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CAL POLY TRACK AND CROSS COUNTRY 2014-2015

MARKETING PLAN

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TABLE OF CONTENTS: Mission Statement…………………………………………………...…………….3 Overview of Cal Poly XC/TF……………………………………..……………....3 SWOT Analysis……………………………………………………..….………….4 Target Market………………...……………………………………..…………..4-5 Marketing Strategies…………………………….…………………….………….5 Social Media…………………………….……………………...………………..6-8 2014-15 Meet and Invitational Promotions………………………......……….....9 Conclusion……………………………...……………………………………...…10

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Introduction and Mission Statement Mission Statement: Our focus is to create and develop a marketing plan for Cal Poly Cross Country/Track and Field for the first time in recent history. The goal is to lay the foundation for future years’ marketing efforts by way of revamping social media, launching annual events, and building relationships between Athletics Marketing and XC/TF. Ultimately, our hope is to generate greater campus involvement, excitement, and accessibility in regards to the Cross Country and Track and Field teams. Overview Cross Country ● Cal Poly Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams compete in the Big

West Conference of NCAA DI ● Men’s Cross Country has 23 Conference Championships including seven

consecutive titles from ‘03-‘09 and three from ‘11-‘13. In 2014, the team finished second.

● Women’s Cross Country has 17 Conference Championships, with back-to-back titles in ‘12 and ‘13. In 2014, the women’s team also finished second.

Track and Field ● Men’s and Women’s Track and Field compete in the Big West Conference

of NCAA DI. The program also encompasses Women’s Indoor Track. ● Alum Stephanie Brown-Trafton was a gold medalist in discus at the 2008

Beijing Olympics. Brown-Trafton came in fourth in this past year’s USA Championships.

● In June 2014, alum Sharon Day-Monroe won the national heptathlon title for the third time. Day-Monroe also competed in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.

Marketing History of the Team: There is no prior marketing history for the Cal Poly Cross Country and Track and Field Teams other than their pre-existing social media pages. This allows for greater experimentation and expansion of marketing opportunities for teams, such as these, that would not typically have them.

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SWOT Analysis

Strengths - TF/XC Athletes always support other athletic teams, should be easy to garner support from teams not in season - Conveniently located on campus - Events are fast paced (Track)

Weaknesses - Not a sport many students are actively interested in - Not much for students to watch for XC. - Only two home invitationals - No spectator seating

Opportunities - Plenty of freedom in how to run invitational -Sponsorship with Running Warehouse

Threats - Invitational is at the end of spring break

Target Market ● Students

WHY: Students are the primary target for Athletics Marketing. Students are the most common supporters of athletics due to a sense of school pride and easily accessible free entertainment. The sub-group of Greek students is of particular interest, as Greek organizations will typically participate in Athletics sponsored events. The students can be segmented into two primary groups:

● Students living off campus ● Students living on campus

○ Freshmen ○ Non-freshmen (Transfers, Upperclassmen)

Then two secondary groups: ● Greek life ● Non-Greek life

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● Community Members WHY: The greater San Luis Obispo Community is a major source of support and revenue in all areas of athletics. Though Cross Country/Track and Field events are not ticketed, community members would be able to interact with sponsors (giving them incentive to continue their support) and provide morale for Cal Poly athletes. ● Student Athletes

WHY: Cross Country and Track and Field athletes are known to go out and support other athletic teams on campus. Support and encouragement from fellow Cal Poly athletes creates an atmosphere of community within athletics as a whole. We also have the opportunity, if we so choose, to recognize athletes at the invitational based on individual or team accomplishments, similar to football and soccer games. The student athletes can be segmented into two primary groups: ● Athletes whose sports are currently in season ● Athletes whose sports are not in season

The distinction between these two is necessary as athletes who are not currently in season are not directly focused on an upcoming event of their own and could easily be encouraged to attend. Marketing Strategies

Our overarching goal for both Cross Country and Track is to improve campus presence. This would be achieved primarily through a heightened social media presence. Interns would take over the Twitter and Facebook and also create an Instagram account. The accounts would be updated frequently. See: Social Media Other than individualized social media, XC/TF would be included in larger social media campaigns including a “Spring Sport Instagram Challenge” that would have a hashtag specific to the competition and would involve attendance to multiple Cal Poly Athletic Events. The idea of an Athletics “Lip Dub” has been discussed and would be posted on the Cal Poly Athletics YouTube. To communicate events to the student body and greater San Luis Obispo community, a schedule will be produced by XC/TF and Athletics together. The schedule would be bookmark size or smaller. Use of ‘Sticker Schedules’ was also discussed, but viability has yet to be addressed.

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Social Media The Cal Poly Cross Country and Track and Field teams currently have an official Facebook and Twitter. The accounts frequently link articles to the GoPoly website or to the other form of social media. Numbers of Likes and Followers are low. The coaches have mentioned development and improvement of the teams’ social media presence as a top marketing goal.

