The purpose of the following report is to make assumptions on how the sports organizations tackle the various social issues. The various social issues are spreading all over the world very rapidly. Sport is a very popular medium that connects millions of people in one string. Millions of people are fond of watching and taking part in different kinds of sports activities (Moorthy, 2012). The sports organizations will have to make and implement several new strategies to capture the attraction of the audience in the best ways. This is how the organizations will gain the proper attraction among the people. It is the duty of the sports organizations to be a part of the development programs of the youth and be associated with improving the facilities for the people of various arenas in the society. The sports organizations very often work as the symbols of the human beings. The sports organizations very often launch new products for their brand extension by understanding the needs of the customers. The organization that is chosen for this assignment is NBA Cares (Cares.nba.com, 2018). It is a very popular professional basketball association in United States of America. The social marketing issues will be identified in the context of this organization and their marketing strategies will be discussed in detail as well. The new product will be launched by the organization and the product extension strategies will be discussed here as well (Moorthy, 2012).
The full name of NBA is National Basketball Association. The organization was founded in the year 1946. The commissioner of the organization is Adam Silver. The headquarters of the organization is New York City. The company is a huge brand in the sports management. It has become a global brand and the marketing strategies that it has applied have become a huge factor in the contemporary times. The main target of the organization is to provide the spectators with the best facilities to watch the sports and bring them together. The sports marketing strategies will be implied for the benefit of their stakeholders. The new product extension strategies should be very much effective enough as well. The different social issues will be tackled by the company to be a role model for all the organizations in sports (Moorthy, 2012).
The marketing aspects are really important and useful for the growth of the NBA Cares. They have always stressed on building a proper marketing plan that will cater to the needs of the sports enthusiasts. The fans want to see the tournament as a proper one that will really make them feel proud. The seven most important materials that are really very important for developing the marketing plan are the seven P’s of marketing. These seven variables are product, price, promotion, place, people, physical evidence and process. These things really are very important to be considered as one of the major parts of their marketing strategies (Spiggle, Nguyen & Caravella, 2012).
The social issue that can be focused here is that of the ‘Basketbrawl’ in the year first decade of 2000. The incident is also known as the Malice in the Palace. Another social issue that can be given the special focus in this scenario is that of the racism (Spiggle, Nguyen & Caravella, 2012). This has become a widespread issue all over the issue in the recent times. United States is considered to be one of the biggest countries that have been infested with the evil of racism. This is why the organizations will look to implement such strategies that will help them to provide equal facilities to all the people indeed. It has to be said that the NBA Cares always needed to know and understand about the needs of the ‘Publics’ before they could chalk out any of their marketing strategies (Jobber & Ellis-Chadwick, 2012) The desires of the Publics will lead them to execute their plans effectively. The term target audience has not bneen used in this segment since the term ‘publics’ has a broader meaning indeed. It has been identified that there are around four types of publics in the context of the NBA Cares. These different types of publics will be discussed here:-
Some experts have already made some important research work among the NBA Basketball players and their fans. The fan base tells that they do not look upon the basketball players in the highest respect. They have seen those players in the snobbish ways indeed. This is why they use some terms for the basketball players for the ‘egoistical’, ‘gangsters’, ‘selfish’, ‘trouble-makers’ and many others indeed (Hair Jr & Lukas, 2014) It has also been revealed that the negative opinion that they already have about the basketball players is generally initiated by the media promotions. The media people cover and show these basketball players to be something not like the civilized people. This has motivated them to see those people in the same ways as well. They are not the good boys and sometimes the brawl takes place because of the racism issues as well. A major event of the brawl in the NBA has already been said about. The component or element of promotion is such an important one that the NBA Cares will need to address and take some positive actions to mitigate the issues. The marketing mix is very important to be discussed in the following section:-
The sports organizations have become so much popular and professional that they need the proper marketing strategies to be implemented indeed.
The NBA Cares program has been very much efficient in making the sport an important thing for making the sport a strategic one indeed. As the organization has gathered the negative publicity over the last twenty years, it is very important for the organization to make the proper initiatives for the changes to be made in the perspectives of the viewers. The negative concepts of the people would have to be removed by the smooth marketing plans within the NBA Cares so the negative image of the starts can be erased off (Malhotra & Peterson, 2014).
