Creating a Successful Marketing Campaign for Skateparks
School
Bournemouth & Poole College**We aren't endorsed by this school
Course
BUSINESS 19
Subject
Marketing
Date
Dec 12, 2024
Pages
6
Uploaded by MasterRock12145
UNIT 2: Developing a marketing campaign, Activity 1 (MOCK) Rationale:As Flares Skatepark wants to increase its customer base within the following six months, I propose to create a full day experience package to offer to professional and regular visitors to skateparks in the UK or that caters to the local community.The skatepark aims to be known as one of the best indoor skateparks in Europe, so they believe they need to raise awareness that the skatepark is open, among both thelocal community and regular visitors to other skateparks. To achieve this, I have suggested to create a full-day experience package to offer to professional and regular visitors to skate parks. This event will bring a lot of attention and potential future regular skaters to come check out the up-and-coming, Flares Skatepark. Inviting professionals and regular visitors will attract a range of customers, as at this full day experience package there will be multiple events for visitors to take part in, alongside professionals where they can learn to or skate freely to their heart’s content!Aims & objectives:The first step in increasing Flares Skatepark’s customer base is to identify the company’s aims and objectives. The company will aim to increase brand awareness inthe local community, attract loyal customers (more than 75) and increase market share by 25% within the next six months. These goals will be measured by recording the number of customers, how often they would visit the skatepark and their age groups before the full day experience package and again after the event has occurred to identify if the event has allowed the company to achieve its aims and how much it has improved. With the budget of £10,000, we will be able to achieve a fun full day experience package everybody will remember.Research:In the UK, there are an estimated 1600 skateparks, either run by local councils or community groups. With 74 indoor skateparks where customers pay to use the facilities, that are usually run by charities, which offer a safer and supervised place to skate, compared to the casual outdoor skateparks which are usually unsupervised andprovide free access to all people. The indoor skateparks run by charities use the profits made to reinvest into preserving and improving their facilities and paying staff to run them. There are up to 750,000 skateboarders in the UK, with an estimated 85%male and 15% female. Approximately 54,000 people are suggested to be regular skaters, with the average age of active skateboarders being 14 years old. Skateboarding popularity has increased due to being affordable and easy to do anywhere. The global skateboard market is estimated to reach $2.4 billion by 2025, which would be a year-on-year increase of 2% consistently. Skateparks are used by people who ride skateboards, BMX, kid’s scooters, and other bicycles and adapted wheelchairs called WCMX. BMX had begun in California in the 1970s and became popular in the UK 10 years later. In the UK, BMX clubs are reporting increased participation from new and experienced riders. Skateparks are now running BMX freestyle sessions for people aged over 40. The Olympic Games played a huge role in increasing the interest and popularity of both BMX riding and skateboarding, where the UK won 5 Olympic medals in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. After the great success of the UK BMX team, British cycling developed a UK freestyle competition structure
that started in 2022 that aimed to establish BMX freestyling centres and to develop talented BMX participants.This research shows that the Skatepark market is growing as the popularity of skateboarding is also increasing in the UK. It shows that the target market for Skateparks would be approximately 14 years old to 18 years old as skateboarding is very popular in young adolescents. Skateboarding is also more popular with men than women and caters to a mix of a mass and niche market as it does have a large customer base however, it is mostly popular within young teenagers who are interested in skating.Flares Skatepark’s competitors range from popular indoor skateparks in the UK such as Adrenaline Alley in Corby, RAMP 1 Skatepark in Warrington, Onboard Skatepark in Sheffield, Source BMX Skatepark in Hastings and Creation Skatepark in Birmingham. Adrenaline Alley is a six-acre site and Europe’s largest action sports venue. It has three buildings, allowing indoor riding for different abilities and includes foam pits to practise tricks in a safe manner. It also had an outdoor pump track and street plaza, with an American diner selling food and drinks to skaters. Adrenaline Alley also sells its own range of merchandise including T-shirts, hoodies, hats, beanies, accessories and gift vouchers. In additions, they hire out equipment such as BMX bikes, scooters, skateboards, inline blades, helmets and safety pads, alongside renting out a retail space to SkateHut, which is a business that sells a range of skateboards, scooters, inline skates, protection and clothing. Adrenaline Alley also offers lessons that focus on either beginners or developing advanced skills and tricks. They have experienced coaches and charge around £45.50 for a seven-week course. On the other hand, RAMP1 holds nine areas for different abilities including a 12m skateable tunnel, one of the largest bowls ever constructed, ramps and a street plaza. It has a café, equipment hires, repair centre and a store for merchandise. RAMP 1 also offers personal tuition at£25 per hour. Source BMX is another competitor and is the world’s largest underground skatepark with ramps and bowls suitable for all abilities and ages, offering specific sessions for skateboarders, BMX riders and mixed sessions open to everyone including inline skaters and scooter riders. Justification:SWOTAlthough Flares Skatepark is still new as it has only been running for 2 months, there are many strong sectors it introduces such as their website that allows advanced bookings online and the option to receive marketing information as it makes it easier to do online than go in person to book. Flares Skatepark caters to all expertise levels from beginner skaters to more advanced riders, which allows for a variety of customers. They also include a café with hot drinks and snacks where skaters can wind down and relax for a while. However, Flares Skatepark lacks sessions for less experienced skaters or skaters who want to develop their skills, which may limit its customer base. It also lacks variety as the area the skatepark is in has few activities for young people to enjoy. Flares Skatepark’s equipment hires only include BMX and scooters, rather than a variety of equipment like inline blades or skateboards that their competitors welcome. Furthermore, Flares Skatepark does have potential for many opportunities, such as free publicity as in the past the skatepark has been featured several times on local TV and local newspapers so if a big event such as the proposed full day experience package occurs, it will be covered on local TV and papers, raising awareness of the skatepark, therefore increasing its customer base.
