Changing Marketing Mix of Soccer in Australia - Case Study Example

Running Header: Changing Marketing Mix of Soccer in Australia Student’s Name: Institution’s Name: Course Title and Code: Date of Submission: Introduction Soccer is among the popular sports in Australian (Lynch, 2013). The people in Australia engage in soccer as both a recreation and professional activity. The activity however was not popular in its initial stages of introduction in the country. This is because a lot of people in Australia had little or no information about the sport. The sport was however popular with immigrants such as the British and southern Europeans (Migration Heritage Centre, 2006). In 1882, an administrative body was formed in Australia to govern the activities of the national soccer team which had been formed in 1880 (Migration Heritage Centre, 2006). The administrators engaged in various promotional activities for the soccer sport so that it would gain the popularity that was most needed for its success especially among the native Australians. A marketing mix had to be employed. This finally paid off in the 1960’s when Australian soccer started to expand its realm across the continent of Australia. This paper seeks to analyze the changing marketing mix of soccer in Australia since its inception to date. Brief History of Soccer Promotion in Australia At the initial stages of the development of soccer in Australia the sport did not have any media coverage. However, as time went by the leaders of the national team saw it necessary to record games to be kept in the archives of the team. As time went by other regions saw the need to form their own soccer teams. This saw the emergence of soccer teams such as Queensland and East Melbourne soccer clubs. (Migration Emergence Centre, 2006) With the formation of these teams competitions were arranged among these teams. There was a lot of hype going on around such competitions since the wealthy people in the society offered to sponsor the various teams and there were great rewards for people who won in the competitions. This had simply started as bets but with time the sponsorship was taken seriously and encouraged many players to play the sport professionally as they would earn a living from it (Wilson and Pomfret, 2014, p36). The hype that surrounded these soccer competitions in Australia attracted the media. People across the continent were interested in the game and unfortunately not all would make it to the venue where the matches were taking place. The media therefore came in handy. It was during the golden age of radio. Matches were transmitted through the radio with listeners being able to understand the happenings of the match through the help of a commentator. Research showed that the radio attracted a lot of listeners (Hutchins & David, 2013) Next was the invention of the television. This made media coverage for football matches even better. The television was able to offer both audio and visual capacities for the soccer fans that would not be able to attend the live matches. The sport had attracted a lot of players and even more spectators. It was evident that it was more enjoyable to watch soccer than any other sport (Hutchins & David, 2013). The administrators of the various teams that had been formed in Australia saw a niche in the football world. The resources for the teams became stretched due to the increased number of players and the sponsorships they got from the rich in the society were no longer enough. The increased players were playing for a salary and they needed uniforms as well as paying for accommodation and food while on training and while playing the matches. The administrators had to come up with a way of making ends meet. Through the help of television, print media and radio they opted to promote their teams with the aim of making their teams the preferred choice for the fans. This saw the beginning of promotion of soccer in Australia. The administrators were involved in the advertising of jerseys so that fans would buy them and in return generate revenue for the teams. The promotion was mainly based on the jerseys, the time and location of matches for the various teams as well as other offers that the teams would have for their fans. The soccer players were considered icons and they became celebrities across Australia. In fact, meet and greet events were organized where football fans would pay to meet their favourite players. The evolution of broadcasting and the media therefore made people to become spectators from a distance. The teams were also able to gain economic advantage. Apart from making huge sales for their jerseys the teams were also able to acquire corporate sponsorships. When the matches were broadcasted corporate sponsors take advantage of the break to advertise their products. They also put their labels on their jerseys as a way of promoting themselves through the soccer clubs. This form of promotion has evolved with the latest being paid TV whereby viewers have to subscribe to specific channels in order to watch live soccer matches (Hallinan and Hughson, 2013, p 63). The Organisational Structure of the Soccer Industry in Australia Just like all other sports, soccer in Australia operates under the Australian sport commission. This establishes Football Federation Australia which governs all soccer activities in the country that include FFA Cup, W-League and A-leagues. This federation is responsible of governing all other private football clubs in the country. Although all private football clubs have their own organization, they must adhere to the set rules and regulation provided by football federation of Australia. FFA also plays a role of initiating and developing partnership with other football clubs or organization in the region (Football Federation Australia, 2015). The Peak Bodies and what are their Primary Roles Football Federation Australia is the major football body in the country. FFA works under the Australian Sports Commission who oversees the success of all sports. However, FFA is responsible of controlling all football activities in the country. It keeps track of all national teams, support them in their activities, organize leagues and sell tickets on participants’ behalf (Football Federation Australia, 2015). How closely does this replicate the English or European clubs? Football was introduced in Australia by European. In this regard, there are a number of similarities between European football and that of Australians. Similar to European football club Australian football is currently being managed by one body at the national level which is responsible of setting rules and condition for the development of a club and maintaining it. These clubs similar to European system have their own management that operates under the national federation unit. Who are the people with power? The current FFA CEO is David Gallop (ABC.Net, 2015). He is assisted by John Kelly who acts as the chief operational officer. Han Berger is acting as the national technical director, with Emma Highwood acting as the head of community football. The amounts of money being spent on soccer promotion in Australia Australian football is getting support from the government and other football supporters. Most clubs receives donations from strong football supports in the country. However, the government promote the sport by building and rehabilitating national stadium. Football promotion is also done via media through