planbook

Table of conTenTs

executive summary .......................................................... 3

target audience ............................................................ 4-5

competitors .................................................................... 6

swot .............................................................................. 7

objectives ...................................................................... 8

strategy & measurement ................................................... 9

tactics ........................................................................ 10

budget & timeline.......................................................... 11

works cited .................................................................. 12

TeaM MeMbeRsThomas applegarTh

YiTing mao

Domonique miller

anDrea harris

rahul JuYal

mariela ZaraTe

3

execuTive suMMaRy

The Milwaukee Bucks are a basketball team that plays in the National Basketball Association. The object of this plan is to reach working professionals ages 24-30 and area college students and get them to subscribe to Bucks text alerts. They must face unique challenges in the market, but there is an extremely large area of opportunity to expand the fan base. Also, once the Bucks get them to sign up for text alerts, they must be able to retain them.

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TaRgeT audience

Primary target The primary segment of our target audience is young professionals ages 24 to 30. This segment is earning $35,000 or more and therefore has more disposable income for sporting events. On average, the majority of fans will only attend one game per year and it’s likely that this segment will attend a sporting event with colleagues or friends and since they may have more demanding jobs, attending a game may be planned further in advance.

Secondary target The secondary segment is 18 to 24 year-old college students. The minimum income for this segment is $24,000. College students may not have very demanding jobs or kids, therefore they may be interested in attending a game with friends. Since they do have limited means, they will be open to marketing tactics such as special deals and price reductions. Currently, this demographic only attends two or three games per year. Audience members ages 16 to 34 make up a significant portion of the online mobile viewing community that follows NBA games via mobile phones and would be a prime target for text marketing.

PurchaSing ProceSS Our target market typically will make their purchase online and in some cases will purchase tickets at the Bradley Center. When deciding whether to purchase tickets they first must consider who they are going to attend with, what night of the week they are going to attend and what kind of seats they are looking for. They also may consider secondary factors such as the price of concessions and parking. To receive information on these factors, they will most likely search on the Bucks website where they can access the game schedule as well as prices for different types of seats, concessions and parking. The planning for this process will typically be in advance, though college students may see some games at the spur of the moment. For this target market, purchasing may be related to the time at which a paycheck is received or slightly prior due to their limited income. Night and weekend games appeal most to this segment and thus the times and days which games are held are of importance.

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TaRgeT audience cnTd

Primary target The primary segment of our target audience is young professionals ages 24 to 30. This segment is earning $35,000 or more and therefore has more disposable income for sporting events. On average, the majority of fans will only attend one game per year and it’s likely that this segment will attend a sporting event with colleagues or friends and since they may have more demanding jobs, attending a game may be planned further in advance.

Secondary target The secondary segment is 18 to 24 year-old college students. The minimum income for this segment is $24,000. College students may not have very demanding jobs or kids, therefore they may be interested in attending a game with friends. Since they do have limited means, they will be open to marketing tactics such as special deals and price reductions. Currently, this demographic only attends two or three games per year. Audience members ages 16 to 34 make up a significant portion of the online mobile viewing community that follows NBA games via mobile phones and would be a prime target for text marketing.

PurchaSing ProceSS Our target market typically will make their purchase online and in some cases will purchase tickets at the Bradley Center. When deciding whether to purchase tickets they first must consider who they are going to attend with, what night of the week they are going to attend and what kind of seats they are looking for. They also may consider secondary factors such as the price of concessions and parking. To receive information on these factors, they will most likely search on the Bucks website where they can access the game schedule as well as prices for different types of seats, concessions and parking. The planning for this process will typically be in advance, though college students may see some games at the spur of the moment. For this target market, purchasing may be related to the time at which a paycheck is received or slightly prior due to their limited income. Night and weekend games appeal most to this segment and thus the times and days which games are held are of importance.

market Size eStimateSFor market size estimates, we’ll use the five counties of Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine, Ozaukee and Washington in southeast Wisconsin. These counties are the counties that are subject to the tax that helped build Miller Park and we can use this as an existing model for a Southeast Wisconsin sports market. According to 2009 Census estimates, in these five counties combined there are just under 242,000 people between the ages of 25 and 34. For the secondary market of college students, we’ll use only those

enrolled in Milwaukee County because often college kids don’t have cars and would need to use public transportation. Also, because of the proximity, college students in Milwaukee can head to a game at the last minute. There are currently 66,722 college students enrolled in Milwaukee County. Obviously, some other factors would have to taken into consideration with the college demographic such as non-traditional students and overlap with the five county numbers, but there is a sizable market out there for the Bucks to reach.

conSumer ProfileMatt is a 26 year old college graduate. He got a job in marketing straight out of college and has been working his way up since. He loves sports and frequents the same downtown sports bar every Sunday to watch footballl/baseball/basketball. He also spends most weekends at a downtown bar or pub if he is not traveling for work He rents a one bedroom apartment and takes pride in having nice things. He values personal appearance and works out at least three times a week. He rarely gets out during the work week but tries to enjoy his weekends as much as possible. His friends are college graduates that he attended school with or co-workers. He is single for now but can see himself settling down for the right girl.

