The 4 P’s
On Friday 16th June, the Master in Sport Management (MISM) class from the Johan Cruyff Institute in Amsterdam will gather for their Graduation Ceremony. A total of 42 students of 12 different nationalities, athletes, business professionals and students aged 22 to 50 years will complete a remarkable nine-month journey. It was the vision of Johan Cruyff to encourage professional athletes to remain involved in sport management beyond their career and pave the way for future generations.
In marketing class, students refresh their memories about the 4 P’s of Kotler. Are they still relevant in sport marketing today? How can they be applied in the digital era? Will they help organisations achieve their sporting and business objectives? Possibly, it all depends how they are adapted for athletes, fans, sponsors and communities we serve in the sports ecosystem.
But, there are another 4 P’s that are of equal importance to securing a position in the sport business. The first is purpose. Just like a brand, students are advised to identify a purpose to work in the sport business beyond making profit. We can educate students how to think strategically, innovate, prepare a financial or marketing plan for a sports product or service that achieves a commercial advantage. The true value lies in the ability to create benefits for the wider community who may or may not be consumers of that sport. A higher goal for the well-being of society.
Johan Cruyff was famous for his quirky statements. One of them was ‘you can achieve nothing alone, you need to work together’. Partnerships are the lifeblood of sport. Not only partners who provide money, products and services to help a federation organize a sports event but stakeholder partners who bring specialist knowledge, valuable infrastructure or scale through their support. Success in sport today is all about management of complex partnerships.
As technology and internet connected devices allow more engagement with consumers than ever before, we all want to be treated as individuals. According to a recent study from the Boston Consulting Group, brands who create personalized experiences using proprietary data are enjoying revenue increases of 6% – 10% or two to three times faster than brands who do not. Personalized experiences lead to higher value customers who drive 70% or more of the value for companies.
No matter how much technology advances with AI or VR there is one element which cannot be created without humans – passion. One of the greatest attributes of sport which certainly makes live sport compelling viewing for many fans is the passion of the athletes and teams. When a young man called Rafael Nadal set out in 2005 to win his first Grand Slam, who could have predicted he would win 10 times on the famous clay of Roland Garros? No doubt it was his passion that motivated many others to pick-up a racket and play the sport.
Whatever happens after Graduation on Friday 16th June is hard to predict but with a clear purpose, strategic partnerships and a personalized proposition driven by passion there will be more opportunities for these students. Congratulations to the MISM class of 2016/17 and best wishes for a successful career in the world of sport!