Posted: March 23rd, 2023

IAAF World Championships in Cape Town Stadium

Introduction

Diverse cultures, religion, and languages characterize South African society. The country does not experience extreme weather conditions, with its climate ranging from temperate subtropical in the northeast and interior plateau as well as in the Mediterranean southwestern corner. The country is characterized by cool nights and warm sunny days. This makes South Africa an ideal destination for IAAF World Championships. South Africa also takes pride in Cape Town stadium, also known as Green Point Stadium, a work of art arena (Stone, 2018). The research shows that the stadium has hosted many international sports events, including the 2010 FIFA World Cup and 2015 South Africa Sevens rugby tournament. Besides, the stadium has a capacity of 55,000 people, making it an ideal destination to host the for IAAF World Championships.

Partnership

Hosting the IAAF World championship requires sufficient resources and support. The event will not only help display the South African unique and diverse cultures to the world but also bring revenue to the country. The tourism board has played a significant role in making sure that the event is successful. The visitors will have the opportunity to travel in the country while touring the vibrant cultural-oriented cities where they will learn more about the history. The tourism board of South Africa has enhanced maximum security for visitors. In addition, South African Airways has also collaborated with the South African sports association in making the event successful by providing financial and advisory support.

Notably, Heineken and Guinness are among the main sponsors of IAAF World Championships in South Africa. The selection of the two brands was based on communication aspects since they are among the leading brands in South Africa with a huge following, making communication to the people easy and fast. The brands have adequate media exposure, which will increase publicity and enhance follow up. More importantly, the promotion will improve the customer’s chances of buying the tickets.

PEST Analysis

Political Factors

The sports and recreation department of South Africa supervises the management and development of sports and recreation in the country. The government has developed policies aimed at increasing the accessibility of entertainment and sports facilities as it attempts to achieve the goals of the national development plan of nation-building, healthy lifestyle, and social cohesion. The government is encouraging sports participation by facilitating transformation and supporting talented athletes to excel internationally. The government inspires mass participation through school sports, campaigns, and other events such as Big Walk and national youth camps. Policies have been initiated to encourage the disadvantaged communities to access resources that would assist them in enjoying sports facilities.

The government supports talented athletes through Ministerial Sports Bursary, especially students from grades 8 to 12. Bursary allows young athletes to attend sports-focused schools (Mihai, 2013). These institutions have adequate facilities and capable sports coaches that nurture young athletes’ talents. Holding IAAF championships in South Africa will motivate the young athletes the government is nurturing. They will have an opportunity to learn from other professional athletes.

Economic Factors

South African is the second largest economy in Africa after Nigeria. The country is among Africa’s most industrialized countries together with Mauritius, Botswana, and Gabon, which are upper-middle-income economies in Africa. In 2011, the gross domestic product tripled to $400 billion. However, the trend has since declined to $295 billion in 2016 and 2017 (Adebola, Oyekunle, & Sirayi, 2018). The foreign exchange has rapidly increased from $3 billion to almost $50 billion in the same period, creating economic diversification with sizable and growing middle-class in two decades (Dollery & Worthington, 2008). The country has numerous state-owned enterprises, which contribute positively to the growth of the economy. In 2016, one of the main challenges faced business establishment in South Africa was inefficient government bureaucracy. The country is better placed to host IAAF World championships based on economic stability.

Social Factors

There has been an increment in several competitive games in the IAAF World championship. The presence of diverse games has motivated many people to participate in sports. In the past, the number of sports activities limited the participation of people in the games. Including various sports activities has also encouraged participation, even to people with disabilities. It has increased a feeling of belonging because everyone can play an active role in sports. Incorporating culturally favorite games in African setup, such as javelin, has made sports more enjoyable and accessible.

Technological Factor

Through the advancement of technology, most sports have greatly improved. Technology has enhanced honesty and reduced cases of cheating. South Africa is the leading champion in sports technology in Africa. The country has a polar real-time monitor and a player tracking system that monitor a player’s fitness. Thus, this technology helps in reducing injuries to participants.

