NC State Baseball 2017Marketing Plan

Index

Introduction ________________________________________________________________ 1Mission Statement ___________________________________________________1Background __________________________________________________________ 1

Situational Analysis ________________________________________________________ 2SWOT _______________________________________________________________ 2,3

Competitive Analysis _____________________________________________________ 5Internal _____________________________________________________________ 5,6External ____________________________________________________________ 6,7

Consumer Analysis _______________________________________________________ 8,9

Marketing Goals ___________________________________________________________ 10

Value Proposition _________________________________________________________ 10

Marketing Strategies ______________________________________________________ 10

Minor League Feel Marketing Tactics _________________________________ 10,11

Social Media Marketing Tactics _______________________________________ 11,12

Action Plan ________________________________________________________________ 12

Budget ______________________________________________________________________ 13

Evaluation _______________________________________________________________ 14,15

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Introduction

Background

The NC State baseball team was created in 1903 and joined the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1954. After its completion in 1966, the team moved to Doak Field at Dail Park, the stadium that the Wolfpack still calls home today.

Head Coach Elliott Avent has been the head of the NC State baseball program since 1997. In 2003 he won both the ACC and National Coach of the Year award, and has coached the Wolfpack to 14 NCAA tournaments in his previous 19 seasons. Avent has also seen 87 of his Wolfpack players go to the MLB, 4 NCAA Superregionals, 21 All American players, and an aver of 38 wins per season since 2003. The Wolfpack made a College World Series appearance in 2013, as well.

Attendance at games has been rising since the reopening of remodeled Doak Field at Dail Park, and the team has continues success on its home turf, holding a .736 win-loss percentage since the stadiums reopening in 2003. Avent holds the current record for most wins with a total of 719 at the end of the 2016 season, sliding him past one of the best coaches of all time, Sammy Esposito.

The Wolfpack is one of the most consistent and successful teams in the NCAA, and if this trend continues and Elliott Avent keeps working his magic on and off the field,

the future looks very bright for NC State Baseball.

NC State Athletics Mission Statement:

To Prepare, To Compete, To Inspire, To Achieve …

The mission of the NC State University Department of Athletics is to prepare student-athletes to compete at the highest level and to inspire them to be leaders

now and for the future by providing the best environment to achieve their athletic, academic, and personal aspirations as well as providing support for the

professional development of our coaches and staff, all within the role of the greater institutional relationships to the University.

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Situational Analysis

Strengths: Ranked sixth in the country

o Entering the 2017 season, the Wolfpack was ranked 6th in the nation. This creates higher attendance numbers from both scouts and fans.

Increased season ticket holders by 500 from previous season o From 2016-2017 we increased our season ticket holder number by

nearly 500, selling more seasonal seats and filling the stands more consistently.

Strong freshman classo Freshman Will Wilson is expected to be a powerhouse second

baseman for the Wolfpack as well as pitcher Michael Bienline. Strong seniority leadership

o Leaders like senior Johnny Piedmonte and Friday starter Sean Adler bring experience and leadership to the younger players.

Stadium on campus—accessible for students o Doak Field at Dail Park is an on-campus facility, making it much easier

for students to attend.

Weaknesses: Doak Stadium has limited seating

o With a seating capacity of only 3,000 Doak Field at Dail Park can’t seat as many fans as other college stadiums.

Student seating on the hill is not desirableo Students are required to sit in general admission seats on the grass

field in the outfield until the middle of the 5th inning, and this view is not desirable to many students.

Weekday games at noon and 3pm—inconvenient for students o The 2017 season hosts a number of weekday games, some of which

are at noon and 3PM. Many students are going to be in class at this times, creating an empty general admission section.

Season continues into summer breako The Wolfpack baseball regular season continues past exams and into

students’ summer break. This makes it difficult to get students to come out to games as many go home for summer.

Opportunities: Improvement upon last season

o Every season is a fresh start, and the start of 2017 means that NC State baseball has the opportunity to go all the way to the College World Series.

Good game environment

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o Doak Field at Dail Park is an incredible facility that has the ability to host a “minor league” feeling if done so correctly.

Nationally televised games if ranking remains o NC State will host one game that will be aired on ESPN against

Louisville.

Threats: In close vicinity with Duke and UNC

o Both Duke and UNC have baseball teams in the area, creating competition within the realm of college baseball.

Competing with USA Baseball/Durham Bullso Being surrounded by higher quality baseball can be damaging to NC

State, especially if a fan is looking for a more “minor league” type of experience.

Softball, tennis, track and field, golfo These NC State sports share a season with baseball, and sometimes

even have games on the same day and at the same time. In season holiday’s (Easter, spring break, etc.)

o NC State has two holiday breaks in the Spring, including Spring Break and Easter break. A majority of students and families in the area leave town for these breaks.

