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Dallas Stix
1001 Baseball Street
Dallas, TX 75001
The Organization
The Dallas Stix is a AA minor league baseball team in the DFW that feeds into the Texas Rangers
Professional organization. The team’s home field is centrally located in the city of Dallas. This will be the
team’s opening season.
Management
Management goals are set up by an executive committee. The committee is comprised of the team owners
and executive marketing team.
Goals
The Dallas Stix is a new franchise, one of their major goals is to create a positive image in the DFW area.
The organization would like to increase brand awareness to create a new and loyal fan base. The Dallas
Stix would also like to be a profitable and equitable brand with a substantial fan base.
Target markets
The Stix have identified two primary and two secondary target markets that will effectively and
appropriately help meet our goals. Our primary target markets are males ages 25-34 and middle-class
families. Our secondary target markets are Hispanics and college males 18-25.
Sponsors
To help accomplish the objectives, we are seeking companies that will fit our ideals and enhance our
goals to build a fan base comprised of families, young males, and Hispanics. By building a sponsorship
relationship, the sponsoring companies can build a positive community presence and increase brand
awareness while helping the Dallas Stix reach their objectives.
Strategies
Some of the strategies to build a fan base and increase awareness within our target markets will be to host
several giveaway nights and give several family discounts. Several days will be used to host special
events such as host family and Latino nights and Children’s days. Social media will also be used as a
marketing tool.
Situational Analysis
The Dallas Stix are a new minor league team affiliated with the Texas Ranger’s Baseball program. The
Dallas metropolitan area ensembles an enormous marketing opportunity for a new baseball team;
comprise of being the largest economic center in a 12 county area (United States Census Bureau, 2010).
With the Texas Rangers looking to make a repeat year of success, they are in need of more opportunities
for the athletes to play before they make it to the next level. The Dallas Stix organization will aspire new
and innovative ways to fill the stadium while providing affordable entertainment for Dallas and the
surrounding areas. The target markets are college males and males with middle to upper income, and
family oriented consumers of several ethnicities with an objective of developing a relationship between
the consumer and the Dallas Stix sport organization. The connection between a spectator and
athlete/team can develop a sense of unity and loyalty. Fans may become loyal to a particular team
because of the enjoyment associated with watching or because of the sense of belongingness by
associating themselves with a specific group (Lavarie & Arnett, 2000). (Can you think of anything
here)
Figure 1.1
SWOT Analysis for the Dallas Stix Baseball Franchise
Strengths:
 New organization feeding into the
American League Champions
 Our location is in the center of the largest
economic district
 New and innovative concepts
 All of the players are appointed by the
Ranger’s organization
 Prices are affordable
 Growing population of the Dallas area
Opportunities:
 Fan consumption middle to upper income
level
 Increase attendance by local corporations
and businesses for individual games and
packages
 Advertisements and sponsorships from
surrounding businesses, and corporations
 Clinics and camps hosted by our
organization.
 Make the game about entertainment and
not about wins and losses.
 Using more Social Media as it advances
Weaknesses:
 Long term business and corporate
sponsorships are not established yet
 Not having enough attention
 Customer loyalty and relationship not
established yet
Threats:
 Competing with other cultural events in our
surrounding area
 Competing with other minor league teams
 Not be undifferentiated from other baseball
teams in area
 Weather
 Injury of an athlete
 Economy
Marketing Goals & Objectives
The Dallas Stix is a new franchise that is looking to build its brand and fan base to become one of the
area’s most recognized and profitable minor league baseball team. As a new franchise, strategic brand
management is extremely important for the success of the franchise. The Dallas Stix strategic brand
management will include brand awareness, equity, and positioning at the same time maintaining a stable
and positive organization to help with the management process. Brand awareness is crucial in the
consumer’s decision making process and impacts the long term brand image associations of the team
(Dwyer, Le Crom, & Tomasini, 2011, p. 57). Consumers many times will buy more because of the brand
awareness and image. The team will differentiate the brand and develop positive associations and position
the brand appropriately to be in the minds of consumers (Gladden, Irwin, & Sutton, 2001, p. 301). This
strategic brand management will help the franchise build brand equity which will in turn will increase
sales, maintain a consistent and positive brand image, and help maintain a loyal fan base.
