Introduction
Like any other company, the Eugene Emerald’s have devised a marketing strategy with the hope of maintaining and ensuring that they generate the maximum amount of revenue from eth available market.
The baseball game has generated allot of passion and excitement among American fans over the years and this has been partly due to the motivated and continued aggressiveness of entities such as the Eugene Emerald’s. The success or otherwise of the team and company alike falls squarely on the ability to formulate implement and adequately maintain a viable and successful marketing strategy.
Background
Eugene Emerald’s has played host to many of professional and semi professional games since 1971. Over the years, the game has developed into a micro self-sufficient enterprise that deals and controls in its own market and market forces. The company therefore has been faced with the challenge of developing and facilitating a successful marketing plan for the 100000 + fan base.
It has based its marketing plan on the need to increase game attendance as well as increase the purchase of team products such as caps in every game played. The management has so far implemented an objective marketing strategy that targets increasing the Latino participation as a target market and means to achieve the firm’s objective.
Statement of the problem
The effectiveness and ability of a marketing strategy to meet the company’s objective relies heavily on the execution and implementation of the specific provisions and strategic plans. The Eugene Emerald’s target market strategy has been used over the years to increase the number of fans attending the game as well as a means of increasing the cap per game statistic. This research interrogates the actual effectiveness or otherwise of the target market strategy.
Methodology
The research took a qualitative approach that involved the researcher attending the Emeralds game on August 4, 2011 versus the Tri-City Dust Devils as a way of obtaining first hand observation and customer experience. This approach allowed the researcher to interrogate the specific aspects of the marketing strategy and make a conclusion on its effectiveness to the company and in achieving the organizations objectives.
Data collection
The observations and reflections from the game were written down and later analyzed in three thematic categories. The customer experience, amenities and the in game entertainment. Each theme was discussed in specific detail of experience best fit analysis and strategy gaps that need to be filled. The data also analyzed the price effectiveness of the existing strategy in as far as pricing is concerned as well the entertainment value of the animal house theme night.
Results and discussion
Customer relations
The first impression made by the employees in an entertainment activity matters allot in determining the chances of their repeated attendance to the event. The manner in which employees are treated therefore goes a long way in ensuring that at the customer goes home with a god impression and hence building on the goodwill of the service.
The employees at the reception however seemed rather overwhelmed by the number of fans and therefore compromised on the greetings and acknowledgements that are supposed to be issued to the customer. They however made scanty attempts at passing on greetings especially to those who are familiar and frequent fans. The number of greetings was higher however at the beginning of the issuance of passes but reduced as the number of fans increased.
This was followed by a long period of waiting since the number of employees who were allocated a single task was too few to handle the overwhelming fans. It took the assistance of security personnel to show me the directions to the seat. This was however partly attributed to the fact that most of the fans have visited the stadium more than once and therefore knew their way round. It is also very likely that a new person would waste a lot of time looking to be directed.
The immediate work areas looked tidy but in need have urgent re painting. It would seem as if the work areas received attention only during the games but none after. Signs of hurried cleaning were enough proof that the areas had only been recently tidied. The employees were rather neatly dressed and their uniforms were identifiable with the companies name due to their branding.
Majority also showed a firm grasp of knowledge of the affairs of the stadium and were very helpful to those who they assisted. They operated under an effective delegation system and certain employees specialized in specific problems. Some dealt specifically with credit card failures while others dealt with ticket loss and similar problems. This ensured that the employees delivered fast and quality service through teamwork.
The employees were also highly motivated and displayed an enthusiastic sense of hospitality they gave every complainant an opportunity to respond to their services through comments in a suggestion box that was pinned at strategic points with the relevant materials. They generally portrayed a god company image. Given the opportunity, I would however increase the number of employees to ensure that they maintain a consistent level of service delivery.
Market mix
The price structure was also seen to be specifically tailored to suit the different income ranges. The $2 price of a beer was friendly to low and high end customers and the uniformity provided harmony in the interests. The product mixes however seemed to lean heavily on the average earners bracket.
This caused a disservice to the 1000+ high end customers who required high end service and had to settle for the available packages. The general tidiness and cleanliness was above the minimum standard the facility design required few directions as the services are situated in plain sight. The role played by the merchandise operations that engaged in the sale of caps played a great role in stimulating loyalty and ratio to the game and the facility. The caps went a long way in selling the companies name.
Amenities
Secondary and auxiliary services were found to fairly attract the attention of the consumers. Despite their cleanliness and tidiness they still need a lot of modernization and renovation to embrace the 21st century technology. The facilities mission and goals are clearly stipulated as being in line with the spirit and objective of the sport.
The customized features of booths and wall paintings inspired a sense baseball into the minds of the customers. Visitor services are located in plain sight and therefore were easily accessible and identifiable. Services of similar nature such as information and telephone services are located and grouped in one direction to ease the accessibility and convenience of such services.
The displays inform of the stadium as well as the pitch clearly align with the spirit of the game and the mission and objective of the facility. There was however a great problem in the merchandise locations and distribution points.
Due to the limited space in the facility majority of the customers often left without visiting the merchandise booths despite their location in plain sight and easy accessibility. There was however enough concession for distribution and all interested customers were adequately served. The e facility therefore needs to re evaluate the location and positioning of the merchandise selling points.
Facility appearance
The facility has a shouting appearance that is blended through painting to the strategic seating arrangements that allow for a diverse fun base for either team. The maintenance program however fundamentally failed to cover the side facilities and focused on the main facilities in as far as painting is concerned.
The facility is however in good condition and free of any hazardous structures. It however needs to consider an expansion plan in as far as capacity is concerned if it is to host bigger games such as championships. The backup facilities were adequately maintained cleaned and painted and looked to be in good condition.
The cleaning system also provided structural concerns as the trash cans seemed to be overwhelmed and required regular empting. The facility could therefore operate better with bigger cans that would accommodate the high amount of trash. The facility’s features such as door handles and hand railings are in good condition but in need of modernization to improve and increase the level of customer satisfaction.
Conclusion
The facility is an old but effective asset that has the opportunity of generating greater income levels and increasing the level of consumer satisfaction through modernization.