Flares Skatepark could also introduce a 90s themed restaurant/diner named Skate Planet which would attract customers as it would be a place to enjoy full meals and socialise whilst taking a break from skating. The skatepark could also offer sessions for beginners to learn new skills and feel more confident skating around the park to encourage all expertise levels. Potential threats of Flares Skatepark could be that as the skateboarding population increases, so may the competition which could cause trouble for an up-and-coming skatepark like Flares. The lack of variety of activities at the park could also drive customers away as it is a push factor which doesn’t interest customers. Skateboarding could also stop being ‘trendy’ and as popular as it once was, which would decrease the demand for indoor skateparks and cause a smaller market share.PESTLEAs the government has done in the past, it may issue more vigorous guidelines that children and young people should engage in activities such as a sport or a hobby that makes you move around to improve poor levels of participation towards exercising, which would be great news for Flares Skatepark as they could advertise using this factto exercise in a fun and affordable way, which would later increase market share due to government guidelines. However, if the skatepark doesn’t make a lot of money one month as it may not be as popular on certain weeks than others, potentially during school day hours or sunny weather, there won’t be money to reinvest back into the skatepark for improvements the following months to keep up with social trends, the expanding of their facilities and the sessions or other equipment hires they may offer, which may set up the business for failure as it will lack facilities that attract customersdue to a lack of funding. In terms of social impacts, if famous skater youtubers or influencers visit Flares Skatepark and review the facilities, it would raise brand awareness and attract customers who would be interested in the business, ensuring it is a positive review. An event could also be held with famous skater enjoyers in the community to come and teach tricks and skills. On the other hand, the Flares Skatepark website could potentially crash during a customer booking, or viruses may show up due to lack of technological protection on the site, which could risk the professionalism of the company and damage the reputation Flares Skatepark holds. If the staff is underpaid below the minimum wage, this would be against the law and could also damage Flares Skatepark’s reputation, even if the staff is underpaid due to money problems. Similarly, if tax payments are avoided due to money problems the company’s equipment may be seized and it would risk the reputation the skatepark upholds, driving customers away. On a positive note, indoor skateparks are perfect forany weather conditions, warm or cold, sunshine or rain, Flares Skatepark’s facilities can be enjoyed in any conditions as it is indoors!Reliability & Validity of my information:The primary research conduced was a questionnaire conducted in the city centre with parents/guardians of children aged 10-17years old. 100 people were asked which allowed for a range of answers and suitable averages. However, it would have been better if young people were asked, not only their parents as the teenagers are the audience the Skatepark must target. Although the data collected is still valid as it told us what the public expects in a skatepark, the expenses of the sessions it provides and if their child would be willing to ride at a skatepark such as Flares and whether they would enjoy it, the data does include a bit of bias as only a parent’s perspective was provided, and whilst it was appreciated, the data that could have been collected
from young teenager’s answers would have allowed for more helpful information that when analysed, could show what is to be improved at Flares that would make it stand out from its competitors, and what is already good about Flares Skatepark.On the other hand, secondary research was also conduced for increasing the customerbase. Flares had investigated popular social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, alongside promotional media such as TV advertising, Google ads, Influencers, Billboards, Print media, Spotify, Sponsorships and others. Thesecondary research conducted was very thorough as it covered the prices of each andwhat demographic they cater to, there was also a variety presented. However, it would have been useful if an estimate was generated for how much attention/ potential customers it could contribute to the business in comparison to the other forms of promotional media as it would enlarge the picture of what would be the best route to take, which is vital for an innovative up-and-coming business such as Flares Skatepark. All the information is valid and up to date with statistics and how many times a day people may use the social media platforms, to provide a better idea on how often the advertisement of the brand could reach interested consumers.Activity 2:The marketing campaign should consider different ways to promote a larger customer base. For example, hosting special events such as holiday camps or all-night events with Olympic medallists as these would attract not only local publicity but also more customers and potential funding. Flares Skatepark should consider employing social media staff to repost videos and