Sport England Segmenting The British Sport Market 4ev2t

1) Using the full spectrum of segmentation variables, describe how Sports England has segmented the sports market? In order to understand the British people’s attitudes and motivations about sports, Sport England has built 19 sporting segments all around the United Kingdom to target its customers in the sports market. In the segmentation process Sport England worked closely with Experian Business Strategies consulting group. Sport England along with the help of the Experian Group analysed data of the English people aged 18 and older. They collected and collated information about specific sports involvement; desire to do sports and the obstacles they faced in doing sports. The analysis further included the collection of data on media consumption and communication channels, social capital, health indicators, and involvement in wider cultural activities. Sport England completed this survey with the collaboration of Action People Survey. This was one of the largest ever sports survey conducted and carried out in Europe by the company. The survey provided Sport England with the levels of participation of people in different groups in the community specifically. The company had designed the questionnaire to find out and analyze the broad range of demographic information, such as people’s genders, social classes, ethnicity, household structures, ages and disabilities. Their survey also included how involved people in each segment were in other recreational activities. This segmentation process allowed them to understand the top sports that people want to involve themselves in and helped them to identify the characteristics of their target groups for projects and initiatives. An example of their successful market segmentation policy is South Gloucestershire Leisure’s reopening of a refurbished leisure center in the year 2007. With the help of their market segmentation data and knowledge on how to market to its customers by identifying which activities people are more interested in. Sport England created a segment profile which identified the largest segments within a 1-,3-,5-,7- and 10- mile straight line buffer of the leisure center. Further the largest segments were then mapped to show the geographic location of these segments which allowed them to localise the market and focus on specific things like information on lifestyles of

customers in the Gloucestershire region, the proper community needs of the region. They also identified the dominant segment in each postal code and accordingly produced marketing material targeting at those segments. They identified the areas where the population of children were more and targeted it accordingly with the right marketing techniques. Another successful Market Segmentation example of the Sport England Group is the work done by its London Group working along with the Fitness Industry Association. Their main aim was to offer free gym hip for young women. They segmented the London market which had a high proportion of young women population. They produced maps which showed the areas with high, average and low presence of these three segments. After studying this the gym m facilities were overlaid. Sport England has described each of its segments which fall in the context of sporting activities and levels of participation. They have developed a fully rounded picture of each segment which provides them with information towards attitudes, socio demographics, health statistics and marketing communications preferences. The company does not use the same segmentation data and the web tool for each segment, they use it accordingly to the local intelligence and market knowledge.

2) Describe the role that Sport England plays in targeting a segment. Sport England plays a very significant role in targeting a segment and it is this role which determines how successful it has been in targeting a segment. The company has worked hard immensely and has successfully implemented its programmes. The vision of this company has been of great importance and the benefits of its segmentation policies are already being reaped. Successful examples of the role played by Sport England in the Segmentation process are the Sport England East Midlands region and the South Gloucestershire Leisure center which all analyzed the information of the surveys conducted by the Sport England Group and accordingly targeted their customer base. With the help of such an initiative the company is encouraging more and more people to participate in sports and making them realise about the importance physical fitness. Their web tool methods and

using the media and communication platforms is being one of the most successful ways to target a segment. The company has collaborations with renowned consulting groups like Experian Business Strategies and working with them has provided the company with significant data it needed for targeting various segments within the United Kingdom. Sport England also carries out its target segmentation through various mediums like Internet, mobile phones, newspapers and magazines. These are mediums which are being used by masses and hence the information of the product reaches to them easily. In order to figure out the interests of the people in sports, Sport England conducted its research with Active People Survey and carried out one of the biggest Sporting Surveys across the European Continent.

3) Choose a Sport not listed and select appropriate segments that might participate in it. Explain why the sport might appeal to people in these segments Yoga is one kind of sport and exercises which could be implemented in some of the segments. The segments in which Yoga could be popular are•

Helena- Career Focused Females

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Jackie-Middle England Mums

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Paula- Stretched Single Mums

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Brenda-Older Working Women

It has been proved over the recent years that Yoga is one of the most successful exercise sports and helps immensely in keeping fit and relaxing your mind. As Yoga is mostly a female oriented sport, it could be used to target the ladies in the above segments. There can be daily or weekend yoga sessions arranged for the segments according to their availability. As for the career focused ladies this would be the best form of exercise as it would relax them both mentally and physically. It is one kind of exercise which would appeal to all the age groups of women and motivate them to participate in it.

4) Briefly outline a marketing campaign for your chosen sport

Yoga- the most beneficial and easy form of sport and Exercise

Benefits of Yoga in Everyday Life • •

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Yoga can help cure insomnia, as its regular yoga practice leads to better and deeper sleep. Yoga can help fight fatigue and maintain your energy throughout the day. Yoga is an effective treatment for a variety of diseases because it can reduce the symptoms these diseases often cause, such as stiffness, fatigue, and weakness.

Benefits of Yoga on Other Health Conditions •

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Do you have frequent headaches? Yoga can get rid you of tension headaches and migraines because yoga circulates blood and oxygen to your head, which can often, prevent headaches from starting. A regular yoga practice helps boost antioxidants throughout your body, resulting in a stronger immune system and improved ability to heal quickly from disease or injury.

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Yoga can help you lose weight and maintain a healthy weight throughout your life. Power yoga is a vigorous form of yoga that burns calories, resulting in weight loss.

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Many women going through menopause report an easing of symptoms when they begin practicing yoga.

Benefits of Yoga to the Cardiovascular System Yoga has tremendous health benefits for your heart.

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The gentler forms of yoga lower your blood pressure because the asanas (yoga poses, postures, and yoga positions keep blood flowing evenly throughout your body while you focus on your breathing. People suffering from hypertension can benefit from yoga tremendously, as yoga can lower your heart rate and blood pressure.

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Many practitioners claim that yoga has also lowered their cholesterol.

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Power yoga is an excellent form of cardio conditioning, which strengthens core muscles while it keeps blood and oxygen circulating throughout your body.

With so many benefits of yoga to the human body, sport England has introduced a monthly free trial for all the participants. Come and enroll today and don’t miss out on the chance to stay fit and healthy for the rest of your life.