This paper applies a SWOT analysis to the Rose Bowl, examining its century-old brand strength, prime television placement, and the Rose Parade as brand assets, while identifying weaknesses such as reduced national relevance following the creation of a college football national championship game and underdeveloped social media presence. The paper also profiles the Rose Bowl's target audience using ESPN and third-party demographic data, characterizing the college football fan base as predominantly young, educated, employed males. It concludes by connecting these demographic characteristics to digital marketing opportunities on Twitter, highlighting advertising categories most relevant to this audience.
A SWOT analysis is an effective way to examine an organization and understand its position in the marketplace. The Rose Bowl has a very strong brand on which to draw, built up over 100 years of tradition. The game is instantly recognizable even to casual sports fans, and it occupies prime television real estate, further enhancing brand visibility. The Rose Parade is an ancillary event that is also quite famous, serving additionally to build the brand. Furthermore, the game is contested between the top team in the Pac-12 and the top team in the Big Ten, which means it is usually entertaining and features highly competitive programs.
There are a few weaknesses for the Rose Bowl, however. The first issue is that with the institution of the national championship game, the Rose Bowl will not necessarily feature a conference champion should that team be involved in the national championship game. This means that, in contrast to its glory years, the Rose Bowl game is no longer of national-level importance in every season.
The Rose Bowl is also relatively new to Twitter and to social media in general, which means it has fewer followers than other college sports properties. The Twitter account is also used mostly around game time, remaining relatively dormant for much of the year. This limited activity leads to poor overall social media engagement — people will talk about the Rose Bowl game but will not tag the Rose Bowl's account, reducing the effectiveness and reach of the account.
"Twitter growth potential and brand control risks"
That said, threats exist as well. The major threat is that there is a lack of control on Twitter, and people could convey negative messages on the Rose Bowl account. This lack of control is not necessarily healthy for the Rose Bowl brand.
The target audience for the Rose Bowl is a slightly expanded version of the college football audience. Statistics compiled by ESPN show that the target market for college football is 94% male, with 63% between the ages of 18–34 and a median age of 34. A total of 45% of this market is single. Most attended at least some college (87%), and most hold full-time employment as well. The average household income of this target market is $69,200 (ESPN, 2014).
What this profile shows is that the college football market consists of young, educated males, many of whom are well-employed and earning solid incomes. This is a desirable target market because marketers can reach this audience during young adulthood, before their purchasing patterns are firmly established. Once those patterns are more entrenched, these consumers are also less likely to follow college football as closely. These fans also follow the sport broadly, as their second-favorite sport is NFL football.
It should be noted that different sources report different characteristics for this audience. One source places the college football demographic at 40% aged 55 and older and more than 80% white (Thompson, 2014). The ESPN survey was conducted online, which likely explains why it skews younger than the other survey. The Rose Bowl's audience may be a little broader given its national profile, and it will also be concentrated in Southern California. Audience composition will shift depending on which schools are participating — if a Pacific Northwest university is playing, for example, the Seattle-area audience will be considerably larger than in a typical year.
The target audience for the Rose Bowl's tweets is this same demographic. Because it is a fairly narrow but lucrative demographic, it is desirable to cultivate this group for advertisers. The Rose Bowl Twitter account, if it can generate better content and grow its follower base, provides an excellent marketing opportunity for sporting goods, new cars, investments, video games, and entertainment — all of which are among the main intended purchases for this group, according to the ESPN data (ESPN, 2014).
"Connecting demographics to Twitter advertising categories"
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