respond to comments posted on social media about the skatepark, spend money on professional videos to post on the website and a YouTube account to attract a young audience, and to attract more customers, Flares could offer professional skaters sessions free of charge with their friends as they couldpromote the venue by posting about it, especially any new facilities Flares may create.When advertising upcoming events at Flares Skatepark, posters can be printed and put around the local community and inside the venue.Marketing mix and promotion campaign activities:The product being offered is a full-day experience package to professional and regularvisitors at Flares Skatepark. The budget of this experience is £10,000 and it will run for 6 months. Each month the full-day experience package will be based around a different theme. These themes will be Winter, The 90s, Valentines, Under the sea, Circus and a Disco theme. During the day riders will eat themed foods, visit booths held by staff dressed up to the themed occasion where they may earn tokens if they complete a trick to redeem for prizes later, take part in themed skating competitions and activities and meet famous skaters and influencers. For example, during the discothemed day, skaters will skate around the middle whilst the disco ball spins and the music plays, but must switch to skating in the opposite direction when the music changes and the colour of the disco ball switches, during the winter theme fake snow will be dispensed whilst skaters ride around and socialise, for the Valentines month couples may take part in skate offs with other couples to earn tokens to redeem for more themed prizes such as a love heart teddy bear, for the circus theme there will bemimes and face-painting booths, under the sea theme will provide an ocean-like experience where the walls of the event have a reflection of water and skaters will compete in a game where they must imitate a specific sea creature whilst on skates, where the winner receives tokens to redeem for prizes, and at the 90s theme leg
warmers will be sold and hairstylists will set up booths for 90s themed hairstyles for girls and boys. Each theme will also hold booths where visitors can personalise their skates according to the theme, with colour and a little sparkle, how could you go wrong?! At each theme, all staff would be dressed up according to the occasion. For example, at the circus theme staff will be dressed in circus clothing and red noses to be easily identified by visitors. Each experience will welcome different influencers and professional skaters to come and show off their tricks and skills and potentially teach some of the regulars how to do them! The full day experience will be held at the last Saturday of each month for 6 months, as Saturday is a day where kids don’t have school and adults don’t usually work, which makes it the optimal day to hold the full-day experience.Entry for the full day experience package will be £25 for each adult, and children aged 15-11 will pay £10 each, 11 and under enter free but must be supervised by an adult, as generating revenue is not the aim but rather increasing the customer base ofFlares Skatepark, but due to the professional riders and famous skaters from social media at each experience package, a fee must be charged. The full-day experience package will be promoted on YouTube, billboards, influencers, Spotify, print media andTikTok ads, depending on the month.Marketing message for the campaign:The marketing message will be ‘Skate – spice up your life!’ as it will influence all ages,skill levels and genders to come and spice up their lives the right way, by skating withFlares Skatepark!Campaign budgetIn terms of promotional media, the event will be advertised on Red Bull Bike’s BMX channel, and Thrasher Magazine’s skateboarding channel as this will target a large audience of young people who are already interested in BMX and skateboarding and itspecifically targets the male demographic as 54% of men in the UK use YouTube, and as we already know that 85% of the 750,000 skateboarders in the UK are male, alongside a standard billboard advertisement for two weeks as this encounter a mass amount of people passing by, which could entail parents with kids interested or teenagers going out who would love to take part. It will also be advertised through a mid-tier skateboarding influencer with 50,000+ followers, which will allow a specific audience to be reached and the influencer will be offered to come on the day free of charge (entry fee) and show off some tricks and tips, which will interest their fans in coming and learning more, an audio advert campaign on Spotify, which is a different approach as it will target a mass amount of different people who may or may not be interested or know someone who might, but the demographic we will target is 13-18 year old listeners in or around the local area, the local newspaper as the community isalready familiar with the skatepark and would potentially love to see it evolve and attract more customers, and TikTok adverts for a week targeting teenagers from 13-18years old who are interested in skateboarding as this will directly speak to the target market which could potentially turn into loyal customers if they enjoy the event! This totals up to around £2450, which is within the budget.Timescale | Gannt chart:DecJanFebMarAprMayYouTubeBillboard
InfluencerSpotify adsLocal newspaperTikTok ads