Marketing Plan

HPED3630-002 Marketing Plan

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Sport Tourism Marketing Plan

Iris Rutano

December 6, 2014

HPED 3630-002

Mount Royal University

Laura Ell


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Executive Summary

This event will take place immediately after the Gold Coast Commonwealth

Games have ended. This will be the first time this event will take place as a goal off

reaching a unique and under targeted market. The market has great potential since it is

growing at an exponential pace.

This will be a three-day event. The first day will be a Weightlifting Expo, the

second day will be an athlete seminar and the third will be a coached training session.

Weightlifters United is excited to be able to present such a unique experience for

weightlifting fans and enthusiast from all over the world. The goal of this event is not

only to bring the existing community together, but to generate more buzz and awareness

about this ancient sport.

Key sponsors to this event will be veteran weightlifting brands who have

established their brand and a loyal consumer base, such as Nike Weightlifting, Eleiko,

and Hookgrip as the main three. We will also partner with key Crossfit gyms around the

world to help in the promotion of this event, since Crossfit has the participant base draw

mass attention.

We expect to sell all three events to capacity and expect at least a $100,000 profit

for this first time event. We also foresee a great deal of opportunity and growth to present

itself after this first event. We will be able to make changes to make the following events

even more successful and profitable.


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Table of Contents

Executive Summary .......................................................................................................... 2

Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 4

Mission Statement ............................................................................................................. 5

Vision Statement ............................................................................................................... 5

Environmental analysis .................................................................................................... 7

Consumer analysis .......................................................................................................... 10

Marketing strategy.......................................................................................................... 12

Pricing .............................................................................................................................. 13

Placement (Distribution) ................................................................................................ 13

Promotion ........................................................................................................................ 13

Projections ....................................................................................................................... 14

Control ............................................................................................................................. 15

Implementation strategy ................................................................................................ 17

Appendices ....................................................................................................................... 18

References ........................................................................................................................ 20


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Introduction Weightlifters United Weekend (WUW) is a one of a kind experience that only

happens once every four years; in conjunction with the year that the Commonwealth

Games take place. The chance to train meet world-class weightlifters, and train under

some of the best coaches in the world!

The primary purpose is to be able to bring the weightlifting community together.

Common passions can build relationships and Weightlifters United will help by lifting

country lines.

Since Greek and Egyptian antiquity, weightlifting has been recognized as an art

form to display human strength (Olympic, 2014). After centuries of being appreciated

and supported by few, the Olympic Weightlifting community has grown tremendously.

With the main business focus being on bringing the weightlifting community

together, there are a few additional links to add and complete this. Firstly, this event will

take place after the Commonwealth Games. The event will be comprised of a miniature

weightlifting expo, an athlete seminar, and a coached training session. This bundle aims

to better satisfy wants and needs from our niche market, building on the business success.

As if the best international weightlifters and coaches in the world were not

enough to bring out a great crowd, Nike Weightlifting and Eleiko have partnered with

Weightlifters United and will be an integral part to the success of the event.

The first day of this event will be generate the most visitors since it is not specific

and tickets will be reasonably priced to encourage higher traffic volume. At this

weightlifting expo, visitors can expect to meet some of the word’s best weightlifting

athletes, have access to hundreds of products and services who are directly or indirectly


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part of the weightlifting sport. Businesses will have exclusive products for sale, samples,

and sales representatives that can help answer questions, etc. Visitors will be able to

connect with people from all over the world sharing one common interest or passion –

weightlifting.

The second day of this event will be the athlete seminar. This event will be more

expensive and will have a limited participant capacity since it will be an opportunity to

practically learn a variety of training techniques from some of the best in the world. The

seminar will be interactive, where participants will be encouraged to ask questions and

the athletes will facilitate discussions. This event will be mainly discussion and will not

be a practical seminar.

Finally, the last day of the event will be the training session lead by world-class

elite coaches from a few different countries. This day will be the most valuable event for

serious weightlifting athletes who want to learn techniques, training methods, and receive

corrective cues and tips from highly experienced coaches. This is a definite once in a

lifetime experience since international level coaches do not do travelling seminar tours.

