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Introduction and current marketing situation
Background
Melbourne Football Club (MFC/ The Demons) is in dire need of a reinvention. Public support is dwindling after mediocre performances in 2012 and 2013. The past football season has been particularly devastating after the team started by losing its first ten matches. The Demons ended the season at the second last position in 2013.
These poor performances elicited dramatic reactions from fans and opponents alike. In some instances, MFC was booed out of the stadium by its own members. In fact, internet blogs were buzzing with calls for resignation of top officials, coaches, players or redesigns of the entire team. The organisation responded by sucking its coach in the middle of the season and getting an interim one. However, this action did not seem to overturn the Demons’ poor fortunes. Now, morale is at an all-time low within the team.
Members and supporters of the players want to see an overhaul of the operation and management of the Club. Some of the loyal fans have left the team because they see no hope for the future. There is no shortage of strategies and possibilities that MFC can use to get back on its feet. In the past, the organisation has always relied on media reports to inform the public about their strategies. This has put them in a position where they cannot control what is being said and how it is reported.
Some of these media reports have been less than flattering as they already have a bias against MFC. What the club needs is a report about the reengineering of the institution from their side, conveying their own point of view.
Rationale
The Demons need to rebuild their brand by making changes to the club and marketing these changes to the public. It is likely that this may increase support from former supporters who felt disappointed by the team’s performance and left the club. The goal of this marketing campaign is to restore membership to its original peak numbers. Melbourne Football Club has historically enjoyed a lot of support from people who have been with it for a long time.
However, the club’s poor choices have caused a lot of attrition thus leading to diminishing memberships. It is necessary to get back these individuals who had seen the potential of the club and the advantages that it has over others. Getting back former supporters is much easier than reaching out to new consumers at a time like this.
Few reasons exist to lure members back, so a marketing campaign is the only way that the club can achieve this feat. By showing its rebuilding efforts, MFC can prove to supporters that there is hope. This may ignite old passions over the team and thus lead to membership restoration.
Scope of the plan
This marketing campaign is a combination of strategy and promotion. It will revolve around the rebuilding efforts of the organisation. All the changes made during the preparation for the next season will be documented, announced and distributed to media houses around the country. It will thus involve sending to potential members and current members information about new developments in the club.
In order to achieve this, the company will start by looking at its records in the peak year of 2011, where its membership base was at its highest. It will then establish a database that contains names of those who defected from the club since that time. The organisation will then send them video updates and information about strategic or operational alterations. It will give the consumers offers on DVDs and inform them about how to renew their membership.
The plan also involves working with current members of the team to solidify their support. This will be achieved through social media and the company website. They will have access to promotional videos on these strategic changes and opportunities to purchase DVDs. The DVDs will contain 2013 season highlights for the Demons. It will remind members that they have a reason to support the team and should thus stay with MFC. A total of AUD 22,000 will be needed for this entire campaign.
Analysis and SWOT
Porter’s five forces
One can argue that supplier power is moderate. First, clubs can switch from supplier to supplier at relatively low costs. Therefore, more power lies in the hands of Melbourne Football Club with regard to this parameter. Volume matters a great deal to suppliers who prefer to have huge concessions.
Most clubs can offer such orders but they are only eighteen in number. On the other hand, it is difficult to substitute inputs for most sporting memorabilia or merchandising products. Therefore, this gives suppliers a slight reprieve from domination by clubs.
Several barriers to entry exist within the Australian Rules Football industry. First, a club’s success will depend on the strength of its brand. It takes decades to build a strong reputation, so new entrants may not find it easy to compete. Likewise, because it is also difficult to change a club by either merging or selling oneself to another one, then new entrants may be discouraged from entering the market.
Furthermore, one must invest a substantial amount of capital to start a club. It will require a lot of financial commitment from the owners to keep the institution running. This is a great deterrent to potential entrants. Nonetheless, some players may be attracted to the relatively high economies of scale that exist within the company.
The threat of substitutes is something worth considering within this industry. It is easy to switch to other types of sports like Rugby and cricket.
These three games have been competing against each other for a relatively long time. Nonetheless, some consumers are die-hard Australian Rules football fans so they are not likely to substitute the game for another. Increased sponsorships and marketing campaigns for the top three games could threaten the exclusivity of Australian Football (Morgan 2012).
