User:Allarikutty2005

Dr. James Naismith is the man behind the invention of basketball, which is now a world-famous game. Naismith wanted to create a game of skill for the students instead of one that relied solely on strength. He needed a game that could be played indoors in a relatively small space. After a serious thought he came out with this idea. The first game was played with a soccer ball and two peach baskets used as goals. •	Basketball, a game that started with 18 men in a YMCA gymnasium in Springfield, Mass., has grown into more than 300 million people play worldwide. •	Naismith's biggest thrill came when he was sponsored by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) to witness basketball become an Olympic sport at the 1936 Games held in Berlin. •	 The Growth Of Women's Hoops 	In 1970-71 294,000 girls played high school sports. 	In 1976-77 that number increased to 1,645,000. 	Today over 13.5 million females play basketball! •	The International Women's Sports Federation (1924) included a women's basketball competition.

National Basketball Association •	In 1946, the National Basketball Association was formed, organizing the top professional teams. This lead to greater popularity of the professional game. •	The first game was played in Toronto, Canada between the Toronto Huskies and New York Knickerbockers on November 1, 1946. •	An upstart organization, the American Basketball Association, emerged in 1967 and briefly threatened the NBA's dominance until the rival leagues merged in 1976.

WOMEN NBA:

•	The NBA-backed Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) began in 1997. •	Other professional women's basketball leagues in the United States, such as the American Basketball League (1996-1998), have folded in part because of the popularity of the WNBA.

GLOBALIZATION OF THE GAME:

•	The International Basketball Federation was formed in 1932 by eight founding nations: Argentina, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Romania and Switzerland. •	Players from all over the globe can be found in NBA teams. Steve Nash, who won the 2005 and 2006 NBA MVP award, is Canadian; Kobe Bryant is an American, however he grew up in Italy; Dallas Mavericks superstar Dirk Nowitzki is German; All-Star Pau Gasol of the Memphis Grizzlies is from Spain; and the San Antonio Spurs feature Tim Duncan of the U.S. Virgin Islands, Manu Ginobili of Argentina (like Chicago Bulls player Andrés Nocioni) and Tony Parker of France. (Duncan competes for the United States internationally.) •	The all-tournament teams at the two most recent FIBA World Championships, held in 2002 in Indianapolis and 2006 in Japan, demonstrate the globalization of the game equally dramatically. Only one member of either team was American. •	Much of the popularity of the sport is traceable to such basketball greats as Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Michael Jordan.

BASKETBALL, CAN IT BE A POTENTIAL SPORT IN INDIA ?

Yes, this   115  year old sport is for sure to have a potential basis in  man- powered and historical country like INDIA.

Much of professional basketball’s potential is traced to its inherent nature - •	A fast-paced. •	Generally high scoring game. •	 Any individual with a ball and a hoop can play. •	Positive towards space-boundation. •	Affordable and economical. •	Flexibility of investment. •	Commendable return for the customers of players in physical fitness. •	Team game where a community, state or country can be represented as a team. •	Potential to beguile diversified audience.

INDIA AND BASKETBALL

•	Harry Crow Buck who was popularly known as the father of physical education at YMCA (Chennai) played an equally important role in introducing the game in India in the early 1930s. •	 One of the earliest basketball-playing nations in Asia; member of Asian Basketball Association from 1936. •	First major competition at the national level conducted in New Delhi in 1934. •	Services dominated Indian basketball from 1957 to 1980. Barring Railways’ triumph ’68 and ’69, Services made the men’s nationals their own. •	First institutional team, Hindustan Aeronautical Ltd, was formed in Bangalore in 1948 •	First private club, Bangalore Blues Club, took shape in 1948. •	Basketball Federation of India was formed in 1951 in Bombay. Chennai YMCA’s C.C. Abraham was its first president. •	Indian men participated in the 1980 Olympics. The period from 1975 to 1980 was when India punched above their weight in international basketball.

Basketball has churned out 16 Arjuna awardees and two Dhyan Chand awardees so far.

Marketing Plan

The basic element of any successful marketing plan is to convince the public that the product being promoted is a commodity that they either want or need.

Strategic planning for marketing basket ball in INDIA should meet the following key objectives:

CORPORATE LEVEL:

•	Transform consumer experiences. •	Install Brand preference. •	Positioning the Brand socially. •	Creation of association between fans and celebrity culture. •	Amplification of consumer participation. This involvement often results in increased loyalty and therefore, increased spending. •	Reaching diversified Indian crowd’s interests. •	Identification of target markets.