Mission Statement

Lifting country lines.

Vision Statement

Weightlifter United will bring lift country lines every four years to bring the

global community of weightlifting together; from world class weightlifters to a


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passionate recreational athletes, for an extraordinary once in a lifetime experience. Key

Partners

Nike Weightlifting – will be a sponsor and will be present during the expo, with

tons of weightlifting gear available for purchase. This gear will be exclusive to this event.

As well, they will be providing a different set of exclusive clothing and other small items

in “goodie bags” for participants of the seminar and/or of the training session.

Eleiko – this established weightlifting brand would also be a key sponsor and

have exclusive gear available for purchase, mainly t-shirts with their distinctive design

styles and colors. Eleiko will also be providing additional exclusive gear only given to

participants of the seminar and/or of the training session.

Commonwealth Games – A extremely important partner also looking to promote

the sport and the games, have sponsored WUW by offering a discounted rate of group

tickets for weightlifting events with the proof of purchase of WUW tickets.

Hotels & Accommodations – A few hotels have teamed up with Weightlifters

United and the Commonwealth games to provide game spectators or participants of

Weightlifters United with a discounted nightly rate with proof of purchase of WUW

tickets.

Runaway Tavern – Offered coupons, and will also hold the “After Party” to the

event. Bringing the community together in a more social context to simply have fun.

Hookgrip – will be a key sponsor and partner in the promotion and the media

coverage of this event. Hookgrip is a leading photography company, which covers the

biggest weightlifting events in the world.


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Environmental analysis

External environment

Macro (general environment)

Currently, this is a great market to be targeting and marketing to.

The trends of the awareness and participation of the sport are at an all-time high.

(S) A significant portion of this can be attributed to the growth of popularity

worldwide of Crossfit, which had grown from 13 affiliate boxes to 3,400

worldwide in 7 years (Sternkopf).

More and more people of the general public are more interested in either

spectating or trying the sport for themselves.

Popularity of high performance sport games has been increasing. Seen with the

trends of the financial resources to support Olympic bids as well as the higher

volumes of people who come out to spectate the games (S). As seen with the

Sochi Winter Olympics of 2014 who spent an all-time high of over 50-billion

dollars (Yaffa, 2014).

Although numbers are increasing, it remains a niche market. (W/O)

With costs of hosting games (Olympic games, Commonwealth games, etc.) has

become increasingly high, this venture will be a great way to extend the duration

of stay, and also increase the other costs upwards to help generate more overall

revenue.

Consumer analysis

Trends towards wellness/fitness have grown along with the popularity of Crossfit,

which helps market growth and potential. (S)


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People are more motivated to learn new exciting ways to stay fit and healthy. (S)

The explosion of the “fitfam” culture on social media has been a driving force

behind this trend. Example of this can be found on Instagram with the hash tag

fitfam having over 15 million posts.

o Perceptions and attitudes are changing towards the fitness and sporting

industry. (S/W) Perceptions do go both ways.

Higher incurred costs, because of the travel expenses. (W/O)

o This may also result in the higher presence of a specific social class, which

would most likely have a higher disposable income. (S/W)

Promotion of a type of learning and enrichment travel, which is a major tourism

trend, which presents a great opportunity for growth (Hudson, 2008). (O)

Industry Analysis

Using Porter’s Five Forces Analysis, we have concluded that there are extremely

limited competitive forces because of the nature of the business.

Since this is a unique experience with no direct competitors, and will be

approached with a product development strategy – marketing a new experience to

an existing market. (S)

There are no existing industry rivals, threats to substitution or barriers of entry

(Porter, 1998). There is however a marginal degree of which the business may

prices may be affected by bargaining power of both the suppliers (partners) and

the buyers (Porter, 1998). (S)

o These barriers will be overcome by strategic pricing to ensure a great

profit while also generating a high interest through value.