Some big players like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and many more have already begun the volunteering campaigns to make the people aware of their initiatives to make the image better and positive. The most useful plan is to make the new players get associated with the various community organizations in the mix. These players have many social responsibilities and they must perform these social responsibilities indeed (Wilson et al. 2012). Thus the organization NBA Cares must try to bring back the lost glory of the organization. If the players can get involved in such matters, this will surely help them to get connected with the people as well. It has to be remembered in this scenario that the organizations who perform their CSR activities well in USA have automatically developed a good and positive image indeed. This is why NBA Cares would like to employ these CSR activities for making better strategies for the better future indeed. The cause-related marketing strategies will have to be implemented positively so the customers do not get the opportunity to switch their products (Wilson et al. 2012).
Thus it can be stated that the NBA Cares will have to be very cautious when they would prepare their marketing strategies properly. On one hand they have to be involved in the allover welfare of the society by erasing the evils of racism and seeing all the people from the equal point of view (Hartley & Claycomb, 2013). On the other hand, NBA Cares will have to focus on they have to focus on the greater marketing strategies that will help them to establish good public relations as well with all the people. The main efforts should be put on increasing the connections between the players and the fans. The professional experts have said that the NBA Cares has provided more than 1000 places where the children and their families would be able to live, learn and play. More than 10 million youth is engaged in the development of the game by making the endorsements of the game indeed. The NBA Cares programs have always tended to cater towards the social issues like racism (Hartley & Claycomb, 2013).
Promotion is one of the strongest elements for thee marketing mix of the NBA Cares. The sport marketers will be able to communicate with their target audience through the promotional activities through the social media and other ways (Chaffey & Ellis-Chadwick, 2012). The potential customer base will have to be targeted in this context as well. The marketing strategies will be very important for the development of the communication programs indeed. The messages of the organization, their services or products can be defined to the customers in this manner as well (Chaffey & Ellis-Chadwick, 2012). Thus they can come closer to their customer base as well. The NBA Cares had been able to understand the viewpoint of the fans towards the basketball players and their attitudes. This is why they are very keen to change the perspectives of the ‘publics’ through engaging in the social media and public relations strategies. The marketing campaigns must begin with the interactive sessions indeed (Berthon et al., 2012).
The development of the marketing strategies is very important in the proper ways. The organizations would look to get involved with their customers or the ‘publics’ all the more. If the players interact more with the fans they will be able to generate greater publicity indeed (De Mooij, 2013). The various social networking platforms would be very much important to identify the social issues and find the proper ways to mitigate them. The NBA authorities must be able to understand that they must engage with the people in a better manner so they can get close with the people. The collaborative works would be highly permissible in this regard. The more they communicate, the more they will be able to desires of the fans.
This engagement with the fans will help the authorities to establish good networks and the improvement of the communication system can be initiated by using the various social media platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and others. Most views have been recorded on YouTube regarding the games in NBA league (De Mooij, 2013). As per the experts, there are more than 150 video links on YouTube on NBA Cares. Thus the fans would be able to see what their favorite players do outside the basketball court. Sometimes they help the needy children in the cancer hospitals, sometimes they speak for the anti-racist issues and sometimes they even donate for the cause of education in the charity schools as well (Huang & Sarigöllü, 2014).
If the fans see their heroes perform such good deeds for the society they will surely have a good impression on the players as well. In these videos the fans are seen to interact with their favorite players in a relaxed mood and they talk about everything like their likes and dislikes, their views of the society, their lives, the ways they had been victimized of racism in the previous years and many other things (Huang & Sarigöllü, 2014). In these videos the basketball players are shown to be laughing with the fans and take selfies. This lightens the mood and the fans can stay very calm about it. The barriers between the celebrities and the non-celebrities are eradicated through this manner (Leonidou, Katsikeas & Morgan, 2013). The players always share their experiences with the fans that are a great gift. They speak against the evil of racism in the society and urge their fans to keep away from making racist comments as well. Thus it becomes very much clear to the fans that their favorite players have their own brand image but moreover they all are human beings. The societal barriers victimize them as well and this kind of thing should be erased completely from the society (Leonidou, Katsikeas & Morgan, 2013).
