Pieter Bednar - Sport Marketing Plan PDF

Pieter
Bednar SM 203
Nov. 8, 2010 Prof. Gentile
Sport Marketing Plan – Final Project
Executive Summary
Our product, the Freezable Bandage, is the next innovation in recovery
systems for a sporting injury. In the current economic climate, it is essential to
provide a cheaper alternative for injury treatment, and that is exactly what the
Freezable Bandage provides. Our target market of 18-‐22 year old males who
compete in DIII collegiate athletics in the New England area are in dire need of a
cheaper treatment option, and that is where the Freezable Bandage steps in. Our
cheap price of $5 allows all student-‐athletes to be able to afford the product.
Through the numerous marketing strategies that we will employ, it is our hope that
we will be able to gain a loyal consumer base that will stick by our product and
continue to buy it, especially when we pursue product development.

Introduction/Background
The mission of Freezable Bandages is to provide a comprehensive recovery
system for individuals who sustain an injury. When sustaining a sprain or strain, the
RICE approach is often followed, encouraging rest, ice, compression and elevation.
The concept of applying compression and ice simultaneously has been proven to be
effective, and therefore we feel that it is our duty to allow individuals to recover as
quickly as possible. Furthermore, it is our belief that not only should athletes have
access to effective treatment products and services, but also all people in society.
Hence, it is our goal as a company to not only provide the necessary product, but
also the knowledge to use the product correctly. Our core product is the Freezable
Bandage, however we have room for expansion in the future. Geographically we are
based in New England, and it is our goal to target males who are 18-‐22 and compete
in DIII collegiate athletics. We have developed a useful product that is currently
being marketed through the use of numerous media (newspaper, magazines, and
television) to ensure that all our product information is reaching our target markets
to allow them to make the best purchasing decisions.

Products/Services
The product is known as the Freezable Bandage. This product is based off the
Ace Bandage, however it has numerous differences and advantages to it. The main
difference is that this product will have the ability to be frozen. This is essential
because it will allow for an individual to treat a sprain in a more effective manner as
they are applying both compression and ice at the same time, as opposed to one or
the other, which is typically the case. The product itself will be made of a material
similar to that of Ace Bandage, which will allow it to be stretched and tightened as
necessary to apply the appropriate compression needed for treatment. On top of
this, as previously mentioned, it will have the ability to be frozen. When the product
is used, it will slowly thaw out over 20 minutes, which is the recommended time for
icing an injury, and then act as a regular Ace Bandage and continue to provide
compression and support for the injury. Once the athlete wishes to refreeze the
injury, they simply place it in the freezer for 2 hours and it will be useable again as a
Freezable Bandage. With proper use and care of the product, the product will be
useable for numerous years.
Pieter Bednar SM 203
The most evident reason as to why our product differs from those offered by
competitors is because there is no current option that is similar. At this point in
time, the most similar product is the hot/cold treatment options that are offered by
Ace. This product differs from ours in that it does not offer any compression
treatment, which is one of the core aspects of sprain treatment. The only advantage
that this product has over the Freezable bandage is that it does provide heat
treatment, which is useful to treat muscle aches.
The projected core product is the freezable bandage. The basis of this product
will be an ace bandage, which will be manufactured in such a way that it can be put
in the freezer and still retain it’s flexibility and ability to wrap a limb. One possible
product extension would be a “Wrapping Class” which would demonstrate to all
who participate the correct and effective way of wrapping limbs in order to ensure
the quickest possible recovery period. Another possible product extension would a
class that focuses on the correct recovery steps to a sustained injury.

