Sault Ste. Marie Baseball is a not-for-profit organization that plans to enter the Canadian Baseball arena. The team will be for players aged 15-35 and will come from Sault Ste. Marie who will play at Sinclair Yards, on Black Dirt road. The organization will liaise with the other existing baseball teams to build up one strong Canadian baseball team. The organization will exclusively be run by volunteers, sponsorship, and registrations. The organization operates a total of three fields where Sault Ste. Marie Baseball offers baseball games throughout the summer season (Gmelch & Nathan, 2017). Sinclair yards measure 75’ x 75’ with adequate facilities, including change rooms, indoor washrooms, pop machines, covered picnic table, conference room, concession stand, and an office.
The state of art stadium stands as one of the most memorable places in Sault Ste. Marie city. The organization is under Baseball Canada, which oversees the Canadian baseball league. Baseball Canada is the governing body of baseball in Canada. Founded in 1964, Baseball Canada is based in Ottawa and forms a membership with the Canadian Olympic Committee and the International Baseball Foundation (Gmelch & Nathan, 2017). There are two leagues which consist of major and minor leagues. Sault Ste. Marie community members have many competencies which could be used to build on engagement to an endlessly dynamic environment, striving to reach a diverse range of youths across all aspects of daily life. Sault Ste. Marie Baseball will target such members of the community who can participate in myriad activities to actively participate in the team. Currently, there is only one major team, the Toronto Blue Jays, founded in 1977 (Gmelch & Nathan, 2017). The minor league has Vancouver Canadians and Winnipeg Goldeyes, which is based in Manitoba.
Sault Ste. Marie Baseball
The team’s name “Sault Ste. Marie Baseball” has a special connection to the city and the league. Sault Ste. Marie is strategically located in the heart of great lakes and a climate that creates ideal conditions for a wide spectrum of activities all year round. It provides a good foundation for the youth to showcase their talents in baseball. The team, therefore, draws its strength from the city name, which has sprouted talents across varied sports activities. Whilst the team is named after the city, most of its players and fans will come from the city and localities. In addition, most activities are fan-controlled, meaning that Sault Ste. Marie fans have a great influence on the actions of the team. The name gives the city a meaning to boast with its great ventures as an added recreational activity. Teams have also been known to be brand ambassadors of their locations globally. The name hence sales Sault Ste. Marie across different destinations, which in effect attracts tourists. It is through this attraction of tourists that the city will gain foreign exchange and simultaneously grant the team more sponsors.
Branding Guide
Team logo serves a critical role in attracting fans and investors. The choice of colors should be wisely evaluated as they act as the brand representative in all activities since there are two logos, the primary and secondary, which are slightly different. The primary logo serves as the minimum viable product (MVP) and it has to be used most frequently (Wheeler, 2017). On the other hand, the secondary logo will be used when the primary logo seems not ideal in a situation or a chosen context. Myriad things will be considered when laying the brand, including the target group, the positioning, and segmentation, among other market factors.
Color Coding
Color is an important part of any brand as it psychologically impacts the target groups. Color would therefore be prolific in expressing the character of a brand. For instance, organizations such as Tesco have two primary colors, white to represent the “Everyday” and black represent the “Finest.” The everyday value will therefore have a white background, while the finest brand will reflect a black background. These color ranges are specifically chosen to differentiate between the two products for a similar brand. Consumers become accustomed to a brand’s colors and they can associate it to a particular product or service even when the name of the logo is absent (Wheeler, 2017). Other examples include the Facebook logo that has blue and white color codes. For our selected brand, Sault Ste. Marie Baseball, the chosen color coding is green, red, gold, and white. The visuals for Sault Ste. Marie Baseball will be two interlocking bulls. These two bulls will be the brand signature for the Sault Ste. Marie Baseball team. Wheeler (2017, p. 50) notes that this signature acts as a structured relationship between the logotype, tagline, and brandmark.
The Primary Logo
Having color codes that fit the town would be a good choice as it remains as a blueprint of Sault Ste. Marie. Such color codes would include green, red, gold, and white. It will feature an outer ring with stars at the top. The inside of the ring will be two bulls interlocking. The bulls will be colored red, while the inside ring foreground will be colored green. The middle ground will feature a stadium colored red, and the background feature hills mounted with white snow. The color codes will fit with the city’s aesthetic value. The font to be used will be 32, which glooms from afar. Sault Ste. Marie Baseball logo is unique and shall sell the team across Canada to the global championship. It will be the first logo to include the two interlocking bulls. Just as two bulls fight for a target, so do baseball teams fight for trophies. The bulls represent the strength in the team and that they are go-getters who never tire until they get their bull’s eye.
Secondary Logo
The secondary logo will feature the same colors as the primary logo, but the features will be slightly different. However, some features such as the two outer rings are absent, as well as the date of the club. This one shall be used in cases where the primary logo does not fit in the context. Similar font as the one used in the primary logo is to be used for the secondary logo.
