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HORNETS
MISSION STATEMENT:
The New Orleans Hornets’ mission statement is passion, purpose
and pride. We recommend that it state the following: “to provide
entertainment to the citizens and fans of New Orleans as well as uphold
the standards and traditions of the National Basketball Association (NBA).”
CONTENTS:
2
Mission statement
4
Company Profile
8
Swot analysis
16
Competition
18
Target Audience
19
Objectives
21
Strategy
23
Timeline
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COMPANY PROFILE:
The New Orleans Hornets is a professional basketball team that is
a member of the NBA. The Hornets have been a part of the NBA
since first being introduced to the city of Charlotte, North Carolina
during the 1988-1989 season. While in Charlotte, the Hornets finished 10 of
14 seasons at .500 or better. Before the start of the 2002-2003 season, the owner
of the Charlotte Hornets, George Shinn, relocated the team from Charlotte to
New Orleans. Since becoming a part of the sports culture in New Orleans, the
team has been to the post season twice. The team plays its home games in the
New Orleans Arena.
In the December 2007 issue of Forbes magazine, the Hornets were ranked 27th
out of 30 NBA teams on Forbes Most Valuable Franchises list for the 2006-2007
season.
Quick Facts:
(The following charts and graphs come from the December 2007 issue of Forbes.)
A breakdown of the team valuation:
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ACCORDING TO THE DECEMBER 2007 ISSUE OF FORBES:
• Annual value change was eleven percent in 2007.
• The team is worth $272 million. The average NBA team is worth $372.5 million.
• The Hornets organization took in revenue of $91 million during the 2006-2007
season.
• Operating increases accounted for $10.2 million during the 2006-2007 season.
• The player expenses accounted for $58 million during the 2006-2007 season.
• Gate receipts accounted for $30 million.
• The average cost to attend a Hornets’ game last season was $38. This
ranked the team near the bottom among all NBA franchises. (leagueoffans.
org)
• Since the start of the 2007-2008 season, the Hornets have been averaging
11,000 fans per home game. (ESPN.com)
• During the 2006-2007 season, the Hornets were ranked 15th in attendance,
due in part to spending more than half of the season playing games in
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (ESPN.com)
• The New Orleans Hornets are currently ranked 29th in attendance. (ESPN.
com)
• While being relocated to Oklahoma City, the Hornets averaged 17,000 fans
per home game. (ESPN.com)
• The New Orleans Hornets average attendance after 24 games is 12,454.
(Hornets.com)
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SWOT Analysis
Strengths
• The New Orleans Hornets is the only NBA franchise in the state of Louisiana.
The Hornets is also the only NBA franchise for the Gulf Coast Region. The
closest NBA franchises are located in Dallas, Houston and Memphis.
• The Hornets’ games have become the second most attended sporting event
in the city, initially averaging 17,000 fans per home game, while the Saints
averaged 70,000 fans for their home games. The Zephyrs’ games were the
second most attended sporting event in the city averaging 5,260 fans per
home game until the Hornets arrival in 2002.
• The average cost to attend a Hornets’ game is $38. The average cost
to attend a Saints’ game is $44. The Fan Cost Index (FCI) is an index that
calculates the cost of a family of four to attend a sporting event based on:
the cost of two adult tickets, two children tickets, four small soft drinks, two
small beers, four hot dogs, two programs, parking and two adult caps. The
FCI to attend a Hornets’ game is $254. The FCI to attend a Saints’ game is
$279. The FCI to attend a Zephyrs’ game is $58.
• The die-hard and casual basketball fans have a chance to see the Hornets
at home 41 times in a season, as opposed to being able to see the Saints
only 8 times a season.
• The team is composed of top young talent, such as Chris Paul, Julian Wright
and Tyson Chandler. The average age of a Hornets player is 26. The Hornets
also have an excellent, experienced coach in Byron Scott, who won three
NBA Championships as a player with the Lakers. He also coached the New
Jersey Nets to the NBA Finals during the 2001-2002 and 2002-2003 seasons.
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Weaknesses
• The Hornets are down in attendance this season. There are 300+
season ticket holders missing from the 2007-2008 season’s games.
The obvious reason for such a large decrease is the loss of consumers that
chose to relocate their families to other cities after Hurricane Katrina.
• The Hornets season overlaps with the Saints season. New Orleans is a football
town first. The team does not have the rich history of being a part of the
city’s sports culture for over 30 years like the Saints do. Many fans allocate
a portion of their entertainment budget for sports, therefore, they may only
have enough money to support one ticket package.
• The Hornets are not airing commercials on ESPN and Fox Sports to attract
and maintain new fans.