Situational Analysis
Economic Climate
At this in point in time, the United States economy is facing a time of turmoil and
uncertainty. The United States is currently experiencing one of the worst recessions
it has ever faced, and there are numerous theories as to when the recession will end,
or if in fact we have already begun the recovery period. Many prominent economists
(Gulanti) believe that there are numerous indicators to indicate we have hit a period
of recovery, however there is also room to fear for a double-‐dip recession. Despite
this bleak outlook on the possibility of a double-‐dip recession, the fact that we have
hit a recovery period is reason for optimism. In the New England area, despite the
bleak outlook of the United States as a whole, there is actually a sliver of hope as the
number of people who are unemployed has actually decreased in the area.
• Today’s interest rates range from 3.25% to 5.15% depending on the type of
loan/mortgage that is being taken out
• Currency exchange and fluctuations
o US Dollar ($) vs. the Euro ( )
§ $1 = 0.721
§ Exchange fluctuations since 2006

o US Dollar ($) vs. British Pound Sterling (£)
§ $1 = £0.623
§ Exchange fluctuations since 2006

Legal Environment
The biggest concern for any company that attempts to claim a segment of the
“health care” market is that of liability. With any company that provides a product or
a service that “promises to heal”, they have to be very careful to ensure that the
product/service delivers as promised, because otherwise there is always the chance
that they will face legal ramifications. Furthermore, in order to supply a product
such as the Freezable Bandage, it is essential that it undergoes numerous tests and
certification processes to ensure that it is a top of the line product.

Demographics
According to the most recent Census, the number of people who are uninsured in
the Northeast, which is our target market, has increased by 647 thousand from 2007
(DeNavas), which is when the recession started. On top of this number, the number
of uninsured people between the ages of 18 and 24, which is my target market, has
increased by 932 thousand from 2007 (DeNavas). Furthermore, there are
approximately 93,000 male student athletes who participate in DIII collegiate
athletics, and the number is steadily growing. (NCAA).

Demand Trends
Perhaps the most important demand trend that applies to my industry segment is
the continuous growth that is experienced and demonstrated by 3M, which is the
company who owns Ace Bandages, which is a similar product to the Freezable
Bandage. In the most recent fiscal quarter, 3M reported a 17.70% growth in their
sales, which demonstrates that there will be adequate demand for a new product.

Product Life Cycle
When a company is in the introduction stage, it is expected that costs will be high
and that there is no guarantee of profit. However, at this stage it is the most
important to be willing to spend money to market your product in order to ensure
that one is able to secure a segment of the market. During the growth stage,
profitability begins to rise and the public image of the product becomes established,
therefore diminishing the need of marketing. During the maturity stage, there is an
increase in competing products, and market saturation has been reached, therefore
making it necessary to market again to ensure the company retains the market
segment. During the decline stage it becomes less profitable to produce the product
and therefore encourages the company to develop new products to maintain it’s
portion of the market. For our current product we are still in the introduction stage
as our product is yet to be introduced to the market. It is our hope that with our
product we are able to have a long product life cycle, however we have already
prepared a new product to be released at the time that the Freezable Bandage has
hit the decline stage, and that is the Freezable/Heat treatment Bandage that will
allow for both hot and cold treatment in bandage form.

Technological Trends
One technological trend to consider while marketing for the product is the
continuing change that occurs with the typical treatment of a strain/sprain and so
forth, which would be the typical use of our product. The old adage used to be RICE,
which stands for Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation. However, there have been
numerous studies that have developed a newer method known as PRINCE, which
stands for Protection, Rest, Ice, Nsaids (nonsteroidal anti-‐inflammatory drugs),
Compression and Elevation. It is essential to keep up with the technological or
theological advances for the market in which our product is based.

Competitor Analysis
Direct Competitor
Ace Bandages
Product Characteristics
• Braces and Support (prevention)
• Hot & Cold Therapy
• Elastic Bandages
Strengths
• Currently established brand name
• Effective treatment
• Numerous products for numerous injuries
Weaknesses
• Very little advertising (in my opinion)
• A saturated market, due to generic brands
Opportunities
• With current economic climate people will be turning to more cost effective
treatments
• Still have room to increase their product line, and the injuries that they target
to treat
Threats
• Has no real competition, and therefore when a competitor comes into
existence they won’t know how to treat it