INSTITUTIONAL LEVEL:

•	To educate the general public about the institution's basketball team. •	To create awareness within the institution and the community of the sport. •	To promote the sport as a valuable commodity to be sought by the consumer. •	 Swelling number of audience and participants at leagues.

SUGGESTION OF STRATEGIES:

Strategies should include the development of: •	A media relations plan. •	An advertising campaign plan •	A grassroots-marketing plan •	A promotions plan •	A campus and community communications plan

USING PLAY ON WORDS: Audience-centric advertising messages inspiring them to be part       of  the experience of going to a game.

To quote as an example : •	“NBA Action … It’s FAN-tastic”. This is one of the big time hit advertising message used by NBA which implies that fans are an integral part of the game. •	“I LOVE THIS GAME”  probably more popular catchphrase. Its open-ended nature allows audience to define for themselves what they love about the game.

Creating an association between fans, the celebrity culture, the   ad “allows receivers to pretend a little and think about themselves in the position of the” celebrities and athletes featured in the ads. It reinforces the idea that every fan, famous or not, is important.

e-MARKETING: WEBSITE: Salient features include: •	Offers bevy of information to global audience. •	Offers streaming audio and video. •	Fantasy Basket ball leagues. •	Online shopping for merchandise. •	Provide web dairies of coaches, analysts and players.

BENEFITS:

“Interactivity spurs purchases,” so more the information  made available on the web site, the more likely the fans will purchase a ticket. . 			               In addition to keeping fans abreast of the schedule, the web site  aids in sharing information on sponsors, giveaways, and events.

Global exposure the sport or the organization promoting the sport gains. Supplements the limited television broadcasts international audiences receive, and drives participation in the sport when there are no games televised.

Aids in growing a borderless fan base, who may start out as fans of a certain international player, but whose loyalty grows with increased contact with the sport. .	         For a league whose domestic fan base seems to fragment progressively with the exponential growth of media and entertainment choices, a refocus to a global audience may aid in replacing deserting fans. Appealing television option.

TO MEET DIVERSIFIED INDIAN CROWD: Aside from  the league web site, each team should have its own site, offering player biographies and statistics, community outreach programs, game recaps, streaming media, and an assortment of other information. For fans that are increasingly technological, and demand up-to-the-minute information, the internet portals of the organization and its teams are indispensable marketing tools.

NBA - e marketing:

Vertical integration: The official league web site enjoys so much popularity that it spun off its own television channel. The NBA launched the associated NBA.com TV  (later shortened to NBA TV) on cable and satellite systems in the late 1990’s, vertically integrating its brand through the Internet and television.

The new NBA television channel: •	Combines real-time statistics, scores and news from NBA.com … with  live studio-based programming. •	Live look-ins on games in progress, game highlights, vintage NBA games, NBA videos and specials. •	It also broadcasts basketball-related talk shows, basketball-themed movies.

On- Demand programming: The Latest trend

The NBA already does this for the current season’s games, through subscriber service, League Pass, launched in the 1990s. Fans who subscribe to the service can choose to watch any game on the NBA slate on any given day.

INTEGRATED MARKETING THROUGH SPONSORSHIPS: Sponsorship to sport leagues is the brain child of the companies belief  in “linking [the] brand with something the consumer already likes” in their product promotion. So almost every sports facility is named after a corporate sponsor willing to spend millions on signage and logos.

Some important Strategies include:

•	‘Naming right’ packages: To allow company to display their names in and around the arena. •	Similar packages at team level, league level where players publicize the company through apparel while they play. •	Sponsored contests: During the time outs and quarter breaks link the sponsor to a fun event creating good emotional connections for the fans involved. •	Product placement: Sponsors also often give the fan added value by offering their products or samples of their products at the arena. This type of product placement provides more opportunity for synergy between the sponsor and sport or sponsor and the organization. •	Special effects technologies: Product placement need not be limited to the arena; special effects technology allows for digital insertion of the sponsor’s logo or product in the game broadcast.

Some suggestions to expand sponsorship promotional tool at institutional level:

Offer a sponsor the opportunity to separate itself from the pack. By partnering with an area college or university, the sponsor could establish a contest, wherein youth involved in community outreach initiatives, such as the Read to Achieve program, submit transcripts, essays, and a full application to the institution. From the pool of qualified applicants, the college or university would choose an applicant, and the sponsor would cover the expenses for an academic scholarship.

