Marketing and advertising are often used interchangeably, yet throughout this course you have learned that marketing is a much larger concept that requires a strong understanding of consumer behavior, products and services, and often the greater economic environment. Marketing is applicable to every industry and discipline in one way or another, but within the sport industry we have the chance to see the application of marketing concepts as if under a spotlight due to the industry’s global reach and importance to society. 

Your final project is the creation of an Opportunity and Consumer Analysis. You will select a sport team, individual, facility, or organization as the focus of your consumer and opportunity analysis. When selecting your area of focus, think about your interests and career aspirations. As you progress through the course, you will have the opportunity to practice the skills required for this project in several milestone activities. 

Your final deliverable will include a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis of your selected focus; a consumer analysis; an analysis of successful marketing and media strategies; and a brief 1-, 3-, and 5-year plan that allows you to explain your intended use of a proven marketing strategy and various media opportunities. Please note that your Opportunity and Consumer Analysis will be an eligible artifact to include in your program portfolio, as it will highlight your ability to recognize consumer characteristics and opportunities for brand improvement. The project is divided into two milestones, which will be submitted at various points throughout the course to scaffold learning and ensure quality final submissions. These milestones will be submitted in Modules Three and Five. The final Opportunity and Consumer Analysis will be submitted in Module Seven. This assessment addresses the following course outcomes: 

• Analyze consumer behaviors for the influence of political, cultural, and social events on consumer motivation at the local, national, or international levels within the sport industry • Illustrate the application of key marketing strategies in successful sport-specific marketing campaigns 

• Identify proven marketing strategies that can be successfully applied to specific sport marketing scenarios to attract consumers 

• Compare media opportunities for successfully communicating and marketing towards specific consumers within the sport industry Prompt Develop a comprehensive Opportunity and Consumer Analysis. Select a sport team, individual, facility, or organization and provide a thorough analysis of the existing marketing strategies and consumers, and determine an opportunity for greater consumer reach. Outline a brief 1-, 3-, and 5-year plan for the marketing opportunity. Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed: 

I. Marketing Focus: Select a sport team, individual, facility, or organization as the focus of your analysis and address the following: A. Explain in detail the role your selection plays in the greater sport industry and community. For example, if you chose a local high school field, explain what the field is used for, what sport relevance it holds in the area, what uses it has, who runs it, etc. B. Identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats facing your selection and its form of marketing, using the provided SWOT template. These may vary greatly depending on your selection, but all selections will have SWOT considerations. C. Expand upon and defend the potential benefit of one opportunity, identified in the SWOT matrix, for your selection. D. Assess the extent to which the current marketing strategies are sufficient for reaching the currently intended demographic audience. What marketing strategies are currently being applied regarding your selection? Are they sufficient or insufficient for the current consumers of your selection? E. Compare the media currently used to communicate with and market toward the current consumers in terms of their unique attributes and their success in reaching those consumers. 

II. Consumer Analysis: Identify the primary consumers, customers, or followers of your selection, and the consumer audience you hope to reach with the new opportunity, and address the following: A. Describe in detail the consumers you wish to better reach. Be sure to cover demographic information related to: 1. Location (local, national, international) 2. Economics 3. Culture 4. Race 5. Gender 6. Age B. Analyze the behavior of the consumers you hope to reach. What are the primary motivations for these consumers? Explain. C. Analyze the current political environment at the local, national, or international level for its impact on your selection. How is the political environment influencing your new audience? D. Describe the social and cultural aspects that influence these consumers and illustrate your conclusions with examples. E. Compare available media opportunities for reaching these consumers to identify aspects that may impact success with the new consumer audience. Which will be successful for communicating with and marketing toward the intended consumers? Explain. 

III. Proven Strategies: Analyze sport teams, individuals, facilities, and organizations for successful marketing strategies. 

A. Explain how a successful strategy was applied to a similar team, individual, facility, or organization as your selection at the same level (local, national, or international), using examples from the campaign to illustrate your claims. 

B. Explain how a successful strategy was applied in a campaign aimed at a different level (local, national, or international) from your selection and opportunity, using examples from the campaign to illustrate your claims. 

C. Assess how well each strategy would work for your purposes, using examples of their potential application for your intended opportunity. 

D. Select and defend a third successfully used marketing strategy in terms of its relevance to your opportunity and its applicability to the intended consumers. 

IV. One-, Three-, and Five-Year Plan: Describe how your selected strategy or strategies will be used over the next five years and how you will integrate specific media elements at each stage. A. Illustrate a plan to apply the strategy you feel will be most successful for year 1, year 3, and year 5, explaining why you chose to apply this strategy in this way. B. Define the media opportunities you will elect to use at each stage (1, 3, and 5) and explain why you are choosing to use these media opportunities in specific ways at each stage of the plan. Provide examples and reasoning.