MMS712 : Sport Marketing
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Added on 2020-09-09
MMS712 : Sport Marketing
Added on 2020-09-09
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CASE STUDY - NBA CARESUNIT CODE: MMS712UNIT NAME: SPORT MARKETINGUNIT CHAIR:STUDENT & ID:DUE DATE:WORD COUNT:I certify that the attached work is entirely my own, except where material quoted or paraphrased is acknowledged in the text. I also declare that it has not been submitted for assessment in any other unit or course.Page 0 of 25
MMS712Ujwal Trivedi - 215415774TABLE OF CONTENTSSR. NOSUBJECTPG. NOPart 1Summary and Scope2Part 2 Case Study41.Introduction: Incorporating Communal WelfarePolicies In Sport42.‘NBA and the Basketbrawl’43.Understanding Public Attitude for Devising a Marketing Strategy74.NBA’s Marketing Ploy - ‘NBA Cares’95.NBA Care and its Promotional Mix126.Conclusion – A Successful Initiative16Part 3Questions and Answers17Reference List20Page 1 of 25
MMS712Ujwal Trivedi - 215415774PART 1 - SUMMARY AND SCOPERelationship between sport and philanthropy is interlaced. As professional athletes havegarnered considerate amount of attention for activities which they perform on and off thefield of play over the years, a corresponding stakeholder expectation of their charitableinvolvement has followed which has been scrutinized and analysed with a microscopic lens.Indeed, athletes form a unique resource pool which the sport capitalizes upon to create animpact on social issues coupled with gaining positive associations for themselvesThis case study endeavours to present and highlight the powerful role of marketing andpromotional strategies exercised in manipulating public perceptions towards the NationalBasketball Association (“NBA”) in the aftermath of the infamous 2004 brawl between theIndiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons (“Event”) wherein the fight extended into the stands withthe spectators getting involved (Giannoulakis & Drayer 2009, p. 454). Considering a ‘socialcontract’ had been violated between the fans and players, the NBA had to address andrespond to an aggressive media backlash (Green 2014, p. iv). The NBA, in its capacity of anorganization governing the sport of basketball not only in the United States, but also in theworld, found itself and its players under intense scrutiny from the media and its fans, thusdisparaging the reputation it had built over the years preceding the said Event. Accordingly, the NBA countered the said Event through its corporate social initiative in theform of the ‘NBA Cares Program’ (“Program”) in an attempt to restore the credibility andimage of its players and the sport. This case study examines the evolution of marketing as afunction exercised by the NBA and its Program stating that it has assumed centres-stage inthe sport industry today. It further proceeds to highlight the importance of understandingpublic attitudes before strategizing a marketing plan as it is crucial to understand the needsand demands of the market before catering to it. Thereafter, the case study proceeds toanalyse the various promotional tools used by the Program such as public relations,reputational management and the new media such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagramwherein the impact of the same on public perceptions is ascertained. The impact of socialmedia for projecting a positive image of an organization cannot be overlooked by sportingPage 2 of 25
MMS712Ujwal Trivedi - 215415774bodies like the NBA today. Correspondingly, the Case Study concludes by stating that thepublic relations and promotional campaign adopted by the NBA was a success considering ithas made significant financial strides as well as widened its fan base globally since theaftermath of the said notorious Event.Subsequently, the author attempts to engage the readers by letting them test theirknowledge bank on the subject of sport marketing in the form of a ‘Question & Answer’segment to further expand their horizon on the issues presented by this case study. Page 3 of 25
MMS712Ujwal Trivedi - 215415774PART 2 – CASE STUDY1.INTRODUCTION: INCORPORATING COMMUNALWELFARE POLICIES IN SPORTControversies involving team players in American professional team sports is commonplace.Brawls, alcohol and drug abuse, steroids, involvement in criminal activity, sexual abuse andthe like have dictated headlines, thus resulting in negative press coverage. According toGiannoulakis and Drayer (2009, p. 454), it is unsurprising that professional leagues like theNBA find themselves in a public relations (“PR”) and marketing skirmish to establish thattheir players are not just role models, but also leaders in their respective communities. Asnoted by Babiak and Wolfe (2006, p. 215), teams and their respective leagues are realisingthe importance of developing positive perceptions about the sport in the eyes of the public.Hamilton opines (in Babiak et al. 2012, p. 159):Players, in addition to their work on the field, must also do their part in integrating the teamwith the community it represents ... the goal is to have fans in the market associate themand the team for which they play to positive community activities. (Babiak et al. 2012, p.159)Therefore, leagues are striving hard to foster policies promoting community development inorder to project their athletes as positive role models. The case of NBA Care stemming froman initiative undertaken by NBA in the aftermath of the ill-famed ‘Basketbrawl’ is one suchexample which we shall consider in detail in the following segments (Green 2014, p. 20).2.NBA AND THE ‘BASKETBRAWL’The NBA is a professional basketball league comprising 30 teams across the North Americancontinent featuring the best basketball players in the world (NBA 2016). It strives to be themost successful league in the world guided by injecting its expansion plans with values ofsocial responsibility. It tries to effect positive change in society by channelizing thepopularity of its players towards a wide array of social causes and events (Filizöz & Fişne2011, p. 1412). It is imperative that it continues to engage in such communal welfarePage 4 of 25
MMS712Ujwal Trivedi - 215415774initiatives considering the NBA is constantly battling to erase and evade the negativepublicity it has magnetized over the past two decades (as seen in Figure 1) below, especiallyin the aftermath of the “Basketbrawl” event of 2004.Figure 1 – Timeline of Negative Events between 1997 – 2004 (Giannoulakis & Drayer 2009, p. 455)Page 5 of 25
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