Sales

With over $57B spent globally on corporate sponsorship in 2015, marketers continue to leverage the pervasive power of sports and entertainment to address targeted business objectives. In North America, beverage companies have long been at the forefront of brand sponsorship, tapping into both the equity of sports teams and purchasing power of high-traffic stadia to drive B2C and B2B value. This case examines one of the most powerful rivalries in all of sports from the lens of a regional water brand, Poland Spring®. Provided with a real-world set of objectives, marketing assets, and sales promotion tactics, students are challenged to activate the Red Sox v. Yankees regional rivalry across a variety of touchpoints. Focusing on the primary objective of driving retail sales, students will construct creative, realistic, and on budget sales promotion campaigns that leverage, insights explored within the case study.

Following the NCAA’s ruling to allow college athletes to be compensated for their name, image, and likeness (NIL), the marketing team at LEARFIELD, a premier multi-media rights partner for intercollegiate athletics, is hard at work to expand its leadership in (NIL) initiatives to best serve school and brand partners. The company has witnessed drastic changes in college athletics in the past five years and closely monitors the changes in student-athlete compensation as college athletes began earning money for their name, image, and likeness. LEARFIELD’s college business partners still retain control of their brand assets but now student athletes are free to engage in many activities that were once prohibited and on their own terms. While this has created a new frontier for young athletes, schools and businesses must consider how best to coordinate schools, brands, and student-athletes in a way that benefits all parties. The company must ensure that its services are holistic and consider all partners as it serves a variety of stakeholders: universities, conferences, brands, student-athletes, and the collegiate sports industry. Student-athlete NIL creates a new opportunity/division for LEARFIELD.

All signs are pointing toward a renaissance of on-field success for State U’s football, men’s basketball and hockey programs, suggesting that ticket demand will soon be on the upswing. This case study places students in a scenario in which a mid-major Division I university needs to decide whether to follow industry trends and outsource its ticket sales vertical or, alternatively, build an in-house sales department. After discussing the benefits and potential challenges to both tracks, and presenting three separate proposals - two from outsourcing firms, and one outlining the development of an in-house sales department - this case study challenges students to conduct a critical analysis of State U’s options and form a managerial recommendation.