LPGA Tour - bailewinslow.files.wordpress.com · Title: LPGA Tour Author: Winslow, Baile Subject:...
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Transcript of LPGA Tour - bailewinslow.files.wordpress.com · Title: LPGA Tour Author: Winslow, Baile Subject:...
LPGA TOUR
Consumer Behavior Audit
April 22, 2016
Baile Winslow p. (913)558-3663
LPGA Tour
1 | BEARS UNITED
KEPNER HALL
GREELEY, CO 80639
Table of Contents I. Executive Summary ............................................................................................... 3
Highlights
Objectives
Mission Statement
II. Fans ........................................................................................................................ 4
Market Segmentation
Product Position
Promotion
Product
III. Sponsors & Athletes .............................................................................................. 8
Segmentation and Positioning
Pricing
Distribution
Promotion & Products
One Last Word
LPGA Tour
2 | BEARS UNITED
KEPNER HALL
GREELEY, CO 80639
Dear Ladies Professional Golf Association,
We are pleased to present the LPGA with an extensive consumer behavior audit, outlining and emphasizing the true meaning and experience of the LPGA.
We understand the vast target market that the LPGA attained. We approached this audit with the perspectives regarding the consumer, the sponsors and the athletes. We are aware that the main purpose of the LPGA is to satisfy the fans, who are satisfied by the players, and the players are satisfied by the sponsors. Keeping this in mind through the audit will better assist you in the approach that we have taken throughout the report.
We analyzed the consumer and the sponsor approach using the sections seen below:
Market Segmentation
Product Position
Pricing
Distribution
Promotion Strategy
Product/ Services In the report, you will see extensive details about each of the sections above. We are pleased to present you with an in depth audit and recommendations that have the potential to enhance and promote the business of the LPGA
Thank you again for this opportunity; it was a pleasure working with you.
Sincerely,
Baile Winslow
Team Lead
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
100 International Golf Drive
Daytona Beach, Florida 32124
MAY 15, 2016
LPGA Tour
3 | BEARS UNITED
KEPNER HALL
GREELEY, CO 80639
Executive Summary In this Consumer Behavior Audit, Bears United has created a comprehensive report of where the LPGA currently stands in the women’s golf industry. After conducting a survey, doing in depth research, and looking at the perspective of current and potential sponsors, we are confident that our findings and suggestions will not only increase the awareness of the LPGA Tour but will also grow the fan base.
Highlights We want to remind the LPGA Tour that everything we do begins and ends with the fans. The experience of the fan must be held to the highest priority because without them the LPGA Tour would cease to exist. Yes, Bears United will give many recommendations for the importance of increasing sponsorship support and the importance of the athletes, but without an emphasis on a strong fan base, the future of women’s golf will not exist.
Objectives The goal of this consumer behavior audit is to bring attention to where the LPGA has been, where it currently is, and where it needs to be in the eyes of its consumers. We have three main consumer segments that we will focus on; first, the fans, next are the corporate sponsors, and finally we will touch on the LPGA Tour Professionals.
Mission Statement Bears United took the mission and vision of the LPGA Tour into consideration with each of our consumer segments. The Mission of the LPGA Tour is to be a leader in the world of sports, promote economic empowerment for all members, and serve as role models on and off the course. We will discuss the current ways the LPGA is promoting the mission statement and then we will look at ways the consumers could see improvement. If the Vision of the LPGA Tour is to inspire, empower, educate and entertain, we believe there is unlimited ability for the tour to grow and thrive in the coming years.
LPGA Tour
4 | BEARS UNITED
KEPNER HALL
GREELEY, CO 80639
Fans
Market Segmentation The current demographic of the LPGA Tour fan is well above the average American financially.
Current Issues One current issue within the LPGA community is that it has become an Asian, especially Korean, dominated sport. South Korean golfers became really involved with the LPGA when Se Ri Pak won the LPGA and U.S. Women’s Open Championship in 1998. This popularity made other Korean golfers relate to the collectivistic culture, while western countries like the U.S continued to identify with individualistic culture, which often shows signs of independence, freedom, self-reliance and time-orientation. On the other hand, South Korea identifies as a country with collectivistic culture, where even the government is focused on the well-being of the community, group, society and nation before individual success.
If a woman in South Korea has the potential to become a professional golfer or dominant player on an amateur tour, she will receive a vast amount of support. One example of this happened when a manager of Hi-Mark, Won-Seok Choi, determined to support many South Korean female golfers and players in the LPGA tour by saying “We like to support many Korean women golfers because they have a chance to become a big player, like Se Ri Pak. Asian people have very strong families, and support is the most important thing." This collectivist mentality often conflicts with the mentality of American women.