Goal of Campaign
The main aim of the campaign would be the introduction and inauguration of Sault Ste. Marie Baseball. Campaigns aimed at the inaugural season are important in promoting the fame of a club and also winning investors. Most fan clubs are run by sponsorships and well-wishers in which they can only be sought via inaugural season. The target will be to invite as many investors as possible who will facilitate the success of the club. Sponsors, in this case, will involve corporations such as Coca-Cola and breweries companies, among other big companies that can be able to sponsor all club activities. The inaugural season will also aid the club in signing in potential players who will be key stakeholders for the team. It will be a moment to harness the youthful talents of Sault Ste. Marie. The campaign will therefore guide all investors to the inaugural season of Sault Ste. Marie Baseball, where targeted youth members shall be invited to sign-up contracts.
Target Audience
The target group is vital before starting any process of a promotional campaign. The color codes, logos, and fonts are greatly influenced by the intended market. Like brand value, the target group help in brand positioning. For instance, the image used in the logo targets young adults aged 15-35 years of age. It represents the kind of vigor and energy this target group has for sporting activities. The campaign will target homogenous players ranging from captains to full-time players. Sault Ste. Marie will be the appropriate target for the talents. The youths of Sault Ste. Marie are expected to gain a lot of skills from Sault Ste. Marie Baseball.
Youths have a wide array of choices for their diverse interests, with options ranging from part-time players to full-time players. Additionally, there will be recreational programs that will target the Sault Ste. Marie community members. Sault Ste. Marie community members have many competencies which could be used to build on engagement to an endlessly dynamic environment, striving to reach a diverse range of youths across all aspects of daily life. Sault Ste. Marie Baseball will target such members of the community who can participate in myriad activities to actively participate in the team. There shall be youth-led initiatives that are expected to pop in response to host challenges and opportunities but shall be taken as later criteria.
Methods to Reach Audience and Communication Strategy
With the current advanced technology, the use of audio-visual media would be appropriate means to reach the target audience. Social media will be an appropriate communication strategy to reach the youth. The elderly would be targeted via the use of posters that will be strategically placed in junctions and shopping malls, among other areas perceived to have masses. The use of guerilla campaigns coupled with social media would reach a mass audience fast. As noted, the campaign targets the youths among other community members. The majority of the target members are aged between 15 and 17 years of age. This population group spent significant time on social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, among other sites. Launching Facebook page names after the club, “Sault Ste. Marie Fans,” will be a good way of sourcing such youths. Nowadays, almost everyone is stuck on their phones, and hence the use of Facebook can reach a massive audience within a short period.
Social media graphics, including the team’s logo, will be used to create social media accounts. These will include Facebook profile, Twitter handle, and YouTube channels. Similarly, the posters will have a background depicting the logo. To effectively engage YouTube, creating channels that go live with recruited members already in the field will capture the attention of many fans. Since the club also targets other community members for wellness and as supporters. The use of a guerilla campaign with images placed at strategic locations of the city will be a big move towards capturing their attention. Elderly members of the community aged between 30-60 years may not play but act as sponsors. Such groups have disposable income, which they can use to facilitate activities of a club, specifically a fans club. These communication strategies are expected to reach a wide audience at a fast rate to announce the campaign. An approach to companies like “Coca-Cola” will be a good move for sponsorship. Coca-Cola has for a long time been at the forefront in the sports arena. As a synonymous brand, Coca-Cola will be a great breakthrough of the campaign.
Theme and Tagline
“Become part of the new change that transforms the community.”
The above theme is pertinent to the mission and goals of Salt Ste. Marie Baseball to bring glory to Sault Ste. Marie city. It reflects the way the team shall rejuvenate the community by harnessing the young talents and transforming them into superstars.
Analytics to Track Campaign Financial Consideration
Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) face challenges to accomplish more with stressed assets. Trapped in the crosswinds of persistent spending limitations and expanded responsibility, CFOs are obliged with stale staff levels, out-of-date information frameworks, and modernized frameworks that amplify information issues. These difficulties are expected in the current mission and consequently the need to have information investigation and computerization to help discharge these pressing factors by smoothing out the spending interaction with more noteworthy productivity. The use of analytics with monetary and operational information will furnish the mission chiefs with bits of knowledge to impact the operationalization of the estimates.
Data analytics are successful in smoothing out the spending plan measure utilizing mechanized information combination, reconciliation, and rebuilding. The budget will be aligned with marketing needs, including the display ads to promote the campaign and sponsored social media posts to generate followers on the Facebook pages created. Desirable analytics to track the campaign’s finances would include the media involved in advertisements, the material used, the number of people involved in the campaign, and means of transport sourced. These analytics will be carefully managed as they depict the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Financial considerations will include the inauguration season, as it will be the first time the team is going public. Assessment measures for the plan involve checking the budget against other known launches taking into consideration the Canadian dollar inflation. For resource allocation, logistics will be given key consideration. The staffing plan will be based on the number of people in the campaign.
References
Gmelch, G., & Nathan, D. A. (Eds.). (2017). Baseball beyond our borders: An international pastime. U of Nebraska Press.
Wheeler, A. (2017). Designing brand identity: an essential guide for the whole branding team (5th ed.). John Wiley & Sons.