Table of contents Executive summary 1



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Table of contents

Executive summary 1

Introduction 1

Organizational information/state of the team 1

Product/target market 1

Competition/climate 2

Objectives 2

Three promotional ideas 3

Conclusion 3

Organization 4

History/background 4

Goals 6

Programs, activities, accomplishments 7



Organizational chart 8

State of the team 8

Situational analysis 10

Product 10

Target market 11

Competitors 11

Climate 13

SWOT analysis 14

Objectives 16

#1 16


#2 16

#3 17


Promotions 18

#1: Leveraging Joe Johnson’s brand 18

#2: Networking the Hawks 20

#3: Boosting Attendance 21



References 22


Executive summary

Introduction


The purpose of this promotional plan is to increase fan involvement with the Atlanta Hawks organization and generate interest in the franchise. The goal of this plan is to capitalize on the Hawks’ strengths while branding the team in a positive light among other NBA teams and the general public. The Hawks organization has many favorable characteristics that can allow a lot of flexibility and creativity while promoting the franchise.

Organizational information/state of the team



Figure : Photo Credit: thestartingfive.net
The team is in a very good position in multiple ways. They are a competitive team in the Eastern Conference and a sure lock for a playoff spot. They have respectable players who have behaved admirably in their time as an NBA athlete. The organization has many experienced business individuals and also basketball individuals. The front office contains many various levels which ensures organizational stability in the following years. The Hawks also have a hometown in Atlanta that is not suffering as much of a recession as other cities, such as Detroit. A weakness of the franchise is the dominance of other teams in the conference. The Miami Heat, Boston Celtics, and Chicago Bulls are regarded as favorites to represent the conference in the NBA finals. hawk.jpg

Product/target market


This promotional plan is selling excitement for the Atlanta Hawks. This emotion is being targeted towards the younger generation. In today’s society more so than ever before, kids are constantly concerned with the newest, coolest, and most exciting thing in their world. If the organization is able to engrave in their minds that the Hawks are an exciting and notable team, the chance of garnering their attention increases. Once the kids are fixated on the team, the thought is they will pursue their parents to get involved with the Hawks organization as well. This is finally where the money and interest is peaked once the parents are feeding off their child’s desires.

Competition/climate


The competition from a basketball point of view is the other Eastern Conference playoff teams. The Miami Heat, Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls, and Orlando Magic are the primary opponents the Hawks must contend against. Outside of basketball, the Hawks are competing with the other professional sports teams in Atlanta. The Braves are routinely a formidable opponent in the MLB and the Falcons are a young, vibrant team on the rise in the NFL. The Hawks also have to contend with the Thrashers because they play the same time of the year and share a venue. The Hawks compete directly with these three teams for fan’s entertainment dollars.

Objectives


The first objective the promotional plan entails is increasing Joe Johnson’s jersey sales. The second objective is to increase interest on social networking sites; namely Facebook and Twitter. The final objective is to boost attendance at home games. These objectives were carefully chosen with purpose behind each. The first objective was selected to try and take advantage of our star player’s image in the community. Johnson is a leader of the team and all-star so he is someone the Hawks feel proud to have represent the organization. The second objective was chose because our target market is largely involved with Facebook and Twitter. If the Hawks can reach these kids through technological means, the probability of heightening their interest with the team will surely ascend. The final objective was devised to help bring in more gate receipts for home games. The goal is to create exceptional experiences at home games in hopes to create loyal fans who keep coming back to see the team play.

Three promotional ideas


The first plan is to advertise Joe Johnson everywhere and anywhere the Hawks target market may see him. The plan is to have kids shown wearing Johnson’s jersey on all types of advertising platforms. The internet, television commercials, and radio will be the primary places of advertisement. The second plan is to reward Facebook and Twitter fans with random giveaways for increasing the Hawks buzz among their friends. The goal is to give incentives to dedicated Hawks fans on these sites for growing the brand among the internet followers. The final plan is to boost attendance by creating remarkable atmospherics. Each home game will have a unique twist to hopefully culminate interest and keep fans entertained and eager to return to more games. These plans will be successful because they are easy for the fan to achieve. It is crucial to make these plans simplistic because the target market is a younger generation who are not fully capable of things many adults are. Being able to relate to them through channels they are comfortable with is essential to these three plans success.

