From January 2020 as CoViD-19 began to spread around the world, it became apparent that it may affect many businesses. Consider the context of online gaming and e-sports. The industry has seen a rapid growth due to Covid lockdowns and has attracted nearly 0.5 billion people towards online gaming in the past few years. The Managing Director of Red Bull Australia, Mr. Miles Wilson, is looking to cash in on the rapid growth of e-sports in the country. The marketing team at Red Bull Australia is seeking to sponsor popular online and video game tournaments within Australia to increase their brand's outreach. To do so, they first need to understand the popularity of various online games within the Australian community. The marketing team, therefore, has the following Management Decision Problem (MDP) - "Which online/video game tournaments should Red Bull sponsor in Australia?" To solve this problem, they have hired you as the Marketing Research Analyst. For this mini-task, you first decide to design a pilot exploratory study to understand more about the industry. 

1. For this part, you should first research on the Health & Wellness Spa industry in Australia (Hint: You will find industry reports in Marketline Advantage.  Search for a Case Study from March 2023 on "Esports Market: Witnessing a remarkable growth" in MarketLine). Share 3 insights on the E-sports industry from this report. (Hint: Remember to add the report as part of your references!). (5 points)

 2. To get more up-to-date information, search for recent Google search trends (https://trends.google.com.au/) for League of Legends for the past 12 months in Australia. Compare their performance with their closest competitor "Counter-Strike: 2 of 2 Department of Marketing Global Offensive". Share the corresponding Google Trends graph. Briefly describe the pattern you observe in the graph. (Hint: For this part, go to https://trends.google.com.au/ and search for "League of Legends" (Online game), and then compare to "Counter-Strike: Global Offensive" (Video game). You can also customize the date range and locations for your search terms). (4 points) 

3. Summarize key takeaways from your exploratory studies based on secondary data. What advice would you give to Mr. Wilson? (2 points) Next, based on these takeaways, you proceed to the next stage of the Market Research Process. Mr. Wilson's team has identified that they want to influence Red Bull's brand recognition through their sponsorship activities. 

4. Clearly formulate the Marketing Research Problem (MRP) from the above MDP. Briefly explain your rationale. Your rationale should link to the takeaways from (3) above. Your MRP should at least specify 2 components. (3 Points)

 5. For these 2 components, formulate 3 research questions (RQs). There should be at least 1 comparative and 1 relational RQ. Hint: Each RQ should link between two variables (4 Points) 

6. Create an analytical model for these components and research questions. Your analytical framework should clearly reflect the variables used in your research questions and specify the information needed for further research (2 Points)