Creating a Loyal Fan Base
The Dallas Stix plan to create a loyal fan base through many different marketing strategies. Social media
communications through the use of the Stix website will give them many opportunities to get their fans
attention whether it is promoting ticket purchases, sale of merchandise or breaking news stories. The
Dallas Stix website will give live feeds of games, offensively and defensively. There will also be a place
on the main page that will be one click away for finding tickets to the next home game. According to
Fullerton and Merz (2008), advertising is widely held as contributing to brand loyalty. The Stix will
advertise to all target segments through traditional media (newspaper and television ads) and new media
(internet, facebook, twitter, etc.). The satellite radio growth will also reach out to all of our target
segments to advertise and promote live broadcasts of games (Fullerton & Merz, 2008).The Stix Facebook
page will have a tickets tab that promotes sales as well as a “wall” where fans can interact about things
going on during the season. The Stix will also have a Twitter account where fans can get to know their
players better. Other ways the Stix will market to their fan base will be through weekly promotions at
home games. The Stix will offer Dollar Dog Tuesday, Military Wednesday food and drink specials,
Thirsty Thursdays with $2 drinks, Free Friday Giveaways, and Kids Day Sunday where the kids get to
come on the field and run the bases. Uhrich and Benkenstein (2010) stated, “experiencing a special
atmosphere in stadiums is an essential part of the total service provided by the organizers of the sport
events” (p.212). Further studies by them show, “sport spectator’s perceived excitement induced by the
atmosphere in the stadium has positive effects on repatronage intentions, willingness to recommend a
visit to others, and customer satisfaction” (p. 213). Other factors to include in making sure a loyal fan
base is created are general elements such as the spatial layout/functionality, cleanliness, parking,
scoreboard quality, crowding, layout accessibility, and seating comfort (Uhrich & Benkenstein, 2010).
Primary Target Markets
The first primary target segment of the Dallas Stix, the Team Obsessors,
“are the more contemporary version of the hardcore fan, connecting rabidly with a team, listening
to sports talk and devouring content online. They tend to be hypercompetitive and feel a deep
need to connect with similarly minded fans in order to belong. They generally are 25-34, with
household incomes of $75,000 to $150,000 – single men or successful young fathers” (King,
2010, p.16).
Purchasing and lifestyle characteristics
This target segment would also be inclined to catch games on television at home and in sports bars if they
were not able to attend live games. Many of these fans would likely be straight out of college and still
frequently enjoy time out with friends. With above average incomes, the purchasing price for this
category has the ability to be a little higher without the fan thinking he or she is breaking the pocket book.
Sport entities build their brand through marketing slogans that make consumers feel safe, important, and
more likely to have an advantage against other products. As marketing agents recruit customers, they
want to figure out how to keep them coming back for more products which would mean developing a
loyalty with their customers (Lee, 2010). To keep this target segment “devouring content online” with
new media (internet, facebook, phone applications, and twitter) we will implement the Fantasy Baseball
League to intrigue them much like the entity in the National Football League. “A reporter from USA
Today described the virtual world as offering a chance to tap into a dedicated audience of more than 27.7
million U.S. players” (Howard, 2009, p.1). Howard explained these players spend up to nine hours a
week planning and plotting their strategies for weekly matchups in 70 million free and paid leagues.
Players create season-long dream teams of real players. Weekly fantasy victories are based on those
players' combined individual statistics in the real world that week.
Marketing Strategies
The fanaticism of the fantasy league will create an avid audience for advertisers, and add revenue for big
online hosting sites, such as the MLB and NFL. Yost (2006) stated that new media such as television, the
Internet, fantasy football leagues, and wireless broadcasts fuel a $3.5 billion annual merchandise business.
As the NFL and its 32 franchises build incredible brand loyalty, we should be able to build the same
revenue, directly and indirectly with this target segment (Yost, 2006). The Stix will also stay on top of
the best ways to make their fans keep coming back by offering great entertainment and promotional
giveaways for all ages. Research by Whelan and Wohlfeil (2006) found that, “the brand image can be
strengthened through interactively communicating a brand story with an idealized community by
facilitating shared customer experiences in ways that innovatively communicate brand values” (p.314).
