2. -2-
Table of Contents
Executive Summary 3
Description of the organization 3
SWOT Analysis 4
Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
Threats
Market Analysis 6
Target Market
Target Location
Customer Knowledge
Marketing Environment
Market Strategy 7
Marketing Objective
Time Frame and Expenditure Level
Measurements of Results
Action Plan 8
Objective 1) Increase participants
Objective 2) Increases sponsorships
Objective 3) Win a bid to host
Budget Analysis 10
Budget Spreadsheet
Expenses Description
Sources 12
Primary
Secondary
Flyer 13
3. -3-
Executive Summary
This marketing plan is designed for The Outland Challenge and is made to accomplish
the the following objectives:
1. Increase participant to 300-400
2. Increase sponsorships
3. Win a bid to host the USA triathlon regional qualifier
The plan is a five month strategy with a budget of $2359.72, targeting 18-50 year old
physically fit people who love to test their bodies. The main aim of the marketing plan is
to portray The Outland Challenge as a dynamic, quality triathlon, in order to increase
both participants and sponsorships in the future. The marketing plan will accomplish this
through the use of social media, direct marketing to exercise enthusiasts at fitness
centers. Also, the plan will be to market directly to prospective sponsors in order to make
them part of The Outland Challenge. Finally, an exciting promotional package will be
presented in order to win a bid to host a USA triathlon regional qualifier.
An Overview of The Outland Challenge
MissionStatement:
Showcasing the natural beauty of northeast South Dakota’s Coteau des Prairies
and the spring-fed waters of Lake Cochrane, The Outland Challenge will test the most
seasoned triathlete.
Product Description:
The Outland Challenge Triathlon was established in 2011 at Lake Cochrane near
Gary, South Dakota. Lake Cochrane is a beautiful, clear lake that is a perfect location for
The Outland Challenge to take place. The Outland Challenge is the only USA triathlon
sanctioned event in Eastern South Dakota. Also, it is sanctioned by the South Dakota
Triathlon Association. Each year the event gets 100-200 athletes to
participate. Currently, everyone registers for the triathlon via the website. The race
partners with ACTIVE.com to collect the payment and fees so that organizers dont have
to deal with credit cards.
DesiredImage:
The desired image that The Outland Challenge is trying to portray is a fun,
exciting, place to meet new people and compete for a cash prize, while testing the
participants body to the limit. Also we want The Outland Challenge to have the image of
a well-rounded, quality, smooth running triathlon.
Competition:
Competition for The Outland Challenge comes from other triathlons and athletic
competitions. Since the course around Lake Cochran is very tough (Megan Peterson),
4. -4-
other courses and organized events which are may be in competition with The Outland
Challenge. Also, other weekend activities such as family time, family camping, etc are a
source of competition.
SWOT Analysis
Strengths:
1. Only east-river triathlon sanctioned by USA Triathlon Association
Since The Outland Challenge is the only east-river triathlon
sanctioned by the USA Triathlon Association. This presents the advantage
of being a big event for triathletes around the region. The fact that The
Outland Challenge is endorsed by the USA Triathlon Association
solidifies that this is a quality triathlon, and should help attract athletes and
sponsors.
2. Hosted on one of the cleanest lakes in South Dakota
Being one of the cleanest lakes in South Dakota, Lake Cochrane is
a great place to hold outdoor events such as The Outland Challenge. This
is a marketable advantage for The Outland Challenge because it
demonstrates a safe, and clean environment for the triathletes.
3. Run/Bike venue is extremely scenic on Lake Cochrane
Lake Cochrane is a beautiful place for people to run/bike with a
great view of the lake. This is a great quality for marketing The Outland
Challenge. Sponsors can get behind the event, and gain the advantage of
scenic pictures and views to market their businesses.
4. Well established - 2015 will be the 5th annual race
The Outland Challenge has been a very successful event in the
past. Which means it is familiar to triathletes, and is becoming established
in the triathlon community. An established race is important because it
allows The Outland Challenge to market itself as a quality, well put
together race that has a history of running smoothly.
5. The volunteers are ranked as the best volunteers at South Dakota Triathlon
Association events
Being endorsed for having the top volunteers at South Dakota
Triathlon Association events ensures participants, spectators, and sponsors
that The Outland Challenge will run smoothly, and be successful.
