Audience & Marketing at MDPCC

**MDPCC = Mixed Doubles Provincial Curling Championship

Our Audience

In order to attract an audience to the MDPCC in February 2020, it is important to understand our audience, and how to market to our audience, or we may be left with empty seats. Curling Members and curling enthusiasts within the community are top of that list, but we need to reach other audiences.

How can we do that? We can talk to people, share the event using communications channels we normally do not, listed in the Marketing section below.

The MDPCC is for competitors and coaches, to help them advance to the next level championship. Along with them they bring spectators, such as family and friends. The host community, Lethbridge, attracts sports enthusiast, Curling Club Members, and people using the other services within the facility, but there must be ways to get new people to attend the curling event.

Our Curling Club is new, and located within a building (ATB Centre) containing two of the most utilized ice rinks in Lethbridge (skating and hockey), the YMCA, and the newest and biggest aquatic, fitness and recreation centre.

How do we engage those that are not already attending the event (aka the broader community)?

Well, let's try new marketing opportunities! This

Marketing our Event to Expand our Audience

We have an opportunity to market to areas within the facility, such as at the pool, gym and ice rinks. Advertising at the Lethbridge Curling Club has always been done through Facebook and membership email. This gives us ample opportunity to expand!

The diagram below shows the 7 P's - 'The Marketing Mix'. This diagram is important to consider when marketing. I have little knowledge in applying all seven of these P's and this event may not look at ALL of these, but we will go through each one as a way to establish who our target audiences are.

The Seven P's 'Marketing Mix' (Booms B and Bitner M J 1981)

So far in the marketing conversation for our curling event, we have established who it will be valuable to market to and through which communication channels. There is still more to discuss, but we will be applying the ‘Marketing Mix’ above.

For the MDPCC, it will be valuable to market to:

• internal membership

• students, especially college and university

• sports enthusiasts

• people using other services within the facility

Through the following communication channels:

• Social Media

• College and University bulletin boards and newsletters

• ATB Centre bulletin boards

• Outside workplaces (through Board Members and Chairs)

Can we create a new look to the posters that have been used in the past? YES! I think this will help to attract attention in new ways. Marketing is an area that I need to work on as an event professional, and I look forward to applying marketing strategies and tactics to new audiences.

SV

Up Next: Concluding Remarks

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BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Booms B and Bitner M J (1981) "Marketing Strategies and Organizational Structures for Service Firms" in Donnelly and George, (eds) Marketing of Services Chicago: American Marketing Association, 47-51.

City of Lethbridge. 2019. 'Main website'. Available at: https://atbcentre.ca/contact/ [accessed 19 November 2019].