This book is aimed at first- and second-year undergraduate students with little or no prior knowledge of marketing. The main focus of the book is to provide the reader with a general understanding of the key concepts and principles within sport marketing. Consequently, the book includes 13 chapters which cover; seven themes of the sport market, the sport consumer, the process of sport marketing, the marketing mix, sponsorship, digital marketing and social media, and implementation and control. By any academics standard these would be considered standard themes to include within a current sport marketing text book aimed at this level of readership.
As you would expect from Smith and Stewart, assuming you are familiar with some of their other work, each chapter follows the same structure. This approach makes it easy for the reader to navigate and select relevant information and helpful learning outcomes are clearly set out at the start of each chapter. These learning outcomes are followed by an overview which enables the reader to develop an understanding of what will be covered and what they will learn and there are regular links back to the chapter objectives to check progress. To enhance the scaffolding provided to the readers every chapter also includes ‘chapter principles’ which are key points of reference. There are quite a few of these throughout the book so it is useful to have a summary of principles at the end of each chapter and also within the appendix.
It is usual nowadays to include review questions at the end of each chapter which, for the most part, should be designed to help check levels of understanding. Fittingly, Smith and Stewart have included these too and supplement some quite challenging questions with some examples of further reading. These are not lengthy lists of reading that could frighten a first-year undergraduate student, but are manageable texts or websites that will enhance understanding of each specific subject area.
Throughout the book interactive case studies that are linked to current real-world organisations, e.g. Volleyball England and Volleyball NZ in Chapter 1. It is excellent to see case studies which encourage students to develop a greater global understanding of both sport in general and also sport marketing across the world. From a lecturer's perspective the interactive case studies provide opportunities for curriculum internationalisation and differentiation of student learning.
Questions and points of interest are raised for each of the case studies which provide useful opportunities to test and develop understanding although, unlike some other sport marketing text books, the case studies and examples provided do not focus just on professional sport but also aspects of community sport participation and the Not For Profit sector. This is useful as these are areas of the sport industry that graduates are likely to go and work within – not everyone ends up working in a professional sport environment and it is good to see a balance that represents the wider industry.
Chapter one provides a useful breakdown of what will be covered within the remainder of the book. For students who have not studied sport marketing before Chapter 2 clearly explains the uniqueness of the business of sport compared to other industries and the necessity for tailored marketing techniques which take into consideration the unpredictability of sport that can generate emotional responses from its customers. There is a nice flow into Chapter 3 which then focuses on the sport consumer and the psychological/socio-cultural impacts that determine motives for engagement and loyalty with sport. Case studies from the USA, UK and Australia provide key examples of global sport consumption. The focus of this chapter is predominantly on the sport spectator. Greater discussion around sport participation and the use of sport marketing case studies to engage people in playing sport or being physically active would have provided a different angle to the sport consumer however it is difficult to cover everything in adequate depth.
Chapter 4, Sport Marketing Opportunities provides the essential basics of how to undertake an internal and external market analysis that Level 4 students are required to grasp before moving on to more strategic tools. It is good to see the inclusion of different types of market research as students will see the link between marketing and research methods modules which enables them to see the importance of research methods within their degree programme and as a tool within the sport industry – something that students do not always appreciate until working on their final year dissertation project. Chapter 5, Sport Marketing Strategy, leads on well from the previous chapter and would be a useful recap chapter at Level Five and Six and also for industry practitioners who need to understand how to segment customer groups and position products or services.
Chapters 6–11 provide the reader with a broad understanding of the extended Services marketing mix and clearly demonstrate that marketing is not just about advertising – a misconception that first-year students can initially come with. Excellent variety of case studies and great to see students being introduced to crowdsourcing funding mechanisms within Chapter 6 to bring new sport products to market.
In an age where today's students have grown up with social media and digital marketing as a normal part of their day to day lives, Chapter 12 assesses the pro's and con's of the different options available to organisations when engaging in this form of marketing and encourages the reader to think about how both large and small organisations can engage with digital and social media approaches to sport marketing. This would be a useful chapter for people working within the sport community and not for profit sector who would like to gain an introductory understanding of the digital and social media options that are available to incorporate within their marketing planning.
This is a useful addition to the sport business and sport development undergraduate text book market that could be recommended as a key text for Level Four study. Students who have engaged with the text at Level Four are likely to go back to it on numerous occasions throughout their time at university while studying sport marketing. For students who have not studied marketing before, this book provides a clear understanding of the core concepts that will be necessary to fully grasp before moving on to strategic marketing planning at Level 6 or postgraduate.
People working within the community and not for profit sport industry who are required to lead on marketing within their organisation would also find this book of interest due to the variety of case studies and applied nature of the discussion.