2. This is a method of segmenting the target market according to geographical location. It looks at aspects such as country, region, province and city size as well as types of location be it suburban, urban or rural (Kerin et al. 107). By segmenting their target market in this particular way, it makes it easier for the Whitecaps to advertising and market more effectively as they know the exact location of their major market. The geographic target market mainly resides in the lower mainland. And another major portion of Whitecaps fans are from the Southside.
4. This method of segmentation is interrelated with geographical. Based on geographical location an organization will look into the specific demographics of that location. Demographics include age, gender, income, family cycle, occupation and even ethnicity (Kerin et al. 108). Whitecaps primary target are people between ages 18 and 45. Finding out the age of the target market is important as it will aid the Whitecaps in marketing their season tickets. Similarly with income it will show the Whitecaps who would be more likely to afford tickets to a game and will allow them to alter prices accordingly. Since many families are currently working with lower disposable income compared to before, it will affect the Whitecaps greatly. The season ticket pass is $319 or $16.79 per game. Occupation can help to distinguish between school, college students and working class this can also help when dealing with pricing as well as marketing. Finding out the various sizes of families can be important information when considering special deals on tickets for families.
6. Psychographic segmentation deals with the consumer attitudes, beliefs, interests and opinions (Kerin et al. 108) .The information is generally gathered by conducting primary research. In our case for the Whitecaps, it would specifically deal with the consumers whom are interested in sports. Some points for us to consider before starting our strategic marketing plan would be the consumer’s attitudes towards spending money on tickets to watch the game live rather than watching the game at home. Major Whitecap fans would prefer to watch the game live, whereas the casual viewer may prefer to watch Whitecaps games on the television. All this information should be incorporated when dealing with the target market.
9. There has been little branding and marketing of the Whitecaps team as a whole. We would like to implement not only a branding of the product (being the season tickets and Family Platinum Pass) but also the branding of the team themselves. It is crucial to develop an appealing image of a product, and essentially the team is also a product, as it is the team and the sport that increases the fan base, not necessarily the prices of the tickets. Marketing the Whitecaps as well as the sport as Canadian, social, and a competitive entertainment would put the Whitecaps in the market alongside sports teams such as the Vancouver Canucks, which has been branded as the Canadian sport to attend and has developed strong social unity amongst Canadian viewers due to its competitive nature and branding of Canadian (or even just Vancouverite) pride. The Whitecaps need to be considered a pride to Vancouver, which can be done by increased exposure to younger generations by means of social media, and even contests and giveaways that would appeal to said generation. Considering that the roster of the 2011 MLS league is still to be announced, it will be within our best effort to place the top ranking Canadian players onto the team, creating an image of an “all-Canadian” sport. Despite being the pride and joy of Vancouver, the Canucks have a team infiltrated with out of country players – we would like to make sure that the Whitecaps can truly represent our city; however out of country players will of course be considered and placed on the team.
11. There are several important factors that were necessary to consider while producing a pricing strategy for the season pass, family package, as well as the budget developed for how much the Marketing department is to spend on advertising and the creation of the Whitecaps brand. Whitecaps have not picked up many new fans; their fans are mostly based on those who started watching the team from the beginning. Considering the Whitecaps have been introduced to the industry on a very minimal level, we have decided to take a Market Penetration Strategic approach, therefore, setting our prices a bit lower. This decision has also been made on the basis of many different factors and forces such as: Economic Forces:-With the state of the economy being one of the most influential factors in the decision to purchase a product, especially large scale purchases like a season pass to a game, it is necessary to be aware of the struggle many people are facing with the increased taxation. Entertainment, arguably, is a luxury not a necessity and is therefore left to the discretionary income of people. Lowering the prices will make it easier for people in today’s economy to feel comfortable making such a purchase.Competitive Forces: - The ticket pricing of direct competition to the Whitecaps such as the Vancouver Canucks and the BC Lions were considered in this process. In comparison to the Whitecaps general admission tickets at $50, the ticket prices for a Canucks game are steep; beginning at $65 and reaching above $145. However despite the price, the general public would agree that they are getting their money’s worth of entertainment. A large reason for this is people’s attachment to the team. Before we can implement steeper prices (as has been done in the past couple of months, even before the first MLS game has even been announced) there needs to be a larger draw to soccer, which can be done by developing a better relationship between the Whitecaps and the people of Vancouver.