Current Market Share
• Majority of market as they are the only true provider of this product (there
are many generic brands that are far cheaper)
Current Actions in the Market
• Have recently produced a Hot & Cold treatment program that will allow for
muscle relaxation and cold treatment for injuries
Probable response to your actions
• With the creation of our product and marketing actions there is a good
chance that they will develop their product in such a way that they will be
able to create a similar product, which shouldn’t be too difficult for them,
considering that they already have the Hot & Cold treatment program

Indirect Competitor
Ice packs
Product Characteristics
• Generally used for keeping food/drinks cold in coolers, however also serve
the purpose of providing cold treatment for injuries
Strengths
• Products have numerous purposes
• Reusable
Weaknesses
• Are very awkward to keep on an injured limb, as it is not their intended
purpose
Opportunities
• Development in the consistency of ice packs will allow them to have
numerous uses and make it simpler to use for treating injuries
Threats
• Development of my product would pose a threat to the use of ice packs that
are used for athletic purposes, however they will never be completely lost
because ice packs have numerous other uses
• Regular ice is a threat because it is just as easy to make/use as an ice pack
and is far more cost effective
Current Market Share
• Have a very small share of the athletic use share due to the presence of Cold
therapy and regular ice in general
Current Actions in the Market
• No current actions target the use of ice packs for athletics
Probable response to your actions
• Will have no real response to my actions as the main target market for many
producers of ice packs is not athletes who need it to treat an injury


SWOT Analysis
Strengths:
• Bold new direction
• Combines two essential aspects of the RICE or PRINCE treatment ideology
Weaknesses:
• Newly developed product, and therefore will have to deal with loss of profit
and the costs associated with a new product
Opportunities:
• One of a kind product, and therefore if marketed correctly will hold the
majority of the market and will be able to withstand any competitors
Threats:
• New developments from other companies such as Ace Bandage
• Current economic condition

Analysis of Target Markets
Target Markets
Our target segment within the market is that of males, aged 18-‐22 who are DIII
college athletes in the New England area. There are numerous reasons for this. First
and foremost, generally speaking DIII collegiate programs do not have the same
funding that is available to bigger programs, and therefore if students have access to
an effective treatment alternative (Freezable Bandage), it will make it simpler for
athletes. Secondly, the New England area is an important consideration because I
have the most knowledge of this area and have direct experience with this area,
which will allow me to more accurately market the product.

Segmenting, Targeting & Positioning
According to Mullin et al. (2007) buyers engage in purchase decision-‐making in one
of the following ways:
• Economic – this view of consumer behavior looks at the ideal concept, in
which the consumer makes objective purchases based on logic and facts.
Those who ascribe to this view believe that if you put a good product in
front of consumers for a reasonable price, they will buy it.
• Psychological – this approach examines consumer attitude and its effect
as a predictor of behavior. However, it is important to note that there may
be a difference between the intent to purchase and what is actually
purchased.
• Sociological – this approach identifies social influences such as
demographics, parental influence, and peer group pressure. These, of
course, differ with each consumer or market segment.
• Behavioral – this concept forwards the notion that everything is a result
of interaction with the environment, rather than a stimulus and response.
The ultimate intent is a change in behavior.


Furthermore, the consumer purchase decision-‐making process can be broken down
as follows:
• Identification of the need
• Quest for information
• Evaluation of product alternatives
• Purchase of the product
• Post-‐purchase satisfaction
Using all this information we can fully understand the main influences of purchasing
decisions, and we can also understand the steps that a purchaser goes through
before making their final decision regarding a good. As an organization, when we
approach segmentation, we will base a lot of our segments on the economic and
sociological aspects of the purchase decision-‐making.