Triathletes enjoy the fact that they can focus on their race, because the
volunteers and The Outland Challenge will take care of the rest.
6. Duke Energy and Sanford Health employees both sit on the board
Duke Energy and Sanford Health are big-name recognizable
businesses that give credibility to The Outland Challenge. For prospective
sponsors, this shows that The Outland Challenge is a great event to put
5. -5-
money into, and that this triathlon is a quality event to get behind. For
participants, the fact that The Outland Challenge is sponsored by well-
known businesses shows that it doesn't lack necessary funds to run a top-
notch triathlon.
7. Only east-river (and southwest Minnesota) race to host an Olympic distance
triathlon
Because there are very few race that host an Olympic distance
triathlon, The Outland Challenge is a great race for triathletes at the
highest level of competition. This fact allows The Outland Challenge to
attract top-notch athletes who know that The Outland Challenge is a
quality triathlon.
Weaknesses:
1. Rural location
The rural location of Lake Cochrane is a concern because there are
no big attractions, or urban life around the area besides The Outland
Challenge. The marketing plan should focus on The Outland Challenge as
the attraction to the area, and the activities at Lake Cochrane as a
supplement to the triathlon in order to gain participants and sponsors.
2. Limited hotel space
Having the event in such a rural location causes the hotel spaces to
be limited. Athletes who travel far distances have a tough time finding
places to stay for themselves and their families. A marketing plan must
include ways to inform participants from far away the importance of
reserving hotel space in advance.
3. Limited resources
Limited resources are a concern because of the rural area that The
Outland Challenge is held. There are limited amounts of police and
security staff near Lake Cochran available to block off roads and keep the
triathlon running smoothly. The Marketing plan should include rounding
up sponsors to pay for extra security staff, and also focus on ensuring
participants and spectators that these limited resources will not negatively
affect The Outland Challenge.
4. All staff are volunteers
Having all-volunteer staff be all volunteers can be risky
business. Volunteers are not held to this obligation and can leave at
anytime. Triathletes depend on the volunteers to be there to make sure that
the race runs smoothly and the triathletes are treated with care. The
Outland Challenge must advertise that they have the best-ranked
volunteers at any South Dakota triathlon association
6. -6-
Opportunities:
1. The race is in contention to host a regional championship in 2015
If The Outland Challenge could secure a spot to host a regional
championship in 2015, that would give them so much more publicity and
could lead to increased attendance at the race. This would also have a
positive effect on the number of sponsorship that the outland challenge
gets because of the publicity and positive attitude toward a championship
event.
2. In contention for the 2014 South Dakota Triathlon of the year (more to
come)
This gives The Outland Challenge some prestige. Receiving this
award for the triathlon of the year shows that The Outland Challenge is a
quality event that is looked highly upon by the triathletes. In the end, this
can end up attracting more participants wanting to be apart of such a
quality event.
Threats:
1. Other races attempting to obtain USA Triathlon Association sanctioned
status
Other races that take place during the year take away participants
and attention from The Outland Challenge. We must do a more focused
job of encouraging tri-athletes to attend our race. It is great that there is
more than one race during the year, however we need to positively
promote The Outland Challenge as the best around.
2. Road construction (since there are few roads able to be used for the course,
it's a threat we face each year)
Road construction is a concern because of the fact that Lake
Cochran is in a rural area, and there are limited race paths as is. Road
construction would further limit the race’s course.
Market Analysis
Target Market:
The Outland Challenge’s principal market is more sponsors. The new market
sponsor include: First PREMIER Bank, POET Energy, Wells Fargo. These sponsors are
being targeted because they are prominent businesses local to South Dakota, and they are
a good fit for the image we want for The Outland Challenge. Additionally, we will target
the Rock Room Bar and Grill in Gary, SD, and the Buffalo Ridge Resort in Gary, SD.
These businesses are being targeted for sponsorship because they are places where the
triathletes might visit or stay while in the area. they are easy targets who can benefit from
being part of The Outland Challenge.
Also, The Outland Challenge is trying to target more participants. Our target
market for participants is physically fit males and females from age 18-50 who are
7. -7-
seriously interested in participating in a quality triathlon, or have participated in the past
and are looking to test their bodies to the max.