The educational institution could also choose to sponsor the promotional contest itself, in exchange for advertising in the arena. For the sponsor, the added cost of subsidizing a scholarship would be folded into the package deal agreed upon with the team. Sponsors receive name exposure, which they can quantify and value. For the team, the sponsor revenue reallocated to a scholarship fund could translate into good will felt by theteam’s fans and outreach recipients. Research shows that “fan loyalty can be converted to sales” for both the sponsor and the league. A further expansion of the promotional tool would be for the institution to offer specialized classes for a certain number of athletes on the team. With the influx of players with little to no college education, a degree track designed for them to complete basic requirements for an associate’s or bachelor’s degree would yield good will among fans and benefit the athletes. The educational institution, in turn, would receive increased exposure and admissions through signage and logos at the arena. Further, it would provide the players with marketable skills after their playing days are over. Classes could be held during the off-season, with distance/on-line learning an option during the season. A program such as this results in more good will than direct revenue to the team, but when players are as much a product of the organization or nation as the game itself, any way to better the player is beneficial to the team.

Identification of target markets: Identify groups of individuals to whom the championship could be successfully promoted. Common target markets might include: •	University's sports fans •	Season ticket holders (current and previous ticket holders) •	Individual game ticket purchasers (current and previous ticket purchasers) •	Booster club/athletic fund contributors (both current and non-current/non-active members) •	Local and regional sports groups and clubs •	Community service groups •	Corporations and businesses •	Senior citizen centers •	Youth groups •	Local area chambers of commerce •	Some NGO s also can play good role. •	Civic organizations •	Chambers of commerce •	Traditional audience - marketing executives should also explore professional women as a possible revenue generator.

Identification of Potential Marketing Partners :

Identify those individuals who may have an interest in becoming involved in the marketing of the sport. These individuals may include: •	Local convention and visitor's bureau •	Leaders in the local sports community (i.e., sports authority or sports commission, community leaders, directors of athletics, coaches) •	Corporate partners •	Licensees •	Local media •	Sport-management program on campus or marketing association •	Local area chambers of commerce •	Amateur sport federations •	Branded sports good manufacturers like adidas etc..,

PUBLICITY:

Celebrity Athletes: The celebrity athlete is famous not only for his athletic prowess but also for his product endorsements and television and film cameos. His celebrity off the court may draw in non-basketball fans. Example would be Michael Jordan. Though basketball fans already knew him, his Nike endorsements and role in Warner Brothers’ movie, Space Jam, helped to attract curious fans to the NBA.

Community outreach programs:

Aside from team-sponsored initiatives, players should  have their own outreach programs because

“fans are necessary for the sport to survive”.

Citing as an example, New York Knicks offer at least four youth-oriented community initiatives, encouraging financial education, leadership skills, and importance of education.

An expansion of this tool is to include advertising featuring B.B players working in other community initiatives results in positive publicity for the sport.

Special packages: Packages in collaboration with sponsors could be multi beneficial.

For example  “Friends 4-pack” similar to the family packages in telecom industry could be a better promotional strategy.

Extension of this could be combination of four lower-level tickets, four beers or sodas, four chicken baskets, and four foam fingers could be sold at a premium price to young professionals. In addition, friends four pack purchasers would have the opportunity to meet the mascot and dance team prior to the game. Promotions such as these would expand the audience that attends NBA games and also helps in building healthy relations with packaged food industry.

Positioning of federation or board :

Positioning refers to how the brand is perceived in the market

Not only does basketball offer fans a closer view of the playing field, allowing them to see players’ emotions first-hand, it is also “closing in on soccer as a world game”. As such, teams can capitalize on its global recognition through original and inventive programs, revitalizing its place on the sports map. So positioning occupies key role in marketing of basket ball.

As the overall brand is a reflection of its best and worst teams, as well as its most and least likeable players, the organization or board  should take care as to how it positions itself in sports culture.

Teams, as sub brands, should work to strengthen their position as the fan-friendliest of the major professional sports.

Benefits of expanding above promotional tools: The expansion of advertising, Internet, sponsorships and publicity promotional tools results in increased fan participation in the team’s marketing.

Involving the fan is an added dimension to the in-arena experience, giving the fan yet another opportunity to feel a part of the sport and build fan equity.

Expanding the advertising and publicity initiatives speak directly to achieving one of the seven core brand values – accessibility.

The publicity would increase volunteers to teams’ community programs, so fans can participate in a team-sponsored event.