The effects of using social media are immense in this aspect since the NBA Cares will look to invest in the proper marketing strategies indeed (Bonilla-Silva, 2017). The organization will have to make the proper progress by communicating with the basketball fans. The fans will look to communicate with the players, get their autographs, follow them on Instagram and Facebook and finally getting the attention from their idol basketball players. The twitter following of NBA Cares has reached to a certain level that the organization will need to use the fame of these players for the welfare of the entire society (Bonilla-Silva, 2017).
The middle class and black skinned people have suffered a lot in the USA in the past. Players from all around the world take part in the NBA league and most of the people are of black skin as well (Bonilla-Silva, 2013). It has been a huge challenge for them to take proper actions against the issues that arise because of the racism. The racial discrimination has some to be a huge issue in the league as well. The number of African Americans is large in the player list of NBA. The United Nations has already raised their voices in the past about the issue in the best ways (Trepagnier, 2017). The authority of the NBA league will look to find out some ways in which they can be able to tackle these issues actively. The issue of race and ethnicity has been seen in the mix in this league and the authority is keen on tackling these racism issues for the benefit of the brand image of the NBA (Bonilla-Silva, 2013). The number of Latin and Asian players is not very much compared to the native Americans and the African Americans. This is why this league is considered to have the highest number of black skinned professional players in both USA and Canada.
The racial discrimination has been a constant and regular issue in terms of NBA. This is why the authority and the famous players of different teams in NBA have raised their voices indeed (Lavelle, 2016). The payment of their wages can also be considered as an attribute for their categorization as a black or white skinned player. It has been seen sometimes that some players of NBA teams have not been given the proper recognition just because the skin color of the players. The collective bigotry in USA has always been shown in different cases as well. It has also been found that some players have been the victims of this evil very effectively. Famous basketball player of the NBA league LeBron James has raised his voice against this evil in an active way indeed. He has been a major and most valuable player of the Los Angeles Lakers team. He has found his way to raise his protest in this issue of vandalism and racist attacks that took place in the home ground of his team
Cause-related marketing strategies and publicity
The NBA Cares is willing to approach the marketing strategies in various parts. The company must engage in the socially responsive strategies that they can be able handle and tackle the various social issues (Agyemang & Singer, 2014). As racism is one of the most important social issues, they would look to implement some proper strategies to mitigate this social issue as well. The sports organizations like NBA Cares must always provide the ‘publics’ with the opportunities by maintain all the ethical practices indeed (Belz & Peattie, 2012). Thus the community could be involved in a better manner indeed. The NBA Cares program will like to engage with the community by the following ways:-
Thus NBA Cares has provided many benefits to all the society through its various welfare programs (Erdo?mu? & Cicek, 2012). This has enhanced their public relations in a new way indeed. The publicity campaigns will surely be effective for the organization in the question of the future profits. These public policy campaigns should be made in an aggressive manner as well (Hill & Alexander, 2017). An instance can be given in this aspect that the pictures and images of the players can be put in the various global and local welfare communities indeed. Thus these images and pictures can be made available in the several websites (Best, 2012). The fans will be able to download the images and this will surely be very effective for them. Thus the fans will be able to get the access to the players indeed. The players will have to be projected in the positive manner since the televised games will show the positive sides of the game and their players (Fill & Turnbull, 2016).