SWOT Analysis

Strength

Cape Town stadium is among the best stadiums in Africa. Besides, the country is culturally diverse with friendly people from different backgrounds, such as Asian, mixed African, and individuals with European descent. South Africa produces almost half of the world’s gold, which is an economic activity for the country. The improved levels of infrastructures and other vital services position the country among the most developed nation in Africa. Notably, several tourist attraction sites in South Africa can also be found in Cape Town. For instance, some of such sites include Cape of Good Hope, Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, Robben Island, Table Mountain, and Zeitz MOCAA Museum (Stone, 2018). Boulder Penguin Colony, Groot Constantia, and District Six Museum are among other attraction sites in Cape Town.

Weakness

Although the country has been facing various challenges regarding xenophobia, the government is working tirelessly in trying to combat the situation, especially in areas prone to such sporadic attacks. In addition, the government has enhanced security and assured the visitors of their safety during and after the event.

Opportunity

Despite some challenges, South Africa has maintained political stability, which has played an essential role in boosting peace in the country. The legislative change has also addressed the socio-economic sphere. The government has utilized a Growth, Employment, and Redistribution Strategy (GEAR) and Reconstruction and Development Program (RDP), to enhance the economic growth of the country (Turok, 2010). Positive economic growth has put the nation above many countries in Africa.

Threat

Football, rugby, and cricket are among the most popular games in the country. Hence, athletics are not popular sports, and this could affect attendance.

Marketing Objective

Marketing plan develops short-term objectives, which assist in attaining the long-term performance goals. The marketing plan will enhance the awareness of IAAF championships in South Africa (Jin, Lee, & Lee, 2013). People will learn different features in South Africa, such as the location of Cape Town stadium, various cultures, and tourist attraction sites. The awareness will significantly increase ticket sales, which will make economic sense. The sponsors and partners of IAAF will use this opportunity to launch new services and products, while the country can use this opportunity to advertise locally made products on international platforms. Apart from the IAAF participants and the fans, marketing would attract foreign investors. In addition, marketing will improve the relationship between the 200 member states of IAAF. Hence, publicizing will change many people’s perspective towards Africa, such as associating the continent with drought, violence, and diseases.

Consumer and Markets

Segmentation and Targeting

Segmentation, targeting, and positioning strategies are crucial to customers. First, it is possible to target the right customers and then choose the market segment to use. Hence, to understand the target customers for IAAF World championship, the three market segmentations will be utilized: geographic, behavioral, and demographic (Valentine & Powers, 2013). In geographic segmentation, the target customers are based on the existing geographical boundaries. It is critical to understand that customers have different interests, needs, and preferences ( Stanislav, 2014). South Africans understand the climatic conditions of the countries around them, making the advertisement easy. IAAF World championship is a significant event that brings people from different countries and background together. The event keeps growing by increasing the number of games in the list of the already existing games. For instance, in 2017, IAAF added 50km women’s walk on its list. Currently, IAAF is planning to add a 4x400m relay on its list of games (IAAF, 2019). Therefore, attendance is expected to increase if other categories are included in the list of available games.

The IAAF World championship is a significant event. Hence, people from all over the world are expected to attend; therefore, the target customers will be segmented demographically. This segmentation classifies the targeted customers according to their education, age, race, income, size, and family (Zuberi, Sibanda, & Udjo, 2016). Customers with more income are expected to buy the tickets much earlier than those with minimal income. Demographic segmentation is the most commonly used form of segmentation.

The target of customers will also be based on behavioral segmentation, which is classified according to decision-making pattern and through behaviors, which include the customer’s lifestyle, usage, purchase, and consumption (Valentine & Powers, 2013). Notably, 202 countries are expected to participate in this year’s IAAF World championship. In addition, over 5000 athletes,, together with their coaches and technical advisors,, are expected to arrive in the country for the event. The local spectators are also anticipated in significant numbers as they come to cheer for the local athletes and their favorite international athletes. Schools around Cape Town have also been asked to permit students to attend the events. Indeed, this is a deliberate move by the government to motivate the young generation since the most popular sports in South Africa are rugby, football, and cricket. Hence, participation in athletics is low in comparison to the three games. Using the segmented market focusing on purchasing behavior helps the marketer establish a much-targeted approach.    

Positioning

Positioning is related to creating a brand image of the product in the consumer’s mind. Positioning maps help to create marketing positioning strategy. The positioning is typically based on the customer’s perception. The position map will help South Africa government to understand their progress regarding successful preparation of IAAF World championship. The positioning will give the IAAF organizing board crucial insight concerning the success of the process.