Conclusion


This plan should work best in the following years. The current Hawks regular season is quickly winding down so these plans may best be implemented in the future. The expectations for the next few years are high for both the promotional plans and the team on the court. The team is close to being a championship contender with maybe one or two more additional pieces. Knowing the team is prime for success, these promotional plans are ripe to flourish just as well. The more success on the court the Hawks have, the more impactful these promotional plans will be.

Organization

History/background


The Atlanta Hawks have had a fairly successful history even though they only own one championship trophy. The franchise was first established as the Tri-Cities Blackhawks and was one of the 17 teams in the National Basketball Association in the 1949-1950 season. They didn’t remain as the Tri-Cities Blackhawks for long because the owner, Ben Kerner, moved the club to a new facility in Milwaukee and thus donned the name the Milwaukee Blackhawks at the start of the 1951-1952 season. Kerner’s club again moved; this time they went from Milwaukee to St. Louis where they found immediate success. Hall of Fame player Bob Pettit won the MVP award in the 1955-1956 year as he lead the league in points per game and also rebounding. The team came up just short of their first finals appearance as they lost to the Fort Wayne Pistons.

hawks.jpg

Figure : Photo Credit: nba.com/hawks/history

Later on, the organization was able to draft future star, Lou Hudson, in 1966 to try and fill the hole after Pettit retired in 1965. In 1968, Kerner made his final move as the Hawks owner and sold the team to a real-estate owner and Georgia governor and the team has been known as the Atlanta Hawks ever since. Thomas Cousins and Carl Sanders were the team’s owners from 1968 until 1977 and the team struggled to remain competitive. But when Ted Turner bought the franchise in 1977, the team was able to return back to the playoffs before losing to Washington in game 7. The Hawks remained an elite team and broke a 9-year drought of not winning their division in the 1979 season.




Figure : Photo Credit: nba.com/hawks/news/Rick_Sund_Bio
Seven different people currently own the Atlanta Hawks: Bruce Levenson, Michael Gearon, Ed Peskowitz, Rutherford Seydel, Todd Foreman, Michael Gearon, Sr., and Beau Turner. These men are all successful businessmen and entrepreneurs who comprise the Atlanta Spirit LLC. They are also seemingly well liked by the Atlanta community due to their extensive charitable work, Turner in particular. Rick Sund is the General Manager of the team. Sund is credited with a lot of the quality acquisitions that have catapulted the Hawks into a contender in the Eastern Conference. He is credited with bringing Mike Bibby, Marvin Williams, Jeff Teague, and Jamal Crawford to the team. He is regarded around the league as one of the NBA’s most respected executives. He is also seen as a positive philanthropist in the community who is constantly trying to better the city of Atlanta. sund.jpg

The Hawks value very highly the importance of giving back to the community. The Hawks are innovators for professional sports teams and one of the first to actively expand beyond the arena and help the rest of the society. They are impactful to kids and seek to make the younger generations lives better.

The Hawks play their home games in Phillips Arena. Something very unique about Phillips Arena is they share the facility with two other professional teams; the Atlanta Dream of the WNBA and the Atlanta Thrashers of the NHL. Sharing a facility that can house so many teams can be a very big advantage for the owners and city of Atlanta. With so many different attractions, the building is rarely empty and is very often bringing in profits from gate receipts, concessions, merchandise sales, etc. on a nightly basis. This can allow the teams to go out and spend more money on the upper echelon of talent in the league. The possible disadvantage of this would be the maintenance required to keep the facility in peak condition always. It would be a 24-hour a day job with so many people passing in-and-out daily.


