Introduction
This is a marketing plan essay based on the sport which is liked and envied by most people in Auastralia.The sport has contributed to the development of the Australian economy and has a lot of impact on the citizens and the players themselves.Having held a successful Rugby world cup final in the year 2003 the memories of the sport is still in the minds of many and that is one of the reasons why most of the Australians still love the sport.This is because its aftermath is being felt in terms of increased trading partners,increase in the number of tourist,employment opportunities to more people and improvement of the infrastructure.
Sport Attributes
Benefits Received
Australia has gained a lot from this sport. In 2003 Rugby world cup was staged in Australia thus providing a US $ 150 million for the international Rugby Board and AUD $ 43million profit for Australian Rugby union.
The sport also has exposed the image of Australia and it has helped the country have more people visiting it from different parts of the world. By hosting the 2003 world cup, Australia took advantage of the event to showcase the business opportunities which resulted to signing of various agreements thus increasing the export goods.The big event also enable the Australian itizens acquire both short term and long term employment opportunities. (Mitchman , Mazzee ,Greco , 2003)
Pricing
The Australian Rugby union usually control the prices of the tickets and most ticket prices range from 25-50 pounds. The pricing is controlled so in order to avoid the sale of it in the black markets. This is done so by selling the tickets online and in the supermarkets.
Promotional strategies
The Australian Rugby union is televising matches on TV in order to reach more fans who are unable to reach the stadium to watch live matches. The Rugby union has the plan to extent the sports infrastructure in the region in order to achieve lifelong sports society.Rugby has also been introduced in schools in order to capture the growing talents at an early age.Press release and advertisements in magazines,newspapers and journals has also been employed as another means of reaching out to the people in order to capture their attention to the sport..
Distribution
Australia has made sure that most Rugby fans do not miss each and every single action of the event by staging live matches on TV.Australian Rugby union is also ensuring that more Rugby fields are build across the country so that more spectators can be reached.They have also ensured that ticket prices are affordable to many by lowering the ticket prices.Mobile updates are also available to those fans who might be traveling or busy with other chores.(Paley, 2006)
Current Target Markets
For any sport to prosper it has to reach most of the fans.Australia has made this possible by building more Rugby fields and by reducing the ticket pricing.It has also tried to promote the sport world wide by playing friendly matches with the world’s reknown teams like France and
England.
The Australian Rugby Union is mainly targeting the youth and middle aged groups because they constitute almost 90% of the country’s Rugby fans.This is because most of them are working and they also spend a lot to have fun.
Product positioning
Rugby is a sport envied by many people across the world and not only in Australia.Therefore it not only attracts people from Australia but all over the world.Therefore staging the event will not only boost domestic fans but also tourist fans.This then will lead to the economic gain by the country directly or indirectly.
Current Distribution Network
Fans will be able to watch live matches by purchasing tickets directly from the internet which will enable them to watch the sport being played live in the stadiums or purchasing TV rights and watch the live matches directly from their sitting rooms.Live scores are also being posted to the internet so that those who are unable to watch the game live in the stadium or in the TV can get a direct and live scores in the computers or straight from their mobile phones.Aftermath scores are also being printed in the magazines and newspapers.
Competitive Analysis
Australian Rugby faces stiff competition from the Australian Football.This is because football targets almost the same age group of fans like Rugby.It is also a game which has most fans all over the world.
Australian football has a wide distribution network i.e. fans can buy the tickets directly from the internet.Various games are also televised live on TV and thereby reaching more fans. This sometimes happens at the same time when Rugby games are being aired live and thus giving the
Rugby sport a lot of competition in terms of fans.
Budgetary Allocation
Most of the funds allocated to the Rugby by the Australian Rugby union is mainly used in the advertisement of the sport both in and outside Australia.Marketing has also been allocated funds in order to pull more fans and make a bigger percentage of the people aware of the sport.Distribution of the sport by reaching more people in terms of TV coverage and building of more stadiums is also allocated funds.Player’s salaries and allowance also constitute part of the budgetary allocation. (Holder, 1996)
References
Paley; N (2006) The managers guide to competitive marketing strategy .London:Thorogood
Mitchman, R , Mazzee , E & Greco, A (2003) Lifestyle marketing. Reaching the American
consumers , Westport ,CT:Praeger.
Holder, B , (1996) First build a marketing plan:ABA Banking Journal , vol.88.
