Sports Marketing Brand Equity in Professional Soccer

Question: 1. Choosing and identifying the organisation - Choose Manchester United as the organisation and write a small description about the "vision, mission" in 60-70 words. 2. Write about the segments not targeted by Manchester United. i.e, Demographical, Geographical , Age, Gender etc. 100-120 3. Targeting of your organisation should which segments are chosen from the second question and which strategy is to be applied and with reasoning. 150-200 words. 4. Positioning of the organisation is to be explained in brief. Answer: Introduction Manchester United The chosen club in this topic is Manchester United Football Club. It is a professional football club at Old Trafford, Great Manchester, England. It is one of the most reputed clubs in England and is nicknamed as Great Devils (Masterman 2014). Mission and Vision of Manchester United Football Club Mission of Manchester United The mission of Manchester United FC is to be the best soccer club and team on and off the football ground. It aims at making it an international brand by providing a correct mix of business practices and maintenance of a quality team (Funk et al. 2016). Vision of Manchester united Football Club The vision of Manchester United Football Club is related with becoming the best football club both on and off the pitch by indulging in ethical business practices (Masterman 2014). Market Segmentation of Manchester United FC Demographic Manchester United FC practices demographic segmentation. They are available to people of all ethnic background, age and gender. The tickets of the games of the club are available to all types of people without any reservations. Geography Manchester United is the most popular football club across the globe. It has more than 659 million fans across the globe. Therefore, it is available all over the world. Some of the countries are beyond the target segmentation of the club. Some countries like China, Russia, India, Nigeria and Vietnam are beyond the target segmentation of the club. China has very low fan following of the club, where only 8% of the total population are estimated to be followers of the club. Indias population comprises of only 2.8% of Manchester United fans and followers (Funk et al. 2016). Based on such low following of the club, these segments are not targeted by the club. Age The club aims at age category of 15 and above people. The club does not usually target people below the age of 15 years and people above the age category of 65 are usually not targeted. However, the club is a household name for all age categories of people. Gender Manchester United Football Club aims at men of 15 and above. The club does not majorly target female for market segmentation. However, the demographic segmentation is open for fans belonging to all gender. Strategies for segmentation Manchester United will attempt to expand its markets in countries where the following of the club is low. International marketing is one of the most important concepts, which the club will try to focus on. Certain strategies can be utilized for segmentation. Utilize social media and mobile marketing opportunities The club can utilize digital media as the platform for expanding market in other countries. Use of mobile application and sites can be used for promoting the merchandize and the market of the club in other countries. The popularity of social media has transcended the sky and social media has a growing popularity among people. Therefore, it can be used for expanding the market of the club in countries like China, India, Russia and Nigeria (Funk et al. 2016). Improvise the chances of broadcasting rights on a global platform Many countries do not have the broadcast international club football matches. As a result, the club does not find have high fan following in such countries. If the club gets broadcasting rights in such countries, then the matches can be telecasted in these countries and they will be able to develop fan following in such countries. Digital viewing on internet and phones will help the cause (Masterman 2014). Enhance distribution channel The club should improve the distribution channel. They should improve the wholesale, retail and e-commerce channel. This will help the club to make it product available in the market and develop a strong fan following in these countries. The availability of merchandize will help the club develop a strong customer base. Positioning of the organization Manchester United deals in high quality goods at high price. It has a brand image because of the massive fan following. Chelsea FC deals in comparatively less quality product at a comparatively less price to Manchester United merchandize. Arsenal FC deals in poor quality merchandize and product at very low price. Liverpool FC deals in moderately good quality goods at low price. Therefore, Manchester United is in a superior position compared to the competitors since it is the most famous l football club in the world (Biscaia et al. 2013). Conclusion It can concluded form the report that Manchester United is the most famous football club in the world with a fan following around 659 million fans around the world. They have to stress on digital marketing in order to expand their market in countries where their fan following is low. Their target market is predominantly males of above 15 years of age. They enjoy competitive advantage in terms of positioning, Reference List Biscaia, R., Correia, A., Ross, S., Rosado, A. and Maroco, J., 2013. Spectator-based brand equity in professional soccer.Sport Marketing Quarterly,22(1), p.20. Funk, D.C., Alexandris, K. and McDonald, H., 2016.Sport Consumer Behaviour: Marketing Strategies. Routledge. Masterman, G., 2014.Strategic sports event management. Routledge. Mullin, B.J., Hardy, S. and Sutton, W., 2014.Sport Marketing 4th Edition. Human Kinetics.