Watch the video supplement to the case at link tv/13e/v12-5

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  1. Read the case on pages 341-344 in your text.
  2. Watch the video supplement to the case at link tv/13e/v12-5 (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site..
  3. Respond to the following case question. (Disregard the questions in the text.)

    You’re a member of the marketing team at LA Galaxy and being asked by the senior leadership team to critically evaluate the company’s marketing strategy. This evaluation should include an assessment of what is going well and where opportunities for improvement exist. To complete your evaluation, you should take into consideration the following: the LA Galaxy product; which of the seven (7) elements of the service marketing mix are most important in the LA Galaxy marketing program; how is promotion (advertising, personal selling, public relations, sales promotion, direct marketing) used by the company and do these activities depend on the specific target markets; the extent to which social media integrated into the LA Galaxy marketing strategy; and finally how does the company assess the impact of its marketing activities.

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Video 12-5 Video Case CHAPTER 12 Services Marketing VIDEO CASE 12 connect LA Galaxy: Where Sports Marketing is a Kick! We have a unique product for people," exclaims Chris Klein, president of the LA Galaxy soccer club. who entertains fans at the games and throughout Soccer combines many ele- Southern California. ments of athleticism, team- LA Galaxy work, and competition to make it fast, exciting, engaging, fun, MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER kerin./13/V12-5 and increasingly popular. Klein As part of its negotiation to hold the 1994 FIFA (Federa goes on to explain, "This is a cool sport, and it's something that's growing." His en tion Internationale de Football Association) World Cup in the United States, the U.S. Soccer Federation prom- thusiasm is supported by a sophisticated strategy that ised to establish a professional soccer League. The result Klein and his marketing team have designed to help was Major League Soccer. Since its beginning with people "experience the excitement" of their product! 10 teams in 1996, Major League Soccer has expanded to 20 teams, including 3 teams in Canada. Each team plays THE LA GALAXY 34 games during the regular season from March to October, and the top 12 teams participate in the playoffs, The LA Galaxy is a professional soccer club compel which end with the MLS Cup in December ing in Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was one Even though soccer is popular around the world, of ten charter clubs when the league began, and is introducing professional soccer in the United States now part of the league's Western Conference. "The presented some difficulties. Klein describes the LA Galaxy was founded in 1996," says Klein, and problem: "through the course of the League's history, the Soccer is the biggest sport in the world, but here in the Galaxy has been the most successful franchise in U.S. we have a lot of competition. Major League Soccer Major League Soccer." The team has been conference is the equivalent to Major League Baseball, the NFL, the champions nine times, regular season champions four NBA, and the NHL. These are established leagues and times, and the MLS championship winners five times. MLS is the fifth major sport. In 1996, we started think- ing that we had to get every baseball fan, basketball fan, The first Galaxy games were played at the Rose and football fan to enjoy our sport. Bowl in Pasadena, California, until the team moved to its current location in the soccer-specific stadium To attempt to attract fans from other sports, MLS StubHub Center in Carson, California. Players are pri- experimented with changes to traditional soccer rules. marily from the United States but also represent coun- For example, MLS added shootouts to resolve tie tries such as Brazil, Ireland, Italy, and Panama. "We games, used a countdown (to zero) clock rather than a progressive clock, allowed extra substitutions, have signed some of the biggest players, not only and even considered making the goals big- in our country, like Cobi Jones and ger to increase the scoring. Eventually, the Landon Donovan, but we've also signed league concluded that the changes had some of the biggest players in the world." alienated some traditional soccer fans explains Klein. English soccer superstar without attracting new fans from other David Beckham joined the LA Galaxy in sports, so it went back to the traditional 2007 and played through 2012. helping the rules for MLS games. leam win two championships during that As the league shifted from an "attract all sports fans" philosophy to a focus on peo- Today, the LA Galaxy attracts an av- ple with some existing interest in soccer, it erage of 23,000 fans to each of its games. made several other changes. First, it began While the hard-core fans tend to be 18- to 34-year-old men, the team also appeals to many ties to new, smaller, more intimate soccer-specific sta segments. For example, because soccer is the argest participant sport in the United States, many ods and youth soccer teams come to the games. In