University Of Montana Grizzly Football

Executive Summary 

The Montana Grizzlies is the title of the successful football team of the University of Montana. This is a very successful college team that plays in the Division 1 football Championship Subdivision, which is the top college league in the USA. Their home matches are played at the Washington-Grizzly Stadium at Missoula where an average match attracts over twenty thousand fans. The team has been in existence for over a century and has had mixed results. However, its most recent results have been overwhelmingly positive making the Grizzlies a very popular team. The team however, has a major rivalry from Montana State University team, which has had an upper hand in recent derbies. 

Positioning Statement 

The University Of Montana Grizzly Football team is reputed as the top team in the state of Montana with a potential to be the greatest college team in the USA. It is named after the grizzly bear; the largest hunter on dry land that combines raw power with skill and cunning. 

Market and Situation Analysis 

Economic environment 

College football is increasing becoming a mainstream sporting activity. Among the fundamental benefits if this development is an exponential increase in attendance interest and by extension, attendance fees (McKnight et al., 2013). Further, the benefits of the economic revitalization after the end of the great recession are beginning to bear fruits. This has increased secondary expenses, key among them being expenses. Further, from the perspective of labour, the team has the advantage of being able to draw from university students. The University of Montana is a reputable academic institution that continues to draw the academic elite in the state and nationally (UMT, 2016) . This almost assures fresh supply of talent for the team. Scouts can then seek for exceptionally talented players with the added advantage of offering them a place at the institution. 

Social environment 

From a demographical perspective, the generation dubbed Baby Boomers being those born in the economic boom after the Second World War has been bypassed. Currently, the generation with the highest numbers in the US has been dubbed the Millennials and are approximately 18-34 years old. Further, the generation before that, known as Generation X who are currently between 35 to 50 years is also set to overtake the Baby Boomers. This creates the impression of a rejuvenating younger generation in the USA (McKnight et al., 2013). This is great news for the college football industry as the younger generation is its main target group. The talent search, the merchandise, and attendance is targeted towards this group. 

The second advantage from a social perspective is the continued decline of international tourism due to insecurity. The younger generation is also being encouraged to indulge in sporting activities as a means of avoiding vices such as promiscuity and drug abuse. Finally, the contemporary health movement is increasingly advocating for outdoor entertainment regimens. This has exponentially increased interest in sporting activity for fitness enthusiasts (McKnight et al., 2013). The totality of the foregoing is that social factors favour the industry. 

Technical environment 

The technical environment creates the largest advantage for small and medium enterprises which the team falls within. Whereas initially only major players could afford any meaningful forms of advertisement, the advent of social media has changed all that. Currently, small businesses are able to advertise nationally and internationally using this evolutionally technological device (McKnight et al., 2013). 

Industry environment 

Industry environment creates both advantages and challenges for the team. Increased regulation with heftier penalties has been a major challenge to college teams in general and the University of Montana Team in particular (UMT, 2016) . In the recent past, the team was victim to sweeping punitive measures from industry regulators. However, this has the advantage of making the playing field for all industry players. It also calls for more structured planning and organization for the team which will results in a better team in future. It however, creates major interim challenges. 

Competitive environment 

Currently, the team plays in the NCAA Division I Football Championship which is great for the team albeit highly competitive (UMT, 2016) . Playing at this level ensures a level of superiority against local competitors who play in lower leagues. Local games usually feature legendary teams drawn from all over the USA. This creates a level of superiority for the team. However, there is also intense competition even at this level from other major institutions playing in Division I. Key among them is the team’s nemesis Montana University. This creates a need to either outperform Montana State University or create a marketing strategy that makes the team thrive in spite of defeat. 

Contingencies 

Internal Contingencies 

The first major internal contingency for college football is always support from the university management. Unlike professional football, college football is only a segment of the general management of the institution. Further, albeit football is much loved in the USA, it stands in great competition with other important sports in the USA including basketball and Baseball. If a change in management creates a change in focus from Football to another sport or from sports generally, it would negatively impact the team irrevocably. 