Figure : Photo Credit:giantbomb.com
The Atlanta Hawks are rich with talent among their former players. Most notably would be Dominique Wilkins. He is the Hawks all-time leader in points and has numerous hours of video dedicated to him throwing down rim-breaking dunks. Arguably the second best Hawk ever would be Bob Pettit. He was named the MVP of the league 4 times and took the franchise to their lone championship. Another former Hawks player of interest is Lenny Wilkens who was at the time of his retirement 2nd all-time in assists in his career. Along with Dominique and Pettit, Lou Hudson is the only other Hawk to have his jersey retired. Former owner, Ted Turner, had a jersey retired in his honor as well. These members of the organization are loved by all Atlanta Hawks fans and appreciate what each one has given to the franchise. dominique.jpg

As for the Hawks legacy, the organization has seen a reasonable amount of success. They have only earned one world championship, but have been competitive for a large part of their history. They have made it to the NBA finals on 4 separate occasions and have 39 total playoff appearances. They have had down years, but that comes with the territory of any professional team. The future is bright for the Hawks as they have a youth infused core ready to take the next step in competing for an NBA championship.


Goals


Every organization strives to win and win championships specifically. The Hawks are taking steps to do the same. They have a talented core of players like Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Al Horford, and Jamal Crawford. But they still have big steps to take in order to overcome some of the powerhouse teams in the NBA. They have other goals that expand past the court. They have a program called TEAM GA (Techniques for Effective Alcohol Management) to help inform their guests about impaired driving and the responsibilities they encounter as patrons of Phillips Arena. The Atlanta Hawks Foundation puts on various events throughout the year such as hosting an annual golf outing to raise money for multiple philanthropic endeavors. They also held an event called a Full Court Fest which was a fundraiser where people were able to interact with the Hawks players, former players, and coaches. They have numerous activities that attempt to get the youth in Atlanta involved in learning and educating themselves. One example of this is the recent poetry contest they held. High school students were able to submit a poem he/she wrote and the winner was given the chance to recite the verse at a Hawks game in front of the whole arena.


Figure : Photo Credit: nba.com/hawks/community
The Atlanta Hawks mission statement would encompass a multitude of things. First, as an organization on the court, they want to win and put a team on the court that the community is excited about. The organization has a very positive image among the rest of the league. None of the players have been having legal issues or have been in the media for any negative news. Secondly, they try to improve the community around them and specifically the youth by getting them involved in educational programs so they will be doing something positive with their time. The Hawks are very involved with the public and have many outreach programs that illustrate the importance placed on giving back to the community. hawks read achieve.jpg

Programs, activities, accomplishments


The Hawks were one of the first professional sports teams to develop a foundation. They are thoroughly committed to reaching beyond the basketball court and making their efforts felt in the Atlanta community. They are a part of the NBA’s Read to Achieve educational program. They created a local “All-Star Reading Team” to further motivate the kids of Atlanta. They are also involved with the Fast Break for Reading program. With this program, they will award teachers who excel in the scholastic system by giving them the All-Star Teacher Award. The impact is immense and is very important to promoting lifelong learning and reading in the youth.

The Hawks also participate actively in community outreach programs. Each year since 2000, they have gone to a local Atlanta neighborhood and renovated 2 courts in the area to promote kids to play basketball and stay away from possible negative things. The Home Depot is in conjunction with the Hawks as they repave the cement, put up fencing, and all the details needed for the renovations. After the ribbon cutting ceremony on the new courts, there is a basketball clinic held for the youth. Another outreach program involves recognizing and awarding outstanding individuals for their efforts in the community. They created a Home Town Hero Award and give the winner tickets to Hawks games, a jersey, and tickets to go to New Orleans via Amtrak. They also have a Rebound Against Hunger program to help combat starvation. In the 2003 season, the Hawks donated $25 to the Atlanta Community Food Bank every time Shareef Abdur-Raheem pulled down a rebound. The Hawks are actively bettering the lives of the people in the Atlanta area constantly.


Organizational chart



Atlanta Spirit LLC. (7 Owners)



President: Bob Williams

Executive Management:




General Manager & Executive Vice President: Rick Sund


Senior Vice Presidents: Tracy White, T. Scott Wilkinson, Phil Ebinger




Assistant General Managers:

T. Scott Wilkinson & Dave Pendergraft





Vice President: Dominique Wilkins

State of the team


There have been many influential players and faces of the Hawks organization since its existence since 1949. Without question, the number 1 face of the franchise is Dominique Wilkins. He was one of the most popular players ever and is still in an executive position for the team. He best represents the community and the Hawks faithful still love him. The second person who best represents the franchise is Lenny Wilkens. He excelled as a Hawk both as a coach and as a player. He became the winningest coach ever while he was coaching his Hawks and also was at one point second all-time in assists in a career. Those are accomplishments that very few players or coaches have had the privilege to be a part of and being he has done extraordinarily well in both is remarkable. The final face of the franchise is Joe Johnson. He is currently the Hawks best player and leader on the court. He is highly underrated and one of the most clutch players in the league when the clock is approaching 00:00. He is liked by his teammates and well respected around the league.

