chandler SIP

“BIG LEAGUE TALENT. MAJOR LEAGUE FUN”
KALAMAZOO GROWLERS
GRASS-ROOTS MARKETING STRATEGY
By
CARTER CHANDLER
Faculty SIP Advisor
AMY MACMILLAN, Department of Economics and Business
A paper submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for
the degree of Bachelor of Arts at Kalamazoo College
2014

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Preface and Acknowledgements
When I was presented with the opportunity to create a marketing plan for my
Senior Individualized Project, I knew I wanted to focus on the Kalamazoo Growlers.
After holding my first internship this past summer with the Kalamazoo Growlers, I was
able to gain experience and insight into how the sports industry works. The Kalamazoo
Growlers are the perfect organization to use for this plan because they are a small, start-
up organization within the sports market. The Growlers have tremendous potential, but
have yet to fully tap into the market. Building a marketing plan from scratch, with few
restrictions, was a great experience and I hope that this plan will be of use for the
company.
I would like to make a few acknowledgements before I begin. I want to give a
special thanks to my advisor Amy MacMillan and to Kalamazoo College for supporting
this work. Large thanks also to the entire Kalamazoo Growlers organization for allowing
me to use their business as the basis for my work. Lastly, I would like to thank my family
and friends who supported me along with generously reading and critiquing my work and
gave me support throughout the entire process.

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Executive Summary
This paper represents a grass-roots marketing plan for start-up sports
organizations looking to enter into a new market segment, while understanding both the
personnel and financial restrictions of a small sports organization. The Kalamazoo
Growlers are a new collegiate summer baseball team located in Kalamazoo, Michigan
and are a member of the Northwoods League. This organization currently only focuses on
one market segment, adults 25-34 with children, but would also like to expand to include
a new market segment of adults 18-24. This plan will address this market expansion.
The paper begins with a review of the current literature about several marketing
strategies for start-up sports organizations. The literature review finds four main focuses
for start-up sports organizations: 1.) consumer preference, 2.) product differentiation, 3.)
sports marketing, and 4.) guerrilla marketing. These four focuses are essential when
mentioned by several studies pertaining to start-up sports organizations. The data, reveals
that through a mix of both theories of marketing, sports marketing, and guerrilla
marketing techniques these organizations should be able to implement a successful
grass-roots marketing plan to obtain the most promotion as possible while keeping to the
organizations financial restrictions.
The literature review is followed by a marketing plan, which includes both a
situational analysis and marketing tactic recommendations. This plan displays both the
macroeconomic environment as well as microeconomic environmental factors that affect
the Kalamazoo Growlers, their main competition, several business aspects through a
SWOT analysis, and a profile of the consumers of the Kalamazoo Growlers. The

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objectives of the marketing plan are to increase total revenue through ticket sales and
increase the Growlers presence within the new target market segment. The marketing
strategies utilized in this plan are strictly guerrilla marketing techniques to help increase
the connection with new market segments. The two different strategies used in this plan
are updating current social media (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) and implementing
new guerrilla marketing techniques such as: posterizing, flash mobs, event-based
promotional events, and QR codes. The plan will span one year, to be re-evaluated and
improved before Year Two. This plan will require minimal financial capital and time
commitment from each staff member of the Kalamazoo Growlers. This plan proves that
through the use of guerilla marketing techniques, it is possible for a start-up sports
organization to enter into a new market segment without the use of additional assets.

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Table of Contexts
Introduction 1
Literature Review 5
Connection Section 16
Situation Analysis 24
Market: Macro-environment 24
Market: Micro-environment 26
Competition 27
SWOT Analysis 31
Strengths 31
Weaknesses 32
Opportunities 34
Threats 35
Consumer 36
Marketing Strategies 37
Update Current Social Media 37
New Guerrilla marketing techniques 40
Marketing Objectives 43
Unique Selling Proposition 43
Target Audience 44
Four P’s 45
Financials 47
Timing 47
Measurement 48
Conclusion 49

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References 52
Appendices 56

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Introduction
The Kalamazoo Growlers are a start-up expansion baseball team in the
Northwoods League that entered into the Kalamazoo market in 2013. In 2014, the
Northwoods League, which promotes itself as being the country's premier summer
collegiate baseball league, became the first collegiate summer league to attract over one
million fans in a single season (Northwoods League.com). As the Kalamazoo Growlers
(2014) explained, “The Northwoods League was founded in 1994 with five teams in
Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa. Since that time, the league has expanded to eighteen
teams throughout Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, and Canada. From using a
wooden bat to playing games every day, the Northwoods League gives collegiate players
the opportunity to experience what life as a minor or major league player entails as they
face their grueling season” (Kalamazoo Growlers, 2014). Although the team had a
successful inaugural season in terms of attendance, they face the same challenges as any
start-up company or organization.
Drew (2014) spoke with the Kalamazoo Growlers’ President, Brian Colopy, who
feels confident that they will be able to flourish as the next baseball team in Kalamazoo
and not just fade away in a few years like their predecessors stating, “We don't want this
to be a honeymoon and an awesome two years then just leave. We want to be here. We
have goals to build new areas at the ballpark and improve the atmosphere. We have a
five-year plan" (Drew, 2014). Colopy believes that the Growlers are a viable organization
that can sustain long-term success here in Kalamazoo. According to Colopy, “The
Growlers' annual costs are $200,000 lower than those of a Frontier League team because
players are unpaid and the organization does not have to carry worker's compensation

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insurance” (Drew, 2014). For this reason, this gives the Kalamazoo Growlers an
advantage compared to their predecessors the Kalamazoo Kodiaks and Kalamazoo Kings
who were members of the Semi-professional Frontier League. There overwhelming high
costs forced these organizations to fold and they were not able to gain long-term
sustainability in Kalamazoo.
Northwoods League owner Dick Radatz agrees with Colopy that the Growlers
have a tremendous opportunity to become a sustainable organization long-term and the
Northwoods League caters to an environment such as Kalamazoo by stating, “The
Northwoods League’s business model from the beginning was designed to work in places
that had lost professional baseball teams. The reason we always believed this would work
was because our budget was roughly one-third to one-quarter of a professional team.
Now, our thought and theory when we created the league has been proven. We've not
only made it, we have thrived in these communities." (Drew, 2014). Later on, Radatz
discusses how well the Northwoods League’s business model would work specifically in
Kalamazoo by saying, “the league's business model is one that lends itself to success in a
market like Kalamazoo” (Drew, 2014).
According to Drew (2014), Colopy believes the success of our organization will
be ticket sales and the importance of getting fans in the seats, "when it comes down to it,
everything is based around ticket sales" (Drew, 2014). As Drew (2014) states, the
Growlers strategy was to attract consumers to weekend games because, “weekends are
more readily available nights for people to come out" (Drew, 2014). As a result the
Growlers built up the promotions for weekend dates which included fireworks, TV and
lawnmower giveaways. Colopy believed that his core attendance would come from the

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casual fan along with families. This is why the Kalamazoo Growlers believed that their
weekend promotions strategy would help to bring attendance during their weekday games
as well.
There has been much research conducted on the subject of grass-roots marketing,
and this marketing strategy often points to the creation of success for companies. This
project will show how grass-roots marketing can help small, start-up sports organizations
break into several new market segments without having to expand their current staff and
overall budget. The applications of this marketing plan will reach past the on-field sports
product and focus more heavily on how start-up sports organizations can market
themselves. Low-cost grass-roots marketing has become more feasible through the use of
social media and guerrilla marketing techniques. This plan is feasible for any sports
organization to utilize because it focuses on increasing exposure, while reducing the cost
of marketing for an organization.
A review of current literature on the topic of grass-roots marketing, specifically
through consumer preference, product differentiation, sports marketing techniques, and
guerrilla marketing techniques introduces theories and strategies that may be useful for a
start-up sports organization like the Kalamazoo Growlers. A situational analysis will then
be shown, including an environmental analysis, competitor and consumer profiles, and an
in-depth SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis. This will
be followed by recommendations for grass-roots marketing strategies. These strategies
will take into consideration the monetary and personnel restrictions of the Kalamazoo
Growlers which are restrictions that many start-up sports organizations will initially face.

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These recommended strategies should help to grow both brand awareness and increase
ticket sale revenue.