Clubs in the industry have a high degree of rivalry. This has emanated from the very low levels of industry growth as well as the relatively low product differentials offered by most clubs. It is always easier to enjoy market domination when an industry is growing. When it reaches and surpasses its peak, then players must struggle to differentiate themselves. Nonetheless, one may argue that the high brand identity that most teams enjoy prevents fans or members from leaving them at will.
Furthermore, the diversity of each of the clubs makes each club unique in its own way. Most individuals choose to remain loyal to a team owing to their geographical and family background. This moderates the degree of competition to a certain extent. It is the relative degree of rivalry between clubs that sometimes leads to cases of misconduct.
Some instances of doping have been reported as well as match fixing or ‘tanking’. This unethical behaviour often comes about when teams are under excessive pressure to perform. Such is the case with Australian Rules football clubs. The organisation under discussion – MFC – was recently questioned for its role in match fixing.
It was accused of deliberately playing poorly in order to ensure priority picks in the next seasons. Investigations revealed that the club had not done this knowingly but that its administrators had alluded to the importance of getting priority picks. As such, MFC had to pay fines for engaging in the same. This tarnished its name and put into question the feasibility of the brand in the future (Browne 2013).
One can state that an average level of buyer power prevails in the Australian Rules football industry as factors that increase buyer power are equally neutralised by those that reduce it. For instance, since brand identity and loyalty is quite strong, individuals find it difficult to simply leave a club. On the other hand, they are well informed and demand for more effort from their clubs.
Many buyers are not sensitive to price and will be willing to pay slightly more for their team’s products. In this regard, product differentiation mitigates buyer power substantially. Buyers have a series of options from where they can select their dose of sporting action, so this increases their bargaining power. The number of buyers that exist in the country for Australian Football is relatively high, and this minimises their influence as it gives the few sporting suppliers a greater say.
Overview of current product and service
Melbourne Football Club is one of the eighteen clubs managed by the national Australian rules football body – the AFL (Australian Football League). This organisation offers members an opportunity to enjoy watching their favourite players competing in live matches. For this service, individuals have to pay for tickets on match day. The organisation has also entered into partnerships with broadcasting houses such that their matches can be aired live across the nation.
It also works within the media industry to furnish consumers with adequate information about the club. Sometimes this may occur through the internet or even manually. The club, like many other sporting organisations, offers merchandising services. One can purchase DVDs, t-shirts and wall papers that relate to the institution.
They also use technology to access their fans. There are mobile phone alerts, pictures and other applications that users may purchase from MFC. The company allows individuals to purchase membership for the team so as to enjoy certain privileges of belonging to the team. This club woks hand in hand with corporate and private sponsors to manage and develop the game. They also do auctions of their memorabilia (Ken 1995).
Since Melbourne Football Club falls under the AFL, they have come to depend on support from the latter entity. In situations where the company is in serious debt or requires support to stay afloat, then the national governing body may step in to support them. However, such a relationship is contingent upon the club’s ability to follow the AFL’s conditions. Therefore, financial independence is critical to success in Australian Rules football, especially for Melbourne Football Club.
Competitor analysis
Currently, all the teams in Australia Football may be regarded as competitive rivals for MFC. As of September 2013, the organisation was ranked 17th out of 18 in the Australian Football League. This was an all time low that the club had reached since the turn of the century. In the previous year, the company was position 16 – a spot that it had held twice in 2008 and 2009.
Clearly, the club has been suffering from a losing streak that is not just costing the company its huge fan base, but could also push it into oblivion. Calls for the disbandment and relocation of MFC have been rife throughout the 2013 football season (Adam 2013). Therefore, this organisation is in dire need of a restructure if it hopes to remain relevant in Australian Rules Football today.
Competition for the organisation stems from all corners. First, it comes from individuals from Melbourne. Part of the reason why the club has enjoyed such huge and strong patronage is its geographical location. However, other clubs that exist in the same region like North Melbourne, Richmond, St. Kilda and Western Bulldogs could play the same role. Their performance is more impressive than Melbourne Football Club and this could exert a huge strain on the team.
Melbourne also takes pride in the fact that it is one of the founding organisations in the sport. Clubs like Essendon and Carlton could also boast of this trait thus making them a force to reckon with in the future. They have been in existence since 1897 and participated in the premiership season just like MFC did (Borland and McDonald 2004).
In essence, the club has lost to almost all clubs in the competition. In 2011, it lost to Hawthorn, Geelong, and others. During the next year, MFC lost to nine teams. In 2013, it hit an all-time low when it lost to Port Adelaide, Gold Coast Suns, Greater Western Sydney and several others. This is indicative of the mediocrity that the team has displayed over this last season.