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Competitive analysis

One of the highlights of this business venture is that there are no direct

competitors. (S) This will be a one of a kind experience, and a once of a lifetime

experience for most. There are a few indirect competitors, which would be other

sports or fitness expos. The advantage we have over other expos is that they do

not have a major event to support and encourage traffic, like the Commonwealth

Games will be able to generate for WUW.

A smaller scale direct competitor would be that former Olympic athletes do

travelling seminar tours across the world. These seminars offer participants an

opportunity to learn from former medal Olympians in an intimate way.

o They are extremely successful with these small tours because there is an

extremely large market out there that is barely tapped. A great example of

a this would be Dmitry Koklov, an Olympic silver medalist from the 2008

Olympic Games, who since 2013 has done 103 seminars through 43

countries with over 2500 athletes participate (Handaco, 2014) (O)

Our answer to this is simple; we will only be working with and promoting

athletes who will not be performing any type of tours in the next four years

(on contract), making them exclusive to this event. As well as the opportunity

to work and train under coaches for a whole day will be exclusive to this event

as well. (S)

Internal environment

Target Market


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Our company marketing strategies mainly focus on differentiated marketing. We

will be focusing on a niche market, but will approach it with a product development

strategy, which will introduce a new experience to an existent market.

This niche market will be mainly of those who are avid fans, weightlifting

enthusiasts, or serious athletes. This market worldwide is great, Crossfit alone has over

209 thousand registrants for the Crossfit Open (Achauer, 2014), which translates into

over 209 thousand athletes practice Olympic weightlifting, which does not include the

number of athletes who train specifically for the sport. Also, since this sport has been

around for ages, people all over the world know what it is. It’s popular may differ from

country to country but it’s definitely on the ride. We predict that this trend will only keep

rising, as the amount of the general public is introduced to it.

Consumer analysis

Behavioral: Benefit (value) segmentation - service quality, experiences

(Hudson, 2008).

Using Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (Solomon, et al., 2001) we have focused on

addressing the bottom of the pyramid and up, directly (included in-package) or indirectly

(through discount advantages).

Physiological – Accommodations, food & beverage partnerships. Help

participants cut costs.

Safety – Patrons will feel safe since Australia has a great reputation for safety

(Wilks, 2009). Also, with the Commonwealth games taking place, security and

safety will be extremely important.


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Belonging - ** This is a definitive business focus since a driving goal would be

the opportunity for unification under the common passion of a sport.

Esteem/status – Being a part of such a unique and amazing experience will serve

as a way for patrons to have a sense of achievement – a once in a lifetime type of

experience.

Self-actualization – this area may be met through the participation of the seminar

or the coached training session. Weightlifting is a very mental sport, and the high

level experience can fulfill the sense of reaching a high potential.

Visitors will experience both immediate satisfactions once at the event and as for day-

2 and 3 participants; they will feel a sense of long-term benefit because of the knowledge

they gained in such a unique and memorable way. (Mannell, 1997)

- Psychographic analysis

A growing trend relating to tourism is that consumers are becoming increasingly

health conscious (Hudson, 2008). This relates to the main tie that unites the niche market

we are targeting since they all have a common interest in the sport weightlifting and thus

shares similar lifestyles.

With the market sharing the same lifestyle, it leads to the general market also

sharing the same beliefs and values, such as health and fitness being a top priority in their

lives. The event is not marketing to a specific age group, gender, ethnicity or religion.

The market is solely focused on the psychographics. The great aspect about not focusing

on demographics is that our target market is scattered all across the world.


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Marketing strategy

Website – the idea for the website will be simple and user should have no issues with

navigating through, finding all the information they need. There will be lots of photos and

videos to attract attention and increase browse time. We will also promote other

platforms of social media to keep them engaged.

The biggest competitive advantage we have is that we are the only ones in the

marketplace to do this, and will be the only ones able to work with the games. This

creates value and gives sustainability. Furthermore, there are opportunities for us to

expand and perhaps work with the Olympic Games in the future.