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Literature Review
Over the years, there has been considerable research conducted on the topic of
grass-roots marketing and the marketing techniques that have led to success for
businesses. This review will specifically focus on grass-roots marketing for start-up
organizations and on four main aspects related to the development of a marketing plan:
Consumer Preference (or Motivation) Theory, Product Differentiation, Sports Marketing,
and Guerrilla Marketing. The interactions of these theories and strategies will be
described and discussed.
Consumer Preference
For any sports team or young organization, their marketing plan must focus on
several marketing strategies, such as consumer preference theory. They need to apply the
consumer preference theory into a marketing plan with the overall goal being to
concentrate on how they can attract the largest number of fans to the games which will
achieve the maximum possible revenue. First, start-up companies or organizations, must
determine what level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs does their specific product fits
under. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is split into five levels starting with the psychological
level which includes basic human needs, followed by safety, belonging/social, esteem,
and at the top self-actualization. As Cao, H., Jiang, J., Oh, L., Li, H., Liao, X., & Chen, Z.
(2013) (as cited by Maslow, 1954), “describes Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as, an
individual has a hierarchy of motivational needs” (pg. 171). For start-up sports
organizations, they fit into Maslow’s hierarchy of needs at the social level, because as
Cao, H., Jiang, J., Oh, L., Li, H., Liao, X., & Chen, Z. (2013) (as cited by Maslow, 1954)
states, “in level three, we find needs of belonging and love that are also termed social

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needs, including love, to be loved, and a sense of belonging” (pg.171). In order to achieve
higher attendance numbers, sports teams need to determine what type of need or desire
they are for their consumers. This is critical for them to able to market the type of
atmosphere to provide for game attendees. Once established the organization can market
and maximize the type of atmosphere to provide the fans in attendance.
Pope (1998) reinforces this belief by showing “that a recent examination of
consumer choice processes, the theory of consumption values (Sheth et al., 1991a, 1991b)
suggests that consumers attach different values to product groups and that these in turn
will affect motivations to purchase” (pg. 125). By knowing what need their product falls
under for consumers, the sports teams can focus more heavily on what they can offer
them in order to market to their correct individual needs. As Fraser (2007) (as cited by
Cousens 1997) noticed “while examining the organizational focus of minor league
baseball teams that franchises need to shift to become more business-centered than
sports-centered in order to remain viable” (pg. 150). By moving their focus, the
organizations shift from the actual on-field sports product and instead focus more on the
external factors, such as fan experience, advertising, and promotion as the central features
of their overall product. Following this model, sports organizations will be more viable in
the long-term and as a result market themselves to fit the consumer’s needs, gain a
broader audience, and create more long-term sustainability.
Another marketing theory that sports organizations need to focus on within their
consumer preference framework is market segmentation. Dickson, P. R., & Ginter, J. L.
(1987) deliver a deep understanding of the concept of market segmentation along with
the reading of Huddell (2011), describing market segmentation as “the act of parsing

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customers and potential customers into subgroups by identifying each group’s unique
characteristics and traits” (pg.1). This marketing strategy applies to sports organizations
because according to Huddell (2011), 80 percent of team-side respondents working in the
NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB or MLS identified CRM and database management as an
“extremely” or “very” valuable component of their organizations’ daily business
practices (pg.1). This shows that start-up sports organizations need to be able to integrate
the aspect of market segmentation into their basic marketing strategies in order to learn
and understand how to market to different segmentations. By doing this and knowing the
demographics represented in the given area, they can decide how to market specifically to
the consumer motivations of each demographic.
Fraser (2007) (cited by Zhang, Pease, Lam, Bellerive, Pham, Williamson, Lee,
and Wall 2001) agrees with this basic strategy, and he has found to varying degrees that
“age, gender, household size, marital status, and education play a significant role in the
motivation of fans to attend games” (pg.150). By being able to market themselves
correctly to each segment of the market, the start-up sports organizations will be able to,
as Huddell (2011) states, “leverage the value of each segment and connect with segment
members in an efficient, customized and personal way” (pg.1). By leveraging themselves
in each of their different target audience segments, they can make an increasingly better
connection with each segment, helping to increase the overall target audience that will in
turn increase attendance, and ultimately, increase revenue for the organization.
Product Differentiation
Another marketing theory start-up sports organizations must focus their attention
on is product differentiation. This is critical for sports organizations because they must

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create a marketing scheme that will differentiate their product from their competitors,
who are usually marketing themselves within the same geographic markets. First,
Kelchner (2009) believes “for small businesses, a product differentiation strategy may
provide a competitive advantage in a market dominated by larger companies” (pg.1). This
directly relates to start-up sports organizations, which need any competitive advantage
that they can get over larger sports organizations such as Major League Baseball (MLB),
Minor League Baseball (MiLB), or any other well-established sports organizations in
their vicinity. When sports organizations initially start, they face the challenge of having
to compete for consumers who are currently being targeted by well-established
organization such as Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball. With
organizations from these leagues targeting the same audiences as the start-up
organization, it creates an initial issue because the already established teams have more
extensive marketing resources available for advertisement as compared to the start-up
organizations. Product differentiation becomes extremely important for these start-up
sports organizations because they need to be able to differentiate their product from other
well-established sports teams. If they are unable to convey to consumers what makes
their sports product different, and ultimately, better, than the other established sports
teams, this will result in low long-term sustainability because they will be unable to
attract fans. Sports consumers do not like to change their current behaviors, especially
when it comes to teams because fans feel a sense of loyalty and ownership when it comes
to their team. Start-up organizations must show how their product is different from what
the established organization already has to offer in order to create a new consumer fan
base along with creating repeat consumers/fans.

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A crucial part of product differentiation relies on brand awareness, which Bauer,
Sauer, and Schmitt (2005) state, “that marketing and branding aspects are becoming
increasingly important in the sport industry” (pg. 497). By building brand awareness
surrounding your product, consumers will then remember your product, what it can offer
them, and differentiate your product from your competitors. As a result, the ability to
build brand awareness plays a crucial role in differentiating the organizations product.
As Blumrodt, Bryson, and Flanagan (2012) explain, customer based brand equity
derives from the compounding effect of brand knowledge on the consumer’s
response to the marketing of the brand. Brand knowledge includes brand
awareness and brand image, where brand image is defined as perceptions about a
brand as reflected by the brand associations held in consumer memory (p. 483).
For start-up organizations in the sports industry it is critical to be able to establish
brand awareness for their product because it will result in better product differentiation.
By establishing awareness of the product brand, start-up sports organizations will have an
advantage because consumers will remember the brand’s image over a competitor’s
product. This is a critical aspect in the sports industry because most sports teams are
targeting the same audiences, marketing in the same geographical markets, and marketing
the same need for potential consumers. Implementing the marketing theory of product
differentiation will help to increase the organizations success in both short-term and long-
term sustainability by being able to convey to consumers what different aspects of their
product they can provide for their needs over their competitors.
Sports Marketing

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A third strategy for a start-up sports organization’s marketing plan must be
specifically, sports marketing. Sports have become more commercialized over the years,
and in order to maximize profit, teams need to be able to market themselves more
efficiently. Sports marketing is an excellent avenue for sports teams to use to help
achieve this goal. Along with embracing this concept, teams also need to, according to
Bauer, H. H., Sauer, N. E., & Schmitt, P. (2005), “have a professional and customer-
oriented brand management because this is imperative for the long-term success of a
brand” (pg. 497). In today’s sports industry, the team itself is the product and not only
represents the team, but it also represents the brand image that the organization wants to
convey to the consumer.
Fullerton, S., & Merz, G. R. (2008) cites Gray and McEvoy's broad-based
definition of sports marketing as “the anticipation, management, and satisfaction of
consumers wants and needs through the application of marketing principles and
practices" (p. 229). For start-up sports organizations in the new, growing sports industry,
it is essential to have specific sports marketing aspects within an organization’s
marketing plan. Fullerton, S., & Merz, G. R. (2008) later cites Gray and McEvoy by
stating, “the application of marketing principles and processes to market goods and
services directly to sports participants and spectators" (pg. 91). For start-up sports
organizations the ability to use sports marketing is an essential part of being able to better
promote within the sports market. By using the strategy of sports marketing, they would
be able to efficiently use basic marketing strategies to focus specifically on how to apply
these principles to their product and to their potential market, which includes both
potential consumers and sponsors.