Competitive Analysis

Internal:

NC State Softball This is a very strong competitor to NCSU baseball because it draws from

much of the same target market. Many people who are fans of the baseball team are also fans of the softball team. While that may be great for the athletic department, it can cause issues for the individual teams.

NC State Tennis Being the same season as baseball is one thing, however these sports share a

parking lot. Being so close to one another many State fans may travel to tennis matches as well as baseball games. For that reason, tennis can be a strong internal competitor for baseball.

NC State Track and Field Track and Field is another spring sport that does extremely well every year.

With this team breaking records and producing All-Americans, it attracts many fans that may also come to baseball games. While their respective stadiums are across campus from one another, it still presents a challenge. 

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NC State Wrestling NCSU wrestling has proven to be a national powerhouse and attracts many

sports fans from all over the triangle area. Being the same season as baseball means these two teams compete for fans every game and meet. However, sometimes it represents a different challenge because the wrestling team occasionally competes off campus in Dorton Arena.

NC State Gymnastics Gymnastics is another spring sport that competes with the baseball program

for fans. With the gymnastics team now competing in the newly renovated Reynolds Coliseum, it attracts many fans who are there for the team as well as the impressive facility.

 External:

Duke Baseball Duke baseball is a strong competitor of NCSU. Many baseball fans who live in

the triangle area are subject to choose where they seek their collegiate baseball entertainment from and with Duke being so close it represents a big challenge to attain those fans for NCSU.

UNC Baseball The external competitor of UNC represents a similar challenge to Duke. With

UNC being so close to NCSU many local fans have the option to go to either game. Even though some of the fans may identify as UNC (or Duke) fans, it is important to reach them in our advertising campaigns.

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Wake Forest Baseball Wake Forest baseball is just as strong of a competitor as Duke and UNC.

Wake Forest represents an opportunity for baseball fans to take themselves, significant others and even families to instead of an NCSU game. Their proximity to State makes them a large threat and competitor for fans.

USA Baseball USA baseball is becoming more popular every season. It is especially

important to fans around the triangle area because USA baseball is located in Cary, North Carolina. Therefore, many NCSU fans are also USA baseball fans and again, can attend their games as well as the ones at NCSU.

Durham Bulls Baseball This minor league team is well known all throughout the country, and

especially in local areas. This competitor attracts many college students who also have the option to come to NCSU games. It can be difficult to compete with the same sport at a different level due to certain policies such as their ability to sell beer at games. As simple as it may sound, that can be a deciding factor for college students as well as our target market.

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From a marketing standpoint, it is important to understand that even though all these organizations represent competitors to the NCSU baseball program, that the NCSU baseball program is a competitor to them as well. In other words, it is not an excuse to lose fans to these competitors however it is an opportunity to gain them from many different areas and even different sports. Each of these organizations has its own strengths when it comes to marketing to its respective target markets. The Durham Bulls has a clear advantage due to the fact that it is a Minor League Baseball Team and is centrally located in a city that is quickly becoming nationally recognized. Additionally, NCSU Wrestling and Track and Field both had great season and will continue to be a strong competitor for the baseball program. 

Consumer Analysis

NC State Students/Faculty/Employees Student attendance in the last year was roughly 205 per game. We are

looking to improve that by 10% for the upcoming season. Faculty come and supports the program often as well as many employees of the athletic department.

Wolfpack Club Members Wolfpack Club members are many of our season ticket holders. Their average

age is 50-70 and much of the consistent fan attendance is from them.

NC State Alumni NC State alumni are often seen at many home and away games throughout

the season. Not only former students, but former athletes of all different sports as well.

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Raleigh Community Members Families of the Raleigh area are continually at games. These are often

members of the community who see our social media promotions and are interested in theme nights and other promotional incentives.

Triangle Community We reach out to youth baseball leagues all throughout the triangle and they

are always excited to be a part of an NC State game. With opportunities to run the bases and youth league nights, members of the triangle area are always welcome. High School teams in the area also have games at which they can come for free entry with the coaches and support NC State.

Player Families/Friends Families and friends of the parents are some of the most supportive in the

crowd. Many times, they come from out of town or straight from class in order to show their NCSU pride.

Based on these consumers we can find our target market. The NC State ticket office does not keep a record of the demographics of NC State Baseball season ticket holders. However, based on personal observation at many games, it seems that the primary target market is 35-70 year old white males. The secondary target markets would be NC State students ages 18-24 and youth ages 12 and under.

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Marketing Goals

1. Increase student attendance by 10% (Currently at 205 avg. per game)2. Gain 3,000 followers on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram in one year.

Value Proposition

We offer free student admission, Sunday Family 4-Pack ticket deals, senior citizen ticket discounts and youth ticket discounts. NC State Baseball came into the 2017 season ranked 6th in the country, higher than the surrounding collegiate teams. NC State Baseball prides itself in its head coach, Elliott Avent, who entered his 21st season with the Wolfpack in 2017.

