Dream Bat Study By: Kyle Graham Steve Carr Neil Cacciola Steph Bergeron Mike Dombrowski

Background Information Founded in 2005 by Tim Mayo Once he graduated college, Tim knew his playing days were over but he wanted to stay involved in baseball. He also knew his younger brother had a good chance of playing professional baseball.

Background Info Cont. With that in mind Tim bought a Lathe off of eBay, and the first Dream Bat was made. The Dream Bat company offers custom made bats, made to the specifications of the customer

Problem Statement Research is necessary to determine how the Dream Bat Company can improve the company’s line of baseball bats for the Franklin Pierce College Baseball team.

Research Objectives To Identify both positive and negative features of the baseball bats. To determine if the Franklin Pierce Baseball Team likes the branding strategy. To determine if team members would remain loyal to the brand after serving on the Franklin Pierce Baseball Team.

Literature Review – History of Baseball Bats Early on bats were made in all shapes and sizes In the 1850’s baseball was an extremely young sport and players experimented making their own bats (Long, Short, Flat, and Heavy) The Players concluded that rounded barrels worked best

Literature Review – History of Baseball Bats In 1859 a rule was made stating that a bat could be no larger than 2.5 inches in diameter, but any length. Ten years later in 1869, another rule was added that stated the bat could be no longer than 42 inches. Both of these rules stand true today

Literature Review- Bat Materials White Ash Maple Aluminum Hickory Bamboo

Literature Review- Bat Materials The majority of bats are made from White Ash. White Ash is used because of its hardness, durability, weight, strength, and feel. Trees that provide the lumber for baseball bats are often over 50 years old, and only the top 10% of the wood harvested in used to make professional bats.

Literature Review- Choosing a Bat Level of play Size of the batter Cost Comfort

Development of the Survey Developed in class with the input of Professor Little, other classmates, our group members, and the owner of the Dream Bat Company, Tim Mayo. Input was provided on November 6, 2006 Revised and resubmitted on November 8, Final revisions were made on November 10, 2006.

Definition of the Population Franklin Pierce varsity and junior varsity team. The total number of players is varsity and 24 junior varsity Sample size is based on a non-probability convenience sampling.

Data Collection Method Data was collected Wednesday November 15, Data was collected at Dr. Arthur and Martha Papas Field. Between the hours of 12:00 pm and 5:00 pm. 36 varsity and 14 junior varsity players were surveyed for a total of 50 surveys.

Assumptions All surveys will be answered honestly 100% of the Franklin Pierce Baseball team will answer survey. All questions are easily understandable There are no flaws in the survey Survey answers are projectable

Limitations Time because our Marketing Research class is only one semester long Sample Size because we can only survey the Franklin Pierce Baseball Team Everyone one survey may not have used a Dream Bat. Only three bat types were given to the Franklin Pierce Baseball Team

Survey Questions 1. How often do you use Dream Bats? 2. On a scale of 1-10 how satisfied were you with the Dream Bat? 3. What type of bat do you prefer? 4. On a scale of 1-10 how was the feel of the Dream Bat?

Survey Questions Continued 5. Which weight distribution do you prefer? 6. Please estimate how much you would spend on an Ash Bat? 7. Please estimate how much you would spend on a Maple Bat? 8. Please estimate how much you would spend on an Oak Bat?

Survey Questions Continued 9. What other types of Wood would you like to see a Dream Bat made of? 10. Do you have any suggestions to improve Dream Bats? 11. Have you ever been to the Dream Bat website 12. If yes, were you satisfied with the Dream Bat website?

Survey Questions Continued 13. On average how much do you spend on wood bats per season? 14. Where are you from?

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Question 10 What can Dream Bat do to improve their product?  Thicker Handle (5)  Stickier Handle (2)  Thicker Knob (4)

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Cross Tabulation 1

Cross Tabulation 1 Continued

Cross Tabulation 2

Cross Tabulation 2 Continued

Cross Tabulation 3

Cross Tabulation 3 Continued

Discussion According to our Literature Review the majority of baseball players prefer white ash. According to our survey the majority of players on the Franklin Pierce Baseball Team prefer maple bats.

Discussion If Dream Bat can market to the NE10 and get there name out there at the collegiate level. NE10 is a well known conference that can help this small company emerge.

Conclusion Research Objective 1- To Identify both positive and negative features of the baseball bats. Pros  The majority of the population thought the price range was right for the bats. Cons  46% of the population gave the bats a 5 out of 10 for hardness.  40% of the population gave the bats a 5 out of 10 for overall satisfaction.

Conclusion Continued Research Objective 2 - To determine if the Franklin Pierce Baseball Team likes the branding strategy 70% of the population had never been to the Dream Bat website.  Of the 20% that had been to the Dream Bat website only 41% were satisfied.

Conclusion Continued Research Objective 3 - To determine if team members would remain loyal to the brand after serving on the Franklin Pierce Baseball Team 52% of the population never use Dream Bats. The majority of the population thought there was a lot of improvement needed for the bats.

Recommendations Use higher quality wood for making bats. Start marketing product more in Massachusetts. Stop making birch bats Expand into making Hickory, Bamboo, and Oak bats.

Questions? Thank You