Written on September 14, 2009

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Justin Gartland

Understand how economic factors lead one sports product company to rethink potential niche product offerings targeted to a new, cost-conscious consumer group.

A valuable marketing challenge I was presented with recently came during my time in the University of Oregon’s MBA program as a member of the James H. Warsaw Sports Marketing Center. For part of the curriculum graduate students were assigned in groups to work with companies on relevant sports marketing challenges, conducting in-depth market research and ultimately presenting strategic recommendations addressing the challenges presented. My group and I were assigned to work as student consultants for a $20MM company known for making high-end vehicle cargo management solutions for weekend warriors and family vehicles.

What I didn’t realize until after we had presented our final recommendations was just how transferable our market research methodologies would become for other projects down the road. In our attempt to achieve a better understanding of the target consumer, we learned that much of our research framework and processes could also be applied in tackling marketing challenges faced by sports properties at the team, league, and agency levels.

SITUATION

In looking for their next step, the company had identified a seemingly logical new group of consumers to target: hunters and fishermen.

CHALLENGE

In consideration for this new potential customer segment, the challenge then presented to my group was as follows:

“Should the company enter into the hunting and fishing space, and if so, what is the best method?”

All things considered, from the company’s perspective there were really two alternatives to consider:

I. Reposition an existing product or recommending significant investment in the design

II. Development of a new product specific to the hunting & fishing space.

ACTION/RESULT

To answer the question posed to us, our student group employed marketing tools learned in the MBA. We invested heavily in primary and secondary research, culminating in the launch of an online national survey. Through the Warsaw Center, we were also provided access to valuable research databases that exposed us to a wealth of information and gave our group a more complete perspective on the hunting & fishing consumer and would-be competitors. In summation for brevity, what we uncovered for this segment was that the consumer had a low affinity for the current premium-priced product offerings (despite high brand awareness) and would rather search out more practical, low-cost solutions to their cargo management needs. Needless to say, the final set of recommendations reflected these cautionary findings and so we strongly suggested the company not allocate additional resources at that time to evaluating opportunities in the hunting & fishing space.

Being able to work alongside this company on a legitimate product marketing/management challenge was definitely one of the best learning experiences during the MBA program. My group’s thorough research and convincing analysis provided the company with a valuable second perspective during this tough economic downturn; one where consumers tend to search for the more cost-effective, practical solutions to their vehicle cargo management needs.

LESSON LEARNED

With worsening economic conditions looming and increasing competitive pressures, the company had enough foresight to seek out new ways in which to generate revenue and potentially grow market share while still preserving their premium brand name line of products in major key retailers. One of the first things they did prior to working with us was to design private label goods for low-cost retailers. This kept their factories and workers engaged, large revenues realized while not destroying the high-end brand equity the company continued to enjoy.

The major take-a-way from this experience has been the realization of just how important it is to be flexible and thoughtful. It’s is important to understand your customer, almost knowing them better than they know themselves, but it is almost equally as good to have Plan B. The days of just ‘shooting from the hip’ or do it as we have done before when it comes to running a sports-related business are over. Regardless of whether it’s a sports product company, team, or agency, being able to develop a set of research methods that provides a systematic and definitive way in which to collect, analyze, and draw conclusions has never been so important as it is now and the wherewithal to think out of the box imperative.