results and targets. On the other hand, sports marketing amongst amateur and non-traditional sporting events are not so well organised. The authorities often do not have the same level of power and authority. Therefore, there is the possibility for the convergence of the two different approaches to achieve a better marketing process for non-Olympic Games.
Methodology
The research will be done through a qualitative research process. This will include the use of various forms of positivist methods in order to identify issues and define the different trends and processes in the marketing terrain relating to Olympic marketing and the realities of marketing in the amateurish and non-traditional sporting events and processes.
The research will be done on three main phases:
Phase 1: A documentation of the main pointers of marketing in the Olympic events;
Phase 2: An identification of the economic, social and technological realities of amateurish and non-traditional sporting.
Phase 3: A synthesis of the Olympic marketing process and the realities of the amateurish and non-traditional sporting.
The processes will influence the sampling and data collection process in order to provide a way of examining and evaluating the different aspects of sport marketing. This will guide in the identification of the best and most appropriate processes and systems of formulating a mainstream process of gathering information and evaluating them.
Sampling
A sample will be taken in the first two phases of the research. The first phase of the research will be done by examining the process of marketing in the 2012 Olympics. This will involve the documentation of narrative notes and diagrams in the Olympic and how marketing was planned and the cause and effective of marketing processes. The benefits of the marketing company will be examined and evaluate them.
The sample for the second phase will include one amateur sports event in the UK – the Sunday League Football which is played in various communities in the UK. And a sample of Motocross, an extreme motorcycle event that is known in the UK. These samples will culminate in the evaluation and analysis of findings in order to draw specific conclusions.
Data Collection Methods & Analysis
Data collection for the first phase will be done by a secondary research. This will include the critique of reports and journals relating to how the different stages of marketing was planned in London 2012. There will be a discourse analysis of the pointers relating to marketing that was utilised to promote the London Olympics. This will include various processes and stages that the marketing went through from these authoritative sources.
The analysis of the second phase will include an observation of trends and processes in these amateur sports. This will be complemented by an interview of one expert for each of the two sports – Sunday League Football and Motocross to identify how marketing is mobilized and the main dynamics of these processes.
The next phase of the research will include the interpretation which will include the analysis and the assessment of the shortfalls and limits of the two different approaches. This will culminate in the formulation of a conclusion of how the Olympic method can be applied to these two unorthodox forms of sports.
Importance/Significance of Study
England has the most significant sporting event that is most popular in the world – the English Premiership. However, the same cannot be said about amateur sports and non-traditional sports. This means these forms of sports have the potential to be exported or shown overseas to ensure optimal results and the best forms of revenue. Therefore the application of Olympics marketing methods could help and promote better results for these sports.
This research will also add up to existing knowledge on how to analyse and review marketing processes and profile. It will show major trends and processes relating to the different methods and systems of conducting marketing in sports and how they relate to the British and UK system in order to achieve optimal results.
The results will show the way Olympic sports marketing succeeds. And the parallels to non-traditional and amateur sports in Britain will be drawn. This will give a possible approach for the definition of possibility scope that can lead to proper marketing and promotion of non-traditional and amateur sports in the UK.
References
Bigdoli, H., 2012. The Handbook of Technology Management, Supply Chain Management, Marketing. London: Wiley.
Davis, J. A., 2012. The Olympic Games Effect: How Sports Marketing Builds Strong Brands. 2nd ed. Hoboken, NJ.: Wiley-Blackwell.
Ellis, D. A., 2012. Theorizing Ambush Marketing in the Olympic Games. Ottawa: University of Ottawa.
Ferrand, A., Chappelet, J. L. & Seguin, B., 2012. Olympic Marketing. 3rd ed. London: Routledge.
Grobel, W., 2012. What are the London Olympics Worth. [Online] Available at: http://www.intangiblebusiness.com/news/marketing/2010/04/what-are-the-london-2012-olympics-worth[Accessed 31 December 2015].
Lamb, C., Hair, J. & McDaniel, C., 2013. Essentials of Marketing. 3rd ed. Mason, OH: Cengage.
Llewellyn, P., 2014. Rule Britannia: Nationalism, Identity and the Modern Olympic Games. 2nd ed. London: Routledge.
Shank, M. D. & Lyberger, M. R., 2014. Sports Marketing: A Strategic Perspective. 5th ed. London: Routledge.