The team is seen as a high energy, highly talented, young team among the rest of the NBA. But in the community, they are seen as people who are actively trying to improve the city they live in through numerous charitable work and various programs.

The coaching staff is lead by head coach Larry Drew. He is in his first year as a NBA coach and has been pretty successful thus far. The assistant coaches are Lester Conner, Bob Bender, Kenny Gattison, and Tyrone Hill. Nick Van Exel is also on the staff as a player development instructor. The staff is comprised of all previous players in the NBA and all have long track records of success.

The front office goals for the Hawks should be set at the team reaching the Eastern Conference finals. This may seem like a tall task being the Heat, Magic, and Celtics are all heavily loaded with players, but so are the Hawks. The team matches up pretty favorably against Orlando but may struggle with Dwight Howard. The Hawks are weakest up front and that is Orlando’s biggest asset with Howard at center. The Hawks are more athletic and younger than the Celtics currently so that may be an advantage. The Celtics are a proven team against the Hawks and beat them in the 2008 playoffs in a tough 7 game serious. And as for the Heat, no team really matches up well against Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh when they play as well.



One would expect them to challenge for an Eastern Conference title possibly this year but certainly in the years to follow. Fans should feel confident the team will continue on the right path and within the next 3 seasons earn an Eastern Conference Championship and contend for their second World Championship.

Situational analysis

Product


The Atlanta Hawks are an athletic, youthful, exhilarating team that is looking to make a name for itself among the NBA’s elite. The Hawks encompass one main thing: excitement. The Hawks are a team loaded with youth but have developed an unprecedented chemistry. They are in a position to do some great things on and off the basketball court.


Figure : Photo Credit: nba.com/hawks
The emotional state of the team can be described as hopeful. The youth infused core is as consistent as any team in the league. They can pick each other up when one may have an off night due to their depth. Although they were only picked in the preseason to finish as the 13th best team in the power rankings, the Hawks are definite threats to the favorites in the Eastern Conference, the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics. The goal of the team is to advance into the Eastern Conference finals and vie for a NBA championship birth against the Western Conference champion. The team matches up formidably against both the Celtics and Heat. Atlanta is a much younger team than Boston and took them to game 7 last postseason. As for the Heat, matching up with Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh will be trouble for any team. But the Hawks are possibly one of the scariest opponents for the Heat. Joe Johnson is the same size as James and can body him on defense. Josh Smith is a bigger, slightly more athletic Bosh. D-Wade can be neutralized by a longer, lengthy Marvin Williams and some help defense when Williams gets beat. The team is prime for a deep playoff run and championships in the future. josh smith.jpg

Target market



Figure : Photo Credit: nba.com/hawks/community
The Hawks’ target market is the young basketball fan in Atlanta and the metropolitan area surrounding the city. The team can appeal to all ages as they have a diverse team and can play different styles. The primary demographic will be the younger generation who come from middle to upper class families. They will be fascinated with the high flying Josh Smith and effortless scoring ability of Jamal Crawford while the secondary demographic of old school basketball fans can appreciate Joe Johnson’s finesse and also Al Horford’s toughness inside. These various aspects of the team are just two examples of diverse psychographics that the Hawks team can offer to fans. kids.jpg

Every person, especially sports fans, loves getting free items and benefits for being a part of an organization. These are all motivating factors that can help generate revenue and attract more season ticket holders by giving the fans things they want.


Competitors


The most obvious competitors to the Atlanta Hawks franchise are the other NBA teams striving to win an NBA championship. The Hawks share a division with their most direct competition, the Miami Heat. There are other direct competitors with the Hawks as well. These are the teams that also share Atlanta as their hometown. The Falcons, Thrashers, and Braves are all viable sports teams in Georgia and compete for center stage in the state’s biggest city. But with such an eclectic pool of talent on the team, the Hawks are still a major player in the intercity competition for supremacy.