Target Location:
Our target location is going to be mainly in SD, Iowa, North Dakota, and
Minnesota. We will try and condense our locations to the big cities in all of those states.
The main focus of the market plan should be fitness centers, nutrition/supplement stores,
and generally any place that a triathlete would be prone to visit and gain information
about The Outland Challenge.
Customer Knowledge:
Knowledge about The Outland Challenge is greater for triathletes in the Midwest.
According to a past participant, much of the knowledge about The Outland Challenge is
through word of mouth (Megan Peterson). A primary goal is to get knowledge out to
every triathlete with the ability or desire to compete in The Outland Challenge, also to
every sponsor who would like to be part of this triathlon. We will work with our current
sponsors to get in contact with anybody they know that would help us in marketing The
Outland Challenge. Getting targeted flyers or emails to athletes with the ability to
participate at Lake Cochran.
Marketing Environment:
The Outland has been in operation for 4 previous years ( this is the 5th
annual). The race is currently one of the best in the region which is reflected by the
numerous awards it is in contention for, and the prospective championship event it may
hold. The Outland Challenge’s main competition comes from other triathlons in the
midwest. The Outland Challenge is currently sponsored by big name businesses such as
Sanford Health. The goal is to positively promote The Outland Challenge in the triathlon
environment as a top-notch race that deserves recognition.
Marketing Strategy
Marketing Objective
The Outland Challenge, established in 2011, is a well known event. However, the
number of participants aren’t at a level that we want. For the most part, awareness could
be greater about The Outland Challenge.So, marketing this event, and creating more
awareness, is a main priority. One of the main objectives is increasing the number of
participants from 100-200 to 300-400. This gives the race more publicity and could
ultimately lower the entrance cost to provide an opportunity for even more
triathletes. Another objective is winning a bid to host a USA Triathlon regional
qualifier. If we win this bid, the number of athletes should increase quite substantially
and reach our target number of athletes. Getting more athletes to compete will raise more
8. -8-
and more awareness of this race and build stronger relationships with our sponsors, who
ultimately make this triathlon possible.
Time Frame and Expenditure Level
We are going to apply marketing efforts as soon as possible, up until the 2015
race. We want this time frame to be right around the time of the event. Our plan is going
to use a budget of $2,359.72, which will be use for marketing efforts to gain competitors,
and sponsors, and to market The Outland Challenge to host a USA Triathlon regional
Championship.
Measurements of Results
The main way that our results will be seen is through the number of competitors
that sign up for our races. The more competitors we lure in, the more revenue we
make. Right now entrance fees start at $55 and work up to $75 as the race draws
closer. If we have 300-400 competitors, we can lower the entrance fees
accordingly. Doing so, will increase athletes participating and ultimately gain more
revenue. Also, the amount of sponsorships we gain will be easy to measure, as it is a set
amount. Finally, if we gain a bid to host a regional championship, we will be able to tell
if our plan was successful.
Action Plan
Objectives
1. To increase the number of participants of The Outland Challenge
We can raise awareness by:
Social media
Promotional information at fitness centers
Our main goal is to increase the awareness of The Outland Challenge and get
more competitors than in the years past. There are many threats and weaknesses that will
hold us back, but many opportunities that we will jump on and allow us to have major
success in the future.
Social media can be a huge promoter for this challenge, and it is a huge
opportunity that is not currently being taken advantage of. The Outland Challenge has
only 58 followers on Twitter! We will aim to increase the amount of followers to over
500. We plan to be tremendously more active with The Outland Challenge on social
media, tweeting at least four times per day. Also, we plan to include The Outland
Challenge twitter handle on any flyer we send out in order to gain more followers. If we
were to improve upon the twitter account and Facebook page featuring The Outland
Challenge, we would be able to connect to people all around the Midwest. This would
provide updates for the challenge, race information, and sponsors that we have. All of
this allows us to keep in touch with current participants, and promote The Outland
Challenge to gain new triathletes.
9. -9-
We will also travel to fitness centers in SD, IA, and MN and put out flyers, and
give a short presentation about The Outland Challenge. This will consist of specific
information on how great The Outland Challenge is, and how to participate. This will
allow us to reach more prospective participants, and at least spread the name of The
Outland Challenge as a triathlon directly to prospective triathletes.