Facebook Page Name: Cal Poly Track/Cross Country Bio: The Official Facebook page of the Cal Poly Track and Cross Country Teams Expanded Bio: Cal Poly Track and Field and Cross Country encompasses five teams including men’s and women’s track and field, cross country, and women’s indoor. All teams compete in the Big West Conference in NCAA Division I. ● Frequent use and promotion of page to garner likes ● Greater interactivity with fans and supporters ● Updates about notable TF/XC alumni, whether in the realm of TF/XC or in

their careers. Website: www.gopoly.com/sport/xc/index www.gopoly.com/sport/track/index Goals:

❖ Reformat page (replace pictures, update info) ❖ Post regularly ❖ Generate graphics for use across all forms of social media ❖ Coach Profiles -> Photo album, more info than Instagram ❖ Team Profiles -> Same idea as above ❖ Create a hype video before the ShareSLO Invitational ❖ Increase ‘Likes’

Instagram

Username: TBD. We could make it the same as twitter, which is CalPolyTrack_XC. Or we could simplify it to CalPolyTrackXC. We can even change the twitter to this as well to streamline everything. Bio: Official Instagram of the Cal Poly Men’s and Women’s Track and Cross Country teams.

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● Candids of athletes during practice, videos of events ● Incorporate into a larger Spring Sport Instagram Challenge ● ‘Meet Day’ photos would be posted on days of home and away meets with

the location (since there are multiple ‘rivals’ within a meet) and the hashtags of #CPXC #CPTF (depending on which sport) #ProveYourPoly #GoPoly #BigWestConference Below is Women’s Tennis as an example:

Hashtags: #cptf #cpxc #proveyourpoly #gopoly #BigWestConference Goals: Reach more of the student body through one of the most popular forms of social media.

❖ Candid practice pictures ❖ Meet event pictures ❖ Team profiles ❖ Coach profiles ❖ Team athletes promote it ❖ Team managers will help run it for meets and events interns cannot be

present for

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Twitter Name: Cal Poly TF/XC Handle: CalPolyTrack_XC Bio: The Official Twitter account of the Cal Poly Track and Cross Country Teams. ● Live-tweeting events and results ● Student Athlete Twitter Takeover on a Meet Day

Website: www.gopoly.com/sport/xc/index www.gopoly.com/sport/track/index Hashtags: #cptf #cpxc #proveyourpoly #gopoly #BigWestConference Goals:

❖ Reformat Profile (change colors, pictures) ❖ Tweet more frequently ❖ Live meet updates ❖ Follow other campus groups ❖ Link to other social media/gopoly stories, but not exclusively ❖ Generate following through above tactics

YouTube

● Use the Cal Poly Athletics YouTube to highlight standout Track and Field/Cross Country Athletes and post promotional videos ranging from commercials, to interviews, to silly videos such as the Harlem Shake done two seasons ago.

Overall Social Media Goals:

❖ Increased athlete involvement ❖ Increased following ❖ Higher student awareness ❖ Creating a ‘brand’ and campus presence ❖ Hype videos, fun videos, anything to relate to the student body.

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2014-2015 Meet and Invitational Promotions The Cal Poly Meet for Cross Country has already passed. For future reference, Cal Poly does not run our top team at our home meet. It is a small event that our team does not put much emphasis on. The primary focus for this plan is the Cal Poly vs. UCSB dual meet, hosted during the first weekend in May. The Cal Poly Invitational will not be as heavily marketed since it takes place during spring break. Greek Olympics - UCSB Dual Meet One potential event for either home meet would be an “Olympics” competition between Greek organizations on campus. In between official invitational events teams would compete in a variety of Track and Field competitions. The specific events would be chosen based on input of coaches, feasibility, and schedule constraints. As an incentive, a trophy would be given out to the winning Greek organization. Breakdown of teams (whether pairing a sorority with a fraternity as a team, fraternities versus one another, and/or sororities versus one another) would be assessed after gaining insight into potential interest from the fraternities and sororities. Marketing the event would include creating a graphic and hashtag for use on social media. Family Day - Cal Poly Invitational Carnival with sponsors tabling on lawn Potential Sponsors:

- Running Warehouse - Dick’s Sporting Goods - Sports Authority - Local Medical and Health groups (i.e. Chiropractic, Massage, Orthopedic,

etc.) - Children’s Organizations: San Luis Obispo Children’s Museum, Youth

Track and Field teams The first Wednesday in May is the annual Youth Event for Track and Field/Cross Country. This will take place AFTER both home events. However, plugs for the Invitationals can be included in the promotional and informational materials prior to the event.

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Conclusion This marketing plan focuses on developing a fan experience to influence student attendance at home meets. The Cal Poly Marketing team will utilize all forms of social media to keep the student body informed of all results and major events throughout the season. The newly created Greek Olympics will be the primary promotion to generate excitement among Cal Poly students for the UCSB dual meet. By incorporating these strategies we expect to see an increase of awareness and attendance for both the Cross Country and Track & Field programs. If you have any questions, please contact Tyler Nigro ( tnigro@calpoly.edu), Allison Wilkinson (aswilkin@calpoly.edu), or Lindsay Zengler (lzengler@calpoly.edu).