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coMpeTiToRs

BarSStrengths– Social event, can be less expensive, more available

Weaknesses – Difficult clientele, can be expensive, typically need more than 2 people to make it a social event

movieS Strengths--Cheaper for the most part, more accessible., variety.

Weaknesses -- Not really a social event, paralyzing bevy of options.

concertSStrengths– Social event, rarity, different venues

Weaknesses– Depends on bands that are touring, seating, disparity in prices, ticketmaster fees

college BaSketBallStrengths--Other options for basketball in Milwaukee, cheaper tickets, college atmosphere, already embracing social media and texting

Weaknesses --Not professional, don’t see every team in the NCAA, UWM plays at an older arena, players only stay for four years maximum, shorter season

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s.W.o.T. analysis

StrengthS Show support for city »

Tickets can be as cheap as $12.25 »

Fun filled night with different activities »

Energee! Dance Team »

Bango the Mascot »

•Rim Rockers- high flying slam dunk team »

•Seniorgee! Senior Dance Team »

Wild! Drumline »

•4th Street Flyers- Cheer and Stunt Team »

Different ways for fans to be involved »

Hoop Troop- fans that provide random »entertainment and give out t-shirts

Different Specials »

Wendy’s $10 off »

McFamily Night Package »

Guys Night Out »

Ladies Night Out »

Chili’s Red Zone »

Ultimate Fan Experience »

WeakneSSeSTime consuming »

Not spur of the moment event »

Not a good team »

No big name players »

Could be costly »

No celebrity followers »

oPPortunitieSCan send more than 3-4 texts a month »

Can involve more star players »

Parking, weather info through texts could create »a friendly image

Basketball market is growth-hungry, it’s behind »other sports in popularity

Indoor sports more attractive in winters, »especially in places like Wisconsin

A huge opportunity to enter a relationship with »a wireless company

threatSCompetitors in a small market: Brewers, Films »& theatre, Packers, Golf, Ice Hockey

Technological glitches- causing lack of »communication

Change in the text pricing of telecom companies »

Huge parking fees Downtown »

Texting from other competitors in the market »

People vacationing in warmer places in winter »

Public transportation lagging behind other cities »

8

objecTives

activity By marketWe would only target the five-county Milwaukee metropolitan area. Madison is a unique, untapped market for the Bucks. However, since our targets are young working professionals and college students in the Milwaukee area, it wouldn’t be prudent to incorporate Madison into our strategy.

Promotions around town at »grocery stores, schools and many other community gathering places that utilize interns to help promote the brand as well as the texting service. The basic idea is to promote Milwaukee Bucks basketball, while getting more and more subscribers for text alerts

Utilize Milwaukee Bucks radio to »promote text alerts subscription by various promotional programs e.g. selecting the top ten listeners.

Heavy promotion to get all the »Golden Eagles, UW Panthers and other basketball fans in the area to subscribe for text alerts. The distribution of free memorabilia

among the fans at Marquette and UWM games would go a long way to get them to subscribe for text alerts.

Create a texting community for »Milwaukee Bucks- a select core group that share all kinds of trivia related to NBA and Bucks, and also gets ample chances to win prizes, exclusive memberships etc.

We would like to reach 40% of working professionals ages 24-30 and also 40% of college students in the Milwaukee area. This means a multi-faceted marketing campaign to reach these groups as they could be considered niche. We’d like to reach put to them at least three times a week during the season to subscribe.

increaSe SuBScriBerS for milWaukee BuckS text alertS

increaSe Brand loyalty, aWareneSS & recall value

increaSe ticket SaleS

increaSe viSiBility

reach & frequency goalS

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sTRaTegy & MeasuReMenT

StrategyFor our advertising strategy we’ll be using the pulse method. Since we only have $30,000 to work with, our television advertising will be included in the current Bucks television advertising for tickets, by saying that they can subscribe to text services at the end of the commercial. Marketing will be heavier during training camp and during the run up to the start of the season with various public relations promotions. It will then regress slightly during the season with spikes during the games where there will be advertisements at the Bradley Center, Fox Sports Wisconsin, and also on Bucks broadcasts on 620 WTMJ. During the offseason, the only advertising that would be featured is on the Bucks’ Web site. Traditional initiatives

PurchaSe intentionS We will survey existing text service users to find out how many actually use the promotions or sale deals they receive by text. Also, we will ask about how many times they use messages versus the number of texts they receive. This will allow us to measure how many people intend to purchase versus how many actually purchase tickets.