“Thirsty Thursday’s” will allow ticket purchasers in the Miller Patio Section access to $25 dollar tickets
instead of the regular $45 price as well as half price beers with a maximum of 4 per person to encourage
ticket sales of this target segment.
Marketing mix elements for the Team Obsessors
The marketing mix elements include product, place, price, promotion, and people. The males 25-34
market is the possibly the easiest to market. According to the United States Census Bureau (2010), Dallas
is the largest economic center of the 12-county Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area with a population of
roughly 6.5 million. This is home of many young business men fresh out of college or young family men
with money to spend on a sport that can be consumed by millions of Americans. Research suggested this
target market, successful young business men of spectator sports often invest in luxury boxes for their
companies to give to their employees and customers (Fullerton & Merz, 2008). The product offered will
be the same for all of the target markets featuring many different athletes with various ethnicities. We
will highlight each of our top athletes and their backgrounds for this target market. Our Miller Lite patio,
around the horn restaurant, and fantastic seating venues will also attract the attention of this target market.
Specials and “Thirsty Thursday’s” will be hosted throughout the year to provide opportunities for this
target market to provide a valuable social setting for meetings are networking with other business
associates or customers. All of these aspects will encompass the marketing mix of our product, price,
promotion and people. (Please if you can think of anything Add it, it a brick wall)
The other primary target market by the Dallas Stix will be the Family Connectors which according to
King (2010),
“see baseball as a way to enjoy time together as a family or engage with others in their
community. They are devoted to their local team and enjoy the sport’s history, but are more
likely to remember it for the role it played for their family. They also are significantly less likely
to follow the team closely, other than by watching or attending games. They skew female, are
married with children, and have household incomes of $50,000 to $75,000 – mothers of middle
income families” (p.16-17).
Purchasing and lifestyle characteristics
Targeting this segment will be profitable to the Dallas Stix because many families enjoy sport
entertainment and value the experience. Armstrong (2008), “contended that family is one of the primary
reference groups that greatly influence sport consumption” (p.219). Ways to market to this segment will
include offering entertainment such as fireworks, and “Children Run the Bases” nights, along with family
discounts on meals and fan memorabilia with the purchase of four tickets. Tuesday ticket purchasers will
receive a voucher for a free hotdog, small drink, and small popcorn with individual tickets valued at $18
or more, making it affordable for a family night at the ballpark. Parents want their kids to enjoy
themselves at ballparks; the Dallas Stix will have a very child friendly atmosphere where kids can meet
and take pictures with the Stix mascot and compete in different games throughout the park for free.
Along with promotional giveaways, amenities for the children will create an atmosphere that keeps
families wanting to come back.
Marketing strategies
The research by Fullerton and Merz (2008) suggested one of the more popular techniques of sales
promotions and marketing tools are giveaways; designed to encourage attendance and to nurture
relationships. Hixson (2005) stated, “both price and non price sales promotions have long been used to
increase attendance and market product in the minor leagues” (p.1). According to the research, more
promotions and giveaways were done by the teams with less wealth and attendance numbers. Our
mission for the families is to make entertainment number one and baseball secondary. In doing so, our
job is to offer facilities with the little extras of family-friendly convenience. A minor league game ball,
four hot dogs, two sodas, two beers and parking along with promotional ball caps and t-shirts are an
example of game day packages that will allow for more value for the families. Armstrong (2008) stated
“that based on the influences of family consumers’ sport attendance, many sport teams have made
concerted efforts to appeal to and attract families” (p.219) The ballpark will also offer a reading program
that will reward all children at completion of the program with free game tickets and the opportunity to be
recognized at the beginning of the games.
Marketing mix elements for the Family Connectors
The product for our family connectors changes to a certain degree and is directed towards the entire
experience or better referred to as entertainment. Depending on the age level of the children in the family
the actual players may or may not have significance to the children. The older children that look up to the
athletes will be able to attend autograph parties so they will be able to meet their icons or heroes. The
other children are more interested in the bouncy houses, competitions, and games that will be
accommodated for our family connectors in the corridors of the ballpark. Our mascot will also be
apparent many times throughout the game for crazy between inning antics, photographs and autographs in
the corridors, as well as meet and greet events outside of the ballpark. The promotions for this target
market will also encompass post-game fireworks, between inning games and promotions, races around
the bases, speed-pitch zones, mascot fan clubs, and many more games within the games. All of these
aspects will encompass the marketing mix of our product, price, promotion and people.