Product

The product is a once in a lifetime experience being offered to weightlifting

athletes, enthusiasts, and fans from across the world. It is a rare opportunity for the

community to connect and will bring not only economic and social value but will also

bring personal growth opportunities for those who participate.

This experience will also take place on the beautiful Gold Coast, where the

Australian community cannot wait to support and promote their love of sport and culture.

Many sponsors and key partnerships will help drive the market interest along with

their willingness to pay (Hudson, 2008). The incredible value of this experience speaks

for itself and will attract hundreds if not thousands of visitors.

The weekend will consist of three major events: weightlifting/fitness expo, athlete

conducted seminar and a coached training session at the weightlifting venue itself!


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Pricing

Weightlifters United will rely on a variety of different pricing strategies because

of the different events that will take place, and the different segments within the already

niche market.

o Product-bundle pricing – this tactic will be used to persuade consumers

into buying more tickets since they will then receive a discounted rate per

ticket.

o Prestige pricing – single tickets will be sold at a relatively higher price

because it gives it a higher perceived value.

Placement (Distribution)

Weightlifters United will only use direct distribution channels since the target

market is extremely specific using indirect channels would be unnecessary and would

incur unnecessary costs. However, we will use alliances with the Gold Coast

Commonwealth Games, as well as Nike Weightlifting, Eleiko and Hookgrip who will

help in the promotion and reaching the niche market. Exclusive distribution strategies

will also be implemented ensuring that sponsors and key partners are the only other

businesses we are associated with.

Promotion

There will be a number of sales promotion strategies (Hudson, 2008, p.277) that

will be employed to promote sales for this event. Attendees of the weekend event will

gain access to purchase or be given exclusive products and samples that will never be


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released to the general public. In addition, there will be many contests available for entry,

which will make the events even more exciting for people. We will also be maximizing

the opportunity of working with the best weightlifting sponsors and will be relying

heavily on joint promotion (Hudson, 2008, p.283) in order to reach the target market.

Through this type of cooperative sales marketing, we will be able to work

alongside these brands to market all aspects of the events unified. This will make us a

stronger brand since we are teaming up with veteran brands wit established markets and

consumers. Their customer loyalty will help build ours.

Our promotion strategy will mainly be through online means. The website,

sponsor websites, Instagram, Vimeo (website videos), Facebook, Twitter, and the same

social media platforms of our sponsors as well.

We know that through social media, people will begin to share the information on

their personal accounts and we will be able to market through online word of mouth,

which we predicted would be the most effective way to reach this niche market.

Projections

The promotion of this event will start in 2015; this allows us to adjust marketing

strategies and pricing accordingly, as well as generating the most amount of awareness as

we can. In addition, in this time frame as people become aware of the event, they are able

to make necessary budget adjustment and travel plans in order to attend.

We expect to sell the all three days to capacity. There will be 1,500 tickets

available for the expo, which will be sold at $30 each, or at $15 with the purchase of a

ticket to day 2 and/or 3. There will be 300 tickets available for the seminar and will be


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sold at $500 each. Lastly, the coached training session will be sold for $900. (These

prices are all based on established prices for similar events but are set a little higher

because of the elite level athletes and coaches.)

Since there are extremely limited spaces for day 2 and 3, people will feel a sense

of urgency and be more persuaded to purchase tickets as soon as they can. This will help

us meet our goal of having sold out a year and a half before the event.

From this first event, we will able to gauge the market and truly see where there

are opportunities for growth and more revenue in the following 4 years leading up to the

next Commonwealth Games.

Control

Goals for this event are:

o To sell to capacity for days 2 & 3 of the event at least a year and a half

before it takes place. There will be 300 tickets for the seminar and 100 for

the coached event.

If not, prices will be reduced accordingly.

o To sell 40% of the expo tickets (600 tickets of the available 1,500) a year

before the event takes places.

o To help the weightlifting events reach spectator capacity by monitoring

how many people are getting them at a discounted rate by buying package

bundles.


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Financial Projection – Most of the financial costs will be greatly minimized because

of our sponsors. Promotional items will mainly be sponsored.