Outside of the sports industry, there are still other opponents the Hawks must deal with. As one of the most popular cities in the world, Atlanta has many different attractions to offer people. There are numerous museums, theme parks, aquariums, parks, and many other things that can lure people away from the sporting scene. With the current state of the economy, every entertainment dollar is critical for all businesses to sustain during these rough times.

The Atlanta Braves and Falcons are two teams the community in Atlanta follows closely. The Braves have a strong tradition of winning divisions and making deep runs into the playoffs. They are well liked among the citizens of Georgia. One disadvantage the Braves are currently faced with is the retirement of long-time manager Bobby Cox. He has led the team to all their division titles and World Series’ appearances so now the team must struggle to find a new identity with their leader no longer in the dugout. braves.jpg


Figure : Photo Credit: mlb.com/braves
The Falcons are also a winning organization but in a slightly different sense. They have just recently become a top team in the NFL. They were the #1 ranked NFC team in the NFL playoffs this year and many predicted them to reach the Super Bowl. They have a young, talented roster much like the Hawks. The biggest disadvantage for the Falcons is their failure to deliver in the playoffs. They were bounced in the Divisional round of the playoffs as the eventual Super Bowl Champions, the Green Bay Packers, trounced them. The fan following is very strong for both teams. This causes the Hawks success to be even more crucial to maintaining a strong fan base in Atlanta.


Figure : Photo Credit: accessnorthga.com
All three of the popular Atlanta sports teams, Hawks, Falcons, and Braves, are competing for the same target market. The target market they are looking to attract is the sports fan in Atlanta and the surrounding metropolitan areas. This overlapping target market makes sports entertainment dollars scarce. The competition among these three professional teams drives the need for each to compete for championships in order to generate enough revenue to stay relevant in the city. falcons.jpg

Climate


The entire United States has seen major economic problems within the last decade. But fortunately for Atlanta, it has been one of a few cities that has been able to minimize the effects of such a poor economy. According to economywatch.com, Atlanta was very well off and was virtually immune to various economic problems other cities have dealt with. This is partly because of the recent Olympics that were held in the city in 1996. The city has managed their profits well and as a result has been able to tread water while other cities have faltered in recent years. Economy Watch also predicts that Atlanta will take at least until 2011 to revive its economy which is a significantly sooner than many other big cities in the states.

Furthermore, Fizber is a group that analyzes the economy and stated Atlanta’s unemployment rate to be just 5.3%. Since Atlanta is among the elite cities economically currently, they do not have to deal with such steep declines in revenue. This is also shown in this past offseason as the team was able to spend a fortune on its star player, Joe Johnson. He will receive $119 million over the next 6 years, roughly $20 million per year. This shows how the economy in Atlanta has taken a hit just as everyone else has, but they have still kept their head up and maintained a reasonable climate in these hard times.

The societal and cultural climate is also one that favors the Hawks. According to areaconnect.com, the people in Atlanta are predominately African-American at nearly 62% and the majority of the people are ages 25-34 years old. This is a premium demographic for the Atlanta Hawks. According to helium.com, African-Americans dominate certain sports, basketball being the most notable. So having a city populated by mainly African-Americans, it would seem basketball would be very popular especially among the 25-34 age range. This age range is very aware of their surroundings and able to understand the current styles of play more so than other age groups. For example, an elderly man may not appreciate the skill required for Josh Smith to put the ball through his legs in mid-air and dunk because they grew up watching more traditional types of play; players like Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, Bob Pettit didn’t possess the same talent today’s players have.

With every new technology, there comes change. The Internet has infinitely changed how people do business in the world and will only continue to evolve. One relatively new technology the Hawks organization may take advantage of could be implementing mobile technology. Smart phones, iPads, and other handheld devices are becoming increasingly popular for all people. It would be in the best interest of the Hawks to somehow utilize this evolution. They could possibly keep a Twitter of all the news regarding the team or create an application that allows fans to track the team through their mobile device. Players may even keep a Twitter account that could allow for more athlete-fan interaction. This may heighten interest in the team and thus generate more revenue.