Marketing Strategies

Marketing strategies can be adapted to meet the changing consumer demands, the pattern of purchasing, and lifestyle. The IAAF organizing body is South Africa can use social media and other platforms to sell tickets and increase sales. Improvement of advertising strategies will significantly help to bring new customers to buy more tickets. The organization can also offer a discount to customers who buy more than one tickets to encourage existing customer to buy more tickets for family and friends.      

Marketing Mix

Marketing Mix, according to Philip Kotler, entails controllable variables utilized by an organization to influence the response of the buyers. The variables are the 4 P’s (price, product, promotion, and place of distribution) (Aziz, 2017). The mix is initiated in line with the needs of the targeted customers and varies from one firm to the other depending on the existing marketing mix.

Product

Tickets are the main product sold by the IAAF organizing committee. The organizers have used various platforms to sell the tickets based on segmentation and targeting features. The aspect of segmentation helps in tickets accessibility.  

Prices

The committee has placed affordable prices to encourage more fans. Notably, more than 55,000 people are expected to attend the event. The IAAF committee has set a discount on customers buying more than one ticket. Therefore, the ticket prices differ, depending on the number of tickets purchased.

Place

The IAAF committee has established various ticket access points. Therefore, they have involved various platforms in selling their tickets, including online channels. For instance, the IAAF committee has set up portals where customers can log in to buy tickets.

Promotion

Promotion is an essential factor in the marketing mix because it entails the process of persuading, influencing, and informing the customer to make the right choice about a product. It is done through adverting, sales promotion, personal selling, and publicity. IAAF organizers have brought awareness to the customers through radio and TV commercials both locally and internationally. In addition, they have erected billboards about IAAF World championships while setting up booths for selling the tickets.

Evaluation and Control

The workability of marketing strategy implementation is examined by studying how many customers have complied with the process. It can also be evaluated by scoring the customer satisfaction rate. In our case, it will be easy to assess the market strategy’s success by calculating the sales revenue obtained from selling tickets internationally and locally.

Conclusion

Overall, to understand the current situation regarding the preparation of IAAF World Championships in South Africa, the development of SWOT analysis is critical to reveal the country’s current condition. The marketing objective developed will significantly help increase ticket sales by utilizing innovative marketing strategies. In addition, marketing approaches will improve customer satisfaction and experience. Segmentation will be critical in making sure that customer from different backgrounds can access and purchase the IAAF tickets.

 

References

Stanislav, I. (2014). Chapter 6: Market segmentation, profiling and targeting. Hotel Revenue Management, 56-65.

Adebola, O., Oyekunle, A., & Sirayi, M. (2018). The role of creative industries as a driver for a sustainable economy: a case of South Africa. Creative Industries Journal, 11(3), 225-244.

Aziz, K. (2017). ICIE 2017 – Proceedings of the 5th international conference on innovation and entrepreneurship. Cyberjaya, Malaysia: Academic Conferences and publishing limited.

Dollery, B., & Worthington, A. (2008). Economic growth and political stability in South Africa: Possible Australian policy initiatives. Australian Journal of International Affairs, 50(2), 189-197.

IAAF (2019). Two new event added in IAAF world relays programme. Retrieved from https://www.iaaf.org/news/press-release/world-relays-2019-shuttle-hurdles-2x2x400

Jin, N., Lee, H., & Lee, S. (2013, Dec). Event quality, perceived value, destination image, and behavioural intention of sports events: The case of the IAAF World championship, Daegu, 2011. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 18(8), 849-864.

Mihai, A. L. (2013). The strategic sport marketing planning process. Change and Leadership, (17), 231-236.

Stone, G. W. (2018, Feb/Mar). Places we love: Cape Town. National Geographic Traveler, 35(1), 22-23.

Turok, I. (2010, Oct). Towards a developmental state? Provincial economic policy in South Africa. Development Southern Africa, 27(4), 497-515.

Valentine, D., & Powers, T. L. (2013). Generation Y values and lifestyle segments. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 30(7), 597-606.

Zuberi, T., Sibanda, A., & Udjo, E. O. (2016). The demography of South Africa. New York, NY: Routledge.