Media Analysis and Plan

This media plan is developed in response to the promotional campaign for the BC Lions football team. The purpose of this media plan is to develop an efficient and effective campaign that will reach the target demographic and increase attendance at games. This plan will include a detailed description of the target demographic as well as a comprehensive analysis of the media landscape, including paid, owned, and earned media. In addition, this plan will include a proposed budget breakdown, recommended steps for measuring success, and a detailed blocking table to illustrate when and how each approach will be used for maximum effect.

Target Audience

The primary target demographic for the BC Lions promotional campaign is sports-loving Vancouverites between the ages of 25 and 45 who are unfamiliar with the team; the objective is to make these individuals acquainted with the Lions and acquaint them with the joy of engaging with a BC Lions game first hand (Tougher, 2022). This population seeks qualities such as convenience, affordability, recreational appeal, and an atmosphere of fellowship when determining which sports teams they wish to associate with (Rogerson & Rogerson, 2020); as such, the BC Lions must effectively promote these principles in order to draw in their target population (Fuller, 2020). Similarly, advertising campaigns must amplify the additional advantages of being connected with not just a successful sports franchise but also an emblem of hometown pride (Chang et al., 2019). In order to emotionally bond fans to the team, the team itself must be showcased in all communications (Velicia, Toledo & Palos-Sanchez, 2020); highlighting sentimental images and stories of tradition and community will allow fans to view the team as a part of their own culture, rather than just another professional sporting club (Jin, Xiao & Shen, 2020). Furthermore, making activities and engagement opportunities for local residents, such as fan-based competitions, discounts for special events and outings, and exclusive rewards for regular attendees available through effective outreach methods akin to digital marketing or experiential campaigns, can also broaden fan engagement and loyalty (Feeney, 2021). All of these methods can unite fans with titleholders in an environment that exudes team spirit, enthusiasm, and wholesomeness, ensuring that the core values held by each are sustained and grown over time (Odunze, n.d).

Media Analysis

For this target demographic, traditional media such as radio, out-of-home advertising, print media, and television will be utilized as these mediums provide the most cost-efficient and effective method of spreading the message to the local community (Bharti & Kumar, 2020). Vividata research further revealed that this demo watches TV during prime time at least once per week and tunes into radio programming several times per week (Vega, 2022). The research also indicated that this group uses online resources, including social media sites such as Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, regularly, thus providing additional avenues for marketing efforts for the local Lions sports team (Cook & Milburn-Curtis, 2023). What is more, utilizing high-profile events such as press releases and special occasions in the local area is a great way to draw positive attention to the organization while also creating earned media to increase the team’s visibility within the community (Weaver, Moyle & Mclennan, 2021). With a comprehensive media mix of traditional, digital, and earned media, the Lions can reach their target demographic with maximum efficiency and effect (Liu, Gupta & Patel, 2021).

Budget Allocation & Media Analytics

The campaign budget for this initiative is $250,000 for the Greater Vancouver region only. Of this amount, $75,000 has been allocated for traditional media (print, radio advertising and out-of-home), $75,000 for paid digital advertising (sponsored search, programmatic ad buys using data-driven targeting tactics), $50,000 for social media campaigns (organic posts targeting this segment across platforms), and $50,000 for earned media materials (press releases and special event activations).

Calculations such as reach, frequency, impressions, and CPM have all been calculated, given the proposed budget allocations included in an appendix at the end of the report. Overall given current market conditions along with the proposed channels chosen based on research into consumer habits, it is estimated that at least 80% of the target demo in Greater Vancouver can be reached with several weekly exposures to messaging through both online sources such as social networks along with traditional approaches also.

Blocking Chart & Measuring Success

In terms of timing of execution, messaging should begin in March 2023, leading up to the opening day of the season start, and then continue until the season’s conclusion ending in late December 2023. In order to gauge the success of this campaign, attendance should be measured at games before, during, and after the campaign as well as any spike in season ticket holders (Claybaugh, 2020). Furthermore, tracking sales conversions by channel, website/social engagement relative to benchmark as well as general brand awareness/sentiment ratings relative to benchmark data also helps determine how successful various components of the campaign were relative to each other when ranked and then used in further executions or applied elsewhere (Bhatta, 2022).

Conclusion

Through extensive research into consumer habits and data analytics, market research with the use of traditional, digital, owned, and earned sources proposes a well-rounded, balanced campaign utilizing the maximum budget available while targeting desired consumers efficiently and most effectively. Using a combination of different sources leveraged together efforts should result in people engaging with the product on a more personal level through the emergence of an interesting story, not just bombarding advertisements leading to increased attendance in games and season ticket holders but also related spikes in general sentiment around brand overall.

References

Bhatta, I. (2022). Optimizing Marketing Channel Attribution for B2B and B2C with Machine Learning Based Lead Scoring Model (Doctoral dissertation, Capitol Technology University).

Bharti, P. K., & Kumar, A. (2020). Traditional vs. Digital marketing: a comparative study. ZENITH International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 10(12), 16-26.

Chang, M. J., Schneider, R. C., Connaughton, D. P., Hager, P. F., & Ju, I. (2019). The effect of nostalgia on self-continuity, pride, and intention to visit a sport team’s hometown. Journal of Sport & Tourism, 23(2-3), 115-131.

Claybaugh, E. (2020). The Use of Social Media to Advance Sports Marketing: The Atlantic Hockey Conference.

Cook, C. E., & Milburn-Curtis, C. (2023). Sharing for sustainability: relating independent community news management practices within digital platforms. Journal of Media Business Studies, 1-19.

Feeney, L. (2021). A Study of the effects of web-based media platforms and how they can be of benefit for League of Ireland (LOI) football clubs in increasing fan loyalty/engagement and fan community (Doctoral dissertation, Dublin, National College of Ireland).

Fuller, S. (2020). A Player’s Guide to the Post-Truth Condition: The Name of the Game. Anthem Press.

Jin, L., Xiao, H., & Shen, H. (2020). Experiential authenticity in heritage museums. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, 18, 100493.

Liu, R., Gupta, S., & Patel, P. (2021). The application of the principles of responsible AI on social media marketing for digital health. Information Systems Frontiers, 1-25.

Odunze, J. A. Semiotics of Indigenous Anioma Dances of Southern Nigeria. International Journal of Current Research in the Humanities (IJCRH), 361.

Rogerson, C. M., & Rogerson, J. M. (2020). Camping tourism: A review of recent international scholarship. Geo Journal of Tourism and Geosites, 28(1), 349-359.

Tougher, S. (2022). The Roman Castrati: Eunuchs in the Roman Empire. Bloomsbury Publishing.

Vega Murillo, L. (2022). The Canadian Contradiction: Perspectives of Multiculturalism, Immigration, and Discourses of Othering in Canada.

Velicia Martin, F., Toledo, L. D., & Palos-Sanchez, P. (2020). How deep is your love? Brand love analysis applied to football teams. International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, 21(4), 669-693.

Weaver, D., Moyle, B. D., & Mclennan, C. L. (2021). A core/periphery perspective on mega-event sustainability: Dystopic and utopic scenarios. Tourism Management, 86, 104340.

Table 1: Blocking Table for BC Lions’ Promotional Campaign