Sports companies should attach great importance to their sales and promotions approaches, as they imply working with a large audience whose interest determines the success of the organization. The National Basketball Association (NBA) is one of the most well-known sports companies, not only in basketball but also in the entire sports industry. The study of what sales and promotions NBA contribute to the creation of a comprehensive plan in order for it to gain even greater efficiency and profitability for the company.
First, it is necessary to gain an understanding of what sales and promotions are and what role they play for a sports organization. Hence, promotion in the marketing mix of a company is a strategy to convince them that they need a particular product or service. This measure includes various advertising companies that promote awareness about the company. Sales can mainly reflect how successful the company’s promotion strategy is since they show the number of goods or services purchased. These two aspects are valuable for the global sports industry, as, first of all, it is due to significant competition. Secondly, for this level of organizational activity, the satisfaction of various audiences that exist in the global market is of critical importance.
As already mentioned, the relationship between sales and promotions and their incorporation into the marketing mix of the global sport business has a significant place. Sales directly depend on the success and effectiveness of the promotion strategy implemented by the company. It is worth noting that in addition to the advertising campaign, this measure includes providing customers with various benefits, attractive offers, and discounts. This is especially important in the context of sporting events, which can be quite expensive to attend.
There are several sales strategies that can be used by organizations in the sports industry, which can give them a competitive position and efficient operation. The main criterion of these approaches is the focus on customers, on whom the profit and further activities of the company directly depend. Thus, one of these strategies is relationship selling, which is based on building long-term relationships and customer loyalty. In addition, it “manages numerous information about product profiles, basic customer information, competitor product portfolio, and external environment information” (Mahendran et al., 2023, p. 2). Another strategy is discount and product bundling, which consists in creating unique offers for customers by compiling several products or services into a single package at a special price (Choi & Chen, 2019). Such offers also help to attract a significant number of customers and increase the company’s sales.
The use of technology has a particularly important place, especially in modern realities, for a company operating in the sports industry. In sales and promotions as part of the marketing mix, this tool helps in obtaining the most valuable information that can be used to create an effective strategy. In other words, managers can get data on competitors, preferences, and needs of the target audience and the main trends in the global sports industry. In addition, technology contributes to the significant promotion of the company’s marketing strategy and attracting more customers. It is also worth noting that the development of the discussed area assists in the acquisition of such innovations as “sales-force automation and frontline sales technologies” (Singh et al., 2019, p. 17). Thus, technological advancements are of integral and critical importance for modern sports companies that operate in the modern industry.
The next step in this work is to acquire the history and background, and current state of the National Basketball Association sports organization, which was selected for this research paper. This choice was due to the interest in the popularity of the sports organization and its place in the global industry. The NBA was founded in 1949 by Walter Brown and was initially called the National Basketball League (“History,” n.d.). Since its formation, the company has numbered approximately seventeen teams that represented larger and smaller cities. Over time, the association gained more and more fans, attracted all basketball teams, and became home to many successful players. The main motto of the NBA is “defining the past and leading the future,” which guides all its activities (“History,” n.d., para. 1). The NBA is also known for its annual championships between basketball teams, which attract a large number of fans.
The relatively modern state National Basketball Association is the governmental body for the entire basketball field in the United States of America. Research stated that “during the 2018-2019 NBA season, the average attendance at games was 17,987 and 21,964,447 total for the regular season” (“The most surprising NBA attendance statistics,” 2023, para. 2). At the moment, basketball games are also particularly popular with a large number of famous personalities who attend games. This brings additional publicity to the sports organization and attracts even more visitors.
The NBA has several sources of income, one of which is sales and promotion. Jin (2021) underlined that it “is expanding its market into peripheral products, including the production of some star memorabilia, the NBA store merchandise sales, jersey sales, and other aspects” (p. 707). This approach to the marketing campaign allows the company to distribute its products among people who love basketball, thereby increasing the level of their loyalty and involvement. In addition to distributing its own products, the NBA has a partnership agreement with such globally famous brands as Adidas, Nike, Coca-Cola, Gatorade, McDonald’s, and LEGO. Attracting such a large number of well-known organizations to the company’s activities also contributes to exposure for the target audience and attracts an increased number of sales (Humphreys & Johnson, 2020). Thus, the profit for the NBA also comes from the sale of tickets to games attended by more than seventeen thousand people.