• The Hornets are not doing enough cross promotion with other corporations.
A majority of the NBA team Web sites have cross promotions with KIA and
other companies.
• The team does not have enough support from corporations to purchase
blocks of tickets.
• The Hornets do not give enough information on their Web site about various
incentives for individual ticket sales and group ticket sales.
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Opportunities
• There are many large companies in the city that could
purchase individual tickets, group tickets or utilize tickets for
employees and clients.
• The team has space for sponsors on its Web site to promote corporations that
purchase large quantities of group tickets.
• The Hornets should also be able to increase individual ticket sales and group
ticket sales through the city’s many non-profit organizations and universities.
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Threats
• The Hornets do not have longevity in the market like the New
Orleans Saints. New Orleans is a football town first.
• If the team has consistent losing seasons, the city will not support the team
and therefore it may have to relocate.
• If there is another devastating hurricane, like Hurricane Katrina, the
population of the city will decrease, therefore, the team would possibly
relocate.
• If the population continues to decrease, then there will be less fans
supporting the team locally.
• If the team has a losing season, it stands to not only lose fans, but lose
corporate sponsors.
• The team also faces a reduction in group sales and individual tickets sales if
corporations continue to move out of the city.
• If the team loses key players, then the organization faces the possibility of
losing their fans and corporate sponsors.
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Competition
There are many avenues of entertainment in the city and
surrounding cities to choose from:
a) Primary
1. Saints
2. Zephyrs
3. Voodoo
4. LSU Athletics
b) Secondary
1. NBA All-Star Game
2. Zurich Classic
3. Bass Master Tournament
4. Sugar Bowl
5. NCAA Bowl Championship Series (BCS)
6. New Orleans Bowl
7. Bayou Classic
8. Arena Bowl
9. NCAA Basketball Regionals and Final Four
10. Minor League Baseball All-Star Game
c) Tertiary
1. Performing Arts
2. Concerts
3. Festivals
4. Jazz and Heritage Festival
5. Essence Music Festival
6. House of Blues Concerts
7. Voodoo Fest
8. Mardi Gras
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Target Audience
Hess Marketing recognizes that the Hornets have an in-house
marketing team and marketing plan. It is not our goal to handle
all aspects of marketing for the Hornets in this presentation. We
are only interested in developing programs to increase corporate
ticket sales, non-profit and university group ticket sales. Therefore, the
remainder of this proposal will deal with specific strategies in these areas.
Corporations
Primary Audience
Males who are CEOs, presidents and business owners, who are over the age
of 40. This demographic tends to be composed of Caucasian males with a
household income over $90,000.
Secondary Audience
Business executives who are Caucasian males over the age of 35, with a
household income of $65,000 plus.
Tertiary Audience
Business executives, co-workers and families.
Non-profit Organizations
Primary Audience
Board presidents and executive directors, who are over the age of 35 that have
a household income over $30,000.
Secondary Audience
Public relations directors and public development directors, this demographic
is composed of men and women that are at least 30 years of age. This
demographic tends to have a household income over $25,000.
Tertiary Audience
Staff members, co-workers and families.
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Universities
Primary Audience
Coaches and athletic directors, this demographic is composed
of men and women that are at least 35 years of age. This
demographic tends to have a household income over $65,000.
Secondary Audience
All athletic department personnel and athletic department support staff,
composed of men and women that are at least 30 years of age. This
demographic tends to have a household income over $30,000.
Tertiary Audience
Alumni, students and administrative staff.
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Objectives
Main Objective
Hess Marketing will increase the sales of corporate blocks of
tickets sold and individual tickets sold to New Orleans’ large and
small corporations, non-profit organizations and universities through a
direct marketing campaign. We will start this campaign in February, when the
NFL concludes their season. We will lay out our strategy later on in this plan.
• Increase the number of Hornets’ group tickets and individual tickets
purchased for the 2008-2009 season. This will also be addressed later on in
this plan.
• Create awareness in Hornets’ group tickets and individual tickets among
corporations and business executives in New Orleans and the surrounding
cities.
• Raise awareness that the Hornets provide exciting and valuable
entertainment.
• Generate interest in Hornets basketball.
• Educate all corporate consumers about the various ticket packages that are
offered by the team.
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Strategy
Advertising
Advertisements will serve to generate awareness and educate
potential customers about Hornets’ group tickets and individual
ticket programs that are available over the course of the season. We
will use audio and video testimonials from our current clients to illustrate the
benefits of buying tickets to a Hornets game. We will combine this media into a
DVD to be delivered to our target audiences.
