Marketing mix case study (ppt and speaker's note)
lilianjie
MARK110TeamCaseStudy.pptxKingston Frontenacs
Team Case Study
MARK 110
Linda Carmichael, Katie Conacher,
Erin Papadimitriou, Jinqi Yang
Overview
Established in 1973 (then known as Kingston Canadians)
Junior hockey team
Play in Eastern Conference of Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
OHL part of Canadian Hockey League (CHL)
Overview (cont’d)
Management considering ways to increase revenue
Emphasis on increasing ticket sales revenue
Develop strategy to improve attendance
Create solid base for long-term fan support
Improve pricing strategy
Advertising and sponsorship sales are solid
Strengths
Well-established junior hockey team
New state-of-the-art arena
Team management
Focused on long-term growth
Solid advertising and sponsorship sales
www.insighttechnologies.ca
Well-established organization:
Established in 1973 (then known as the Kingston Canadians.
Team name changed to Kingston Frontenacs in 1989 under new ownership.
New state-of-the-art arena:
In February 2008, the Kingston Frontenacs moved to the new 5,380 seat, state-of-the-art K-Rock Centre arena.
The move to new arena increased seating capacity by 2,080.
The new arena also features private boxes and hospitality suites, a restaurant, quick serve bar, concession areas, and a controlled access club lounge (Insight Engineering & Construction, 2013).
K-Rock Centre arena is a 7-time Canadian Venue of the Year award winner (Arena Guide, n.d.)
Team management:
Dedicated Director of Marketing and Communications position
Senior administration participates collaboratively to propose suggestions for increasing revenue and ticket sales.
Focused on long-term growth:
Consider both short-term and long-term goals.
Aim to improve attendance by creating a solid base for long-term fan support.
Recognize the need to increase fan segments (women, children, students)
Solid advertising and sponsorship sales:
Director of Marketing and Communications has implemented strategies to improve revenue from advertising and sponsorship.
References:
Arena Guide. (n.d.) Leon’s Centre (formerly Rogers K-Rock Centre). Retrieved from https://arena-guide.com/arena/rogers-k-rock-centre/
Insight Engineering & Construction. (2013). Kingston Regional Sports and Entertainment Centre. Retrieved from http://www.insighttechnologies.ca/work/kingston-regional-sports-and-entertainment-centre/
Strengths (cont’d)
Capacity to increase ticket sales
Team’s significant performance improvement
Qualified for playoffs last season
Steady increase in attendance
Player scouting/development
http://www.leonscentre.com/ticketing-info-faq/
https://hamiltonbulldogs.com/article/eastern-conference-championship-series-preview-bulldogs-vs-frontenacs
Capacity to increase ticket sales:
Move to new arena increased seating capacity by 2,080.
Senior administration is considering options to grow attendance through flexible and creative ticket pricing strategies.
Team’s significant performance improvement:
Improved to 33 wins last season, up from 18 and 25 the previous two seasons.
Qualified for playoffs last season:
After a disappointing year in 2008-09 with only 18 wins, the team turned things around significantly in 2009-10 with 33 wins and made the playoffs, generating additional revenue.
Steady increase in attendance:
Regular season attendance increased by 18,463 after moving to new arena.
Attendance steadily increased over six seasons. Attendance did decline during last regular season by 10,439 but can be attributed to a disappointing performance the previous year.
Playoff games last season boosted overall attendance by 13,991 to 108,726, the highest on record.
Player development/scouting:
Over the past five years, the Kingston Frontenacs have contributed two first-round draft picks and a second-round pick to the National Hockey League (NHL).
A notable 2010 NHL first-round draft pick was the Frontenacs’ star defenceman, Erik Gudbranson, who played with the Vancouver Canucks from 2016-2019.
Weaknesses
Suboptimal ticket sales
Lack of creativity in establishing ticket prices
Hasty implementation of flex pack tickets
https://kingstonfrontenacs.com/fundraising
https://kingstonfrontenacs.com/seating-map
Suboptimal ticket sales:
Regular season attendance last season (94,735) only 52% of capacity (5,380 seats x 34 home games = 182,920 attendance capacity).
Lack of creativity in establishing ticket prices:
The Kingston Frontenacs do not have a variable pricing strategy to maximize revenue, such as basing ticket prices on:
Seat location
Visiting team (“premium” games that attract larger crowds)
Day of week (“value” games)
Time of season
Larger discounts for children
“Bundling” games
Major professional sports teams (Major League Baseball and NHL) have successfully implemented the above variable pricing strategies.
Hasty implementation of flex pack tickets:
Planned flex-pack tickets for next season will not attract students, seniors, or children, since their price equates to $16 per game – which equals the same single-game ticket price for students and seniors and is more expensive than single-game tickets for children.
More creativity and consideration of innovative flexible pricing strategies are needed to attract greater fan support/attendance.
Weaknesses (cont’d)
Weaker fan base segments (children, women, students)
Children’s season ticket package pricing
Promotional events not growing fan segments
www.ticketmaster.ca/kingston-frontenacs-tickets/artist/829722
www.kingstonfrontenacs.com
Weaker fan base segments (children, women, students):
Women accounted for only 1/3 of attendance last season.
Children accounted for only 15% of ticket sales.
Student demographic not targeted.
Significant student population of 36.500 in Kingston could be a source of revenue with targeted marketing strategies and promotions (25,000 students at Queens University; 10,000 at St. Lawrence College; and 1,500 at Royal Military College).