Regarding the global industry, the baseball company’s sales and promotion policy has made an outstanding contribution to the development of the global sports industry. First of all, this is due to the fact that an increasing number of organizations are interested in cooperating with the NBA to increase the target audience and gain strategic benefits. Moreover, the sports organization itself is interested in global opportunities. Thus, it is making efforts to expand its franchise to the Asian part of the world. It will also encourage the growth of customers, which will have a positive impact not only on the financial side but also provide a competitive advantage in both the American and foreign markets. Therefore, it can be said that the company’s sales and promotion policy is effective and brings it a significant advantage in the market.
For enhancing sales and promotions, one of the main recommendations for the National Basketball Association is to pay attention to social networks and innovative technologies. This recommendation is based on the fact that in modern society, this industry has a severe and strong presence. Each individual has one of the most famous social networks downloaded to their phone and engages in reading news and announcements on it. Thus, in order to increase the audience and attract them to attend the games, the NBA needs to attract specialists who will help them create an effective promotion policy for distribution among social networks. Of particular value is the creation of partnerships with well-known medical personalities who have considerable consistency and whose opinion is considered authoritative.
Social media can also allow the NBA not only to improve promotion but also to increase sales. Thus, this technology can make it possible to transfer most of the company’s merch and products to an online format. As a result of this transition, fans of basketball teams will be able to support their pets by buying their paraphernalia online. Before proceeding with this recommendation, the company’s managers should conduct a study of customers’ behavior and preferences. This will provide awareness of the direction of the sales and promotion expansion policy, as well as provide an opportunity to reduce possible expenses. In addition, the emphasis can be placed on providing discounts or discounts when buying tickets through the company’s partners, for example, famous personalities.
A recommendation that can also benefit the NBA in the context of sales and promotion is to pay more attention to expanding into the global market. As already mentioned, the company is making efforts to interact with the Asian market. Thus, a sports organization should pay more attention to the study of such areas as the preferences of Asian consumers in the field of sports. Moreover, it is worth investigating the trends of this market and determining which activities can positively affect the activities of the organization.
As another recommendation for the NBA company, it is necessary to invest in the development of its players. This is due to the fact that athletes are the main attracting factor for the target audience, as they come to watch their games and support them by buying tickets and paraphernalia. Therefore, if there is no investment in the association’s players, they will not show true success and achievements, which may lead to the loss of interested customers. Furthermore, this circumstance will negatively affect the level of sales and will require large investments in the promotion. In addition, focusing on players can help attract a younger audience that is interested in new faces in the basketball industry.
These recommendations can have a positive impact on several aspects of the activities of a sports organization. First, this is due to the fact that all these measures will contribute to an increase in sales. This will happen by attracting a new audience and involving an existing one at basketball events. Additionally, this will help to increase sales of sports paraphernalia associated with particularly popular teams by associations and also increase the profit of the organization. Regarding promotion, the creation of partnerships with various well-known personalities and influencers will give the company the opportunity to increase exposure and the level of the target audience.
Paying attention to the global market will allow the company to gain connections with other international and local organizations and expand its consumer base. In addition, this recommendation will help to increase the competitiveness of the basketball association and improve its image for an international audience. The conclusion of partnership agreements on cooperation with developing countries will have a positive effect, as it will affect the development and strengthening of such sports as basketball in these regions. Thus, the NBA sports organization should incorporate these recommendations into a marketing plan, as it will favorably affect sales, promotions, and the global sports industry as a whole.
To draw conclusion, the National Basketball Association (NBA) is a world-renowned basketball organization that is the governing body for all other organizations in the United States. A study of its sales and promotion practices can provide valuable insight to deduce possible recommendations for their improvement. Henceforth, during the examination, the activities of the basketball association led to such conclusions that it should delve into the use of social networks, the global market, and player development. These measures will provide an opportunity to significantly increase the amount of profit, improve promotion policies, and develop relationships with the global market.
The use of social networks will help attract and retain more audiences and engage with them through famous personalities and influencers. This measure will also allow finding new innovative ways to sell merch, tickets, and other goods and services associated with the basketball company. Developing a connection with emerging markets can help to expand its global reach and educational policies, and attract new customers. By collaborating with local businesses and organizations, the NBA can create more localized marketing campaigns that resonate with fans in certain regions. Additionally, creating and developing new franchises on the global market can contribute to the growth of sources of revenue for the league.
References
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