Promoting Spire Basketball Institute: A Marketing Plan

THE MARKETING CAMPIGN PLAN

SPIRE BASKETBALL INSTITUE

Part One: Planning

The Organization

Company Overview

Spire Institute is a large world class training complex with state-of-the art facilities for sports, located in Geneva, Ohio. It is presently over 750 000 sq. ft. of indoor and outdoor training space and is quite a formidable facility which is unrivalled in its capabilities. It is a nonprofit organization that houses at present several major disciplines of sports: volleyball, swimming, track and field, tennis, gymnastics, mat sports, basketball, baseball, rugby, football, lacrosse and soccer. The aquatics center is a certified venue for the training of team USA for mega events, like the Olympics.

Initially Spire Institute started

on a much smaller basis, as the Geneva Area Recreational, Educational and Athletic Trust, known as Gareart, but in 2008 changed its name to Spire Institute, subsequent to management and financial reorganization and projected development of the facility. It grew rapidly with the opening in 2010 of an indoor track & field, and a synthetic football and soccer field fields. This is complemented by the Michal Johnson Performance Training Center, named after its organizer, the USA Olympic gold medalist Michael Johnson, and is equipped with ultra-modern computerized body development machinery to assist athletes to improve on their personal goals while constantly monitoring their workouts. Spire Institute also added the Spire Fuel division which is the meals and kitchen section. There are special training sessions for the athletes on this. Eating right is recognized as critical to the advancement of their abilities. In addition, Spire Institute has a Psychology training section to help athletes build the right temperament and take care of stress and anxiety. They are open to part-time and residential athletes, although they did not get to complete their own dorms. They use a nearby hotel and provide transportation for those athletes. The have classroom sessions for high school and post graduate athletes.
It was envisioned, that with its location in Geneva close to major hubs like Pittsburgh, Erie, Columbus, and within 6 hours from major metropolitan areas like Baltimore, Washington, Detroit, Chicago, New York and Toronto, Spire Institute would bring in an unending flow of athletes and sports activities to fill the various turfs and be a most attractive facility for training of athletes. After over 5 years in operation, Spire Institute is anticipated to have become a vision for elevating players to the next level.
However, a look at the facility shows that the courts are largely empty most of the time. Basketball is the dominant sport. The other sports activities are usually seasonal. There is necessity to analyze all spheres of the organization to figure out what should be done to grow to its potential.
Spire Institute did start with a marketing blitz sending emails to many athletes in various schools around the country as well as overseas. However, the results leave a lot to be desired, judging from the responses as well as the actual number of athletes who enrolled for sports programs. In 2014-15 the national rank of their basketball team is 4520 and the state (OH) ranks 201 (retrieved from MaxPreps website). The Board of Directors, staff and contributors continue work assiduously to bring in the athletes and programs and give them a quality experience. They face many challenges as they move forward. Marketing is in vital need of an intense and dynamic campaign to make them competitive.

Organization Mission
“Spire Institute exists to unlock the full potential of the human spirit through athletics, academics and service.

Spire respects and honors the principles that built our nation and displays loyalty to those who serve and have served to preserve these principles. Its ultimate vision as a one-of-a-kind non-profit is to cultivate character and produce good citizens who know how to cooperate, compete and lead” (Retrieved from Spire Institute website).

Basketball Mission

“Spire Basketball Academy, unparalleled in size, scope and sophistication, provides the finest training and education environment of its kind in the world. Student-athletes of Spire Basketball Academy will be exposed to a basketball training system that instills every aspect of how to be a champion on the court, in the classroom, and in life” (Retrieved from Spire Institute Basketball website).

Organizational Goals

• Over the next 18-24 months Spire Institute as an organization should be occupied increasing utilization of their high quality training center to boost them into a new era: one in which the value of their cutting-edge sports facilities is acknowledged and one that sports organizers, coaches, athletes and fans recognize and

exploit.
• They should have teams in the disciplines of basketball, volleyball, swimming and track and field, training regularly and entering competitions in 18 months.

Part 1: Planning
Situation Analysis
The organization’s and basketball’s missions at Spire Institute are creditable. Research has shown the benefits of physical training and exercises and in investing in student-athletes, as this can reduce delinquency in the future. The notion of playing sports at competitive levels is also laudable and validates the model of Spire Institute.
Marketing Goals
• Raise awareness in basketball as this is a well-established sport at Spire and the logistics are in place to get this off quickly, aiming to acquire 30 recruits for 2 teams in 6 months. This will then be the channel used for expanding the other disciplines of sports at Spire Institute.
• Bring in 2 elite basketball players among the prospective players and prepare them to go to the next level, as this will enhance visibility of their alma mater.
• Prepare to acquire an elite basketball team of 10 players in one year, to compete at the level of prep school competition and market this team aggressively, so future players can to see they have a future in sports here.
Market needs
Training facilities for basketball and other sports exist in various locations scattered across the country. However, there are no facilities which house so many sports at one location. The availability of state-of-the art facilities is scarce not only nationally but world-wide. Athletes who consider training at these facilities are looking to develop exceptional skills to take their game to the next level and participate beyond, and need such high-level training. Other facilities that offer this level of skill preparation are restricted to a select group of athletes. Lack of enough high tech equipment, enough trained coaches and spiraling costs may be the factors that inhibit athletes from reaching beyond themselves. Spire Institute is driven by the desire to offer such training experience at affordable prices to anyone who wants to give themselves that opportunity, and not just a select group.

