Proposed Marketing and PR Plan for Converse Sports

Overview of the Plan

This marketing plan presents a strong case for CSI to be involved in strategic PR and marketing as well other value added activities to effectively communicate its mission, deepen its brand, and enhance its value and competitive advantage. Increasing competition and opportunity in the global sporting arena indeed makes it imperative to expand a brand’s horizons and differentiate itself from the competition. This proposal is developed on this consideration and is aimed at supporting CSI’s objective to be a globally recognisable sports company. In line with the company’s primary objectives, acquisition of an existing communications agency is proposed to manage CSI’s marketing and events as well as those of its acquired firms. The agency would not only be responsible for creating better PR and brand awareness for CSI in general, but will also offer its own unique services to a wide range of customers. Akin to some of CSI’s existing competitors, value added services such as athlete management, performance coaching, media and sports management including translation services are proposed as part of the agency’s portfolio. The subsequent sections of the proposal present a breakdown of the proposed marketing and PR plan and clarifies its missions and objectives.

Mission

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• To be a leading brand in global sports marketing, media and sporting entertainment by acquiring stakes in existing sports and media companies with unique intellectual property and distinctive entertainment cum sports quality.

Goals

• To be a globally recognisable brand in the world of sports
• To contribute significantly to the transformation of mass market sports into entertainment driven formats that appeal to the mass market.
• To increase stakes in sports marketing and digital media business.

Objectives

• To manage the commercial development of sports teams
• To develop new sports models from existing models
• Acquire strategic stakes in established sports, media and entertainment firms

Industry Overview

In the last couple of years, some of the most defining features of contemporary sport is the way in which globalisation has informed businesses related to sports, the organisation of sporting competitions as well as the multidirectional flow of athletes across local, national and international borders. Research shows that the global sporting industry is worth over 400 billion each year and the UK sport market was estimated to be worth 19.5 billion in 2006, in 2011 it has been forecast that the value will increase to 24 billion (Sport England, 2011). This turnover is shared amongst leagues, clubs, athletes and sports management firms. Research also shows that the global sports industry is on a faster growth pace than the GDP’ s (gross domestic product) of most national economies around the world and “ the global sports value chain, its size, and revenues—has significant growth prospects for the future now more than ever. Of interest in the development of the industry as well as its future prospect is the commanding role of sports management firms like CSI. According to a recent research published by Atkearny (a management consulting firm) “it is sports management firms who define the structure of professional sports around the world, they set the rules, organize the events and take responsibility for generating revenues from matches, media and marketing rights”. The nature of the industry, globalisation as well as the increasing opportunity in global sports holds another window of growth for sporting management firms in the future.

Product/Service Description

The acquired communication agency as proposed would be primarily concerned with strategic marketing and PR management of CSI by promoting and maintaining its image and relationship with the public. It would also be responsible for designing and applying appropriate marketing strategies and techniques towards accomplishing CSI’s general objectives. In addition, the agency would be responsible for managing the image of sports team, individuals and businesses under the management of CSI. As part of marketing and PR, the agency would also manage CSI events and engage in a host of other related activities such as athlete management, global translation services, performance management, etc. Building on the company’s resource, the agency could also act as the marketing platform for existing companies under CSI.

Marketing Objectives

• Establish a clear plan of marketing actions and objectives towards accomplishing overall company goals
• Define the company’s goals, mission and objectives
• Develop market communications systems
• Understand the sports marketing industry
• Create an effective PR management strategy

Target Market

The main targets of CSI services would be sports companies with mostly unique entertainment structures and new sports companies with innovative themes that can be transformed into the mass and commercial market. While CSI mainly operate from the UK, emerging Europe and other Emerging markets with promising future and prospects in sports and media such as Russia, Brazil, Asia and Africa will be targeted. Such companies will be SME’s and must have valuable intellectual property’ capable of commercialization.

Unique Selling Proposition

Customers will choose CSI because it is managed by a team of seasoned and experienced managers and directors who have managed some of the best teams, clubs and companies around the world.

Positioning

CSI would position itself as a sports and media company with significant interest in sports entertainment mix. Therefore, its positioning statement as it has always been would remain:

• Sports and media entertainment…

Marketing Strategy

The strategy considered most appropriate towards achieving valuable business outcome as well as attainment of the company’s goals and objectives is to acquire a modern and innovative communications agency. Such agency will be responsible for giving direction to CSI’s future in terms of marketing and events management while acting as a source of income for the company. Further explanation of this strategy is explained in the marketing 4P’s. The 4P’s are regarded as basic elements of the marketing plan for any business and they consist of the following:

Product

The main product offered by CSI is sports marketing through management of sports teams and associations. The company also buys stakes in innovative sports firms for management and further development into acceptable mass models. Under the present proposal, the company would offer additional products/services like athlete management, performance coaching, and management of media development as well as translation services mainly for Russian companies who wants to break into other European markets and abroad.

Price

Potential firms to be acquired will be offered the most reasonable prices as possible as long as it within limits which would be recovered within years deemed reasonable by management.

Promotion

Promotion is deemed to have four distinct elements such as advertising, public relations, personal selling and sales promotion. The two that will be deployed by CSI are advertising and public relations.

Public Relations management would be conducted through press releases, road shows, seminars and conferences to build the image of the company. The company will also from time to time publish results of surveys and research conducted in-house as reports in newspapers, industry magazines and on web pages.

Six Month Action Plan

A sense of urgency is needed to achieve the outlined objectives; as such the following are important to be achieved within the next six months.

• Management must define a set of criteria of the specific features, nature and type of communications agency that will be required for acquisition.
• Identify possible lists of suitable communications agency to be acquired, once the right agencies have been identified using a predefined selection criteria, they should be critically assessed to determine their suitability to the company’s objectives, this would lead to shortening of the list.
• Inform important stakeholders, managers and directors in the organisation of the proposed acquisition plan to garner side support and ensure effective participation during and after the process.
• Set a budget plan containing how much will be spent on every aspect of the acquisition stage.
• Prepare and draw a tentative re-organisation plan for the company to allow for the newly acquired firm
• Prepare a detailed report to inform management of possible stages involved in the process and what the time lengths would likely to be.
• A proper risk assessment should be conducted when the final company have identified before final acquisition to have reasonable forethought about the nature and extent of risk in the proposed acquisition

A transition arrangement should be planned to manage the acquisition process and the staff of the acquired agency to ensure cultural fusion and conflict management.

Conclusions

The brief analysis of sports marketing and the global sports industry presented earlier in this document has shown that global sports and media are a growth industry with tremendous future ahead. To avail such opportunity, marketing and publicity will no doubt play a major role. It is on this consideration that the marketing and PR plan of CSI was well thought out and articulated in this document which lays out the strategies and techniques for implementing an effective marketing. Given the quality amount of time and research committed to putting this document together, taking it to the implementation stage will surely contribute to the accomplishment of the company’s overarching goals and objectives.

References

1. Sports England (2011). Economic Value of Sport, Sport Industry Research Centre
   Sheffield Hallam University
2. Atkearny, the Sports Market Major trends and challenges in an industry full of passion, http://www.atkearney.com/index.php/Publications/the-sports-market.html

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