The second internal contingency is lack of interest due to continued defeat. Students love victory and would prefer to relate with a winning team. If one of the other sporting teams at the institution flourishes at the expense of the football team, it would create the risk of loss of interest in the football team. The kindred consequences for this would be diminished merchandize purchases as well as attendance in home matches. This would exponentially lower revenues for the team. If the two contingencies were to take place, the marketing plan would change from solidifying the customer base to creating a customer base (Shank & Lyberger, 2014). This would force the adoption of a very different stratagem and perchance complete transformations of the marketing plan. 

External Contingencies 

The first major external contingency is relegation. Relegation would change the level at which the team plays to a level. This would change all aspects of the team as featured in this marketing plan. The pricing would become exponentially lower both for the attendance charges and merchandize. The level of internal and external interest in the team would also reduce. The second major contingency is a general decline in the game of football in its entirety. Sporting activities are like a movement and is premised on popular opinion. In the case of decreased interest on a national or local level, it would affect the overall interest in the team as well as the team’s revenue. From the perspective of the marketing plan, the nature of the game played would shift from being an advantage to being a disadvantage (Shank & Lyberger, 2014). 

Another external contingency would be increased regulation for football as a sport. Currently, there is increased concern regarding the propensity of injury in football more so for younger players who intend to pursue different careers in future. This would completely change the concept behind the entire marketing plan. The concept of creation of a client base would have to be included on the new marketing plan. 

SWOT Analysis 

Strength  Solid base premised on the reputation of the University of Montana as a premier learning institution (UMT, 2016) .  Solid customer and support base premised on over a century of existence  Support from the current school management.  Great past results that create hope for future victories for the team.

Weakness  Overreliance on the school’s management and reputation (McKnight et al, 2013).  Bad publicity after being found guilty of industry infractions (UMT, 2016).  Low revenues.

Opportunity  An exponentially large Millenniums Generation who provide a high potential customer and human resource base (McKnight et al, 2013).  Being in the top league of college football.  The existence of Information technology advancements that exponentially reduce marketing costs to the targeted customer base (McKnight et al, 2013).  An increased interest in football in general and college football in particular (McKnight et al, 2013).

Threat  Probability of relegation in the event of continued poor results.  The potential for loss of or diminished support from university’s management.  Competition from other sporting activities in the institution more so basketball.

Political environment 

2016 is not only an election year but also the year for one of the most contested elections globally in recent history. This is because there is a major rift in policy between the two presidential candidates. The Democratic candidate tends towards maintenance of status quo with the GOP candidate hinting on sweeping policy changes. The US economy is highly sensitive and change in policy either positive or negative can create a vicious chain reaction affective per capita expenditure. Whereas government policy may not affect college football directly, it may affect per capita expenditure. This would have a sizeable impact on marketing. This makes political environment more of a contingency. 

Market Segmentation and Customer Analysis 

Market segmentation 

The main focus of this marketing endeavour falls into three main segments. The first major segment is team members, both current and future, the second segment is attendees for home matches, both current and future. The third segment is purchaser for the team’s memorabilia. 

Target market/segment characteristics 

The first market segment, being players has to be both young and academically astute. This is because a fundamental qualification for membership in the team is to be an undergraduate student at the university. This, therefore, calls for a level of academic qualification as well since the University of Montana is a reputable academic institution. This has to be coupled with raw talent that has undergone some level of training. 

The second market segment being attendees has several levels of focus. The first level is the current, former and prospective students of the University of Montana. This is the segment of focus as it is the easiest to market to having already a bias for the team. The second level is those who live within the proximity of the institution and the Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula where home matches are played. The best way to narrow down this market segment is to limit it to those within driving distance to the Washington-Grizzly Stadium. The last level of this segment is can be termed as college football tourism. This targets those who ought to travel from different parts of the nation to watch the teams home matches. A major focus in this area is the supporters of the team’s opponents during home matches. 

The third market segment is customers of the team’s memorabilia. For a start, they include all the targets for attendance to home matches as indicated above. Later, it will comprise of all Americans who have an interest in college football and the pockets of football lovers globally. 

Objectives and Goals 

Mission Statement 

Creating the premier college football team in the United States of America and maintained the best entertained fun base in the industry. 

Objectives 

To recruit and nurture the best local and international football talent in the arena of college football, and make the Divisional trophy a team heritage, and the team, a profitable venture. 