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There are two different theories and approaches that have been established in
sports marketing. These two areas are discussed by Fullerton, S., & Merz, G. R. (2008)
and are cited by Mullin, Hardy, and Sutton (2000), “first the marketing of sports products
and services directly to sports consumers can be done through the use of sports
promotions” (p. 91). Sports organizations must be able to market their product directly to
the sports consumers as well as others outside of the sports market. Sports organizations
would be ill-advised to focus all of their marketing solely on only sports consumers and
not target consumers outside of their market. Sports organizations must also develop an
avenue to create a greater consumer fan base thus being able to expand their reach, as
well as creating a new source of income and repeat business through new consumer fan
loyalty. In addition, sports organizations need to be able to not only have the ability to
market their product to consumers, but also, to market the product to local companies for
possible sponsorships.
Furthermore, another view on this topic offers a different perspective on the
practice of sports marketing. Fullerton, S., & Merz, G. R. (2008) citing Pitts and Stotlar
(1996) in their text, define sport marketing as “the process of designing and
implementing activities for the production, pricing, promotion, and distribution of sport
product to satisfy the needs or desires of consumers and to achieve the company's
objectives” (p. 92). This take on sports marketing could help the start-up sports
organizations have the ability to market their product because it follows the basic
marketing concept of the four Ps of marketing. This strategy could allow for any sports
organizations to design a plan on how they want to produce the team, set ticket pricing,
and promote game attendance within the framework of the organization’s objectives of

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consumer preference, product differentiation, and all, in order to produce the maximum
revenue possible.
While both of these perspectives on the practice of sports marketing are slightly
different, start-up sports organizations need to be able to combine both. By being able to
combine both of these perspectives, they could create a better marketing strategy to
promote their product. In the end, they would be better able to accomplish their main
objective, as noted by Dickson (1987), “that for sports marketing the one key marketing
objective is that of selling tickets” (pg.2 ). Once they utilize the components from both
perspectives on sports marketing, they will be able to achieve their main overall
marketing objective of increasing attendance numbers to help raise revenue.
Guerrilla Marketing
Finally, a basic marketing strategy that could help to enhance the marketing plan
for start-up sports organizations is guerrilla marketing. Jay Conrad Levinson’s book, The
Guerrilla Marketing Handbook, (1st ed.,) demonstrates the complete concept of guerrilla
marketing and just how successful it can be for both small business, as well as large
corporations. Ashwin (2006) describes the term guerrilla marketing best by stating that
“it can be defined as the use of unconventional marketing tactics designed to extract the
maximum exposure, attention and results from minimal use of resources” (pg.6). This
marketing concept, as Ashwin (2006) mentions “it has become more popular in recent
years, and is seen to be successful” (pg.5). In addition, later in Ashwin’s (2006) article,
he describes “the benefits of guerrilla marketing for small businesses that have limited
marketing budgets. These benefits include flexibility, cost, targeted, and simplicity” (pg.
6).

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If the start-up sports organizations were to invest more time and effort into
guerrilla marketing instead of traditional marketing, the results could be extremely
successful in marketing their product given the advantages previously mentioned. The
very nature of guerrilla marketing means that it has no bounds or limits and it is up to the
imagination of the business. Ashwin (2006) goes on to mention several different methods
of guerrilla marketing that can be used. First, he speaks of internet guerrilla marketing
methods: pop up advertising, logging details of visitors and users, improving rankings on
search engines such as Google, blogs, banner advertising, and sponsored links on
websites and search engines (pg. 8). Ashwin (2006) also describes additional guerrilla
marketing techniques, which include: stickers, badges, spray paint logos, pavement
chalking, bill stickers, biodegradable tree posters, product give-aways, including free
demonstrations and consultations (pg. 8). Finally, Ashwin (2006) mentions several media
and social media guerrilla marketing techniques including: intrigue, peer marketing, SMS
text messaging, video messaging, roach baiting, buzz marketing, and live commercials
(pg. 9).
One method of guerrilla marketing that has gained popularity in today’s society is
the use of social media. Organizations have now started to enter into the realm of social
media because they see the opportunities that social media could bring to promoting their
product or service. According to Roberts (2011), “social media is a big part of grassroots
marketing,” and later goes on to say, “according to one estimate, between 2010-2014
social media marketing is expected to grow at an annual rate of 34 percent” (pg. 6). Since
social media has become a main stay in our society, companies should embrace this

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change and adjust their marketing plans to not only use traditional forms of marketing,
but incorporate new forms within guerrilla marketing like social media networking.
Castronovo, C., & Huang, L. (2012) believes the internet has increased the ability
of individuals, and potential future customers, to interpersonally connect with one
another, thereby creating a powerful means through which product information
can be rapidly disseminated and products be more cost-effectively adopted by the
market (Trusov et al., 2009) (pg. 118).
Social media is now the best way to penetrate today’s market in order to reach the
broadest range of potential consumers. Castronovo, C., & Huang, L. (2012) later notes,
“social networking sites allow for viral marketing and word-of-mouth promotion to be
just as effective if not more effective than traditional media outlets” (pg. 118). The reason
in large part, is due to the ability to send out mass messages that can then be spread
through word-of-mouth marketing throughout your target audience, and this process costs
the organization absolutely nothing. As a result, start-up sports organizations have now
invested mass amounts of time into social media marketing. This avenue is an extremely
effective way to achieve your marketing goals without the high costs associated with
traditional marketing.
Other methods of guerilla marketing that have been used besides social media
marketing are event-based marketing, blogs, chat rooms, mobile marketing, search engine
marketing, flash mobs, posturizing areas, and QR codes. These methods have become
effective techniques to maximize promotion while accumulating low costs. The key to
creating successful guerrilla methods is to continue to form creative strategies. There is
no correct way to use guerrilla marketing because it focuses on creativity to understand

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the best way of reaching your target audience while keeping costs low. For example,
other methods of guerrilla marketing that are popularly used include intrigue, peer
marketing, video messaging, roach baiting, buzz marketing, and live commercials. All of
these different forms of guerrilla marketing can be effective if used correctly to market
the product to the correct target audience.

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Connection Section
Consumer Preference
A marketing strategy that the Kalamazoo Growlers should add to their marketing
plan is consumer preference. As a start-up baseball organization this theory directly
relates to the Kalamazoo Growlers. The Growlers must understand what consumer need
they fill, in order to understand their consumer’s purchasing motivations. In this case, the
Kalamazoo Growlers fit into Maslow’s hierarchy of consumer needs at the social level
because consumers at this level are looking for a sense of belonging and thus, are
motivated to attach this sense with their motivation to purchase tickets for a Kalamazoo
Growlers game. By knowing what consumer need the team fulfills, the sports teams can
focus more heavily on what they can offer fans.
Another aspect of the consumer preference theory is market segmentations
and understanding what the different purchasing motivations are for each segment within
the market. This marketing strategy applies to the Kalamazoo Growlers because as
previously mentioned by Huddell (2011), 80 percent of team-side respondents working in
the NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB or MLS identified CRM and database management as an
“extremely” or “very” valuable component of their organizations’ daily business
practices (pg.1). For this reason, the Growlers need to have the ability to practice market
segmentation and to understand how to market to the different segmentations of the
greater Kalamazoo market. By doing this and knowing what the demographics are in the
greater Kalamazoo market, the Growlers will be able to fully grasp an understanding of
the general market and their consumer needs.

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Further, they should focus on how they want to target each demographics’
consumer motivation. By knowing what need they fit for consumers, the Growlers can
leverage themselves into each of their different target audience segments purchasing
motivation and social needs. By doing so, they can make an increasingly better
connection with each segment, helping to increase the overall target audience that will in
turn help to increase attendance, and ultimately, increase revenue for the organization.
Product Differentiation
A second marketing strategy the Kalamazoo Growlers should implement is
product differentiation. Applying this basic marketing strategy to their marketing plan
will help with their overall goal for increasing revenue. They need to focus on how they
can attract the largest number of fans to the games in order to achieve the maximum
amount of possible revenue. In order for the Kalamazoo Growlers to be successful and
obtain long-term success, the organization must first decide on what makes their product
different from their competitors. This is a critical aspect for the Kalamazoo Growlers, as
they must create a marketing scheme that will differentiate their product from their
competitors, who are marketing themselves into the same market. The Kalamazoo
Growlers have the challenge of facing several competitors in Michigan, including the
Detroit Tigers, West Michigan Whitecaps, Lansing Lugnuts, and the Battle Creek
Bombers, who all market themselves in the West Michigan market. This highly sought
after market includes Kalamazoo, thus, the competition for fans forces the Kalamazoo
Growlers to take measures in order to keep fans coming to the games over their nearby
competitors.