Secondary target markets
The first secondary target segment of the Dallas Stix, the Beisboleros (baseballers). The Dallas Stix have
chosen Hispanics as a secondary target market because of several marketing strengths. Hispanics have
become a major marketing target for many companies and have been successful. The franchise would like
to also take advantage of the benefits of marketing to this market. “Latinos are both the largest ethnic
group in the United States and the fastest growing ethnic minority group and will constitute
approximately 24% of the nation’s total population” (Harrolle, Trail, Rodriguez, & Jordan, 2010, p. 456).
It is estimated that Hispanics have a buying power that exceeds $1 trillion or 10% of the U.S. total
(Pieraccini, Hernandez, & Alligood, 2010, p. 32). In the DFW, Latinos comprise almost 40% of the
population (Weiss-Armush, 2010). The Hispanic population and their purchasing power is significant in
the DFW and be a great target market for the Dallas Stix.
Purchasing and lifestyle characteristics
Lifestyle characteristics for this group include having a larger family, doing activities as a family, having
strong cultural identification, and being strongly influenced by television and radio media. This Hispanic
youth factor can be a great opportunity to build the brand of the Dallas Stix. The Hispanic household age
tends to be 10 years younger and larger than the non-Hispanic households (Pieraccini, Hernandez, &
Alligood, 2010, p. 34). Thirty-one percent of Hispanic families have five or more members versus 12% of
non-Hispanic whites (2010, p. 34). Considering larger households and youth, marketing to the Hispanic
families can become a great market to create a loyal fan base for years as the family grows older.
The Hispanic community tends to be very family oriented. Families tend to do daily and entertainment
activities together and children have a very strong influence on the family purchasing decisions (Rizkallah
& Truong, 2010). Hispanics tend to be proud of their culture and often identify with Hispanic athletes,
celebrities, and the Spanish language in which they are a part of (Pieraccini, Hernandez, & Alligood,
2010). In many cases, Latino fans will not have deep generational fan roots so winning might not be that
important and will continue to be loyal (Cordova, 2009, p. 17). Latinos also show to be more avid fans of
sports than the general population (Harolle et al., 2010).
Marketing strategies
This market will be marketed very similar to the middle-class families because of the strong family
orientation. Most of the promotions will be the same and will include “Children Run the Bases” and
family discounts on meals and memorabilia with family pack ticket purchases. However, the delivery of
the promotional message will be different. Spanish television and radio ads will be used on the area’s
major Spanish-speaking channels. A Hispanic team member of the Stix will insert a short message in the
advertisement inviting the families to the ballpark. “Hispanics who have maintained their native language,
heritage, and pride are more likely to possess greater levels of purchase intent for products that are
advertised in Spanish” (Wilson, 2007, p.72). The advertisement will have more impact because both the
Spanish language and the Hispanic athlete will be used so Hispanic consumers will identify more with the
team.
A different marketing strategy will be to have Latino nights. The same family discounts can be applied to
these nights. Pre-game entertainment will be provided by various sponsors keeping in mind the Hispanic
consumers. Hispanic radio stations will also promote and broadcast live before the game. During the
game, there will be a bilingual announcer and the music mix will include some Spanish language music.
By embracing and respecting the Hispanic culture, including family relationships and language, the
franchise will be able to appeal to this target market and form a positive relationship (Pieraccini,
Hernandez, & Alligood, 2010). “Members of the [Hispanic community] are often very brand loyal” which
makes building this relationship very beneficial to the Dallas Stix in building their brand and fan base
(Wilson, 2007, p. 67).