2. To increase the number of sponsorships
We are going to increase sponsorships (specifically from Poet Energy, First
Premier Bank,Wells Fargo, Buffalo Ridge Resort, and Rock Room Bar & Grill) by:
Signage
Advertising
Another objective that we have is to increase the number of sponsorships we have
for The Outland Challenge. There are three different levels of sponsorships, gold, silver,
and bronze. The more money that is donated by a sponsor puts them at a different
level. Our goal is to get as many sponsors to join at the gold level.
At each level we want the sponsors to know that they are being acknowledged for
their part in The Outland Challenge. Each sponsor will get some form of signage or
advertisement at The Outland Challenge, along with having their logo displayed in our
various other marketing strategies. One example is having our sponsors present on The
Outland Challenge Facebook page, or putting the logos on our flyers. Depending on how
large their sponsorship is, they will have a larger sign displaying their logo, and their
business. Ultimately, the goal of this is to increase the amount from our current sponsors,
and gain more new sponsors.
3. To win a bid to host a USA Triathlon regional qualifier
In order to win a bid to host a USA Triathlon regional qualifier, increasing the
amount of participants and sponsorships will raise our chances of winning this bid over
competing triathlons. A way we could achieve this is by focusing this objective at the
race. Letting participants and the audience at the race know about the potential bid could
spark an incentive for them to help promote The Outland Challenge. Also, we will create
a promotion package to send to the committee who would decide the locations for
regional championships. Such a package will include a video focused on the beauty and
cleanliness of Lake Cochran, along with featuring clips of the start and finish of the race.
According to Luke Jessen, a primitive video of the race exists, but this is just a video
from one racer’s point of view, and nothing else. We will make a new, much more
dynamic, and exciting promotional package, which features the area of Lake Cochran,
short clips of the actual triathlon, and positive triathlete feedback on The Outland
Challenge.
10. -10-
Budget Analysis
Total budget = $2359.72
Expenses: Description: Costs ($):
Social media Twitter, facebook 0.00
Flyers
Paper 500 sheets 10.98
Ink 3 combo pack + black 53.96
Signage/ads
large 4X8 (3) 143.55
medium 3X6 (3) 115.26
Promotional Video Camera(GoPro) 399.99
Travel expenses
Gas $100/trip (5) 500.00
Hotel $75/night 375.00
Labor $15/hr 5 trips 750.00
Total: $2359.72
Social Media
Social media will be used in the form of facebook and twitter. We will be using
the current twitter account to spread simple messages about The Outland Challenge to
potential and current participants.
Flyers
The flyers are designed to get the word out to people about the race. These flyers
will be posted at fitness centers across the midwest, with the goal of attracting
prospective participants to The Outland Challenge.
Signage/ads
The signs are designed to reward sponsors for being a part of The Outland
Challenge. Large banners displaying the sponsors’ name and logo will be hung at the
triathlon. This creates publicity for the sponsor, and will attract new prospective sponsors
for The Outland Challenge.
Promotional Video
The promotional video will be used to promote The Outland Challenge for its bid
to host the USA regional championship. We will focus on getting great shots of the
triathlon, and of Lake Cochran, and its beautiful environment. We will use a GoPro
camera to capture action videos, and create a real-life, in the action type feel to the
promotional video.
11. -11-
Travel Expenses
Travel expenses consist of commuting around the midwest to different fitness
centers, posting our flyers, and promoting The Outland Challenge to the members of
theses fitness centers. The costs include gas and hotel used in traveling.
12. -12-
Sources
Primary Sources
Luke Jessen email conversation
Email conversation with Megan Peterson, Triathlete
Phone conversation with Bruce Anderson, Snap Fitness owner
Secondary Sources
www.walmart.com
www.bestbuy.com
www.buildasign.com
www.outlandchallenge.org
13. -13-
July 18th
-19th
Come and Sign Up for the Outland Challenge that takes place at the
beautiful Lake Cochrane!
[Hours] (xxx)yyy-yyyy
Twitter: @theoutlandchallenege Facebook: The Outland Challenge
Visit us at www.theoutlandchallenge.org