Some sports critics claim that the level of play for the club has deteriorated to such an extreme level that the team does not deserve to participate in professional competition. Other clubs like Port Adelaide did relatively poorly in competitions over the past few years. However, their administrators dealt with the problem by changing their sponsors, increasing their membership base as well as finding a new president and coach.
In essence, this club reinvented itself, and has shown dramatic improvements over the 2013 football seasons. Therefore, a team such as this one is a force to reckon with for a club like MFC. Currently, MFC’s rivals are all the low ranked teams in the competition. The team now focuses on beating the bottom five clubs and will then work its way upwards in subsequent years.
SWOT table
Objectives
The key objective of this marketing plan is to increase the membership base of the club from 33, 177 to 37,000. The Club’s highest membership base is 36,937. Therefore, this new target is just 63 members shy of the 2011 figures. In order to achieve this, the organisation needs to meet these specific objectives
- Establish the number of former members that have defected from the club
- Furnish both new and old members about new changes in the club’s management within the next year
- Sell sporting merchandise (DVDs ) to inspire former members to rejoin the club.
Marketing strategy
This marketing plan will target the former defectors of MFC. It will also seek to solidify support from the core club supporters who are still with the team. Since the group performed poorly in 2013, there is the danger that some of the existing members may choose to defect to another club. Therefore, the organisation ought to encourage or continue supporting the team. A database already exists on the current and former members of the institution.
This target market was chosen because of the special circumstances under which Melbourne Football Club is operating. They are at an all-time low with regard to performance and would find it particularly difficult to recruit new members. Usually, Australian Football clubs experience surges in memberships when they are doing well.
However, when the results are dismal, then the opposite is true. It would be unrealistic to increase membership during such an implosion. Nonetheless, when persons who have pulled out learn that the club that they supported before is doing a lot to revamp its image, then they could come back.
The main aim of this campaign is to create a relationship with the consumers within the marketplace. MFC will establish a link with the former members of the club by a series of personal relationships strategies. Since the organisation already has their contact details, it will use these to regularly update them about new developments in the team.
For instance, when it changes its players, it will give these target audience a chance to access the information accordingly. Further, it will also sell to them merchandise at exclusive prices for which other interested parties would have to pay substantially.
P’s of sport marketing
Product
The product under sale in this plan is the rebuilding of the club (Beech and Chadwick 2004). MFC will sell these efforts through media channels as well as personal contacts. It is hoped that customers will associate these efforts with potential improvements on the field during the next season. Potential customers will demonstrate their commitment by renewing their membership after the marketing campaign.
Additionally, the marketing plan will also be selling some sports merchandise that highlights the potential and actual achievements of the club. There will be DVDs that contain season highlights in 2013.
Although these highlights will be few and far between, they will remind former players about the stars that exist in the team. They are also likely to elicit a feeling of pride and nostalgia. These DVDs will be available to the target audience at a bonus price. Former members will also get short videos on some of the changes that have taken place within the club.
Price
Since the club will be selling something intangible, like their rebranding efforts, then this is best associated with the brand name. Membership prices will still remain at the same price as 2013. Individuals will need to see something predictable when they come back to the team, and finding the same prices as before will encourage them to join. The DVDs will be available to these individuals at a reduced price of AUD 10. They will be informed about this exclusive price in order to ensure their participation.
Distribution
Membership can be purchased online as had been previously done. Since several MFC fans are digitized, this will be an effective way of getting to them. Additionally, they can buy the DVDs using the same platform. The material will be shipped to them upon purchasing it. The DVDs will also be available in the company’s premises.
Promotion
This will form the bulk of the marketing plan. Most of the information concerning the new developments in the team will be sent directly to the former members of the club. Their contact details will be obtained through the company website. Thereafter, they will learn about these changes through short videos that document the club’s journey.
They will get emails concerning the efforts that the organisation is putting in restoring its name. Furthermore, they will be regularly updated, via email, on upcoming events in the team. Information about the DVDs containing the season highlights will also be sent to these individuals. Personal relationship marketing will be the key driver behind success of the club.
Aside from email contacts, the rebuilding efforts will also be marketed through traditional media. The club will take a proactive stance by approaching the leading sports brands in the organisation and furnishing them with information about some of the changes they have made. It will not wait for sports journalists to pay them a visit. Instead, the club will take the opportunity to control the public’s perception of it through its own initiatives.
