sport marketing :: essays research papers

Sport Marketing The notion of "marketing myopia" has haunted marketers since Theodore Levitt published his famous article "Marketing Myopia" in Harvard Business Review in 1960. Levitt argues that companies which narrowly focus on the product to the detriment of customer requirements (i.e., dispensing with the marketing concept) suffer from marketing myopia. Myopia or shortsightedness is often apparent within organizations. Several types of marketing myopia can be identified including classic myopia, competitive myopia and efficiency myopia. Companies displaying one of these three elements are clearly distinguishable from innovative firms which embrace the marketing concept in practice and which have a much broader scope than is required for a single business sector. In order to overcome myopia and become innovative, the following is recommended:  Companies should hold a generic view of themselves and of the industry in which they operate  Companies should also take the crucial step to monitor other industries  Benchmarking should be conducted  Marketing staff should be recruited but not necessarily from the same sector  Companies should be flexible and seek unique solutions. The biggest reason for market myopia is the lack of research or the inefficiency of that research. Almost all of the myopia could be avoided if research and the researchers were trained and the thought process was developed in a good fashion. All of marketing whether it is in sports or out of sports all revolves around the same basic principles the four P’s. In all of marketing the P’s are: Product, Price, Place and Promotion, however in sport there is an added principle and that is Public relations. Even the best marketers can come up short according to these principles because it does not matter how much you know but rather in a service business such as sport it most important to be able to interact with the consumers. A great example of a lack of interaction is here at Merrimack College. Our sport programs do not get enough marketing coverage both on and off campus. Our Sports Information Director does not place flyers in the student union and also he does not advertise on the college television channel. Here at Merrimack, they lack the Promotion aspect of their sports, which includes our division one hockey program. A great example of this lack of communication was the fact that when the hockey team was playing against then #1 Maine, the campus was not informed of this huge game.