SWOT analysis


Strengths:

  • Exciting, youthful team

  • Economically stable city

  • Star power

  • Nice weather

Weaknesses:

  • Tough division/conference

  • Inexperienced

  • Baseball season starting

Opportunities:

  • Expand talent on team

  • Help improve community even more

  • Utilize technology

Threats:

  • Other professional teams in Atlanta

  • Underperforming

The most notable strength of the Hawks is the level of play they bring. They are a fun team to watch and can draw in many different fans with their exciting style of play. They are also fortunate to live in a city that has handled the economic downturn relatively well compared to the rest of the population. This gives them opportunities to give back to the community and help increase Atlanta’s economic climate more. Also regarding the economy, they are able to possibly go out and spend more money on players due to their economy being respectable. The organization knows they can spend money on talent but at the same time get a return on their investment via gate receipts, concessions, merchandise, etc. because Atlanta is doing okay economically.

On the other side, possible weaknesses of the Hawks could have to play in the same division as the Miami Heat. The Heat are favorites to win the title in some peoples’ minds so this would make Atlanta’s journey tougher. The youth of the team is also a possible negative drawback because they may not understand what it takes to win a championship but a team like the Boston Celtics does understand because they have done it previously. As for the popularity of the Hawks, the biggest threat is the other Atlanta professional teams, namely the Falcons and Braves. The Falcons had been the main focus of the city since many experts chose them to go to the Super Bowl this year so this overshadowed the Hawks season for over a month. The lack of exposure takes attention away from the Hawks and gives it to the Falcons. Lastly, the Hawks may still gain the attention of its Atlanta fans, but it will be quickly forgotten if the team underperforms. Underperformance is the quickest way to have fans lose interest in a team.



The organization has a few advantages that other franchises don’t have the luxury of owning. The Hawks are in a city that is economically on the upward so spending money is more feasible than other cities. For example, Atlanta was able to sign players this past off-season and improve while the Detroit Pistons have taken massive steps back, just as the city of Detroit has as a whole. The Hawks are able to better appeal to the fans of Atlanta because they can put out a product on the court people will enjoy watching. The city and franchise are prime for success both this year and into the future.

Objectives


The Atlanta Hawks organization has numerous promotional ideas designed to help increase awareness and fan interest in the community. These objectives are primarily directed at the Hawks target market which happens to be the youth population of kids aged 20 and under. The first promotional objective involves increasing Joe Johnson’s jersey sales. The second deals with increasing awareness on various social networks. Lastly, the Hawks are aiming to boost the attendance average at home games. johnson.jpg

#1



Figure : Photo Credit: hawksjerseydeals.com
The first objective of this promotional plan deals with merchandise sales, specifically jersey sales. The idea is to improve Hawks All-Star Joe Johnson’s jersey sales to our target market by 5% within two months. This objective was carefully chosen for a few key reasons. First, Johnson is the biggest name on the Hawks and is known around the league as a star. He has been a leader on the team since his arrival and the city values his talents. Secondly, he is a very marketable individual who has never had any bad media exposure in his time with Atlanta. He works-hard, does his job, and sets a good example for the rest of his teammates. Finally, Johnson is a young player who can create a younger following through his play. Young kids enjoy watching abilities so they will be more enticed to follow him. This promotion will be measured primarily through merchandise sales of his jersey. It will be important to monitor his jersey sales, specifically youth jersey sizes. The sales will be counted weekly to ensure the goal progresses each week. This will be a good indicator of whether or not this objective is attained in two months.

#2


The second promotional plan is to increase fan awareness on different types of social networks. There are two specific networks that are looking to gain attention: Facebook and Twitter. The goal for Facebook is to increase the number of “Likes” on the Hawks’ homepage to over 95,000 people by next year. Currently, the number is just under 89,000. For Twitter, the goal is to increase the number of followers of the Hawks’ official page to over 25,000 next season as well; it currently stands at over 19,000 followers. These goals were chosen because of the connection our target market shares with social networking sites in today’s society. Nearly all kids have a Facebook or Twitter account they use on a daily basis. This will better connect to their favorite players and team so they are up to date with the Hawks latest news. In order to continually increase these numbers, both Twitter and Facebook will have to be maintained daily to keep the fans interest. These goals can be measured by going to the official Twitter page and Facebook page of the Atlanta Hawks.

