Ospreys Analysis

Introduction

The Ospreys is one of four professional rugby teams in Wales, and have reached the quarterfinals of the Heineken cup three times, and are the current Pro 12 champions. Having only been founded in 2003, the marketing has been a core part of its history, having to create a fan base from nothing. Creating a large group of people to share an interest, and become paying customers in the Ospreys Rugby club, has to be the aim of the marketing team and with no history to support them in their scheme, the challenge is even greater than for other rugby clubs of a similar status. I will discover how this important task has been carried out and with reference to the 7P's, PESTEL, and SWOT analysis I will discuss the costs, benefits and requirements of Ospreys marketing including the sports branding. The Ospreys hold a unique marketing opportunity as it shares a stadium with Swansea football club, who achieve an average attendance at home games of 20,299. (Phil McNulty,2012) I believe that this is one of their significant advantages as their target market is for sports fans, the potential to attract these customers is great and should be considered as a large marketing opening. I will discover the benefits and potential negatives of this unique position. I will begin by assessing the organisations current approach and then move on...

Drawing on theory and examples, discuss the organisation's current approach to market segmentation, targeting and positioning.

The Ospreys have average attendances for home games have declined between 2006/2007 and 2010/2011from 9027 people to 8467. This is approximately a decrease of 6% which may not seem large but over the course of a season will greatly decrease revenue and therefore profit. A possible slump in form cannot explain this decrease, as the Ospreys have been arguably more successful in last few years, winning the Pro12 in 2009/2010 and 2011/2012. A possible explanation could be the recession in the world economy but this would result in a decrease across the whole of Wales, which has not been the case. In 2006/2007 Newport Gwent Dragons had a season average of 5,629 and in 2010/2011 it remained within 100 of this figure. This suggests that the Ospreys may be suffering from a poor marketing strategy. Currently the organisation has segmented the market,