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For the Kalamazoo Growlers, having a product differentiation strategy would
provide a competitive advantage in a sports market that includes other higher and well-
established baseball organizations. This directly relates to the Kalamazoo Growlers, who
are a small start-up baseball organization that needs every competitive advantage it can
get over their larger competitors such as like the Detroit Tigers, West Michigan
Whitecaps, and the Lansing Lugnuts, who all are either a Major League Baseball team or
minor league affiliates of Major League Baseball teams. By having well-established
organizations in the same market with more extensive marketing resources available for
advertisement compared to Kalamazoo Growlers, product differentiation is a major piece
of becoming viable in the baseball market. In the baseball sports industry, it is essential to
focus on the experience the fans will obtain while attending games and it is a critical
aspect to being able of differentiate your product from your competitors.
The Kalamazoo Growlers (2014) described the Northwoods League’s by saying,
“it puts entertainment first when it comes to the atmosphere at the ballpark. Fans will get
the complete minor league experience from crazy on-field promotions, to theme nights, to
first-class concessions. Baseball fans will love the in-game product, but there is enough
entertainment to make a night at the ballpark worthwhile for everyone” (About the
Northwoods League). With the Northwoods League’s philosophy of what a fan
experience should be when attending a game in mind, the Kalamazoo Growlers did not
want to specifically just target their consumers as only baseball fans, but instead wanted
to create a social event for all consumers and an atmosphere that is fun and family
oriented. The slogan chosen by the team spoke to this goal: “Big League Talent. Major
League Fun.” Ultimately, the team wanted to attract more people to games than just the

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die-hard baseball fans, and they needed to provide the social atmosphere that the fans
desired.
The Kalamazoo Growlers (2014) go on to state that “some of Major League
Baseball's top players began their path to stardom in the Northwoods League. Notable
alumni include Max Scherzer, Curtis Granderson, Chris Sale, Drew Smyly, Andy Dirks,
Allen Craig, Andre Ethier, and Fernando Rodriguez” (About the Northwoods League).
By combining superior collegiate talent with a fun, family oriented, and entertaining
atmosphere, the Kalamazoo Growlers can offer an experience like none of their
competitors. By focusing on the fan experience and atmosphere as a part of their overall
product, the Kalamazoo Growlers can make their organization more viable in the long-
term by marketing themselves to fit the consumer’s needs, gain a broader audience, and
create more long-term sustainability.
A final part of product differentiation relies on brand awareness, which is a vital
part to the Kalamazoo Growlers overall marketing plan. By building brand awareness of
their product, the consumers will remember the Kalamazoo Growlers and what they can
offer consumers when it comes to their needs compared to competitors.
Sports Marketing
A third specific marketing aspect the Kalamazoo Growlers marketing plan must
focus on is sports marketing. Sports have become more commercialized over the years,
and in order to maximize profit, teams need to be able to market themselves more
efficiently. Sports marketing is an excellent avenue for sports teams to use in order to
achieve their goal of having long-term sustainability. In today’s sports industry, the team

20
itself is the product and it not only represents the team, but the brand image that the
organization wants to convey to the consumer. For the Kalamazoo Growlers in the new,
growing sports industry, it is essential to have specific sports marketing aspects within
the organization’s marketing plan. The Kalamazoo Growlers, need to have the ability to
use sports marketing is an essential part of being able to use it as a tool to better position
themselves within the sports market to both their consumers and sponsors.
Within the aspect of sports marketing, there are two different areas of strategies
and approaches. The Kalamazoo Growlers capitalize on both of the areas previously
discussed because they have marketed their sports product directly to the consumers of
sports as well as the general public. They have also marketed their product to local
companies in order to help promote their products through their sports promotional
events, which in this case are games. For example, the Growlers sponsors can choose
from different types of advertising throughout the ballpark, public address
announcements, and on-field promotions depending on the amount of financial support
the company is willing to put forth. Specifically, the founding partners of the Kalamazoo
Growlers are prominently displayed around the ballpark. In addition, to having several
public address announcements during each game, each founding sponsor has their own
personal on-field promotion in order for the sponsors to advertise to the consumers
attending the games. This on sports marketing could help the Kalamazoo Growlers to
market their product as it follows the four Ps of marketing: the Kalamazoo Growlers
would be able to design how they want to produce the team, ticket pricing, and promote
attendance at the games. The Growlers would be able to promote the organizations
objectives of fan experience while producing the maximum revenue possible.

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While these two sports marketing perspectives are slightly different, I believe that
if the Kalamazoo Growlers can combine both, they could create a better marketing
strategy for their product. They would be better able to accomplish their main objective
of increasing ticket sales. Once they utilize the components from both perspectives of
sports marketing, they will be able to achieve their main overall marketing objective of
increasing attendance numbers to help raise revenue.
Guerrilla Marketing
Finally, the fourth marketing concept that could help to enhance the Kalamazoo
Growlers marketing plan is guerrilla marketing. The concept of guerrilla marketing and
how successful it can be for both small businesses, as well as large corporations, is a
crucial reason why the Kalamazoo Growlers should incorporate it into their overall
marketing plan. The benefits of guerrilla marketing for the Kalamazoo Growlers is that it
creates the maximum amount of exposure while having minimal overall costs, which is
perfect due to the Growlers minimal marketing budget. If the Kalamazoo Growlers were
to invest more time and effort into this basic marketing strategy, the results could be
extremely successful for marketing their product given the advantages previously
mentioned. Several previously mentioned methods of guerrilla marketing that are
currently used today are currently being used by the Kalamazoo Growlers. However, they
still have not fully tapped the multitude of possibilities and successes of having guerrilla
marketing incorporated into the overall marketing plan.
As mentioned prior, social media is the best vechile in today’s market, in order to
reach the broadest range of consumers. Currently, the Kalamazoo Growlers use the major
mainstream social media outlets: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, which provide the

22
Growlers with a tremendous reach to their target audience. Using these major social
media outlets is a tremendous way to incorporate social networking, viral marketing, and
word-of-mouth promotion, which can be as effective, if not more effective, as traditional
media outlets: television, radio, and newspaper/print materials without the heavy costs.
For this reason, the Kalamazoo Growlers have now invested mass amounts of time into
social media marketing, because this avenue is an extremely effective way to achieve
their marketing goals without having to accumulate some of the high cost of traditional
marketing. Also, the Growlers have room to expand their guerrilla marketing in social
media and media marketing by incorporating several other social media and media
techniques such as intrigue, peer marketing, video messaging, roach baiting, buzz
marketing, and live commercials.
Start-up sports organizations have to use social media sites for marketing as well
as several other methods of guerilla marketing. The key to being successful is to continue
to form more creative strategies and methods. There is no correct method on how to use
guerrilla marketing, as it focuses on creativity to understand the best way of reaching
your target audience while keeping costs low. Other methods of guerrilla marketing that
the Kalamazoo Growlers could use that are popular include event-based marketing,
blogs, chat rooms, mobile marketing, search engine marketing, peer marketing, flash
mobs, posturizing areas, and QR codes. All of these alternative forms of guerrilla
marketing incorporated with social media and media guerrilla marketing can be effective
if the Growlers can correctly promote their product to the correct target audience.
The Kalamazoo Growlers have begun to tap the potential of a few guerrilla
marketing techniques by using the main social media sites, attending events around

23
Kalamazoo, and mobile marketing. Although they have used some of the guerrilla
marketing techniques, they need to devote more time and energy to the methods of
guerrilla marketing that they have already implemented including social media and
mobile marketing. In order to make them more useful they need to be more creative,
which will result in the methods gaining higher rates of success. In addition, the Growlers
need to expand into other forms of guerilla marketing, such as posturizing areas, blogs,
chat rooms, search engine marketing, and using QR codes. QR codes have become an
important part of guerrilla marketing in today’s world, because the majority of people
own a smart phone. However, most sports organizations have yet to tap into this great
marketing opportunity. If the Kalamazoo Growlers were to poster an area of town and
place a QR code on posters, consumers who see these posters could scan the QR code
with their smart phone. This quick and easy step could then take them directly to the
Kalamazoo Growlers website to view information, upcoming promotions, or allow them
to buy their tickets to a game online

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Situational Analysis
Macro-environment
Economic
The economy has begun to see positive growth as our nation is now starting to
recover from the 2007 recession. According to reports (Cohen, 2014), it is estimated that
the nation’s economic output rose at a healthy 3.5 percent annual rate in the third quarter.
“This is the strongest six-month interval we’ve had in 10 years,” said Carl R.
Tannenbaum, chief economist at the Northern Trust Company. Another piece of evidence
that the economy is headed toward recovery from the 2007 recession is that consumer
spending increased by 1.8%, thus showing that consumers are spending more of their pay
instead of saving. Also, the Labor Department announced new claims for unemployment
insurance benefits are remaining low. The four-week moving average was 281,000, a 14-
year low and down from 352,500 a year ago (Cohen, 2014).
The median household income in the City of Kalamazoo is $31,189 (See
Appendix B) with the median income for Kalamazoo County $43,936 (See Appendix C).
The City of Portage has the highest median income household in Kalamazoo County with
$57,246 (See Appendix C). As a result, the Kalamazoo Growlers should focus not solely
on marketing to the City of Kalamazoo. Instead they should concentrate on the
surrounding areas with higher median incomes and disposable incomes such as: the City
of Portage, Village of Richland, and Oshtemo Township (See Appendix D).
Demographic
In 2013, the population of Kalamazoo County was estimated at 250,331 (United
States Census Bureau, 2013) with just over 48% of the population living in either the city