When we take a look at the cultural differences it shows that American females under the age of 35, whether they are beginners or professional golfers, do not get enough support from the government when they participate in competitions. One example of this is Meg Mallon, the winner of the U.S.
LPGA Tour
5 | BEARS UNITED
KEPNER HALL
GREELEY, CO 80639
Women's Open in 2004. Despite not having the support of the government, having strong internal influences such as self-actualization, participation and personal goals, helped her achieve her success.
Our findings suggest a lack of interest with women under the age of 35 in the United States, and therefore Bears United recommends that we target this demographic. Because the goal of this consumer behavior audit is to grow the LPGA Tour within the United States, we will focus on targeting women 35 and under. Within this target market there is also a niche market of mothers wanting to get their young children involved in the sport. If the LPGA can focus on getting these women interested it would not only lead to a higher female following for the sport, but it may create the potential for these women to pass down the love of golf to their children, and continue on through the future life cycles from there.
Product Position The target market for the LPGA that we are focusing on is mostly young female golfers (under age of 35) with higher income, who are passionate about learning and becoming professional golfers. The second target market we focus on are the children of parents who are becoming interested in golf and the LPGA. If The LPGA is able to get the entire family involved in the sport it could be a vital part of getting American youth more involved with the community.
Therefore, we are looking at the two target markets with higher status and income in order to be able to afford the relatively expensive sport. Some people cannot afford the expenditures and end up giving up on golf, even if they love it, which we think the LPGA should be aware of and try to help avoiding through their programs and scholarships.
In order to resolve the issue of positioning the LPGA Tour as accessible to all people, Bears United recommends a greater emphasis on the Girls Golf LPGA*USGA program. This program is a hidden gem for the future of women’s golf. For $16 girls are able to participate in their local Girls Golf events and receive a membership kit with $40 worth of merchandise inside. This program not only encourages young girls to play the sport, but also makes them interested in what golf is. By positioning the Girls Golf program as an affordable sport, we can target our market segment of women under the age of 35 through creating an interest in golf at a young age. Girls and their moms will be following the LPGA Tour and hopefully pass along their love of golf to future generations.
LPGA Tour
6 | BEARS UNITED
KEPNER HALL
GREELEY, CO 80639
Promotion
Current Issues Below Bears United has graphed the current television viewers for some of the Major Tournaments for the LPGA tour and PGA Tour. We see that there is a great discrepancy when comparing men’s and women’s professional golf viewership to one another. Another issue we looked into was the amount of followers on social media. On twitter alone, the LPGA Tour has less than 10% of the followers that the PGA Tour has. This number is alarming because according to brandwatch.com, seven percent or 40 million more women use Twitter than men. Women are also four percent more likely to use social media than men. Because women under 35 years old are our target market, social media presence is very important to our consumer behavior audit.
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LPGA Tour
7 | BEARS UNITED
KEPNER HALL
GREELEY, CO 80639
Recommendations Bears United recommends for the LPGA to immediately start to implement a new social media plan. The first step to this is increasing the frequency and quality of activity on the five major social media accounts. Activity across these social media sites needs to be integrated and consistent to ensure search engine optimization. Using proper keywords and hashtags will increase the amount of fans that are able to find the social media sites and be able to interact.
In order to improve the promotion strategy to gain consumers, we recommend for the LPGA to launch a fundraising event to increase awareness of their Girls Golf LPGA*USGA program. Girls Golf not only helps teach golf for a reasonable price, but also inspires the girls to feel confident, have positive self-esteem, and have active and healthy lives. Their mission is to change the face of the game and prove that golf is not just a sport for boys. Launching a fundraising event, maybe something similar to the Ice Bucket Challenge, is a fun way to get people involved and create awareness of such a great, unknown part of what the LPGA does and stands for. This type of fundraising would help to reach opinion leaders and be able to quickly and efficiently pass the information on to others. At the event, we recommend that the LPGA’s social media sites be used and talked about with participants. Another option would be for the LPGA to suggest that the Tour Professionals increase their activity on social media that promotes the LPGA as well as the Girls Golf programs. We believe that with the increase of social media marketing the followers on television and at events will continue to increase over time.
LPGA Tour
8 | BEARS UNITED
KEPNER HALL
GREELEY, CO 80639
Product
Current Issues There are several “products” that the LPGA Tour can provide to satisfy the needs of our target market. Many people who we want to be involved in the LPGA have different needs. Some may have the need for entertainment, self-actualization through attaining knowledge, apparel, and community. All of these depend on how involved with this organization they want to be. Currently the LPGA provides fans an entertaining experience or an opportunity to reach her own level of self-actualization, whatever that may be. Because of the many different products the LPGA can provide, there is a place for every woman to move from her actual state to her desired state of being.