Market Size
• 727,441 males between the ages of 18-‐24 in the New England Area
• 92,786 male student athletes participating in DIII collegiate athletics
• 54,654 uninsured for health care in North East
• 29,313 uninsured for health care in the 18-‐24 age range in the United States
• Increasing number of people who are uninsured, due to the current economic
climate

Market Research
When collecting primary data, there are numerous different methods that
can be used. One method is through the use of direct surveys, which entails
presenting questionnaires through the mail or via an online survey site in order to
collect opinions on a topic under investigation. A second method that can be used to
gather primary data is through personal interviews or focus groups. When
conducting a focus group study we asked the following questions:
• If you were to get a sprained ankle, in your opinion what is the most effective
way to treat it?
• How would you suggest marketing the product?
• Do you feel that this target market, male college athletes in New England, is
an adequate choice? Why or why not?
• Are there any suggestions that you have that could improve the product?
• Would you use this product?
• Do you have any concerns with the product? What are they?
• What aspects of the product are major draws for you? Why?
• Do you feel as though regular Ace Bandages have too strong of a hold on the
market to allow for Freezable Bandages to enter the market?
• As an athlete, would you rather use this product as treatment for an injury, or
would you prefer to pay for professional treatment? Why?
• Would you feel that as an organization providing a treatment product that it
is a requirement for us to provide workshops or demonstrate proper
wrapping treatment?
From conducting the focus group study we were able to gain a lot of important
information about our product and any changes that should be made regarding our
product or marketing plan. This focus group was responsible for our future
development of a product that provides both an icing and heating element.
When collecting secondary data, it is important to realize that this is
characterized by the fact that it is not conducted directly by the organization or its
agents and does not entail the analysis of an organization’s own customers, but
rather samples larger segments of the general market. From a secondary research
service (the Census) we were able to determine that there are 727,441 males
between the ages of 18-‐24 in the New England area, that there are 92,786 DIII
collegiate athletes, 54,654 uninsured for health care in the North East and that
29,313 are uninsured for health care in the 18 to 24 age range in the United States.

Benefit Segmentation
One specific product benefit that I will use to segment my consumers is price and
accessibility. This will allow for segmentation because college-‐aged individuals
generally speaking do not have the disposable income to afford cutting edge
treatment options.

Sport Marketing Objectives
Competitive Advantage
This product is based off the Ace Bandage, however it has numerous differences and
advantages to it. The main difference is that this product will have the ability to be
frozen. This is essential because it will allow for an individual to treat a sprain in a
more effective manner as they are applying both compression and ice at the same
time, as opposed to one or the other, which is typically the case. The most evident
reason as to why our product differs from those offered by competitors is because
there is no current option that is similar. At this point in time, the most similar
product is the hot/cold treatment options that are offered by Ace. This product
differs from ours in that it does not offer any compression treatment, which is one of
the core aspects of sprain treatment. The only advantage that this product has over
the Freezable bandage is that it does provide heat treatment, which is useful to treat
muscle aches.

Marketing Objectives
• Obtain endorsement from medical professionals
o 5 medical institutions in the New England area
o 5 medical institutions in the United States (not New England area)
• Target new market of female DIII athletes
• Conduct market segmentation analysis to compete with
o Ace Bandage market of sport participants treating injuries
o Athletic trainers target to DIII athletes
• Increase sales of product
o 10% increase in overall product sales
• Increase visibility of product
o Increase marketing expenditure by 10%
o Measure visibility of product through consumer surveys