12.
13.
14. We have also decided to use Personal Selling to raise awareness of our product and essentially gain customer loyalty and build relationships with our customers. As personal selling is a face-to-face activity, customers receive a high level of personal attention, which would be a great idea to help develop relationships with our customers. It also gives us the ability to really sell the product on a personal level. The Whitecaps foundation includes the Women’s program, which is the envy of many countries (Whitecaps). We would like to use these role models to help us through personal selling. Our PR and Marketing department will train them in personal selling, and then perhaps have them attend Men’s, Women’s, and Youth league soccer game in order to spread awareness of the Whitecaps season pass and the brand as a whole. The women’s team is a supporter of the development of women’s soccer, and is helping to address the obesity epidemic by encouraging youth to become healthy and active. Their ambitions will be an inspiration to other, and thus showing how socially conscious the Whitecaps brand is, as well as essentially “making the sale” at the end of it all.
15. Public Relations can be considered to have more credibility then advertising as they are seen as impartial (Kerin, 266), PR is also crucial in maintaining a brands image as positive. Over the past few weeks, since the announcement of the inflated prices of the Season Pass tickets, there has been significant outrage from Whitecaps supporters. PR has had difficulty addressing this problem, which described by some as a “PR disaster” (John Soames, Facebook). PR will be doing everything within its power to reprehend the situation and put fans at ease. We will send out a press release to all media outlets (includes newspapers, radio stations, television stations) to reassure the public that the prices are in fact being lowered and changed, that we are adding alternatives to the roster to expand to different target markets as well, as well as creating awareness for the upcoming 2011 games.
16. Consumer promotions, or sales promotions, will also be necessary in the development of our marketing plan. As mentioned above, the Youtube commercial contest will be a huge draw for our audience and will help to create hype and awareness for the team and the game. Direct Response marketing is the most useful tool that we will be making use of in our Strategic Marketing Plan. The internet plays a crucial role in direct response marketing, and we intend to fully utilize it. We will encourage possible customers to sign up for email blasts in which we will promote our products, contests and more, as well as notify supporters of upcoming events and promotions. If the customer desires an alternative, we will send notifications by mail. We do not want to over-do the direct response, which may overwhelm possible customers. We intend to create a healthy balance of direct response marketing and promotion. <br />Budget<br /> What is a budget?<br />A budget can be defined as a financial plan that allows an organization to keep track of cash inflows such as revenues and profits as well as cash outflows like expenses and spending (Kerin et al. 255). There are three situations that can occur in a budget: Balanced budget when inflows=outflows, Budget surplus occurs when inflows are greater than outflows and a Budget deficit is when outflows are greater than inflows. Budgets are important because they act as an action plan for a business, it allows them to allocate their resources, evaluate performance, and make specific plans. A budget can help keep track of an organization’s finances easier. Recording what they spend, how much is spent and when it is spent means that they can keep a track of their spendings and work towards saving better and reaching organizational goals effectively and more efficiently. <br /> What are the advantages and disadvantages of planning a budget?<br />Advantages:<br />Budgeting help to coordinate the activities amongst the various departments across the organization.<br />Budgets help to identify the organizations resources, revenues and activities. They help to put business plans into action.<br />Budgets allow for an improved allocation of resources as they are specific and so can help reduce waste, if any.<br />Because budgets use actual figures they give businesses a clear picture of how to carry out their activities.<br />Disadvantages:<br />Budgets can be time consuming to plan out.<br />Budgets may not always work out according to plan.<br />Keeping a budget can limit and sometimes even restrict a business from making changes to their business plans.