25
of Portage or Kalamazoo (See Appendix F). Within the desired target market, the
estimated population of adults ages 25-34 is 33,293 (United States Census, 2013) which
makes up nearly 13% of the total population in Kalamazoo County (See Appendix A).
The next largest demographic that the Growlers should target is the 18-24 population,
which is estimated at around 30,000, making up approximately 12% of the total
population of Kalamazoo County (United States Census Bureau, 2013)(See Appendix A).
Targeting these two different markets would result in maximizing their brand awareness
by marketing to nearly 25% of the Kalamazoo County.
Cultural
In the United States, sports represent a sense of being and have become an
important part of our culture. Sports are essential and important aspects of American
society because sports teams are indispensable when it comes to their impact on a
plethora of public arenas, including economics and the mass media (Marci, 2012). Sports
encompass and embrace community values and fans find a reassurance of key societal
values through sports. For some, sports teams can give meaning to their own lives. Both
fans as well as consumers rely heavily on sports to provide us with entertainment, but
also a method in which we can find a sense of belonging. Further forming a personal
connection with these athletes. We promote and commercialize high profile athletes as
icons in society and believe that we can use these individuals as role models for children
and adults. Overall, it is crucial that we examine sports from both a business and societal
point of view. Sports are a universal tool that serves to instill a sense of belonging or
meaning to many individuals lives and this is why we place value on the impact it has on

26
humanity. Some may question whether this world can function without the hidden values
embedded in competitors and the communal insight sports give us on a national scale.
Regulatory
There are several different regulations the Growlers must follow in order to
produce their product. First, the Kalamazoo Growlers must follow regular food and
sanitary regulations for their multiple concession stands as well as the party zone. Also,
the Growlers must follow national and city building regulations to ensure the safety of
their patrons using the facility as visitors, fans, or staff.
Micro-environment
Market. The Kalamazoo Growlers currently operate within the sports and
entertainment industry as a baseball organization. This market includes all major sports:
baseball, football, hockey, and basketball. The Kalamazoo Growlers primarily operate
within the Kalamazoo County region, but would like to expand their brand reach further
into surrounding areas of the state of Michigan.
Geography. Most start-up sports organizations focus on consumers from within
the local area. The geographical market for the Kalamazoo Growlers is generally within a
half-hour radius of Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Success Factors. The Kalamazoo Growlers have many features that give them the
opportunity for success and give fans an experience they will remember. The majority of
these features come from the ballpark atmosphere fans can receive while attending a
game, which includes outstanding customer service. These features include low-ticket
prices, outstanding seat quality, interactive in-game fan promotions, and promotional

27
games which include on-field activities. The Growlers currently have a small full-time
staff and they provide in-depth customer service training for all of their seasonal game-
day staff in order to give fans the best experience when attending a game. Another
success factor for the Kalamazoo Growlers is being a small, low-budget sports
organization with minimal overhead costs associated with running the organization.
Seasonality. An unfortunate limitation the Kalamazoo Growlers face is dealing
with the seasonality of their product. The Growlers have a 3 month season that spans
from the end of May to the beginning of August. They play 72 games in this short season
which includes 35 to 36 home games. For the Growlers, they must maximize their
revenue during the short season in order to cover yearly expenses. In addition, it is
important that the Growlers find a way to stay relevant during the remaining months of
the off-season, in order to be able to keep interest in the team at the high level it obtained
this past season.
Competition
The Kalamazoo Growlers have three competitors in the baseball sports and
entertainment industry: Detroit Tigers, West Michigan Whitecaps, and Lansing Lugnuts.
Detroit Tigers. The Detroit Tigers are the largest and most well-established
competitor to the Kalamazoo Growlers. The Detroit Tigers are a member of Major
League Baseball (MLB), are currently the four time defending American League central
division champions, and can offer fans an experience that the Growlers cannot. The
Tigers have the ability to market to consumers about their unique fan experience
surrounding the opportunity to see top-level professional baseball players. Since the

28
Tigers are a large organization, they have the resources to use both traditional marketing
techniques, such as billboards, TV commercials, and radio, which are targeted only on
the consumer sports market, along with integrating social media marketing.
Due to their professional level, the Detroit Tigers have an organizational focus on
the on-field product, so they do not have to customize their fan atmosphere in order to
give fans a complete fan experience and fun atmosphere. Unlike the Growlers the Tigers
solely rely on their on-field product to sell tickets to consumers because of their overhead
costs, fan experience, and they have the luxury of being the only team in the market that
can offer a top-level professional baseball product. The Detroit Tigers do not feel
responsible to give fans a fun, interactive, and family-oriented experience because they
rely heavily on their on-field product to attract fans to games. Normal tickets prices for a
single Detroit Tigers game range from 15-120 dollars depending on the seat preference.
West Michigan Whitecaps. The Kalamazoo Growlers have an interesting
competition with the West Michigan Whitecaps due to their close proximity and selling
point. Like the Kalamazoo Growlers, the Whitecaps promote the ability to attend games
to watch potential major league talented players, but unlike the Growlers, these players
are already professionals. Being part of a larger organization, unlike the Growlers, and a
minor league affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, the Whitecaps have the marketing resources
to use both traditional and social media marketing techniques. Since the Whitecaps are a
minor league affiliate, they have lower overhead costs than a MLB team. The primary
focus of the West Michigan Whitecaps is to market solely to the sports consumer market
and they do not venture into incorporating other parts of the general market. Similar to
the Detroit Tigers, the Whitecaps use their on-field product as their main selling point to

29
consumers by marketing their experience as getting to see potential, future major league
talent for the Detroit Tigers. Typically, ticket prices for a single game range from 7-15
dollars depending on seat preference.
Lansing Lugnuts. Another similar competitor to the Kalamazoo Growlers is the
Lansing Lugnuts. Similar to the Whitecaps, the Lugnuts are a minor league affiliate of the
MLB’s Toronto Blue Jays and offer the ability to see potential, future major league
players. Due to the size as well as resources of the organization, they have the ability to
use both traditional and social media marketing techniques as well. Operating in a market
size smaller than Kalamazoo County, the Lugnuts focus their marketing on the sports
consumer market as well, in order to draw fans from different areas of Michigan.
Similar to the West Michigan Whitecaps, the Lugnuts focus their selling point on
fan experience solely related to their on-field product. As noted earlier, they rely heavily
on marketing their on-field product to consumers because they offer the ability to see
potential, future major league players, but do not give any attention to the overall fan
experience of being at the ballpark. As a result, this hampers their ability to market
themselves to other segments of the consumer market because they focus only on the on-
field market and the consumer sports market. For the Lansing Lugnuts, single game ticket
prices cost between 13-18 dollars depending on seat preference

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Perceptual Map
Collegiate
High Ticket
Price
Low Ticket
Price
Professional
Detroit
Tigers
W. Mich.
Whitecap
s
Lansing
Lugnuts
Kzoo
Growlers

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SWOT Analysis
Strengths
1. The Kalamazoo Growlers can build off of all their first year attendance success.
The Growlers set a Northwoods league record for the largest attendance for an
organization’s first ever game with an attendance of 4,949 fans. Also, the
Growlers ranked third in the Northwoods League in overall season attendance
with a total attendance of 80,761 for the 2014 season with the average fan
attendance being 2,243 per game. Another example of the Growlers attendance
success is their record for the second largest crowd in Northwoods League history
for a single game being held on July 4, 2014 with an attendance of 6,064 fans.
2. The Kalamazoo Growlers organization prides itself on having the most
professional service quality. This strength is crucial in the sports and
entertainment industry because fans, more than likely, will not remember the
score or outcome of the game. Instead, they will remember the type of service
quality they received whether that be positive or negative. For the Growlers,
continuing to provide high quality customer service is a must to help create repeat
business from consumers/fans.
3. Unique overall fan experience is another strength that the Kalamazoo Growlers
pride themselves on. In order to differentiate themselves from their competitors in
the sports and entertainment industry, they must create their own unique fan
experience for those attending games. This past season, they were able to utilize
this strength to their full advantage. By giving fans a low cost, fun, and family-
oriented atmosphere, they were able to attract fans to the games solely based on
promotional nights and the ballpark atmosphere, rather than the quality of the on-

32
field product. This is a great success because by focusing on giving fans a unique
experience while attending games, they were able to successfully retain repeat
customers/fans regardless of the performance of the on-field product.
4. Pricing is also a major strength component for the Kalamazoo Growlers. The
Growlers offer ticket prices that are lower than any other competitor in the state of
Michigan. By having tickets available for as low as $7 for a general admission
seat, they could offer an experience that could not be matched by their
competitors. Also, the Growlers offer a ticket option that is not available by their
competitors. The Party Zone ticket is $25 per person and includes the price of
admission, unlimited food and beverage until the 8th inning which is an offer their
competitors cannot match.
5. Free Parking is also a strength for the Growlers, unlike their competitors, the
Growlers do not charge for parking when attending a game.
6. Due to the fact that the Kalamazoo Growlers players are currently collegiate
baseball players, the organization does not have to cover the cost of paying their
players. This is a huge financial relief for the Growlers organization, unlike the
previous baseball organizations in Kalamazoo such as the Kodiaks or Kings.
Weaknesses
1. Larger competitors such as the Detroit Tigers, West Michigan Whitecaps, and
Lansing Lugnuts have the ability to use more capital along with other resources to
market their product more than the Kalamazoo Growlers. This hurts the Growlers
because they do not have the resources or capital to market their product as much
through the use of traditional forms of marketing like their competitors.

