'n Verkennende studie na die toepassing van sportbyeenkomste as integrale deel van die organisasie se bemarkingskommunikasieplan

Abstract

Organisations worldwide consider special events to enhance the image and visibility of the organisation. However, there are different viewpoints and opinions regarding the impact or successfulness of different "kinds" of events. Professional sport today can be regarded as a huge entertainment industry. Sport today is a combination of scientific specialisation with entertainment and showmanship. An outcome of the fact that the sport industry today is managed and presented professionally, is the growing importance of the communication and marketing of sport. The successfulness of sport events in terms of marketing and communication can thus not be questioned. This research attempted to grasp the essential nature of sport events and to relate it to marketing communication in theory and practice. An investigation was done regarding the use of sport events to reach the organisation's marketing communication objectives. The Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education was used as investigation unit. According to the results of the study sport events are not perceived and used as an opportunity to reach the marketing communication objectives of the organisation. Van Riel 's (1995:3) classification of corporate communication was used as theoretical background for the study. Van Riel distinguishes between managerial, organisational and marketing communication. These three forms of communication were used as the starting point for the research. In this study managerial and organisational communication were classified as internal communication. Marketing communication as well as certain aspects of organisational communication (e.g. public relations) were classified as external communication. This study focused on the marketing communication component of corporate communication. The aim was to contextualise sport events as an opportunity to reach the organisations marketing communications objectives. Together with this Belch and Belch's (2001) integrated marketing model was used to set guidelines for the use of sport events as an opportunity to reach the

organisation's marketing communication objectives. Graham, Delpy and Goldblatt's (1995) marketing communication planning model was also adapted to integrate sport events in the promotional mix (e.g. advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, publicity, public relations, direct marketing, interactive marketing and sponsorship). A qualitative research approach was followed through the use of semi-structured interviews. The interviews were used to determine sport managers' and marketers' perspectives with regards to the use of sport events to reach the organisation's marketing communication objectives. The results showed that sport managers and marketers do not perceive and use sport events as a means to reach marketing communication objectives. Their effective use is generally diminished by a lack of coordination with greater organisational communication objectives. To address this problem, the study contextualised sport events as an integral part of an integrated marketing communications plan. Attention was given to the alignment of the objectives of sport events with an organisation's greater communication objectives as a means of increasing sport event's effective use. The author attempts to show that sport events can effectively reinforce each element of marketing communication under certain conditions.