Licensed Goods FINAL

Licensed Goods in China:Growing Revenue By Tying Goods to the Game

+Franklin Barrett+Sangmi Park+Ryan Hatcher

+ Executive Summary+ Understanding+ Recommendations

+ eCommerce and Analytics+ Player Endorsement+ Leveraging the Chinese Celebrity+ Engaging Youth Sports, Alumni Engagement, and Amateur

Baseball Clubs + Conclusions

Table of Contents




Table of Contents

+ Not only is China the world’s largest consumer of licensed goods, but it is also the fastest growing. MLB is capitalizing on that with over 275 MLB Shop locations in Mainland China.

+ MLB licensed goods are seen largely as a luxury item and are not directly associated with the sport of baseball.

+ Using celebrity and Major League players to endorse licensed goods, MLB can increase both the breadth and depth of their consumer market.

+ Additionally, by taking full advantage of the analytical capabilities provided by a fully functional eCommerce platform, MLB can identify new markets for its licensed goods.

Executive Summary




Table of Contents

+ China is considered to be the 2nd largest merchandising licensed goods market in Asia

+ The growth of licensed goods is thought to continually grow and expand the licensed goods business

China’s has one of the world’s largest markets for licensed goods

The Average Chinese Customer Does Not Associate MLB Apparel with the Sport of Baseball

• One of MLB’s goals regarding licensed goods is to increase association between the goods and the game of baseball itself.

• MLB must be careful not to alienate the current customers who are currently generating revenue.

• Most purchases are “Fashion-Buys” with no real connection to baseball




Table of Contents

eCommerce and Analytics

+The population of Chinese with internet access exceeds the entire population of the US. 60% of these people access the internet via mobile device

+By tracking sales, location, and other key metrics, MLB can identify populations of fans not previously known.

Player and Celebrity Endorsement

Youth and Amateur Club Engagement

+MLB has access to the best players in the world.

+While dressing celebrities in MLB apparel will help generate sales, using professional will reinforce the connection between goods and game.

+Pursuit of an enhanced community engagement model is recommended

+Engagement of baseball clubs that exist outside of the university program will augment awareness of the brand in China

eCommerce and Analytics

44% of the Chinese population has internet access. That is a larger population than all of the US.

The average Chinese internet user spends 40% of their waking hours on the internet.

The Chinese consumer can buy anything he wants at the click of a button on his mobile device

TMALL+ Two click mobile shopping+ Easy to buy (Ali Pay)+ Familiar MLB apparel choice+ MLB does not control this data

Shop.MLB.com+ At least ten clicks to get to a

buying decision+ Requires input of CC information+ Does not offer the same

selection as Chinese MLB Shops+ MLB Owns Data

By using data captured by eCommerce transactions, MLB can track pockets of baseball activity to which they would not otherwise have access

+ Where customers are located+ What are they buying+ Conversion rate+ How long are they spending

on each page+ Where do they “commit” to

buying

Celebrity and Player Endorsements

MLB Should Partner With Popular Chinese Celebrities to Promote MLB Licensed Apparel

Most Popular Chinese Celebrities, 2015

1. Fan Bingbing2. Jay Chou3. Nicholas Tse4. Jackie Chan5. Huang Xiaoming6. Sun Li7. Zhao Wei8. Andy Lau9. Li Yifeng10. Eason Chan

Leverage Chinese Fascination with Celebrity to Establish MLB Brand Ambassadors+ Represents the MLB brand merchandise+ Uses social media to promote the MLB brand and the

sport of baseball itself+ Leverages celebrity’s own social media footprint to

educate consumer base and convert fans+ Celebrity endorser must be engaged and perceived as

having a genuine and authentic interest in baseball

The Chinese Celebrity has a Wide Reach, but it is superficial.

+ Candidates for Brand ambassadors+ Influential Chinese celebrities+ Wang Leehom+ Jay Chou

+ Formerly MLB team signed baseball players+ Wang Wei+ Zhang Zhenwang

+ Global celebrities+ U.S.A+ South Korea+ Taiwan

The Average Chinese Customer at MLB Shop, Shanghai Can Identify One of These Individuals

+ By associating MLB goods with high profile, fashion-forward baseball players, MLB will generate not only increased interest in the product, but also interest in the game of baseball itself.

+ Bryce Harper and Matt Kemp are among the most popular baseball players in the league today. Harper and Kemp would serve as “brand ambassadors” for MLB licensed goods.

+ In-store appearances by MLB players, accompanied by highlight reels, can generate localized excitement for the products that will hopefully carry-over to excitement for the game.

Major League Player Endorsement is Crucial for Linking Licensed Goods to the Sport of Baseball.

+ McGrady played for the Houston Rockets at the same time as Yao Ming and accompanied Yao to China many times, gaining his own level of popularity

+ After the NBA, McGrady went on to pitch in the US minor league system

+ McGrady can leverage his popularity from his days in the NBA to attract customers to MLB apparel.

Major League Player Has a Great Resource in Former NBA/ MLB Player, Tracy McGrady

Celebrities will leverage their social media presence to promote the game of baseball, not only licensed apparel

Chinese Fascination with Celebrity

Use of social media by MLB and brand ambassador

+ Weibo –+ A source of communication between Chinese

celebrities and fans+ Other social media outlets:

+ RenRen+ Qzone+ WeChat

Engaging Youth and Amateur Players

Creating Brand Ambassadors

+ Students and Alumni of Developmental Centers should be the mouthpiece

+ Give them a reason to talk about MLB and baseball and why they love it

+ Encourage/incentivize Internet exposure for MLB in the social media space+ Average chinese citizen spends 40% of waking hours on the

internet

Engaging/Empowering Alumni

+ View initial investment into players that don’t pan out at the developmental centers as their first step in a life of educating their fellow citizens about baseball

+ Create a long term engagement plan to keep them talking about and participating in baseball

+ Alumni Ambassador Program+ Create alumni teams from each school to play each other+ Offer apparel at deep discount

Engage Amateur Baseball ClubsThere are more than 300 amateur baseball clubs in China – MLB must engage this group!

Guangzhou Violent Goat

Shijazhuang Tongyi

Baseball Club

Guiyang Foresters

Chengdu Skyforce

Baseball Club!




Table of Contents

Tianyi (Terry) Cao, Former Vice President of UIBE Broncos Baseball Club

Diversify!!

谢谢

Documents

Licensed Goods FINAL