Recommendations Most of the people that are interested in golf have an independent self-concept. Even the extended self-concept could come into play, because golf is not just about people but also about their possessions. According to our survey 31% of people said that they liked their athletic equipment from popular brands. Belonging to golf clubs, owning LPGA apparel, or using colorful Volvik golf balls like Christine Song could help their image on the golf course and help them feel like they could relate more to the tour players. Broadcasting LPGA apparel or the sponsors of the athletes may ignite need recognition for our target market. Women may not even realize they want to be like their favorite tour player, but when being presented with an opportunity to wear the same shirt as Morgan Pressel, she will purchase the LPGA product.
Sponsors & Athletes
Segmentation and Positioning
Overview
Sponsor support is one of the most important contributors to the livelihood of the LPGA Tour. Michael Whan, LPGA Commissioner, understands that building relationships with sponsors is very important to the success of the golf tour. Before he was appointed commissioner in 2010, the tour was more focused on pin placements than a relationship with the sponsor. From December of 2007 through June of 2009 there was a loss of sponsorship for the LPGA due to the recession in the United States and throughout the world. For an international organization that relies heavily on its sponsors, this was devastating. Prior to Whan the LPGA did not have a good relationship with any sponsors, leading to not having an understanding of what is was like to be a sponsor. The organization was not in touch with the wants and needs of their sponsors. Just six years ago the LPGA was on the brink of extinction, and in 2010 the organization hired Whan to help get the organization back on track.
Current Issues & Findings
The LPGA is currently doing a great job at making and retaining sponsors for events. However, we see a lack of global corporations that are currently being targeted. The LPGA has media attention around the globe and could be positioning themselves better in this market.
LPGA Tour
9 | BEARS UNITED
KEPNER HALL
GREELEY, CO 80639
Another issue that happened in May of 2015 was Lexi Thompson posing on the cover of Golf Digest with very little clothing on. She was posing for a magazine issue about strength and conditioning. We believe this type of media attention could come across as not representing the “serve as role models on and off the course” part of the LPGA’s mission statement, and many fans were upset by it. When sponsors see that the LPGA Tour is okay with this type of publicity, they could become fearful that their brand image could be seen in a negative or provocative way.
Recommendations
Because sponsoring an event can entail a multitude of meanings and benefits, we would recommend the LPGA target the sponsorship market by looking at three main points; the situation surrounding the corporation’s partnership, external influences and internal influences. The situation should be targeted if the company is interested in going global. We highly recommend emphasizing the international benefits to the partnership, because the LPGA has television partners in 170+ countries, the LPGA’s website is read in six languages and has visitors from 226 countries, it is on eight social media channels, and in the United States alone tournaments bring in two million television viewers each week. With the potential exposure of a company wanting to go international, the marketing provided by sponsoring the LPGA would also satisfy any external influential needs.
The branding, awareness, and presence of a company partnering with the LPGA, will create a dynamic segmentation approach to sponsors wishing to increase their marketing efforts. Positioning this product would include using the LPGA’s vision to inspire, empower, educate and entertain and the mission to be a leader in the world of sports, promote economic empowerment, and serve as role models on and off the course. To address the concern of Lexi Thompson and to prevent any future scandals, Bears United recommends that the LPGA implement a fine policy for any professional golfer who acts against the mission and vision of the LPGA. Reminding potential sponsors of this mission and fine policy would be valuable when co-branding with LPGA. The company would feel comfortable knowing that the LPGA is an organization with integrity. Bears United suggests that emphasizing the symbolic performance of the partnership with the LPGA would mean brand image enhancement, brand awareness, and the possibility of moving the brand into the evoked set of the consumer.
A company may want to sponsor the LPGA specifically for internal purposes. We would encourage targeting this segment by exposing them to what the experience of hosting an event could be. The possibilities are endless for this company; the sponsored tournament can be used as client engagement, networking, or reward for top performers. The product would be positioned based on the potential affective performance it could provide for the company. This could mean encouraging employees to be a top performer in the company in order to play with a professional golfer at the pro-am event the day before the tournament starts. This would make employees happy to work for the company and hopefully want to work harder. Entertaining top clients by inviting them to the sponsored tournament would make them associate the sponsored brand with a positive experience, creating a more satisfied clientele as well as potential positive word of mouth about the company.