Marketing mix elements for the Beisboleros
The marketing mix elements include product, place, price, promotion, and people. For the Hispanic
market some of these elements will have to be addressed differently. The product offered will be the same
but some of the Hispanic team members will be showcased for the Hispanic market. Dallas’ largest
minority is comprised of Hispanics so the stadium being centrally located in Dallas is a great place for the
Hispanic consumer. The prices will not change but several family oriented promotions will be available
for the consumer to take advantage of it. Dallas Stix promotions will appeal to the Hispanic culture,
including family relationships, language, and will also use the Hispanic baseball players to create a
connection. The people element of the marketing mix is very important to the Hispanic target market. The
franchise must understand the Hispanic purchasing and lifestyle to be able to build a relationship with
these consumers. Using their very own Spanish-speaking employees and athletes can help build these
relationships to build the Hispanic fan base.
College Males
College males between the ages of 18-25 are another secondary target market for the Dallas Stix. This
generation of males has benefitted other companies and organizations due to successful marketing. “The
sheer size of this generation coupled with the reported spending habits, makes this segment a desirable
target of many corporations and professional sport marketers”(Bennett & Lachowetz, 2004). College
males that were born between the years of 1982 and 2003 make up almost 25 % of the US population.
This is a great opportunity for Dallas Stix to take advantage of this generation of males.
Purchasing and lifestyle characteristics
It is important to understand the lifestyle characteristics of consumers in order to increase brand
awareness and franchise. Lifestyle marketing is essential strategy to build product awareness. According
to Hanan, “lifestyle marketing is a strategy for seizing the concept of a market according to its most
meaningful. Recurrent patterns of attitudes and activities, and then tailoring products and their
promotional strategies to fit these patterns” (Bennett & Lachowetz, 2004). With that said, there are
lifestyle characteristics of college males that can benefit the Dallas Stix franchise. Assuming that college
males are single, they have more freedom to spend their money. For example, for a family man he would
be more apt to buy things related to his family instead of purchasing apparel or recreational things.
“Males with a formal education under the age of 35, has more freedom in spending, more money is used
for recreational activities and casual clothes” (Bennett & Lachowetz, 2004). The typical college student
lives on campus or at home, and holds a job. Entertainment, personal care, electronics, and food are all
large expenses for the male college student. College students represent over 6 billion dollars of buying
power, and increase after they graduate and become employed (Martindale, 2010). By reaching out to this
group of males early, one can develop a loyal consumer.
Marketing strategies
The marketing strategy is geared towards the needs of college males. For example, food and
entertainment are said to be a large expense for college males. Therefore, the focus should be how one
can make the life of a college male easier and cheaper. Some of the strategies include giveaway nights
and meal deals. Giveaways nights can include free t-shirts, food credit and coupons that they can use
anywhere. Typically college students have a certain budget to go by and only make a certain amount each
month. This would meet their needs as far as saving and offering some type of discount for things of
interest.
Marketing mix elements for College Males
All five P’s are essential in building the franchise of the Dallas Stix. Blending all five P’s will escalate
consumers to buy your product. Using the secondary market of college males, product, promotion, price,
and place are vital when building a positive connection. By offering an affordable product that entertains
the audience, consumers will be interested and willing to invest in the product.
Implementation of plan
To make sure all aspects of the franchise operate smoothly there will be a director of ticket sales, director
of concessions, director of merchandise, and a director of media (social, print, television, radio, etc.) In
order for the Stix to implement a well developed marketing and sales campaign the organization will hire
and train a specialized sales force, and create and maintain a data base that reach appropriate target
market segments. The Stix will concentrate on picking promotions, dates and opponents that will
maximize sellout possibilities (Mullin, Hardy, & Sutton, 2007).
Evaluation and control
The Stix organization will research surrounding competition to investigate the inventory, ticket prices,
giveaways, and special events to make sure our program is offering competitive business and sponsorship
opportunities. Concession stands at other competitions will be assessed to make sure we are also
offering items at the right competitive price and taste for increased fan consumption. The organization
will keep records of attendance, sales of merchandise, and concessions to be evaluated on a quarterly
basis. If the sales increase then the Stix organization will continue with the strategies set forth. If the
sales decrease then the organization will reevaluate and be more innovative of new strategies. The Dallas
Stix will evaluate yearly to make the target markets are clearly outlined; they will be evaluated based on
how well the prices and promotions serve each of the target markets, the extent of the competition and the
profit for each market.
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