Item Units

Unit Cost

Costs

Website Development 1 $3,000 $3,000

Website Design 10

$200

$2,000

Website Upkeep (once every 6 months) 6 $100 $600

Promotional T-Shirts

(with purchase of day 2 and/or 3 tickets) 400

$5

$2,000

Venue/equipment rentals 3 $10,000 $45,000

Food (day 2 & 3) 400 $20 $8,000

Athletes (5 athletes, 1 hour ea.) 5 $500 $2,500

Coaches (5 coaches, 3 hours ea.) 5 $1,200 $6000

TOTAL Costs

$ 69,100

Tickets sold Unit cost Total

Day 1 1,000 $30 $33,000

Day 2 300 $500 $150,000

Day 3 100 $900 $90,000

Total Revenue 273,000

If sales were 30% lower 191,100

Total Revenue Total Cost Total Profit

$273,000 $69,100 $203,900

$191,100 (30% lower) $69,100 $122,000


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Implementation strategy

Most important steps:

- Get website live 3 years before event in 2018.

- Establish necessary sponsors and partnerships.

- Make all social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram live)

- Ticket will go on sale two year before 20 months before event.

Getting all these going at the right times will help generate awareness and establish the

market early on. This will enable us to make necessary adjustments as needed.


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Appendices


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References

Achauer, Hilary. (2014). Rise of the open. Reebok Crossfit Games. Retrieved on

November 30, 2014 from http://games.crossfit.com/article/209585-rise-

open

Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games. (2013). Retrieved November 30, 2014 from

http://www.gc2018.com/

http://www.mcilwaincivil.com/Images/Carrara/IMG_2142.JPG

https://rw-media.s3.amazonaws.com/residential-offices/wp-content/

blogs.dir/408/files/2013/07/7550-13-18mb_runaway-bay-1-646x430.jpg

http://www.columbusweightlifting.org/system/wp-content/uploads/

2010/04/Nike1.jpg

http://www.trademarkia.com/logo-images/nathaniel-arem/hookgrip

85694942.jpg

http://resources2.news.com.au/images/2013/04/04/1226612/225398-gold-

coast-commonwealth-games-2018-logo.gif

Handaco. (2014). Dmitry koklov weightlifting seminar. Retrieved on December 1,

2014 from http://klokovtour.com/

Hudson, Simon. (2008). Marketing for tourism and hospitality (2nd ed.). Toronto,

Canada: Nelson Education.

Mannell, R. C., & Kleiber, D. A. (1997). A social psychology of leisure. State College,

PA:

Venture Publishing

Olympic training center chula vista. Retrieved on December 1 2014, from


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http://www.power-lift.com/gallery_performance_military/

USOC_Chula_Vista/photos/USOC012.jpg

Official Website of the Olympic Movement. (2014). Weightliting equipent and

history. Retrieved November 10, 2014, from

http://www.olympic.org/weightlifting-equipment-and-history?tab=history Porter,

M. (1998). Competitive Strategy. New York: Free Press, pp. 3-5.

Solomon, M., Marshall, G., Stuart, E., Smith, J.B., Charlebois, S., & Marando, M.

(2001).

Marketing real people real decisions (3rd Canadian ed.). Toronto, Canada:

Pearson Prentice Hall.

Sternkopf, P. (n.d.). Origins of crossfit. Retrieved on Dec 1, 2014 from The Box:

http://www.theboxmag.com/crossfit-box-101/origins-of-crossfit/

Stoddard, G. (2011, 10 11). Inside the cult of crossfit. Men's Health.

Wilks, Jeff. (2009). Is Australia a safe travel destination? Retrieved November 29,

2014 from: http://www.eturbonews.com/10750/australia-safe-travel-

destination.

Yaffa, Joshua. (2014). The waste and corruption of vladmir putin’s 2014 winter

olympics. Bloomberg Business Week. Retrieved on Dec 1, 2014 from

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-01-02/the-2014-winter-

olympics-in-sochi-cost-51-billion

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