LPGA Tour
10 | BEARS UNITED
KEPNER HALL
GREELEY, CO 80639
Pricing The LPGA’s purse money has improved since 2010, that year the total amount awarded was $41.4 million and last year, in 2015, the tour awarded $61 million. Although the tour has made strides in this area, there is still a great discrepancy between the LPGA and the PGA Tour. We see that the PGA Tour has substantially more prize money for Major tournaments than the LPGA Tour.
Sponsoring an LPGA event is not for just any business. Companies must be willing for put forth a purse size large enough to satisfy the needs of the players. Bears United proposes the cycle shown below.
Recommendations We strongly recommend purse money to be set at a minimum $1.5 million for the average tournament and no lower than $3.2 million for Majors. Sponsoring a tournament is a prestigious event, and sponsors should have to pay the price for the multiple marketing efforts and channels involved. We believe that with an increase in sponsorship prize money, LPGA Tour players will be more satisfied with their job as a professional athlete and more willing to represent the sponsor graciously.
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FansSponsors
LPGA Tour
11 | BEARS UNITED
KEPNER HALL
GREELEY, CO 80639
Distribution
Although the distribution channel is not vast for the LPGA, there are multiple factors of distribution that fall into other corresponding categories. The LPGA’s current distribution efforts are performed by the commissioner, proposing the new ideas and customer relationships management that he can create. It is also important to enhance, “How can the LPGA help you?” The LPGA can target the sponsor, and meet the necessities that it would take to host tours. Bears United proposes that this aspect of the channel follow an “Inform, Persuade & Remind” way of thinking. Informing the sponsor would give them details and qualifications for a company to sponsor an LPGA Tour event. Persuading a company would come down to the benefits that the LPGA can offer and tailoring the location of the event to their needs. We would emphasize the importance of reminding the company how the LPGA can make them more successful through marketing strategies, meeting the sponsor’s individual needs. It is advised that LPGA be mindful not to unintentionally manipulate the sponsor, due to negative and upsetting consequences that could occur. This is known to ruin relationships amongst businesses. For example, if the LPGA promised a sponsor that they would have eight hours of promotion aired on the Golf Channel and only provided four hours of promotional material, this could sever the relationship between the businesses. It is important to be ethical when participating in contracts and services for companies, because it represents not only the LPGA, but the sponsor that they are corresponding with as well.
Other sources of distribution that the LPGA can provide to a sponsor is the fact that they can sponsor an event anywhere. For example, Walmart's headquarters is located in Arkansas, and the LPGA partnered with them to host the Procter & Gamble LPGA Tour event. This was a great benefit to P&G and Walmart, because they were not only able to network within the community, but also as business partners. This shows the dedication that the LPGA is willing to attain in order to make hosting an even more viable for the company. This event brought out the consumers of Walmart products, creating brand loyalty for the sponsor, as well as increased brand awareness for the LPGA tour. In addition to the easy access for the company, this continued to advertise and promote nationally, but add promotion and advertising worldwide. Using the P&G tournament as an example for potential sponsors is a good way of showing them how flexible the LPGA Tour is in satisfying a sponsor’s distribution needs.
Products & Promotion The LPGA has a wide range of products and services that they can offer to sponsors when trying to make an investment. The main aspect that a sponsor can attain from the LPGA relationship is the marketing portion of the event. A sponsor can benefit from a co-marketing scenario based upon the extensive spectrum of advertising. Companies can benefit from their names being along the golf course; the brand and logo of the company will be seen on the course, on television and across a multitude of social media outlets.
Another product that the LPGA can provide a sponsor is providing a client experience. This means that companies will be able to reward their top performers by bringing them to the tour and allowing them to play and network with the participants in the tour. This will create a positive culture within the company, allowing employees to have an incentive to look forward to. Inviting clients to play in the pro-am or just coming out to watch the events will provide a unique client entertainment experience. The products that the LPGA can offer to sponsors are not tangible items, but more of a unique marketing campaign experience.
LPGA Tour
12 | BEARS UNITED
KEPNER HALL
GREELEY, CO 80639
One Last Word During this consumer behavior audit, we discovered how valuable the fans, sponsors, and athletes are to the organization. Bears United would like to emphasize the importance of appreciating the athletes through sponsorship contributions, which in turn, will create satisfied athletes who will be willing to enhance the personal experience for the fans. When the fans are excited about watching the LPGA Tour, sponsors will recognize this consumer segment and want to create a relationship with the tour. When fans, sponsors, and athletes are corresponding with one another in a positive way, the LPGA Tour will be the dominant leader in the world of sports.