Breakdown 

The first goal is to hire the best talent scouts to scour high schools in the state of Montana and beyond for the best football talent. Good incentives in collaboration with the university management should then be used to ensure that the talented young men join the University of Montana. Finally, a world class coaching team should be put in place to ensure that the talent is developed and harmonized to create a winning team. From a commercial perspective, strategies should be developed and implemented to ensure maximum publicity for home matches for all potential attendees. Further, the best possible memorabilia but at cost effective price be procured and properly marketed. 

Strategies and Tactics 

Pricing strategy 

There are two aspects of pricing. The first regards attendance for home matches while the second regards sale of memorabilia. It should be noted that the two are interrelated and supplementary to each other. The main consideration for match attendance is the target group and the nature of the match being played. There can therefore not be a fixed price. Regarding the target, the current students of the university should get lower rates. This courtesy should also be extended to the team travelling alongside the visiting team. The rest should pay a flat rate with the exception of a well marketed VIP section that should have premium rates. Finally, the more attractive matches such as derbies and games against celebrated teams should attract higher prices. With regard to memorabilia, the most cost efficient manufacturing should be established. A reasonable and uniform profit margin should be set and factored in every product over and above manufacturing costs and freight. 

Product strategy 

The product strategy will be premised on pride. Pride for the game and pride for the institution. Few things stir pride more than victory. With over a century in top tier college football, the team has accumulated many memorable victories. Further, controversy is big business in America. A combination of victory and controversy, or rather controversial victories is big business. The memorabilia should be designed in a way that it tells stories of the great victories and triumphs of the team. The controversial elements in some victories can by hyped. A dispute with another time on the veracity of the hyped victories would only increase publicity and purchases. With regard to ticket sales, victory should always be guaranteed to the home crowd. Hope is a very powerful marketing tool. 

Place strategy 

As indicated, all the games are played at Washington-Grizzly Stadium. This is a fixed location. With regard to the sale of memorabilia, the main point of sale ought to be within the campuses of the university and in the stadiums where the team is playing both home and away. In line with contemporary marketing strategies, the biggest point of sale should be a well-developed internet site (McKnight et al, 2013). For the loyal fan base, an interactive phone application can also be developed and propagated as a point of sale for both tickets and memorabilia. 

Promotion strategy 

The first promotional strategy is advertising and mainly entails circumspect use of popular social media (Chernev, 2015). Posters and banners can also be used within campus and around the neighbours where the team has the greatest following. Finally, a reasonable priced advertisement can be placed on a few local mainstream media centres such as TV or newspaper. The second promotional strategy is selling and involves ensuring that the merchandize and tickets are available as and when demanded by customers (Chernev, 2015). The third is sales promotion and entails massive sales drives more so in the run down for major matches and during the games themselves. Finally a well-organized public relations team should be in place, mainly online to interactively handle customer queries and complaints. 

People strategy 

The main people involved are the team members, the technical bench for the team, the marketing team, sales people, and supervisors. The strategy involves simple yet comprehensive instruction and a singular chain of command. 

Budgets and Controls 

Sales, expenses and marketing budgets 

All sales will be on a fixed price basis. Each and every item will have a fixed price prior to being offered for sale. Expenses will be minimized and under structured vote heads approved by senior managements. All marketing budgets will be prearranged and premised on anticipated earnings. A formal budget will however be agreed upon for every semester depending on the anticipated activities. This will however be subject to changes due to the dynamics of the industry. 

Contingency plans and risk management 

Whereas every manager hopes for the very best, assumption of adverse eventualities can be fatal to any venture. A secondary plan shall be prepared and kept in readiness for the two most adverse eventualities. These are the loss of support from the institute and relegation from the top leagues. A contingency committee will be in place to consider, anticipate, and deal with any other secondary contingency and/or eventuality. 

References 

Chernev, A. (2015).  The marketing plan handbook . Chicago: Cerebellum Press. 

McKnight, O. T., Paugh, R., McKnight, J., & Jin, W. (2013). Increasing college football attendance: An exploratory study of fan typology. Marketing Management Association , (Spring). 

Shank, M. D., & Lyberger, M. R. (2014).  Sports marketing: A strategic perspective . London: Routledge. 

University of Montana. (2016). Grizzly Football . Retrieved October 3, 2016, from http://www.umt.edu/griztix/grizzly-athletics/football/