33
2. Currently the Growlers only target an audience based locally in the Kalamazoo
County area. This deeply hinders the Kalamazoo Growlers because they do not
have a wide enough brand awareness and reach. Due to this lack of recognition,
the Growlers are greatly diminishing their total revenue by only marketing to the
Kalamazoo County area and not able to reach out to other regions of the state of
Michigan.
3. The Kalamazoo Growlers must navigate the ability to be able to implement a
good brand strategy for awareness and long-term sustainability. Prior to the
creation of the Kalamazoo Growlers, there were two other baseball organizations
that once called Kalamazoo home: the Kalamazoo Kodiaks (1996-1998) and the
Kalamazoo Kings (2001-2010), both of whom were members of the Semi-
professional Frontier League. During the Kings first season, they were named
Frontier League Organization of the Year for being the third Frontier League
franchise to exceed 100,000 fans in a single season (Baseball in Kalamazoo). As
the years went by, the Kings’ attendance numbers declined and their lack luster
attendance caused them to disband after the 2010 season even though they had
won a championship. Both teams found initial attendance success, but over time
were forced to move or disband due to low attendance numbers and as a result
low revenue.
4. The Growlers, unfortunately, have to deal with lower quality facilities. Homer
Stryker Field had some essential upgrades when the Growlers took over, but is
still in need of several major improvements around the ballpark. Currently, the
Growlers pay to rent Homer Stryker Field which is owned by the City of

34
Kalamazoo. It is considered one of the lower tier stadiums compared to other
Northwoods League organizations as well as its other local competitors.
Opportunities
1. The organization has the ability to now expand to a larger target audience after
their first season. After establishing a marketing strategy for their current target
market, the Growlers can now focus on attempting to expand this target market to
include a wider audience.
2. Expanding beyond the Kalamazoo County region is another opportunity for the
Kalamazoo Growlers. Over this past year, the Growlers focused solely on
marketing themselves within the Kalamazoo County region, especially within the
cities of Kalamazoo and Portage. After their initial success, there is an
opportunity to expand their marketing into other surrounding areas, which could
lead to higher ticket sales, attendance, and revenue.
3. As the economy continues to recover and shows signs of growth, people will have
more disposable income to spend on items such as tickets to sporting events. The
Growlers can capitalize on the consumer’s new disposable income by using
consumer motivation to convince them to spend their disposable income by
attending a game.
4. The organizations current brand awareness is very limited outside of the cities of
Kalamazoo and Portage. If the organization creates more brand awareness, this
could give them the opportunity to reach a wider audience and gain greater brand
exposure.

35
5. Currently there is little consumer demand for the Kalamazoo Growlers.
Consumers see this as just another option on how to spend their disposable
income. The Growlers need to leverage themselves in the market to create
consumer demand for their product, much like the Detroit Tigers have done with
their product.
6. The organization needs to expand their guerrilla marketing techniques to include a
wide range of tools. Currently, the Growlers only utilize the guerrilla marketing
technique of social media. They must expand their guerilla marketing techniques
to include other methods to help maximize their exposure and build brand
awareness within the baseball market.
Threats
1. Larger competitors such as the Detroit Tigers, West Michigan Whitecaps, and
Lansing Lugnuts can use their extensive resources to spend more capital on
various marketing segments and techniques. This threat from other sports
organizations could cause the Growlers to lose their target market consumers to
their competitors. Also, they might not be able to break out of the Kalamazoo
County market into other markets around the state that are currently dominated by
these three well-established competitors.
2. Local summer festivals also pose a threat to this marketing plan. Local festivals
presence could attract possible consumers from attending games because of the
festival’s relevance. Most local festivals have been established for several years
and have gained a wide reach and reputation. Many people within Kalamazoo

36
County and surrounding areas may be attracted to these festivals instead of
attending a Growlers game.
3. As the Kalamazoo Growlers attempt to expand their brand reach into other
regions, they face the possibility of losing their local market. By focusing their
marketing techniques into other markets in Michigan, they may lose the local
Kalamazoo County consumers that they have established a connection with from
this past season.
4. As previously stated, a threat to the Kalamazoo Growlers is their long-term
sustainability. As previously noted, Kalamazoo has had a history of strong initial
attendance support that later diminishes over time. This could cause the Growlers
to possibly face the same issue felt by previous Kalamazoo baseball
organizations.
Consumer
Current Market. The Growlers current target market is generally within a half-
hour radius of Kalamazoo, Michigan. There is a population of over 256,725 (United
States Census Bureau, 2013) in this current geographic market area, the median age is 34
years old (See Appendix F), and includes 109,871 housing units (See Appendix G)
(United States Census Bureau, 2013). This target market is the largest and most profitable
segment of the market with over 12% of the total population in the Kalamazoo County
area (See Appendix A). Also, Kalamazoo County has over 56 % of households that have
children under the age of 18 (See Appendix E). By targeting adults with children, the
Kalamazoo Growlers can effectively maximize their ticket revenue by specifically

37
focusing on attracting adults either in a family setting or living alone that have children
under the age of 18 to the ballpark.
Strategy and Tactics
Marketing Strategy
Another marketing strategy the Kalamazoo Growlers should integrate into their
overall marketing plan is guerrilla marketing through enhanced social media and
alternative guerrilla marketing techniques such as updating their current marketing tactics
and introducing new guerrilla marketing techniques.
Updating Current Marketing Tactics
Currently, the Kalamazoo Growlers use several different social media websites,
but they do not utilize them to their full marketing potential. In order for social media
guerrilla marketing to be successful, these social media sites require constant attention,
updates, and a wide range of useable material. Marketing through social media is a great
way for the Kalamazoo Growlers to gain name recognition within their industry with
very little to no cost. Since the Kalamazoo Growlers are a small-staffed organization, it is
important not to overwhelm the staff and thus, they should focus on a few different social
media outlets. Three of these social media sites currently in use by the Kalamazoo
Growlers are Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. These platforms offer the Growlers the
most social media exposure while having little time constraints for the staff.
Facebook. Facebook is currently the social media site that offers the most
substantial and diverse reach for businesses. Additionally, 78% of its daily users are on
some type of mobile device, which presents countless opportunities for mobile

38
engagement (YU, 2014). Facebook is a social media platform that is well suited for
posting rich content accompanied by images or videos. It can be an extremely effective
social media marketing tool that can allow businesses to the break through to consumers.
Currently the Kalamazoo Growlers have 9,581 likes on their Facebook page, but have
only been able to attach 3,394 visits to the page.
A reason for the lack of visits to their Facebook page is the fact that the Growlers
do not actively post on their page enough photos, videos, or messages. In order to make
social media effective to its full capacity, they must make posts daily to attract more fans
to the page. Currently the Kalamazoo Growlers’ posts frequently receive fifteen or more
likes. However their posts are very sporadic and users do not remember to visit the page.
As a result, they are not attracted daily nor do they frequently visit the page. Facebook is
an excellent platform for the Growlers to grow brand awareness among their target
audience as well as expand into other target markets. The Kalamazoo Growlers should
post on their Facebook page at least once per day, Monday through Friday. These posts
should include a picture, video, link, or any combination of these so that the 9,581
Facebook fans will see this update on their timelines daily. This would not require a lot of
time by a staff member.
Twitter. Another form of social media that the Kalamazoo Growlers use is
Twitter. The site is excellent for real-time engagement with consumers. On Twitter,
marketers can share the latest news in a quick snapshot message, allowing information to
be shared instantly while offering fodder for thought-provoking conversations (Yu,
2014). When it comes to mobile social media marketing, Twitter’s simple interface is an
ideal platform to allow for engagement on the go that can immediately reach hundreds of

39
thousands of followers. Currently the Kalamazoo Growlers have 1,613 followers of their
Twitter account. During the season, the Growlers did an excellent job of keeping fans
updated on upcoming games, promotions, and scores. Unfortunately, after the season
ended, the Growlers have become sporadic in their Twitter posts and have begun to lose
touch with their fan base. While in-season, the Growlers were able to attract about 5-10
retweets or favorites on every post and were quick to engage and respond to consumers,
but this has fallen off since the season has ended.
A solution to this issue is to have the Growlers make at least one tweet per day
and these posts should include a photo, video, or link along with a hashtag. By using this
technique, it will allow the Growlers to connect with Twitter followers by using the
#Growlers to keep similar posts together. The Growlers should also engage with
consumers by commenting on other posts or responding quickly to comments (within 24
hours) to help build a relationship with their consumers.
Instagram. In many respects, Instagram is the newest social media site of the top
three. According to a recent study by Imply Measured, 71 percent of the world’s largest
brands now use Instagram as a marketing channel. However, from a marketing
perspective, the network is still in the early stages. The recent inclusion of video and its
tight integration with Facebook make it an ideal complement to Facebook mobile
engagement (Yu, 2014). Currently the Kalamazoo Growlers have 512 followers on
Instagram and receive numerous amount of likes on their pictures or videos. Again, the
issue with their Instagram account is their lack of frequency in their posts since the
season has ended. The Growlers should make Instagram posts at least once per day and
these posts should include a photo or video along with a hashtag. By using this strategy,