live viewing and advertisement of tournaments. In 2013, the AFl used a total of $209.2 m to pay clubs and a total of $ 107.5m to pay players (Australia Football League, 2013). The government also gave a considerable amount for development of stadiums and other facilities required to promote football development in the country. What and who does soccer compete with? How big are the competitors? Soccer has been competing with cricket in Australia sport industry. Cricket has for a long time been the most popular sport in Australians. Although soccer has experienced a considerable growth in Australia, there is still a high competition between soccer and cricket in the country. Cricket is being watched by the highest population in the country, local and internationally. However, it is currently facing great threat from the high development of soccer interest in the country (Jackson, 2013). The impact has the Australian team’s results in the World Cup had on the sport? The participation of Australian football national team in the FIFA world cup played a major role in attracting more attention to football as a sport in Australia. Although Australia national football team did not do very well in the most recent world cup, its participation in world cup has given soccer great attention from the audience and the sport federation in the country. There more football fans in Australia than before, including children. New Channels for Marketing Soccer in Australia Times are changing and so is technology. The advancement in technology has been great especially in the last decade (Harvard Business Review, 2013). There are new channels of communication that are being introduced and have gone a long way in easing communication. The invention of the internet has been a great deal which has boosted communication across the world. The invention has contributed a lot in making the world a global village. The internet has enabled the development of social media platforms where people around the world can interact with ease. The soccer sport in Australia has also kept up with the latest developments in technology. As discussed earlier, there is a high need for the sports administrators to promote the sport. They are using the internet forum to promote the sport as an aid to the other channels of promotion such as radio and TV. Firstly, the administrators have set up websites. These websites contain information from results of matches as well as their schedules. Information to do with the players’ both personal and professional life is published in these websites. This is because these players are celebrities and people are eager to know what goes on in their lives for instance Andrew Flintoff. The information in these websites is well organized such that there is ease of navigation for anyone who visits them. There are also those websites which have the option of streaming live matches (Hutchins & Rowe, 2013, p 23). Another new channel that is being used to promote soccer in Australia is the use of social media platforms such as face book, twitter, instagram and Google plus. There are pages, groups and handles set up for the teams and players in the various social media platforms, for instance twitter page for Football Federation Australia and also Football Federation Australia facebook fan page. The fans of these clubs or players like and follow their favourite teams and players. This way they can be able to keep up with what is happening in the lives of these people. These social media platforms also give the fans an option to comment and like the activities of these people. The more followers or likes a club or player has the more the fans. The players are able to interact with their fans and even get suggestions and tips on how to better their matches. This kind of communication is almost instantaneous as long as both parties in communication are online at the same time. Otherwise, the recipient can get notifications as soon as the sender leaves a message. This kind of promotion of soccer in Australia has enabled the sport to garner the support of fans from across the globe. This is because the fans are able to keep up with the occurrences of these teams and even watch live matches either through the television or stream the matches though the internet (Slinkov, 2014, p.52). How the Use of Digital Apps Increases Customer Loyalty Customer loyalty refers to the tendency of customers in terms of behaviour and attitude that makes them to favour one brand over the others available in the market (Slinkov, 2014). The use of digital applications in the promotion of Australian soccer has helped to boost customer loyalty. The use of mobile apps is growing at a very fast rate (Slinkov, 2014). This has also made a similar growth to be realized in mobile commerce. Many retailers including sports clubs in Australia have realized that mobile apps are helpful in making customers to purchase items from them. The purchases can be done either online or shop front. The soccer clubs in Australia mainly engage in the sale of their jerseys. All of these clubs have developed individual mobile apps which are downloaded by their fans to their smart phones. These mobile apps have made it possible for the soccer clubs to market to real people unlike the case with marketing on social media platforms. The fans of the soccer clubs who are app users can be able to generate brand loyalty and show emotional investment in the brand if the apps marketing are done in the right way. Customer loyalty can be created through a number of ways. One of them is through the use of loyalty offers. The app can be programmed in such a way that the frequency with which a user uses it is recorded and points rewarded. The app users can then be given a chance to redeem these points in terms of the items they wish to buy such that they acquire these items without paying any money for them. The app users can also be encouraged to refer other fans to the app and in turn get rewards. This will increase referral businesses for the sports club. At the same time customers who buy more than once may be given price discounts on the jerseys they buy through the app. This way repeat business is encouraged and the sports clubs can be able to generate a lot of sales. The use of mobile apps to promote soccer in Australia also ensures continued support of the teams by the fans. This is because the apps enable the fans to be engaged with the activities of the team every time as they are updated on the happenings surrounding the activities of the team as they occur. Conclusion The marketing mix of soccer in Australia has evolved a long way since the sport was introduced in Australia. The sport starts with little popularity and support especially with the native Australians such as Aboriginal tribes. The soccer administrators of the federal sport commission however, took it upon themselves to promote the sport so that it would be successful. They started with the means that were available at the time such as television, radio and the print media to promote the sport. This money comes from the government and various football clubs. They then continued to make use of technology as it evolved. That is why the sport is promoted over the internet and as a result gained popularity across the world. References ABC.Net, 2015, ‘Football federation Australia secures David Gallop as chief executive until 2018,’ News. 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