withon, many college students and families attend. According to Klein, it's a welcoming environment white you can paint your face and yell" or you can your kids and just have fun at the game." The mascot, Como, is a frog-like extraterrestrial 341 LA GALAXY period, het OR Heyes Design/Alamy moving MLS games from large, rented, football facili- diums. In addition, the league made efforts to internationalize the teams by allowing up to eight play. ers per team from outside of the United States. Finally, MLS encouraged all teams to create youth develop ment programs to help find talented local players. To complement these efforts, each team manages its own marketing program THE LA GALAXY MARKETING PROGRAM "The primary marketing objective for the Galaxy is ticket sales," says Casey Leppanen, senior director of marketing and broadcasting. "Our product is soccer," he goes on to explain, "but we are more than that. We are an experience." So, to sell single- game tickets and season tickets, the Galaxy devel- oped a comprehensive marketing program. According to Leppanen, "Our marketing mix is pretty similar to any other sports team or company you're going to find." The key difference in market- ing a sport, or any service, is that every game offers a different experience to fans. The players, the op- ponents, the weather, and the outcomes of the games change constantly How does the Galaxy sell a product that is con- stantly changing? The first step is to understand that different segments may attend a soccer game for dif- ferent types of experiences. For example: Supporter clubs. Attend to watch the strategy of a game and see the Galaxy score. • Families. Want to have fun, see the mascot, and get a souvenir. • Latino community. Enjoy watching soccer and forming connections with players from Central and South America • Trendsetting youth. Attend to meet friends, enjoy an event, and see star players. • Groups (teams, corporations, religious groups, etc.). Want an opportunity for networking and teambuilding. The different interests combined with the changing "product" create a special marketing challenge. The experience the Galaxy provides to fans is must more than watching a soccer game. It includes the qual ity of play, the individual members of the team, the mer chandise, food, facilities, activities, and interactions with staff, other fans, and players. Some of the specife elements of the Galaxy game experience include: • Star players. Robbie Keane, Steven Gerrard, Sebastian Lletget, and Giovani dos Santos are all soccer stars that attract fans. • Team LA Store. Offers LA Galaxy merchandise at StubHub Center and other locations. Supporter clubs. Three clubs -the Angel City Bri gade, the Riot Squad, and the Galaxians-offer the opportunity to participate in an intense and festive fan experience, complete with songs and chants! • Promotional nights. Special events include Family Nights, Bobblehead Nights, Jersey-Off-The-Back Auctions, and Student Nights. "Name in Lights." A donation gets your message on the home game scoreboard. "Como. The team mascot who entertains all as • StubHub Center. The soccer-specific stadium of fers a great atmosphere, amazing sight lines, even suites, terrace cabanas, restaurants, assigned scar lawn (also called the berm) for picnic-style seating ing. general admission seating, and an inclined Of course, there are many other elements that are all part of the experience the Galaxy marketing team at every game manages and delivers at every game! Next, the Galaxy must deliver relevant messages to information to create a price and a package for every cach segment. Leppanen explains that the Galaxy possible type of fan, ranging from Champions Lounge want to make sure that we're delivering an authentic members, to season ticket holders, to groups or fami- message, but speaking to them with what they want lies, to single-game fans. She also offers discounted to be spoken about." One way they accomplish this is tickets for students and children. through direct marketing, which consists of email There are a lot of marketing activities taking place messages and direct-mail literature. These messages at the Galaxy. In fact, Casey Leppanen says, "My role are complemented with traditional media advertising, outdoor advertising, and digital advertising. The tra- here at the Galaxy is to integrate all the pieces of our ditional media include radio, TV, and print. The out- marketing department." The integration is paying off, door advertising includes billboards and bus wraps. as attendance at LA Galaxy games is well above the The digital platforms, which have a total of 1.3 mil. league average. In addition, the team currently has lion Galaxy fan users, include Facebook, Twitter, 8,500 season ticket holders and plans to reach 12,500 in three years! YouTube, Google+ Instagram, Pinterest, Flickr, and Foursquare. Digital is a very important part of the mix because we can get really granular and sophisticated THE BUSINESS OF SOCCER in who we're targeting and how we speak to them," While ticket sales represent a substantial source of rew explains Leppanen. enue for the Galaxy, there are several other important The Galaxy also use personal selling as part of their elements of the soccer business broadcast rights marketing program. A team of 25 people