Marketing Strategies

1. Create a minor league atmosphere that students will be more inclined to want, enjoy and participate in.

2. Increase and create a more relatable social media presence for younger crowds.

Minor League Marketing Tactics

1. Increase the variety of concessions at each home baseball game. a. Aside from the usual baseball concessions, offer things like cotton

candy and Cracker Jacks. Having employees walking around the stadium selling food and drinks to make them more accessible to fans would also be another en Bojangles vendor at each home game.

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2. Have a live National Anthem. a. At minor league games, there is almost always someone who sings the

National Anthem instead of playing a recording of it, and that would make it feel much more like a Minor League stadium. Playing the same recording at every game gets redundant and the fans get bored of it. Having a live anthem would give variety to each game.

3. Friday Fireworksa. Many minor league stadiums, including the Durham Bulls, have post-

game fireworks after weekend games. This not only incentivizes people to come to the games but also requires them to stay for the entirety of the game.

Social Media Marketing Tactics

1. Create Snapchat filters for each home game. a. Snapchat filters provide younger generations with fun and creative

graphics to put on the pictures they are constantly taking. Younger generations often see Snapchat filters as a form of credibility for an organization. Snapchat filters have the ability to reach people all over the country and world if just one person uses the filter. The use of Snapchat filters

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2. Create a Facebook page for NC State Baseball.a. A Facebook page would be the most direct way to access fans and let

them know about every game and promotion. Pre-game Facebook live interviews and on-field coverage would create a sense of fan involvement for those not able to attend the games. Posting photo galleries for fans to see and have easy access to would be an advantage of a Facebook page and would allow the fans to easily stay connected. Posting a “Wolfpack Player of the Week” each week with photos/bios of the particular player would give more insight.

Action Plan

Since the majority of the tactics we plan to implement are season-long tactics, most of them have the same duration and start time. The only things that will need to be started before the season are contact with concessions companies (Bojangles, etc.) and contact with National Anthem singers. These two parties need to know far in advance which dates to set aside for home games during the season.

The other tactic that will require more pre-season time is the Snapchat tactic. It takes time, effort and money to create these filters and as there are roughly 40 home games, the amount of filters is very high.

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Budget

This is a description of the budget as it relates to the new marketing plan tactics. This budget does not include promotions from previous years that may be continued during the upcoming season. This budget factors in the fireworks, Bojangles, Snapchat and new concessions such as Cotton Candy and Cracker Jacks.

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Evaluation

In order to tell if out plan was effective it is important to look back at our goals. Our first goal was to increase student attendance by 10%. So, for the previous season we had, on average, 205 students at each game, therefore to achieve the numeric goal we need 21 more students to attend each game for a total of 226 students per game. However, we are also interested in figuring out what makes students come to the games and what keeps students away. Therefore, we are developing a quick 5 question survey for students to fill out to better understand what we can do to further increase attendance (the survey can be seen below).

Our second goal was to gain 3,000 followers cumulatively on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat. Numerically, this is easy to calculate, however once again we are interested in what excites the followers and what they want to see more of from certain accounts. Therefore, we will be developing “polls” via Twitter. These polls will allow fans to vote on certain topics. Then, the creator of the poll (marketing agent) can see what percentage of people voted for what and act accordingly. By increasing fan participation and satisfaction on social media we believe evaluating and achieving our goals will become easier.

Fan Evaluation Survey1.      What brought you to the game tonight?

a.      Love for baseball/NCSUb.      To support the teamc.       I know a playerd.      The foode.      It was a beautiful nightf.        Other__________________________________________________________

2.      What is the best time of the game as a student?a.      Pre-game festivities (music, food, lineups etc)b.      When runs are scoredc.       7th inning stretchd.      Other__________________________________________________________

 3.      On a scale of 1-10 how would you describe the in-game atmosphere?

a.      1-2 uninteresting and boringb.      3-4 doesn’t feel excitingc.       5-6 just like any other baseball gamed.      7-8 greate.      9-10 amazing and I wouldn’t change a thing

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4.      What keeps you from coming to baseball games more often?a.      School (class, homework, studying etc.)b.      Not a big baseball fanc.       Inconvenient game timesd.      Don’t enjoy the games that muche.      Other_________________________________________________________________

5.      What is something you would love to see at an NCSU baseball game?a.      ________________________________________________________________________

Examples of Twitter Polls

1.      Q: As an NCSU baseball fan, would you rather have the national anthem…a.       Played by a recordingb.      Sung live in-person

2.      Q: As an NCSU baseball fan, would you rather have the opportunity to…a.       Catch a free t-shirtb.      Catch a free concession stand purchase voucher

3.      Q: As an NCSU baseball fan, would you rather…a.       See more pictures on social mediab.      See more stats on social media

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