Children’s season ticket package:
Children’s season tickets are not priced to attract fans.
Current season ticket package for children is priced at $440 (or $12.94 per game), which is more expensive than purchasing single game tickets at $12.00.
Promotional events not growing fan segments (children, women, students):
Director of Marketing and Communications is contemplating other promotional events to grow these fan segments if a new pricing strategy is not effective.
Therefore, current promotional events, if any, are missing the mark when it comes to attracting children, women, and students.
Opportunities
Growth in Female Attendance
Creative Family-Friendly Atmosphere
Focus on Student Attendance
Digital Technology
Female Attendance: In previous years, woman attendance had only accounted for ⅓ of ticket sales.
Family Atmosphere: If the Kingston Frontenacs provide special “Child Friendly” games on days and times that work around children’s schedules the attendance will rise for this demographic. There is currently a 15% shortfall in comparison to NHL games. Creative programming that includes music, dancing, and child participation will increase exposure and create hype.
Students: The city has a large student population, 25,000 to be exact. Advertising late games to students, promoting a possible food and beverage promotion, or ticket discounts on certain nights can help increase student attendance.
Digital Technology: Shifting focus to online marketing techniques to draw a crowd and create a stronger fan base is essential for a home team. They can get many different demographics involved whether it be sponsorship, ticket sales, player rosters, etc.
Threats
Legal Risks
Environmental Impacts
Lack of Player Skills
Strong Competition
Legal Risks: Games with large crowds pose a risk to city bylaws. Insurance, permits, and licenses must be kept up-to-date.
Environmental Impacts: Waste is a byproduct to large events, such as hockey games. To keep from harming the environment recycling programs should be in effect as well as responsible garbage pick-up. Another is potential damage to natural assets around the stadium, such as trees and foliage and streams, etc.
Player Skills: If the Frontenec’s do not have gifted players this will affect fan interest in the team.
Strong competition: Other hockey games within the Ontario Hockey League, and NHL games eat into the Frontenec’s ticket sales.
Marketing Mix
Product
Core Customer Value
Utility and Value
Augmented Product Features
Brand name and logo
Product Packaging
What is core customer value provided by this product?
The core customer value provided by tickets to see a hockey game are social, emotional, and economic.
For instance, attending a hockey game provides customers with a night of being surrounded by other people in a social environment in which everyone is interested in and watching the same source of entertainment making it that much easier to initiate conversation.
In addition, hockey games hold emotional value to locals in Canada due to the nostalgia it provides to anyone who has ever grown up playing hockey or watching the games of people they are close to play hockey. It is a game that is deeply rooted in Canadian culture.
Hockey games, can vary in price depending on who’s playing and what seats the customer is sitting in, this gives people the opportunity to socialize with people within their economic status as well as to flaunt their wealth when purchasing an expensive ticket to an important game.
Describe actual product; how will it provide utility and value?
Provides a source of entertainment
Provides networking opportunities
Provides economic opportunities to players
Describe augmented product features; how will they provide utility and value?
The team acquired new players who brought up team average drastically. This has improved the appearance and reputation of the team, which boosts awareness and likeability which will boost overall sales.
Discuss appropriateness and effectiveness of brand name and/or logo:
The brand name is named after the governor of New France who established Fort Frontenac, where Kingston is located. (Kingston Frontenacs – Case Twenty, 2010)
The brand logo acquired new colors in 1990. Black and yellow.
Describe key features of product packaging:
From photos on the Kingston Frontenacs website it appears that tickets are provided in physical for and are scanned upon arrival.
The Kingston Frontenacs would benefit from switching to virtual tickets that can be shown or scanned to attendants as it is less wasteful, costs nothing to produce and provides utility and convenience to customers in the sense that there is no chance of losing the tickets.
Price Strategy
Initial Price Strategy
Price Elasticity
Price Adjustments
What initial pricing strategy do you recommend, and why?
A penetration pricing strategy is a strategy defined as a strategy in which a “relatively low price for a product initially as a way to reach the mass market” is introduced. (Lamb, et, al.)
Initially, this strategy is advised as it will create more awareness around the team and encourage more customers to attend games and create bonds with the teams as well as to see what the event has to offer.
How sensitive will demand be in terms of price elasticity, and why?
· Price elasticity will be very sensitive due to constant changes in players abilities (age, injuries etc) as well as audience interest in team based on wins and performance.
· External factors are always a risk when it comes to sporting events. This year COVID-19 has affected sports teams immensely.
· There are many alternatives for people who want to go out and enjoy a sporting event which makes price elasticity very elastic due to the fact that customers will go elsewhere to find cheaper tickets, which creates less demand.
What various price adjustments should be implemented over each stage of the product life cycle, and why?
· Introductory: Penetration Pricing
· Growth: Penetration Pricing
o I think during both the intro and growth phase it is important keep prices somewhat lower to gain quality reviews and reputation and make enough sales to build profits.
· Maturity: Status Quo
o Status Quo pricing strategy is a strategy that bases it’s pricing off of competitors, it matches or provides a lower price in order to compete. (Lamb, et al.)
o This strategy is important to move to as it offers a competitive strategy that will boost sales once the teams brand reputation and identity has been established.
· Decline: Maintaining Status Quo
o I think in the second two phases it is important to continue to maintain the status quo in order to stay relevant and compete.