Market Analysis
• Macro Environment: Physical-The physical location in Geneva, OH has actually hurt Spire Institute as this is a fairly desolate location with severe and long winters with heavy lake effect snow causing deep freezing conditions.

The hotel for residential athletes is a few miles away and it is difficult to move around as no buses or trains are available and taxis are scarce. Providing transportation has helped but this service is too restricted at present. The closest airport for out of state athletes is 3-4 hours’ away in grid lock traffic, most times.

• Political-The City and Municipality initially gave Spire Institute tax concessions to get it started. However, they have since changed this offer and this has led to more expense for the struggling organization.

• Economic- The policy of meals at special times at Spire Fuel has left athletes many evenings feeling hungry especially after a full day’s work out. Besides, hotel’s meals are very expensive. No snacks are available and there is no transportation available to go the miles it will take to obtain something to eat. The cost of attending programs is prohibitive at well over 20,000 dollars for a semester of training. There is too little flexibility in the

pricing.
• Technological-The inclusion of high school and post graduate opportunities to continue studying as well as psychology sessions to deal with stress is generally seen as advantageous for Spire Institute.
Market trends
• The present trends in sporting facilities are to target mainly high school children and offer them opportunities to train and prepare for college student-athlete scholarships.
• Facilities for graduating and post graduates are lacking.
• More athletes in the 17-22 age groups are looking for opportunities to practice and play spots to the next level but are usually denied this due to limited facilities and tournaments available as well as costs to participate.
• Childs Trends Data Bank, which maintains national stats on student’s participation in various activities, shows that over 60% of college students are student-athletes and this number has held just about steady for the past 3 years. (Retrieved from http://www.childtrends.org/?indicators=participation-in-school-athletics). Many of these students are looking for elite training to explore their future in elite and international competition.

SWOT Analysis
Strengths Weaknesses
Facility’s cutting edge reputation
State-of-the art equipment
Stress management
Ability to continue education
Large number of courts/fields available
Experienced renowned basketball coach
Spire Fuel meals
Basketball and sports does not have down turn times
Staff adequately trained to handle need of elite athletes.
Relatively new organization
No close dormitory/hotels
No close by restaurants
No close by airport
Harsh wintry location
Players see themselves as not moving on

Opportunities Threats
Offer tailored pricing to prospects
Offer residential programs
Precedent-setting facility for elite athletes
Reset its positioning in the market so as grab a bigger share
Seasonal basketball tournament can be extended year around.
Capital costs escalating
Withdrawal of tax concessions by City
Competitors well established
Competitors can afford to reduce rates
Future entrepreneur starting similar business

Competitor analysis
Elite residential basketball training for advanced players is offered at only a few centers and many of these have programs for short periods. IMG Florida is the biggest competitor. Many other programs are geared towards developing younger athletes who aspire to reach this higher level. Most NBA players have out of season elite camps for training elite players but these are short term camps lasting few days and will not be suitable for athletes needing a longer term work out.
IMG boasts of athletes that have made it to the next level. They also advertise that present and former NBA players use their training facility. This has elevated their status and given them a strong market share as a training facility of this kind. They have been in operation for nearly 40 years and have attracted athletes from over 70 countries. This indicates they are known nationally and internationally. They had a monopoly for the market for quite a few years. Their weakness is their lower level of customer relations and older worn facilities. Spire also has an opportunity with its state-of-the art technology and larger facility.
Spire Institute has to compete also with the numerous prep schools in the country, many renowned for producing NBA players. Continued association of these players with their former school has hurt Spire Institute getting expanding in the market.
Customer analysis
The customers who have attended Spire institute have spoken well of their experience there but have struggled to make it to the next level and when they did make it, have struggled to excel at that level. The result is that no one has made a name for themselves or for Spire Institute to make others curious enough to want to attend. Those who have never been to Spire Institute either have not heard of it or found the price or location unattractive. Prospects that have to spend large sums of money are careful to choose a facility that has the reputation of getting athletes to the next level, as that is what they are going through the hard work and expenses for. IMG has strong foothold on the overseas market and prospects venturing into the unknown will follow the path of someone with some familiarity with the facility.