Norman J. O'Reilly

Connecting in Megaclasses: The Netnographic Advantage.

Large universities are increasingly offering marketing courses in classes of 300 or more students. Without access to the usual verbal and nonverbal cues, instructors in these megaclasses are disadvantaged in terms of their ability to respond to learners’ needs. As a result, marketing instructors have supplemented course infrastructure with technology to encourage communication. In seeking to better understand such communication, this study positions netnography as a marketing research technique that provides incremental advantages over other pedagogical methods through its support and enhancement of student learning. The authors provide specific recommendations for the adoption of netnography to marketing educators teaching megaclasses.

National sports organisations and sponsorship: an identification of best practices

The purpose of this investigation was to develop a list of critical best practices that could be used to advantage by other Canadian Amateur Sport Organisations in the future. Specifically, a marketing management audit collected all historical and current marketing abilities and was compared to the sponsorship literature. The audit was complemented by a series of field interviews of key executives. Results are presented in terms of: (a) The Sponsor and its Objectives; (b) Leveraging Activities; and (c) Sponsorship Evaluation. The resulting data revealed a number of very distinct best practices. Recommendations for further research are provided.

Revenue generation in professional sport: a diagnostic analysis

Consistent with the literature, the current research suggests that a myriad of factors contribute to the revenue generation ability of major professional sport teams. Diagnostic analysis on the 2002–2003 National Hockey League, National Basketball Association, National Football League, and Major League Baseball seasons uncovers the antecedents of a measured deviation. Over 35 potential independent variables were identified and reduced to 13 factors. Linear regression identifies eight factors significantly related to revenue generation; namely Home Game Experience, Heritage, Market Support, Winning, Competition, Market Characteristics, Market Age and Radio Appeal. Results suggest that product and place considerations are most important in achieving revenue while promotion and price considerations play only a minor role. In this regard, managers of professional sport teams are provided with guidance. Recommendations for future work include alternate ways of operationalising variables and developing a more sophisticated model to represent both direct and indirect relationships.

Consumer Consumption and Advertising Through Sport

The sport industry benefits greatly from its various media partnerships. Sport as a corporate marketing tool provides increased flexibility, broad reach, and high levels of brand and corporate exposure. Many organizations have recognized this potential of sport as a vehicle for accomplishing many of their marketing-related objectives. In turn, this has resulted in significant growth in the sport industry, in particular in its media consumption both online and offline. The purpose of this research—using the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament as its sample—was to identify how advertisements contained within both the online and television broadcasts contribute to consumer culture and consumption. Content analysis was used to identify specific tactics related to materialism, maximization, regret, social comparison, and anti-materialism within 144 unique advertisements contained within the broadcasts. Findings include the high prevalence of maximization tactics, a significant correlation between length of ad and the use of materialism tactics (i.e., the longer the ad, the higher the frequency of materialism tactics), and a significant correlation between the use of regret and maximization tactics and fear appeals. It is notable that the use of a spokesperson in an advertisement showed no relationship with the five tactics and no difference was found for the use of the five tactics and medium (television or Internet).

Knowledge management best practices in national sport organisations.

Knowledge Management (KM), or the ability to effectively use, share and create knowledge to facilitate individual, team, and organisational learning is important in all organisations. KM encompasses a broad range of tools, technologies, and managerial practices intended to produce bottom line benefits by making better use of an organisations intellectual capital and it has become an increasingly important consideration given the challenges of managing vast amounts of information. National Sport Organizations (NSO) are not-for-profit organisations that are responsible for the development of their particular sport in their own country. Workplace tools and structures that efficiently facilitate the sharing and creation of knowledge are important to the survival and growth of these organisations. The purpose of this research is to build an initial research framework that will guide research toward a better understanding of KM practices which facilitate learning and thus improve performance of not-for-profit, volunteer managed organisations.

Celebrity athletes and athletic clothing design: branding female tennis players

Interest in celebrities and their lifestyles makes the clothing they wear an important part of their image. Due to their influence on markets, celebrity athletes are no longer simply product endorsers; many are now also involved in product design. The present study adopts both expert interviews and observation methodologies to explore the celebrity athlete?clothing relationship in high-profile female tennis players. A content analysis of the 2005 Wimbledon Championships and interviews with experts in both the sport marketing and fashion industries provided for the development of a model that articulates the interactions between the celebrity athlete, the label, the market, and the clothing the athlete wears during competition. Results outline the important connection between celebrity athletes, their clothing and the tennis audience. Applicability to practice and impetus for future research are provided.

Symbolism and the effectiveness of Olympic mascots

The current research examines the semiotics of Olympic Games Mascots. Indeed, it looks at these important symbols that were conceived in the 1960s and have developed into modern animated caricatures that represent both the Olympic Games and the host city. Typically, mascots are developed as regionally specific symbols of each game through the semiotic metafunctions of those symbols. In adopting this premise, this paper examines what signs and symbols are embedded in the mascots and how such are interpretive of the time and place of the particular Games they represent. In exploring the symbolic evolution of these mascots, four case studies are carried out to examine Olympic mascots.