Direct Mail
Hess Marketing will mail out the DVD and pamphlets to our target audiences
during June 2008, to raise awareness that the Hornets open their season in
October.
Web site
• The Hornets Web site should include pricing information for its group tickets
and individual tickets. Presently there are various packages listed with the
person to call, but no prices are listed. Hess Marketing also recommends
creating a link for groups and corporations. This link will lead them to
information concerning the benefits of purchasing group tickets for their
employees and clients.
• The square ticket section on the front of the homepage needs to be bigger
in order to attract viewer’s attention about tickets.
• Hess Marketing also recommends adding a corporate sales information link
to the homepage, in the flash photo section. This should catch the attention
of corporations.
• The Web site could also use interactive media such as flash or embedded
videos with testimonials from corporations and groups that have attended
Hornets games.
• Hess Marketing also recommends that the organization add an instant
messaging service with a Hornets’ account executive that can answer any
questions a potential client may have about tickets while viewing the team’s
Web site. Several other NBA teams have this service on their Web sites.
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Email
In order to generate interest in Hornets tickets, Hess Marketing
also recommends sending out e-mail blasts to all of our target
audiences with all necessary ticket information before the start of the
team’s season. Hess Marketing also recommends sending out these e-mail
blasts on a weekly basis to inform the target audiences of upcoming Hornets
games.
Phone
• Office personnel that speak with potential clients on the phone should record
calls on a lead sheet. These sheets will list the caller’s name, how they found
out about Hornets’ individual and group ticket programs and if they have
previously spoken with an account executive about tickets. Leads that result
in a “sale” should be tracked to calculate the effectiveness of marketing
activities.
• Leads will be entered into a computer database. This information will be
used to measure the effectiveness of the campaign so we can repeat what
is effective and replace programs that are not effective. These leads will
also determine caller demographics and what types of ticket options may
be appealing to them. Later on, this database could be used for direct mail,
e-mail or telemarketing.
• All account executives that speak with potential customers on the phone
should be knowledgeable about all ticket package options. In addition to
knowing about the various packages, the account executives need to get
potential customers excited about attending a game.
• All account executives will cold call large and small corporations in New
Orleans and the surrounding cities to generate interest and action in
purchasing Hornets tickets.
Selling/Direct Marketing
• Pamphlets with exciting ticket information and benefits will be available on
the Hornets Web site. These will be in a basic printable format.
• The Hornets also need to market Point Guard Chris Paul, as the face of the
franchise in order to increase attendance at all home games.
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Sales/Promotion
After researching various NBA teams’ ticket promotions, Hess
Marketing believes these strategies will help us achieve our goals:
• Offer groups of 200 or more people the option to take their picture on center
court.
• Have a basketball competition between corporations where the best of three
shots wins a prize. This could take place during timeouts.
• The group leader of 100 or more people can attend the post game press
conference.
• Offer discounts on Hornets merchandise at the stadium on game night.
• Give the option to sit on the bench while the team warms up.
• Allow groups to play basketball on the court before the game, during halftime
or after the game.
• Have the opportunity to hi-five the team as they come out of the tunnel.
• For large ticket purchases, we will give away an item autographed by a
Hornets player.
• We will offer large groups and corporations the opportunity to shoot free
throws after the game.
• One member from the corporation will be allowed the opportunity to give the
game ball to the referee before the game.
• We will offer select pre-game dinners with Mr. Shinn.
• Have a member of the basketball operations staff address the corporate
employees or clients before the game starts.
• We will implement a meet and greet program that allows the group to meet a
member of the team before the game starts.
• We will offer unlimited food and drinks for large groups.
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Sales/Promotion (cont.)
• There will be various raffles to win prizes.
• Groups will have the opportunity to take a picture with a Hornets
player before the game starts.
• Jersey give aways for large ticket purchases.
• Use of the conference room before the game.
• We will distribute free Hornets autographed memorabilia.
• For every 1,000 tickets purchased by a corporation, a penthouse suite will be
thrown in.
• Free advertising on the Hornets Web site to announce the corporation or large
group will be attending tonight’s game.
• We will also include free group flyers to post at their office and the arena to
promote their presence on a game night of their choosing.
• Discount tickets offered to employees of suite holders.
• Discount on tickets for non-marquee games through internet and print media.
• Discounts for repeat ticket purchases.
• Corporations and large groups will also receive larger discounts if they refer
another business or large group to buy Hornets tickets.
• Gia’s media recommendation, with budget.
Timeline
• We will accomplish the objectives outlined in this marketing plan within one
year from the date of this presentation.
• Monthly reviews of lead sheets will be conducted to analyze the success of
the marketing campaign, specifically advertisements.
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