Another ECom Workshop

1
Another E-Com Workshop
Content Analysis of Sports Websites

• By John Paynter

2
The Project

• Section 1 Introduction
• Section 2 Background
• Section 3 Methodology
• Section 4 Data Collection
• Section 5 Discussion of Results
• Section 6 Conclusion

3
Introduction

• Sports studies
• Super 12s Rugby Union
• Formula One Racing
• Americas Cup
• World Cup Cricket
• Importance
• The last Americas Cup attracted 4.2 million
  visitors!
• Last Americas Cup (2000) generated 640 million
  for the NZ economy

4
The Web and Sport - Statistics

• revenues from advertising, ticket and
  merchandising will make sports Websites among the
  most profitable Internet ventures by 2005 (NUA
  Internet Survey, 2000)
• adspend on sports sites will exceed 3.75bn a
  year by 2005 (Screen Digest Journal, 2000)
• US sports Websites experienced a 5.93 increase
  in Internet usage, ranked second overall to
  apparel, accessories and shoes Websites for
  August 2000 (Nielson//Netratings)

5

• Introduction
• Despite immense interest in sports content on the
  Web, little is known on how the Internet is
  currently being used by professional sporting
  teams and how it can be used as a marketing tool
• Attempts to present a systematic research
  approach to examine the key issues Website
  marketers and administrators should take into
  account in developing and/or for managing a
  professional sport Website
• F1 sites provide an ideal setting for Website
  evaluation as a result of its mass appeal and
  high-technology driven characteristics
• eg BMW WilliamsF1 Team Website exceeded 100m
  hits from 21 January to September 30th
• reach 38 from Europe, 35 from US, 27 around
  the world
• Similar potential for Americas Cup, although not
  the mass appeal.

6
Background The Super 12 Teams
7
Background The Cup Syndicates
8
Fan Loyalty/Building and the Internet

• Web can integrate levels of interactivity that
  traditional media cannot
• Recent research suggests that some Websites
  consider entertainment as an important
  characteristic to entice consumers in returning
  to a site
• Web can enrich sports experience through
• rich information content
• in-depth product information
• venue information
• interactive experiences (Moses, 1997)
• e.g. chat rooms, voting polls, discussion
  forums, streaming multimedia
• Such access bolsters insider knowledge with
  fans which ultimately brings the fan closer to
  the brand
• "If you're a fan, checking on your team's
  (Web)site is something you do several times a
  dayits almost religious. A good Website will
  generate a repeat, habitual dynamic that other
  content types wish they had". (Murphy, 2001)

9
Methodology

• Marketing 4Ps model
• Product
• Price
• Promotion
• Place
• Herseys Website Evaluation Model
• Concept
• Dimension
• Element

10
Marketing 4Ps Model

• Descriptions of the 4Ps
• Product This includes the syndicates
  merchandise
• Price The Super 12s Rugby Union study had
  categorised information on ticket pricing for
  this category, but this does not apply to the
  other sports syndicates, as no ticket sales are
  present. 1)      Price in these instances refers
  to the pricing of merchandise.
• Promotion This includes information related to
  syndicate promotions and Web-based promotional
  activities
• Place This includes information related to
  location of competition

11
Herseys Model The Dimensions

• Information
• Merchandise Transactions
• Trust
• Promotion
• Non-functional Requirements

12
Data Collection

• Herseys Evaluation Model
• Scores indicated by a 0 or 1
• Scores for a teams web site totalled
• Scoring conducted for each teams website

Americas Cup Websites
13
Data Collection

• 4Ps Model
• Record the absence/presence of a category element
  (Product, Price, Promotion, Place)
• Find percentages of the 4Ps for each syndicate
  website (eg. Product 50, Price 30, Promotion
  10, Place 10)

P
P
P
P
The 4Ps
14
(No Transcript)
15
Findings F1 Racing
16
F1 Websites Applied to Infotainment Matrix
Interaction
Interaction
Interaction Oriented
Interactive Information
Interaction Oriented
Information
Passive
Information Oriented
Information Oriented
Passive
Figure 1 The Infotainment Matrix
Figure 2 The Infotainment Matrix
Source Paynter and Chung (2001)
17
S12 Results
Most Frequently Used Information Content
Categories
18
S12 Results
Top Ranked Websites
19
Marketing Mix Index by Nation
Figure 2 Positioning Websites in the Matrix
based by Nation
Interaction
SA
NZ
Information
AUS
20
Discussion and Managerial Implications

• Some NZ sites no longer control their look and
  feel
• Website development and maintenance considered
  too expensive
• Given control of website administration in NZ to
  Xtra (who will run it at no cost) yet, retain
  control of content
• ? However this lacks branding/differentiation
  how long will they go with this model?

21
World Cup Cricket Teams
22
Cricket Results from Four Ps model
23
Across Sport Site comparisons
24
Discussion and Conclusions

• Sports organizations must rethink the auxiliary
  role that the Web site plays in their marketing
  strategy
• Web should be used as a central strategy in the
  integrated marketing communications strategy
  (IMC) by incorporating interactive information
  content into Web sites to increase fan
  involvement in the Web site
• shift focus from Place to include all elements
  of the marketing mix, with particular emphasis
  towards 'Promotion' to facilitate a stronger
  interaction and relationship with fans
• Web administrators should consider utilising
  high-technology multimedia applications (ie.
  Flash, Java) that arouse and facilitate
  heightened levels of entertainment experiences
  for the user (i.e. sports fan)

25

• Implications and Future Research
• Extends Web-based sports-marketing research by
  applying a new descriptive easy-to-use
  approach for studying the information and
  infotainment content of Website homepages for
  Website effectiveness.
• Benchmarking Technique ie. Competitive
  intelligence
• Emerging and amateur sports to improve Web
  effectiveness
• A longitudinal study could be conducted to assess
  variations in Website content
• Continue to apply technique to other industry
  sectors of the Web, such as professional
  services, tourism, financial services and
  Government sites.

26
Conclusion

• Similarities/differences between Americas Cup
  websites and Super 12s Rugby Union and Formula
  One Racing websites (both seasonal in nature)
• Propose avenues for future research