#3


The final goal of the Hawks promotional plan is to increase overall attendance. The goal is to increase attendance of home games by the end of the season to over 16,000 fans on average. The team is hoping to draw out specifically the family demographic. The main reason for this goal being directed at the family demographic is because if the franchise is able to increase family’s gate receipts at, it will increase figures in other areas as well. A typical family has a 3-4 members so if the Hawks are able to draw out all of them rather than just the parents, not only will gate receipts increase, but also the merchandise and concessions revenue. The current average for home games is 14,613 which ranks 24th in the league. If the Hawks can increase attendance in the last half of the season to over 17,500, the Hawks can meet there goal of 16,000. This increase would place the team in the middle of the pact for attendance rather than in the lower echelon of the league. This will encompass many different ideas to help draw out fans such as family night, drawings for family’s to win a free pizza, a child to win a free jersey, and other various giveaways. This idea will be measured by asking fans to fill out surveys after attending games and also by online profiling. It will also be important to count gate receipts and ticket purchases; meaning if tickets were bought in sets of 4 or 5 versus just 2.

Promotions

#1: Leveraging Joe Johnson’s brand


The first objective of the Atlanta Hawks was to increase Joe Johnson’s jersey sales to our target market. Johnson’s jersey sales will be our primary focus and will target the younger aged generation. The Hawks are planning to advertise his jersey anywhere and everywhere possible in Atlanta’s community. When commercials for Hawks’ games are shown on television, a young boy/girl will be seen wearing the star player’s uniform. This will connect other youth with this child on TV and entice them to want a Joe Johnson replica jersey.

This idea is different because it is solely focusing on capitalizing on Joe Johnson, not the entire team. The organization is choosing to focus on the star player and communicate his brand with the youth market. It slightly models the Cleveland Cavaliers past advertising with Lebron James. James was without a doubt the face of the team and had one of the most popular selling jerseys while he was in Cleveland. The city adored him and rallied around him; Atlanta will be trying to capture that same excitement with Johnson in Atlanta.




Figure : Visual Aid: One frame of Hawks new commercial
The visual aid being used is centering TV commercials on kids who are wearing Johnson’s jersey. It would include the kids playing the game for fun and with the game being won on a shot by a little boy/girl wearing Joe Johnson’s jersey. This will hopefully connect to the youth and also show that wearing Johnson’s jersey is a sign of a “winner”. kids johnson jersey.jpg

This idea falls under the advertisement category. Advertising was chose because in order to boost jersey sales



to our target market, it’s critical to find a way to relate to them and connect with them, specifically through technology. Because young kids spend so much time in front of a TV or computer screen, it is important to reach them through those means. This will impact the target market by compelling them to desire a Johnson jersey. They will associate winning and being “cool” with wearing Johnson’s jersey. This idea is a legitimate possibility for the Hawks. A possible downfall of this idea is kids not making the connection of winning and “cool” to his jersey. Another weakness could be how easily TV commercials are dismissed. There’s an overwhelming amount of advertising on television that it is very easy for anyone, especially young kids, to ignore any given commercial if it doesn’t instantly grab his/her attention. But a strength of this idea is it has opportunity to reach more than just the target market. Teenagers and young adults may see the ad and feel as if they want to own a Johnson jersey. Additionally, a strength would also be the extra exposure the Hawks and Johnson would receive from these commercials. It may increase awareness of the team to fans who have maybe lost touch with the organization and reel them back into the excitement of Hawks basketball.