NBA Cares will like to introduce the new policies through the use of the social media that will surely enhance the performance of the athletes and basketball players. They would also like to connect with the fans and enhance their relationship. In order to influence the people and make them believe that the players will do well for the society can be reflected in the works. The organization will like to launch their new social media platforms to connect with the fans and know about their likes and dislikes (Arhip & Arhip, 2012). This is the reason that the organization will have to make the decision to connect with the fans in the new ways. NBA Cares might launch some new services through their online portal so they can upload the interviews the famous personalities in the basketball. These persons will surely talk about the impact of racism on sports and the brawls that might take place in this context. However, they are also very conscious of the matter that dependence on the social media platforms can also decrease their publicity as well (Gordon, 2012). The total fan following in these social media platforms will surely not show the total consumer base of the NBA. If the fans have the faith in the tournament and the players they will surely turn up as well. The organization will have to make sure that the players do not perform any kind of activity that harms their brand image. The launch of the new online portal will help them to gather the feedbacks of the fans in the positive ways (Khan, 2014). If the players are associated with events that go against racism, it will enhance the overall reputation of the organization as well. Thus the NBA must ensure that they are one of the biggest brands in the sports industry that do not support the ill practice of racism. The public relations campaigns will also help the organization to make the most of the opportunities they already have in front of them (Londhe, 2014). These campaigns will make the players connect with the audience in a clearer way. The people would be able to ask certain questions that they feel necessary. Thus the NBA organization will go on to achieve the best ratings in terms of meeting the societal issues. They will also like to raise their voice against the other social evils like bullying. It is a major responsibility of the organization to make the most use of all the social media platforms collectively (Westwood, 2013).
Just like any other organization or industry, the technological advancement has taken over the sports industry as well. The coverage of the sports leagues has become more frequent than before (Tuten & Solomon, 2017). The sports organizations have benefitted from these things a lot indeed. The fans are able to view the matches live and replay on the mobiles as well. Thus the impact of technology has been huge in this array. The sports organizations like NBA Cares have also seen to the growth of technology in the most positive aspects indeed (Lipsman et al., 2012). This is why the various sports organizations rely on the various advantages that they can get from the use of these technological advancements. The sport officials will be able to give their decisions in a better way for faster results (Papasolomou & Melanthiou, 2012). The video clips of the various sports personalities will help the organization to get hold of the entire things as well. The design of the sports equipments can be improved in various ways by the use of the technology. The spectators will also have a better experience in watching the sports performances as well.
1) How can the NBA Cares ensure the racism free environment in the games?
NBA Cares will always look to provide the best efforts by which they can ensure that there are no victims of the racism. It can always be said that the players of different teams of the NBA will look to make many promotional campaigns as they will surely go on to make the best in their campaigns indeed (Khan, 2014). In these promotional campaigns they will surely try to convince the fans that they will make the environment very much sport friendly. Thus NBA Cares can be able to make the tournaments very much attractive as well (Gordon, 2012).
2) What are the ways by which NBA Cares can bring sustainability?
The main purpose of all the promotional campaigns is to bring the sustainability to the organization. The social media campaigns will have to be made on different social media platforms like the Facebook, YouTube and many more. The sustainability can be achieved only when the fans are assured that no incident like ‘basketbrawl’ will take place in the future. The sustainability campaigns can also be arranged before the start of the matches as well (Khan, 2014). The organization will surely look to enhance their trust on their customers or the ‘publics’.
3) How will technology cater to the development of the company?
The development of the sports industry depends very much on the technological advancement. The various latest technological platforms will have to be utilized for the best benefits indeed (Lipsman et al., 2012). NBA Cares must raise the awareness among the people on the evils of the racism. The past incidents of racism on the players and their bad impacts will have to be showed in this case as well through the YouTube videos. Thus the organization would look to provide the best opportunities for the technological innovation process (Lipsman et al., 2012).
Conclusion
The paper can be concluded by saying that the NBA is one of those sports organizations that deals with the players mostly from the African American origins. Many native Americans have been the part of the organization as well. The fans are very well connected with the organization and they have a genuine trust as well. It is the responsibility of the organization to deal with such practices of racism within the society. The evil impacts of racism have always haunted the people in the various circumstances. NBA is the only authority that can deal with these issues in a positive manner. The organization must be able to connect with their customers and follow their marketing strategies exceptionally well. They have to make good marketing promotions in order to provide the organization with the best chances of enhancement in connecting with the organizations. They have to deal with these issues in the best ways to capture the attention of the media. The public relations strategies must be followed properly to connect with their customers in a better manner as well. The organization will have to make sure that their activities do not harm the organizations. The different programs of the NBA Cares should be taken up in accordance to adopting the various social media strategies as well. The favorite stars of the fans should speak up against racism in the open public forums. These forums could be both offline and online as well. Thus the NBA cares will have to respond to the various social issues in the best ways as well.
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