makes per sponsorships, and merchandise that the team sonal phone calls to help sell manage. Early in the leagues single-game tickets, family history MLS had to pay tel packs, group tickets, and sea- Vision and networks son tickets. There are also broadcast its ames. As the two teams of brand ambassa- number of viewers increased dors called the Star Squad however the league was able and the Galaxy Street Team to attract coverage from who are involved in about ESPN, ABC, NBC, and For 500 events in the community The Galaxy recently began a each year. Lori Nevares, a 10-year, S55 million deal marketing coordinator at with the Time Warner Cable Galaxy and former Street Sports network. Currently, Team member, explains that all games have television and "We got to go out and do all radio coverage in English kinds of promotional events and Spanish, and there is for different communities play-by-play coverage and and see the fans and how webchat on LAGalaxy.com. much they were devoted to Sponsorships are also es- the Galaxy." A skills team sential to the financial suc- called the Galaxy Futboleros cess of MLS and the Galaxy provides high-energy perfor- Pepsi is the official soft mances throughout the com- drink and Aquafina is the of- munity as well. Finally, ficial water of MLS. Simi- larly, Herbalife is the official ances to deliver the Galaxy Carne Jesenovecllcon SME Corbis nutrition company of the LA Soccer message to current Galaxy. In addition, Herbal ife recently announced a 10-year agreement to be the One of the final steps in the ticket sales process is official jersey sponsor of the Galaxy. Herbalife pays etting the price. According to Heather Pease, director $4 million annually to sponsor the team and place its of ticketing, "Every year we conduct a very in-depth logo on the front of the team jerseys. Other team alysis of our ticket sales. We go seat-by-seal, row sponsors include Chevrolet, Nestlé, Alaska Airlines, Wow, and category-by-category to see how many Shasta, and Buffalo Wild Wings. The sponsors par- pople have purchased seats and at what price." The ticipate in many of the team's contests, promotions, and events to support the team and to gain exposure to alysis also includes a comparison of ticket prices at customers with similar values and interests. sports teams in the area. Pease then uses the Cozmo makes many appear and potential fans. The marketing team at the LA Galaxy is always busy. “There is a business to run," says Pease. "It is about driving revenue at the end of the day,” she con- tinues, “but the best part about it is you get to walk out on a game day and see a sold-out stadium.” Seeing the sold-out stadium is a thrill not only because it's a business, however, but also because the marketing team loves soccer. Galaxy president Chris Klein, who studied business and marketing in college, is a good example of the attitude at Galaxy. “I went to college on a soccer scholarship,” says Klein, “then I played professionally in our league, and I'm now president of a major club.” He is thrilled by “the challenge of mar- keting a sport that I love, a sport that I've played, and a sport that has so much potential." Chapter Notes 1. Burt Helm, “Airbnb: Company of the Year,” Inc., December 2014/January 2015, pp. 64–70, 130; Tx Zhuo, “Airbnb and Uber Are Just the Beginning," Entrepreneur.com, March 25, 2015; Tomio Geron, "The Share Economy," Forbes, February 11, 2013, pp. 58-66; "How Couchsurfing Epitomizes the 'Sharing Economy,"?" The Huffington Post, January 25, 2013. adverfor
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Surname 1
Student’s Name
Professor’s Name
Course
Date
Critical Evaluation of LA Galaxy’s Marketing Strategy.
The LA Galaxy is a soccer club and this makes soccer its product. It sales this product
through tickets to game and events that the club hosts. The company is faced with a tricky
situation in marketing since its product is essentially the same in terms of rules, and procedures.
It lacks the flexibility that comes with products that allow for packaging and redesign. As a
matter of fact, when LA Galaxy attempted to come up with a modified version of soccer in an
endeavor to incorporate potential consumers from other games, it was met with failure. The
regular and traditional soccer fans deserted the services of the club. From this perspective, we
see that marketing a service effectively requires expertise and understanding of the market and
its unique traits that set it apart from other service or product markets. LA Galaxy came up with
various strategies to address these challenges and formulate a marketing plan that was able to
uniquely cater for its services (Hartley and Kerin 341-344). The various elements of the plan,
and how the company assesses the impact of its marketing activities are elaborated in the
subsequent sections of this discussion.
Currently, the company is undertaking several marketing and promotion efforts that are
largely going well. Of primary importance is the fact that the company has learned its product
and understood its dynamics in the market. It has migrated from the days when it would attempt
to modify the traditional aspects of soccer and focused on embracing it as is. The company has

Surname 2
decided to focus its ...


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