40
the Growlers can help to grow brand identity with its consumers on Instagram and can
connect with fellow users by using the #Growlers to keep similar posts together. The
Growlers should also engage with consumers by commenting on other posts or
responding quickly to comments (within 24 hours) to help build a relationship with their
consumers and build brand awareness.
New Guerrilla Marketing Techniques
Besides increasing the Kalamazoo Growlers presence on social media, there are
several other guerrilla marketing techniques the Growlers could utilize to help increase
their exposure while maintaining minimal costs. These alternative guerrilla marketing
techniques are recommendations for the Kalamazoo Growlers and these can be combined
together.
Posterizing. Posterizing is creating signs or posters that can be displayed around
areas of town. This form of guerrilla marketing is very inexpensive and can give the same
exposure success as billboards, if used correctly. Posterizing has become an increasingly
popular marketing technique due to the exposure it can bring and the low cost of the
method. The Growlers could posterize high traffic areas of Kalamazoo County in order to
gain the most exposure possible. By utilizing this tool, the Growlers can advertise to a
wide range of possible consumers and do it with minimal cost compared to traditional
forms of marketing such as TV, radio, and billboards.
Flash mobs. A second popular guerrilla marketing tool is flash mobs. Flash mobs
occur when a group of people meet at a certain time and place and begin “spontaneously”
dancing a routine. Companies like T-Mobile and Coca-Cola have organized flash mob

41
events. The nature of a flash mob makes it an ideal tool for a small group that needs to
promote something on a budget (Raindance, 2013). For the Kalamazoo Growlers, flash
mobs would be a great addition to their marketing plan because of their exposure when
performed correctly at no additional cost. The Kalamazoo Growlers could perform flash
mobs at different high traffic areas around Kalamazoo County and include their mascot
Barlee, in order to gain wide range exposure to future consumers from different market
segments. Also, the Growlers could find events that are targeted specifically to their
target audience of 25-34 and perform a flash mob to gain personal exposure and make a
connection to this segment without having to incur any costs. In addition, this tool can be
used at various events for different target audiences because of its universal usage. Flash
mobs can also be combined with both event-based promotions and QR codes in an
attempt to fully maximize these marketing tools.
Event-based promotion events. Another marketing tool the Growlers could
benefit from is hosting event-based promotions. By hosting these events at Homer
Stryker Field either during the season or during the off-season, the Growlers would be
able to benefit by bringing consumers to the ballpark to gain exposure to new consumers
in the target market. These events will draw people to the ballpark and give them a
chance to see the new improvements and meet the staff as well as remind them of
upcoming seasons or future upcoming games. In addition, they would be able to buy their
tickets while attending the event. In addition, by hosting these promotional events at
Homer Stryker Field, it will help to remind the consumers of the Kalamazoo Growlers
and might also gain exposure to new consumers about the organization. Constant
promotional exposure of their brand is an important aspect in the sports and

42
entertainment industry. In the state of Michigan, where there are three professional
baseball organizations it is important to keep the consumer aware of your product as well
as offer leverage and position of their product to their consumer’s purchasing
motivations.
These events are especially helpful for the Kalamazoo Growlers because they are
operating within a market that begins with strong attendance support for the team.
However, over time, this base seems to lose interest in the organization. The Growlers
could use this marketing tool with the other guerrilla marketing strategies by hosting
events such as flash mobs or QR codes at high traffic areas around Kalamazoo County.
This would help to better establish brand identity along with giving consumers, attending
the event, a code that they could redeem either online or at the box office to receive a
special offer on tickets for an upcoming game or a game that night. Event-based
promotions would help to keep the Growlers relevant within the mindset of their
consumer target market.
QR Codes. A new effective tool in guerrilla marketing today is QR codes. QR
codes will become an essential part of media marketing in the future because of their
simplicity and easy accessibility in today’s mobile market. QR codes can be produced for
free and have the ability to allow consumers to scan codes with their mobile device and
direct the consumer to whatever advertisement the business would like the consumer to
see. The Kalamazoo Growlers currently do not operate by using QR codes, but would
greatly benefit by including this tool in their marketing plan. The Growlers could create a
QR code that allows consumers to scan and link them directly to the Growler’s website,
thus providing them direct contact with the consumer. Once at the website, there

43
consumers can see upcoming games along with promotions or events and have the ability
to purchase their tickets online. Also this tool could be used alongside event-based
promotion events and flash mobs as a secondary tool to help build and grow brand
awareness as well as give the consumer a direct connection to be able to purchase tickets.
Marketing Objectives
The ultimate objective for the Kalamazoo Growlers is to maximize ticket sales,
revenue, and profits. In order to be able to achieve these goals, the Growlers must install
an effective overall marketing plan that will have the ability to reach the correct target
audience as well as build brand awareness around their product. Another effective way to
increase overall brand awareness while keeping costs to a minimum is through the use of
guerrilla marketing techniques.
A secondary objective is to help improve brand awareness. Currently the
Kalamazoo Growlers brand awareness outside of the Kalamazoo County area is
extremely low. The organization would greatly benefit from a growth in brand awareness
to a wider geographic area. Although this is considered a secondary objective, it goes
hand-in-hand with achieving the primary objective of increasing ticket sales, revenue,
and profit. By growing brand awareness, the Growlers will be able to see future growth
from their ticket sales and, in turn, their overall revenue. These marketing objectives will
need to be evaluated to determine how successful the marketing plan is after year one.
Unique Selling Proposition
The Kalamazoo Growlers differ from their competition because of their unique
selling proposition: the draw of high-profile college players who are Major League

44
Baseball prospects. Their competitors only offer current major or minor league
professionals. Also, the Growlers offer a fan experience that none of their competitors
offer. They primarily focus directly on the game day entertainment instead of the on-field
product. At a lower price and a more entertaining consumer atmosphere, the Growlers
have a unique selling proposition that their competition does not. By taking this stance in
the baseball market the Kalamazoo Growlers hope that the consumer will remember their
Growlers game experience. They can remind consumers of their memories through the
use of guerrilla marketing methods. Through the use of social media websites,
posterizing, flash mobs, event-based promotions, and QR codes the Growlers can
message this message unique experience of tremendous on-field product and game day
atmosphere for consumers.
Target Audience
The Kalamazoo Growlers are currently using a target audience of adults, ages 25-
35, who are a part of families and have children. More specifically, they have focused
their targeting to the high number of medium income families mostly in the City of
Portage. The Growlers could expand this target audience to include a younger audience
of adults ages 18-24 because of the fun fan experience. Currently the Growlers have
created promotional nights centered towards families, especially the 25-34 target market.
Specifically they market and promote their Sunday home games as “Sunday Fun Day”,
which is specifically focused towards families. On this day only, families will experience
special game day promotions specifically for families and children. Children receive free
admission to the Kidz Zone, and there are special video arcade games including laser tag
at no additional charge.

45
The Kalamazoo Growlers have the ability to expand their target audience to
include a younger target market like 18-24 and could help to increase ticket sales. An
avenue for the Growlers to help build awareness is by utilizing possible promotions
aimed specifically for this younger target audience. Currently the Growlers have only a
few promotions that area aimed toward this younger market such as “Thirsty Thursdays”
for Thursday home games. During this event the Growlers offer discounted beers around
the ballpark to help bring in this younger target audience. Unfortunately, this promotional
night was unsuccessful this past season because it was poorly marketed to this target
audience. Through better marketing and creating more promotional events better suited
for this target audience the Growlers would be able to enter into this market segment and
have the ability to attract consumers within this market to the ballpark.
The Four P’s
Product
The Kalamazoo Growlers offer a product that has both a high quality on-field element by
using top-tier collegiate baseball players along with a fun atmosphere to give fans a
completely unique experience that is very different from their competitors.
Price
Currently the organization offers a variety of several low priced ticket options. Tickets
for a single Growlers games are 7 dollars for general admission, 10 dollars for reserved
box seats, and 25 dollars for the party zone with the addition of a dollar for each category
when purchased on the day of the game. Also, the Growlers offer prime seating behind
home plate using old seats from Camden Yards, home of the Major League Baseball’s
Baltimore Orioles for their Home Plate Club. This offer includes all-you-can eat food and

46
beverage from a wider special menu not offered to other fans, a personal server, and your
own personal table. This package is $50 per seat, for a total cost of $200.
Promotion
The objective of the Kalamazoo Growlers is to promote upcoming games or
events. They will accomplish this goal by using a combination marketing strategies such
as the case of online social media, alternative guerrilla marketing, and traditional
marketing methods. As a result, the Growlers will be able to reach the desired target
audience of adults ages 25-34 with children and adults ages 18-34.
Consumer insight
Accepted/current attitude: “I’m not sure if attending a Growlers game is worth it,
compared to my other options.”
Desired attitude: “The Kalamazoo Growler’s games are a completely unique
experience you cannot find anywhere else and a great bargain for its value.”
Message
Benefit: Attending a Growler’s game will give you a different and unique
experience that cannot be obtained by attending any other baseball game.
Reason to believe: The experience obtained by attending a Kalamazoo Growlers
is unique compared to attending any other baseball game
Tone
The tone of these ads should be fun as well as informative about upcoming
games, events, and promotions.