The team will work with radio, television and sports magazines to update them on their progress. If MFC sends away players and hires new ones, it will give its angle on this and explain it thoroughly to news outlets before they approach the institution. This will help to give their perspective on the developments in the company.
Perhaps one of the most effective channels of conducting relationship marketing is social media. The club will increase its engagement with the public on social media. It will respond to questions that individuals have on a regular basis and also furnish them with new updates about the club. Social media will contain links that direct visitors to the company websites. Here, they will find teasers or short clips on videos that they can find on the same.
They will also learn about how they can get the documentaries from the organisation. The idea is to increase the number of updates on social media so as to match members’ need for more news. Some of the ways in which the company will work on boosting its social media strategy is by making the page more colourful.
It needs to show people how motivated the company is to become better. Individuals also get access to training sessions and other team efforts that the company is doing through this page. Every person who likes the page will be given information on these changes. Additionally, some of the promotional merchandise will be available to those who use the platform.
Action Progress
The current plan will last for a period of six months. The idea is to get people to support the team independent of their performance outside the pitch. The campaign will start on the 12th of September 2013 and end on the 12th of March 2014. All members of the team will be involved in the process. However, a greater emphasis will be given to the marketing team.
In the first week of the marketing campaign, the organisation will establish the names, contacts and location of the people who defected from the club. It will thus use this as a starting point. IT personnel within the company will be responsible for this parameter.
As stated earlier, the success of the marketing campaign is contingent upon the type of strategy adopted by the company. It is necessary for all the concerned stakeholders to start working on a rebuilding program. People who will be involved include the board, which will make decisions on who their president and senior leaders will be.
The senior executives will also be responsible for the dramatic changes that will form the core of all marketing communications. There is no schedule for these individuals as they will commence their activities at the beginning and end them in March 2014.
After the first week of determining who the defecting members are, the marketing team will select a media team to create a series of videos or documentaries that will contain all the latest happenings in the club. The fist video will be created on the 25th of September and the media team will continue releasing such videos on a bi-weekly basis.
At this point, the marketing team will step in order to determine where to distribute or sell the material. They will work simultaneously with IT professionals in order to upload it on the company website. Marketers will mail them to all the identified defectors. They will ensure that individuals give them permission to communicate with them in order to minimise privacy infringement.
One month after the commencement of the campaign; that is on the 12th of October, the media team will compile MFC highlights from the latest seasons. This process will involve examining footages of all the matches and showing instances where the club took control of the game.
Sometimes this may involve matches that the team lost, but those moments will still be worthwhile. Information about the availability and sale of this product will be available on the company website, email and social networks on the next day, after the release of the product. This will also be the responsibility of the marketing team.
As other events unfold, the media team will keep compiling these highlights and placing them on the selected platforms. Media communications between MFC and traditional media outlets like radio and television will also be covered by the organisation. These communications will depend on the degree of change in the company.
As soon as they take place, the media team will make a report on the same through a video as well as through written formats. They will then edit this information within a day in order to portray the organisation in a positive light. All the material will be sent to television and radio companies simultaneously. Four radio and television stations will be involved.
Budget
Measurement
The key objective of the marketing campaign is to increase the membership base to 37, 000. If the organisation will be able to reach this level, then the marketing campaign will have succeeded. However, one must note that it is not always possible to reach target levels. Therefore, the organisation must be open to falling short in this area.
It will allow for a shortfall margin of 10%. Additionally, the company will measure the success of its campaign by the number of responses it obtains from social media. Since one cannot measure the number of people who intend to leave but chose not to, a good indicator of success would be the feedback obtained from people. If the number positive responses from existing members increase, even by a small level, then the campaign will have succeeded.
References
Adam, P 2013, Every day is like a Sunday, http://mfcdemonblog.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-call-of-void.html
Beech, J and Chadwick, S 2004, The business of sport management, Prentice Hall, London.
Borland, J and McDonald, R 2004, Professional sports competitions in Australia, Praeger, Westport, Connecticut.
Browne, A 2013, From priority picks to claims of ‘tanking’, how it got to this, https://www.afl.com.au/news/2013-02-19/how-it-got-to-this
Ken, P 1995, The complete guide to Australian Football, Pan Macmillan, Victoria.
Morgan R 2012, Cricket and AFL dominate sports watched on TV. Web.
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