Economic Utility in Sports & Entertainment Marketing How do we add value? Written by: Memory Reed Georgia CTAE Resource Network 2010

Economic Utility What is it? Adding value to goods and services Increasing customer benefits from their purchases of goods and services Making goods and services more useful

Economic Utility and Sports & Entertainment Marketing How do we add value to sports & entertainment marketing? Make the event an “experience” Do more than just play the game or put on the show - have contests, have activities for fans to be involved in, give them more than just the “show”

Why Should We Add Value? Increase Sales to Increase Profit Why increase profit? The purpose of business is give the owners a profit. How does adding value increase profit? What is the motive to increase value? To increase profit. The profit motive is what drives our economy. Economic Utility is to add value to the product. To make the product more valuable to the customer so the customer will be willing to pay more for the product. The profit motive is what drives business, it is what causes businesses to open, products to be invented and improved. The motive to do this is so that the business owner or inventor can make a profit off of their idea. If there is no profit available (socialist or communist economies) then there is no motive to open businesses, invent or improve products. In S&E the sports franchise or the entertainment venue adds value by offering other activities at the event to make it more fun and more than just going to the game or going to a show. The more fun the customer has, the more involved they are in the event, the happier they will be and the more likely they will buy products for sale during and after the event. Also, the customer will be more likely to come back and to tell others thereby, bringing more customers.

Forms of Economic Utility Form Utility (Production) Place Utility (Marketing) Time Utility (Marketing) Information Utility (Marketing) Possession Utility (Marketing)

Form Utility in S&E Marketing What is form utility in S&E Marketing? The production The sports event (the game) The entertainment event (the show) Production process of the memorabilia Production process of the clothing lines (t-shirt, jersey, hat, costume, etc.) Can you think of any other form utilities in S&E?

Place Utility in S&E Marketing What is place utility in S&E Marketing? Having the event at a convenient location for customers to attend Having the event at a “cool” location for customers to attend Having the event in a location that is large enough Having the event in a location that is comfortable Can you think of any other place utilities in S&E?

Time Utility in S&E Marketing What is time utility in S&E Marketing? Having the event available at a convenient time Having the event at the right time of year for the type of event Promoting the event during the right time of year for the event (ex. light display during the holidays, haunted house during October, baseball games during the spring & summer) Can you think of any other time utilities in S&E?

Information Utility in S&E Marketing What is information utility in S&E Marketing? Getting information to the customers about the product or service by advertising and promotions During events give information about upcoming events Make each event so much fun for the customers that they want to come back Can you think of any other information utilities in S&E?

Possession Utility in S&E Marketing What is possession utility in S&E marketing? Adding value by making it easy for the customer to possess the product Allowing the customer to pay with various types of payment (PayPal,Credit Cards, Debit Cards, etc.) Running promotional packages that make it easier to purchase Making tickets available a long time in advance so customers can raise the money Can you think of any other possession utilities in S&E?

Activity Turn to your partner and brainstorm 5 ways your favorite sports team or entertainer (entertainment venue) can or do use each of the utilities. Write 5 for each utility as well as the team or entertainer/venue on a piece of paper to turn in. When everyone is done, each team will stand and give their top use for each utility.

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