<br />Budgets are like predictions and so do not take into account changes in the economy such as inflation and rises in taxes and other costs. <br />Here is an example of what a Whitecaps budget may look like for one year:<br />General ExpensesCost in Dollars CADGeneral Manager Salary28,000.00Stadium Rental25,000.00Administration1,500.00Accounting & Legal1,100.00Advertising & Promotions25,000.00Promo Advertising15,500.00Food5,000.00Beer Garden10,000.00Sponsor Fees5,000.00Volunteers Fees400.00 Coordinator Fees10,500.00 Licensing/Permit Charges5,500.00Web Design & Hosting2,050.00Possible cost/year274,050.00<br />Employment Costs<br />Intern ExpensesCost in Dollars CADTicket Operations Intern $650 per month Multi-media Intern $650 per monthCulinary/Catering Intern $1000 per monthFood and Beverage Interns $700 per monthFacility Maintenance Intern $700 per monthGroundskeeping Intern$800 per month<br />Evaluation and Control<br />What are the two methods we will use to measure the market plans' success?<br />There are two methods that can measure our marketing plan's success. Our marketing plan is based on the marketing objectives and target market, and how it appeals to each target market. The marketing plan's success can be measured by the amount of increased revenue. Since our marketing objective is to increase the seasonal ticket sales and broaden the audience interested in soccer, the revenue should be affected. We should be able to see the revenue increase or decrease by comparing the last and current year's finances. The other method of determining the marketing plan's success would be initiating an anonymous survey with questions such as what age group they are in and preferences of the Whitecaps. This will help us have an idea of about what age Whitecaps' fan base has expanded to. Although there is a small margin of error, it can be calculated through the statistics method. Researching and analyzing our information is crucial to our marketing plan and can affect the success greatly. Via researching and analyzing, we can find primary and secondary information on the Whitecaps to help us further our understanding of the team and prepare an accurate marketing plan. It can also help us find the target market, such as demographic, geographic, behavioural and psychographic. To measure our marketing plan's success we need communicate to receive accurate information.<br />Bibliography<br />Kerin, Roger et al. The Core: Second Edition. McGraw-Hill Ryerson Limited. 2009. <br />Vancouver.com. Vancouver Summer Sports Leagues and Tournaments. 12 April 2010. <http://www.vancouver.com/get_article/365><br />Vancouver Sun. Canadian Cardiovascular Congress Sounds Alarm on Childhood Obesity. 25 Oct. 2010. <http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Canadian+cardiovascular+congress+sounds+alarm+childhood+obesity/3721592/story.html><br />Baker, Linda. Spurring Urban Growth in Vancouver, One Family at a Time. 25 Dec. 2005. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/25/realestate/25nati.html<br />Vancouver Whitecaps. History. 2010. <http://vancouvermls2011.com/node/133><br />Vancouver Whitecaps. Chapter 2: The 86ers Years. 2010. 3 June 2010. <http://whitecapsfc.com/news/2010/06/chapter-2-86ers-years><br />Simon Fraser University. Whitecaps invest $3 million to build national training centre at SFU. 2004. 2008. <http://www.sfu.ca/pamr/print/news_releases/archives/news04140401.htm><br />Statistics Canada. 2006 Census: Portrait of the Canadian Population in 2006, by Age and Sex: National portrait. 2006. 22 Sept. 2009. <http://www12.statcan.ca/census-recensement/2006/as-sa/97-551/p3-eng.cfm><br />Statistics Canada. Earnings and Incomes of Canadians Over the Past Quarter Century, 2006 Census: Incomes of families . 2006. 13 Oct. 2009. <http://www12.statcan.ca/census-recensement/2006/as-sa/97-563/p36-eng.cfm><br />CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc. B.C's Obesity Rate Lowest Notionally. 2008. <http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/story.html?id=00ade8f4-35d3-44f2-81bb-72aed2f8cda5><br />Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. A Strategy for Combating Childhood Obesity and Physical Inactivity in British Columbia Report.2006. 29 Nov. 2006. <http://www.leg.bc.ca/cmt/38thparl/session-2/health/reports/Rpt-Health-38-2-29Nov2006/Rpt-Health-38-2-29Nov2006-COOBC.htm><br />
![Whitecaps' Strategic Marketing Plan2010Report By:Catrina McCrae Chloe Fernandes Nia Dadbeh Tasha Ng5048254333875<br />Table of Contents TOC quot;
1-3quot;