47
Place
The Kalamazoo Growlers currently use Homer Stryker Field in Kalamazoo,
Michigan for their home games along with using the facility as the office for the
organization.
Financials
The current budget for this grass-roots marketing plan is $200 for purchasing both
signs and banners for the posterizing segment of the guerrilla marketing plan, as well as
covering expenses associated with hosting event-based promotional events. With an
average ticket cost of $8.50, this results in the break-even point for this marketing plan is
selling 24 tickets. After calculating the average cost of Growlers tickets, it was
determined, to cover the cost of this marketing plan, the Kalamazoo Growlers must sell
24 tickets in order to cover all of the total expenses.
Timing
This plan is to span one year and be re-evaluated and adjusted before year Two.
Below is a marketing strategies timeline. This shows when the Growlers will begin
planning for tasks and when these tasks will be actually completed.

48
Measurement
It is critical for the Kalamazoo Growlers to implement a specific way of
measuring the success of the overall marketing plan. The primary marketing objective is
to increase the attendance at Kalamazoo Growlers games within the target market. The
ultimate way to determine the success of this grass-roots marketing for the Kalamazoo
Growlers is through attendance and thus, revenue it generates. The Growlers organization
uses the Return On Objective (ROO) method to measure the success of their marketing
plan rather than ROI (return on investment). Using the ROO approach gives them the
ability to prove the marketing plans impact when it is not possible or feasible to tie it
directly to sales. This evaluation will determine if the overall marketing plan was
effective, if alternative strategies are needed, and what strategies should be renewed for
Year Two.

49
Conclusion
On August 17, 2014 Kalamazoo Growlers President Brian Colopy purchased a
full page advertisement in the Kalamazoo Gazette to thank the Growlers fans. In his letter
he thanks them for all their support this past season,
Colopy (2014) states, Kalamazoo, On behalf of the entire Kalamazoo Growlers
organization, we truly appreciate all the cheers, tears and even umpire jeers this
summer at Homer Stryker Field. You named the team, you named the mascot and
you made this year one of the best inaugural seasons in summer collegiate
baseball history. So here's to you Kalamazoo. The home to Hall of Fame
"Captains". The home of #1 craft beers and breweries. The home of dedicated,
passionate, hardworking people. And now the home of your Kalamazoo
Growlers. Thank You Fans.
The Growlers have started off with great success in their inaugural season in large part
due to the consumer fan base they have created here in Kalamazoo. This directly
correlates to their high attendance numbers which contributed to their Northwoods
League record breaking attendances as well as finishing third in overall attendance
behind traditional teams like the Madison Mallards and the La Crosse Loggers.
Kalamazoo is a city with plenty of consumers to sustain a baseball organization that has
low costs. The Growlers were able to keep the Kalamazoo consumers interested as well
as entertained.
The Kalamazoo Growlers were successful in several of their promotions during
their inaugural season, including “Salute to Selfie Night.” This promotion included selfie
game jerseys with selfie photo submissions from fans. According to the Kalamazoo

50
Growlers (2014) for that reason, “the Growlers are recognized for Best Summer-
Collegiate Promotion of the Year in the 2014 annual awards from Ballpark Digest, the
leading guide to ballparks and baseball on the Internet” (Kalamazoo Growlers, 2014). As
stated by the Kalamazoo Growlers (2014) Reichard believes, "Salute to Selfie was a
really clever way to engage fans, everyone loves to take and share a selfie. Fans didn't
need to jump through hoops to participate and the results generated publicity for the team
across the country" (Kalamazoo Growlers, 2014).
As evidence provided in the literature has shown, if any sports team or young
organization were to incorporate all four of the previously stated aspects consumer
preference, product differentiation, sports marketing, and guerrilla marketing into their
overall marketing plan, the results could be extremely helpful in making the organization
more successful in the short-term as well as in their long-term stability. By determining
the overall fan experience, consumer’s needs, different market segmentations, and
product differentiation within the marketing plan, they will be able to know what to
market, how to market it to each segment, and how to differentiate their product from
their competition in order to fill the consumer’s desired needs. By using sports marketing
more effectively and by using the techniques within the sports industry to help promote
their product not only to consumers, they will be able to market to companies for future
sponsorships. Using these marketing strategies effectively can help the organization show
the benefits of such to both consumers and sponsors alike of what the Kalamazoo
Growlers’ product has to offer. Finally, by introducing new guerrilla marketing
techniques while also improving on other techniques that they currently use, the

51
Kalamazoo Growlers could increase their marketing power and revenue, but at a lower
cost to them.

52
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56
Appendices
Appendix A
Source: United States Census Bureau. (2013). People QuickFacts: Kalamazoo County,
Michigan [Data Set]. Retrieved from
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/26/26077.ht
Kalamazoo County Number Percent
Total population 250,331 100.0
Under 5 years 15,646 6.3
5 to 9 years 15,689 6.3
10 to 14 years 15,918 6.4
15 to 19 years 19,456 7.8
20 to 24 years 27,752 11.1
25 to 29 years 17,903 7.2
30 to 34 years 15,293 6.1
35 to 39 years 14,616 5.8
40 to 44 years 14,972 6.0
45 to 49 years 16,413 6.6
50 to 54 years 17,261 6.9
55 to 59 years 15,908 6.4
60 to 64 years 12,724 5.1
65 to 69 years 9,181 3.7
70 to 74 years 6,752 2.7
75 to 79 years 5,525 2.2
80 to 84 years 4,527 1.8
85 years and over 4,795 1.9
Median age (years) 34.1 ( X )

57
Appendix B
Kalamazoo, Michigan
INCOME AND BENEFITS (IN 2012
INFLATION-ADJUSTED DOLLARS)
Estimate
Margin
of
Error
Percent
Percent
Margin
Of
Error
Total households 28,321 +/-625 28,321 (X)
Less than $10,000 4,168 +/-426 14.7% +/-1.5
$10,000 to $14,999 2,903 +/-355 10.3% +/-1.2
$15,000 to $24,999 4,504 +/-511 15.9% +/-1.7
$25,000 to $34,999 3,879 +/-366 13.7% +/-1.3
$35,000 to $49,999 4,195 +/-457 14.8% +/-1.6
$50,000 to $74,999 3,983 +/-314 14.1% +/-1.1
$75,000 to $99,999 1,999 +/-223 7.1% +/-0.8
$100,000 to $149,999 1,812 +/-262 6.4% +/-0.9
$150,000 to $199,999 383 +/-94 1.4% +/-0.3
$200,000 or more 495 +/-134 1.7% +/-0.5
Median household income (dollars) 31,189
+/-
1,309
(X) (X)
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/26/26077.html

58
Appendix C
Source: Kalamazoo County Health and Community Service. (2012). Surveillance Book:

59
Appendix D
Source: Kalamazoo County Health and Community Service. (2012). Surveillance Book:

60
Appendix E
Kalamazoo County
HOUSEHOLDS BY TYPE Number Percent
Total households 100,610 100.0
Family households (families) [7] 60,300 59.9
With own children under 18 years 27,353 27.2
Husband-wife family 44,171 43.9
Male householder, no wife present 4,239 4.2
Female householder, no husband present 11,890 11.8
Nonfamily households 40,310 40.1
Householder living alone 29,734 29.6
Male 12,861 12.8
65 years and over 2,391 2.4

61
Appendix F
Source: United States Census Bureau (2012). People QuickFacts: Kalamazoo County,
Michigan. [Data set]. Retrieved from
http://www.kalcounty.com/hsd/pdf_files/sect1_1surveillancebook.pdf

62
Appendix G
HOUSING OCCUPANCY Estimated Margin of Error Percent
Percent Margin of
Error
Total housing units 109,871 +/-290 109,871 (X)
Occupied housing units 99,720 +/-845 90.8% +/-0.7
Vacant housing units 10,151 +/-796 9.2% +/-0.7

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