Time frame: One year
Quarter 1:
• Obtain medical endorsement from 3 New England medical institutions
• Complete market inquiry to determine whether DIII female athletes is an
adequate target market
• Determine which company we will use to provide secondary market data
• 2.5% increase in sales of product, and ensure that sales department has a
report to demonstrate their findings – if not on track to meet objective,
reassess and set new standard for the objective
• Commence active marketing campaign in numerous medias (magazine,
newspaper, television, internet)
Quarter 2:
• Obtain medical endorsement from 2 New England medical institutions and 1
medical institution in the USA (not New England)
• Conduct trial experiments in new target market to assess plausibility of
expansion
• Allow chosen company to perform secondary market research for 2 quarters
• A further 2.5% increase in sales of product (5% overall), and ensure that
sales department has a report to demonstrate their findings – if not on track
to meet objective, reassess and set new standard for the objective
• Continue active marketing campaign in numerous medias, and also address
newer media forms (social networks, youtube)
Quarter 3:
• Obtain medical endorsement from 2 medical institutions in the USA (not New
England)
• Begin marketing product to new target market to increase anticipation of
product and willingness to buy product
• Allow chosen company to perform secondary market research for 2 quarters
(this is the 2nd quarter)
• Further 2.5% increase in sales of product (7.5% overall), and ensure that
to meet objective, reassess and set new standard for the objective
• Distribute consumer surveys to our target market
Quarter 4:
• Obtain medical endorsement from 2 medical institutions in the USA (not New
England)
• Commence selling the product to our newly developed market segment
• Have chosen company report to our organization to allow us to act about the
findings that are obtained from the secondary market data
• Further 2.5% increase in sales of product (10% overall), and ensure that
to meet the objective, reassess and set new standard for objective
• Collect and analyze consumer surveys to determine whether we have
increased the visibility of our product

Sport Marketing Strategies and Tactics
1. Traditional Market Strategies:
a. New market penetration
i. According to Brooks, market penetration involves “attracting
more participants to your established programs”. Market
penetration can take one of two directions; an organization can
pursue new markets with existing products or attempt to have
existing consumers consume at a higher rate.
ii. Market penetration applies to our organization as we are a
newly developed organization and we are attempting to gain a
hold of the market for our freezable bandage.
b. Market expansion
i. Market share development, or market expansion, is an attempt
by the organization to increase the volume of products sold to
totally new consumers. Market expansion is achieved by
getting a bigger share of the untapped consumers to purchase
your product or service, basically attracting a new market.
Market expansion is most often accomplished with either
better or more promotions to ensure that the new market is
informed about the product.
ii. Market share development applies to our organization as we
could try to tap into other markets. We are currently focusing
our efforts towards males who are 18-‐22 and participate in
DIII athletics in the New England area. There is plenty of room
for market expansion as we could market our product to
females in the same age range, or we could look to target a
completely different demographic.
c. Product Development
i. An organization can also expand their market by creating new
products and services to meet the needs of existing markets.
These would be products or services of a similar nature that
current customers would be interested in purchasing.
ii. This marketing strategy applies to our company as we are
looking to create new products that will allow us to target a
similar market to the one we are currently looking at. Often
times ideas for a new product comes from brainstorming
sessions. When conducting a focus group, one of the questions
we asked was whether they had any suggestions for product
changes or improvements, and numerous people suggested
adding a heating option to the product, which will be taken into
consideration.
d. Diversification
i. Diversification is characterized by creating new products for
new clients.
ii. It is hard to determine where this will apply to our
organization, however, once we gain a steady hold of our
current target market, we will look to diversify our product
portfolio and target market.
2. Brand Management
a. A brand is a name, term, sign, symbol, or design or a combination of
these intended to identify goods and services of one seller or group of
sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors. Often
times the brand is based on the product, experience, identity, and
associations (Stotlar).
b. Sport enjoys a unique position in the marketing world, because of the
team as brand concept. There are many brands to which consumers
are loyal, however the power of a sports team is unparalleled.
c. Our company will position ourselves to demonstrate that we meet all
the steps of the IEG Brand Model:
i. Product – quality of product and mission fulfillment
ii. Experience – pricing and customer relations
iii. Identity – ads, media selection and the logo
iv. Associations – suppliers and competitors
3. Relationship Marketing
a. Relationship Marketing focuses on the interactions between the
company and the consumer. Relationship marketing can be defined as
an integrated effort to identify, maintain, and build a network with
individual consumers and to continually strengthen the network for
the mutual benefit of both sides through interactive, individualized,
and value-‐added contact over a long period of time. (Stotlar)
b. Relationship marketing can provide two very important benefits:
i. Relationship marketing techniques allow managers to become
more knowledgeable about customers and assist the
organization with product development and market
assessment
ii. Economic advantage in that it is generally accepted that it costs
at least five times as much to recruit a new customer as it does
to maintain an existing one.
c. As an organization it will be essential to maintain an effective
relationship with our customers, and therefore will place an emphasis
on relationship marketing to maintain a loyal fan base that will
continuously buy our product.
4. Tribal Marketing
a. Tribal marketing focuses on the connection between customers, who
are generally linked by a shared passion or emotion.
b. As a newly developed organization that is entering the market, tribal
marketing will be essential for us as we develop a loyal fan base that is
willing to share our product with others who may not be part of the
“tribe”. Furthermore, as an organization, we could provide an option
to the loyal fan base to be the first to experience our new products.