#2: Networking the Hawks



Figure : Visual Aid: Screenshot of Hawk's Twitter

Figure : Photo Credit: facebook.com & twitter.com
The second objective of the Hawks promotional campaign is to increase awareness of the team on Facebook and Twitter. This idea will be directed at all people in the Atlanta area who have either/or of the previously mentioned social networking sites. Even more specifically, the Hawks are aiming to target the younger population again to attract their interest since they are the primary users of Facebook and Twitter. The idea for this plan is to provide benefits for people on Facebook and Twitter who help generate interest in the Hawks. For Facebook, whenever a person is able to get 15 of their friends to “Like” the Hawks official Facebook page, he/she will be entered into various drawings held at the end of each month. First prize will be 4 tickets to a Hawks home game with food vouchers and parking accommodations. Second prize will be an official NBA game ball signed by the Hawks roster. Finally, the third prize will be a free Joe Johnson jersey. Furthermore, for Twitter, a person will be entered into the same raffle whenever he/she successfully gets 15 new followers of the Hawks official Twitter page. These giveaways will be held at the end of each month and will have a total of 6 winners (three for each site). The visual aid example of this plan will be images of desktops of the Facebook and Twitter pages of fans and the growing number of hits on each site. facebook.png twitter.jpg

This is different than any other promotional ideas because it involves giving away valuable items for simply browsing the Internet. It generates fan buzz through the means of Facebook and Twitter. This idea falls in the category of incentives because it is a unique opportunity to connect with the target market again through the means of technology, but it doesn’t ask them to put forth any money in the process. It garners interest about the team in a positive way. This idea is very plausible and wouldn’t cost the organization much in return. A strength of this plan would be tremendous fan/youth interest. This could be a major promotional idea and wildly popular among Facebook and Twitter users. Another benefit would be the opportunity for the Hawks to spread their “wings” deep into the social networking world. Keeping up with the newest technology and networking is critical for businesses and organizations to stay relevant in this society. A pitfall of this plan could be tracking “Likes” and new followers. It may be hard to distinguish who the new followers and fans are of the Hawks based on who suggested them to like their respective pages. Basically, how do we know you convinced these people to follow the Hawks sites? Another downfall may be the probability of winning. Since only 6 winners will be announced each month, hundreds, maybe thousands of loyal fans will be empty handed at the completion of each month when he/she doesn’t receive any prize.


#3: Boosting Attendance


The final plan for the Hawks is to boost attendance figures significantly. This plan will be directed at all Hawks fans, specially the fans that have multiple members in the family. By attempting to attract larger groups of people (families), additional revenue will be generated in other facets of the organization. The main course of increasing attendance will be to have radical atmospherics at the arena. This will be different than most other atmospherics because they will be worthwhile attractions and last throughout the end of the game. Additionally, they will increase at the end of the game to reward the people who stay throughout the entire game. Shooting free shirts out to the crowd, free pizzas, chances to shoot at halftime for prizes, kids shoot on the court before and after the game, and contests are some of the atmospherics that will be utilized. The visual aid for this plan will be pictures of different activities; shooting t-shirts into the stands, half-court shots, etc.


Figure : Visual Aid: Washington Mystics example of radical atmospherics
This falls under atmospherics and was chosen for a few reasons. The more buzz around the team and creation of a positive experience for people, the more successful the Hawks can be in generating more fans at games. The idea involves the target market by getting them on the court to shoot around and doing other activities directly requiring their engagement. This idea is also plausible for the Hawks. A possible negative about this could be the risk of giving fans too much freedom and being hard to monitor all the different activities. A positive though could be creating a loyal fan that repeatedly comes back for these activities. Another positive may also be the reaction of the parents of kids who participate in these activities. They may be more apt to spread the word of how exciting and fun Hawks games are to fellow parents. msytics.jpg

References


http://espn.go.com/nba/powerrankings/_/week/0

http://www.nba.com/hawks/deposit/1112.html

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Joe-Johnson-to-sign-a-ridiculous-deal-with-the-A?urn=nba-252877

http://atlanta.areaconnect.com/statistics.htm

http://www.economywatch.com/world_economy/usa/cities/atlanta-economy.html

http://economy.fizber.com/georgia/atlanta/

http://www.helium.com/items/755232-why-black-athletes-dominate-sports

http://www.nba.com/hawks/history/00400483.html#13

http://www.nba.com/hawks/general_info/staff_directory_001220.html

http://www.philipsarena.com/Content/Default.aspx

http://www.apbr.org/retired.html

http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/ATL/



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