BaSeline aWareneSS In order to measure the baseline awareness we will have to count the number of people who already subscribe to the Buck’s text message service. This will tell us how many people currently use the service and will serve as a starting point from where we will be able to compare the increase of users after the campaign.

Scaling Survey The scaling survey will be given out to potential subscribers at Bucks events. The surveys will inquire about intentions to subscribe, intentions to buy tickets and attend events. After the campaign we will send surveys to that same initial group and ask if they did subscribe. If so we will ask their overall impression of the service quality, relevance of messages, and satisfaction with the service.

develoPment of dataBaSe We will compare the amount of information we had on subscribers before and after the campaign to see how much our database has increased.

How will audience be reached/engaged to subscribe Buck’s text alerts?

The Bucks aim to inform as much of the target audience possible about the possibility and benefits of subscribing to text alerts through both traditional and non-traditional media channels.

Promotional evaluationWe can easily evaluate how many people signed up due to promotional events. For example, they can subscribe by texting different numbers for each event.

10

TacTics

traditional initiativeSTV

During the basketball season, all of Bucks’ TV commercials could end with the messages to inform and initiate audiences to subscribe Buck’s text alerts.

A lot of Bucks’ fans and members of the target audience might not be able to afford tickets to attend every game, but they are likely to watch the games on TV. So during the live broadcasting of Bucks’ games, the Bucks could purchase advertising spots on the bottom of the screen to promote the subscription of text alerts. The audience can do it during the game. It’s a good way to keep the target audience always updated and increase their interests to watch the game in person. Since the Bucks have a partnership with Fox Sports Wisconsin, this should be relatively free of cost.

Radio

The commute to and from work or school ways is a prime time to engage them with the experience of Bucks games. Just inform the audience to text “Milwaukee Bucks” to a certain number and that would subscribe them to regular text alerts about game scores, news and on-sale tickets.

Print: College newspapers and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

By buying ad space for newspapers that are already bought by our target audience, we would be able to reach more people as well as make it easier for people to sign up for the text alerts while doing something they normally do. They would not have to take an extra step to go to the website.

non-traditional initiativeS Website

Many people purchase tickets online and look up information and scores about the Bucks, website should be one of the most important channels to approach target audience.

Direct text alerts subscription: on »the Bucks home page, the link to subscribe to texts should be next to the links to follow Bucks on Facebook and Twitter.

Text alert sign-up during tickets »purchasing process: many consumers tend to purchase game tickets online. In order to keep them in the loop, the Bucks can provide the option to subscribe to text alerts from the ticket purchasing site.

Launch a campaign related with »text alert: if consumers can invite five friends to subscribe to Bucks texts, a 20% discount on tickets will become available.

Social Media (Facebook and »Twitter)

Inform fans to keep updated »through text alerts.

Newsletter

Based on the current database of people who have purchased tickets, the Bucks can send out newsletters with the link of text alerts subscription to the consumers

Bradley Center

For people that happen to go to a Bucks game, there could be a booth or announcement about signing up for text alerts. If someone is at the game and finds it fun and entertaining, they would sign up for the text alerts on an impulse. So after the game, every time they get a text, they would be reminded of the fun night they had and would want to go again.

Bars

Part of our target is eligible to drink and we want to target people looking for entertainment. Having representatives go out to bars mingling with people is a quick, easy way to sign up.

future initiativeSAs future initiatives are concerned, once people are signed up for the text-based services, that opens up an entire new avenue to lead people to the Bucks.

uSe BuxtextS to get ticket dealS!

Sign uP

11

budgeT and TiMeline

12

WoRks ciTed

duponT-nascaR

DuPont-NASCAR Marketing Case Study, Mark Jeffery and Justin Williams ‘07, Kellog School of Management

Scarborough Milwaukee. (2007). Release #1 (Feb2006-Jan2007) Simmons 2006 ESPN Kids Sports Polls 2006

Simmons Market Research Bureau. (2006). Simmons Spring 2006 NCS Adult Full Year Study [basketball attendance and interest]. New York, NY: SMRB Inc

Sport Business Research Network (2010). Market Research/Demographic of Basketball - NBA attendance. Retrieved from: http://www.sbrnet.com/research.asp?subrid=50

[http://www.nba.com/media/bucks/MB07_FANS.pdf ]

http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/80517287.html

Census

Milwaukee Bucks website, facebook and twitter pages MRI 2008/2009