Introduction PAGEREF _Toc278371965 2Strategic Focus and Plan PAGEREF _Toc278371966 2SWOT Analysis PAGEREF _Toc278371967 3Target Market PAGEREF _Toc278371968 5Marketing Objectives relative to the target market PAGEREF _Toc278371969 7Strategic Marketing Plan PAGEREF _Toc278371970 8Budget PAGEREF _Toc278371971 15Evaluation and Control PAGEREF _Toc278371972 16Bibliography PAGEREF _Toc278371973 17<br />Whitecaps' Strategic Marketing Plan<br />Introduction<br />Who are the Whitecaps and what do we plan to help them with?<br />The Vancouver Whitecaps were originally established as a team in 1974 when they won their first game against the San Jose Earthquakes (Vancouver Whitecaps, quot;
Historyquot;
). Later in 1984, the North American Soccer League was transformed into the Canadian Soccer League. In 1986, the Whitecaps changed their original name to the '86ers', to honour Vancouver in becoming a city in 1886 (Vancouver Whitecaps, quot;
The 86ers Yearsquot;
). From 1988-1991 the 86ers became a strong force in the CSL by winning four consecutive league championship titles. The team continued to do well rising steadily with some titles under their belt when on October 26th, 2000 they formally changed their name back to the Whitecaps after their new owner, David Stadnyk, purchased the naming rights (Vancouver Whitecaps, quot;
Historyquot;
). The Whitecaps, as of 2004, train in Simon Fraser University's campus training centre (Simon Fraser University). They have continued to do well in the CSL, and have recently become a part of the MLS, further bringing pride to soccer fans and uniting soccer lovers across British Columbia.<br />In this report, we hope to achieve the marketing mission and objectives put in place by the Whitecaps, in which they wish to expand their fan base as well as increase their ticket sales. As a marketing team, we have researched methods and put in place strategies that aim to achieve said goals. We have aimed to create a brand for the Whitecaps that will be recognizable and respected, as well as prided upon for soccer fans in Vancouver – as well as those just being introduced to the sport.<br />Strategic Focus and Plan<br />What is our mission?<br />Our mission is to create a strong growth foundation for the Whitecaps while meeting their team's mission. The Whitecaps have divided their vision into a three part four year plan ending in 2011. As stated on their website, they wish to 'become one of the best sport franchises in the world', 'help grow the sport of soccer in British Columbia and Canada', and become 'a significant community asset' {Vancouver Whitecaps 2010). Our marketing group has developed a set of strategies to help Whitecaps achieve their goals.<br />What are the product and marketing objectives to reach our mission?<br />In order to achieve the Whitecaps mission, we need to determine the product objectives and how we will market our plans. Product objectives are defined as the goals of the product that we are selling and what we hope to achieve with the product. The product objective is to entertain and increase the interest in Whitecaps' fans through the enjoyment of soccer. The marketing objective to help us achieve our product objectives is to market the team to a broader audience and increase the brand's prestige. By increasing the awareness of the team through effective marketing, we hope to achieve our product and marketing objectives.<br />SWOT Analysis<br />What are some of the SWOT's that can potentially affect the Whitecaps?<br />SWOT analysis is an quot;
organization's appraisal of its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threatsquot;
(Kerin et al. 298). The strengths and weaknesses are internal factors of the company, whereas the opportunities and threats are external factors. A SWOT analysis can quot;
[help] a firm identify the strategy-related factors in [the four categories] that can have a major effect on the firmquot;
(Kerin et al. 299). We have created a SWOT analysis table illustrating both of the positive and negative factors that have been affecting the company internally and externally.<br />,[object Object],Target Market<br />What is a Target market?<br />A target market is quot;
a specific group of consumers that can either be already existing or potential consumers that an organization would like to directly target its marketing efforts towardsquot;
(Kerin et al. 6). As a group, we decided that the target market for Whitecaps season tickets would be ages 18 to 45 because, as a team, they have been trying to increase their fan base by creating interest for newer generations and maintaining their current returning consumers. By selecting the age group 18 to 45, they can pay for the luxury of watching the entertainment from their employment. <br />Methods of segmenting<br />,[object Object]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/whitecapsmarketingplanfinalcopy-101209222104-phpapp02/85/whitecaps-marketing-plan-final-copy-1-320.jpg)