5. Tools for implementing strategy
a. Product
i. Our product, the Freezable Bandage meets the needs of the
consumers in that DIII student-‐athletes need a cheaper
alternative to provide treatment for simple sprains and strains.
ii. The sport product, in our case is a hard good that is related to
the field of sports as it provides treatment for a typical sports
injury. With our promotional aspects we also provide a service
in the clinics on adequate wrapping techniques.
iii. Our product will be developed and marketed in such away that
is based on mass marketing. Our product is a universal product
that will have no customization, as there is no room for
customization with our product.
b. Price
i. Pricing theories
1. Supply-‐demand – The basic interaction of the market in
which the supply and demand of a product set the price
of the product.
2. Utility – Consumers essentially base the price on the
utility (enjoyment) that the consumer gains from
buying the product.
3. Elasticity – Price elasticity of demand relates to how
demand changes in relationship to changes in price.
4. Marginal costing – Many sport companies use a
traditional cost-‐oriented pricing structure that begins
with a calculation of the cost of production, marketing,
and distribution. To this figure, the manufacturer adds
its desired profit margin. Eventually, wholesalers and
retailers add desired profit margin to arrive at the final
retail price.
5. Our choice of pricing theory to be used will be the
supply-‐demand approach, which will also be influenced
by the elasticity approach on the basics of economics.
ii. Breakeven Analysis – purpose of analysis is to determine how
many unites must be sold at a given price to fully cover costs
1. Fixed Costs: $100,000
2. Variable Costs (at a production volume of 100,000
units): $50,000
3. Cost per unit: $1.50
c. Place – When determining what the place and distribution channels
are for our product, there are numerous things to consider. The
product can be bought in numerous locations. It can easily be found at
a sporting goods store (Dick’s Sporting Goods and the Sports
Authority) and it is also sold in Wal-‐mart and many of the larger
pharmacies (CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, Target).
d. Promotion – When it comes to selling our product, we intend to use
numerous promotional activities when we first enter the market to
ensure that people are willing to buy our product. One promotional
activity that we plan on using is the “buy 1 get 1 50% off”. A second
promotional activity we may instill at one point in our marketing plan
is to provide a coupon with the purchase of our product for a free
clinic on adequate wrapping and treatment techniques for given
sprains and strains.
e. Public Relations – as an organization it will be essential for us to
pursue positive public relations to ensure that we maintain our
consumer base and to increase our consumer base and extend to
numerous other target markets

Works Cited
DeNavas-‐Walt, Carmen, Bernadette D. Proctor, and Jessica C. Smith, U.S. Census
Bureau, Current Population Reports, P60-‐238, Income, Poverty, and Health
Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2009, U.S. Government Printing
Office, Washington, DC, 2010.

Gulanti, R. (2010, March). Roaring out of Recession. Harvard Business Review.
Retrieved from http://hbr.org/2010/03/roaring-‐out-‐of-‐recession/ar/1

NCAA. (April 2008). 1981-‐82 – 2006-‐07 NCAA Sports Sponsorship and Participation
Rates Report. Retrieved from http://www.ncaapublications.com/p-‐4124-‐
participation-‐rates-‐1981-‐82-‐2006-‐07-‐ncaa-‐sports-‐sponsorship-‐and-‐
participation-‐rates-‐report.aspx

Stotlar, David K. Developing Successful Sport Marketing Plans. (2009). Morgantown:
University of West Virginia.

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