I. OVERVIEW OF FERRIS STATE ATHLETICS

a. Internal Environment

Ferris State Athletics currently has fifteen different sports teams with seven being male teams and eight female varsity sports teams. The male sports are ice hockey, football, basketball, cross-country, track and field, tennis, and golf. The women’s sports are basketball, cross-country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, track and field, and volleyball. All the teams except the hockey team are Division II teams playing in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC). The hockey team currently plays in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) of NCAA Division I. There is a home venue for all Ferris’ sports teams in Big Rapids for example Top Taggart Field, Jim Wink Arena, Ewigleben Ice/Sports Arena, FSU Soccer Field, Katke Golf Course, FSU Racquet Center, and FSU Softball Field. The Ferris State Athletics logo is a bulldog with the school colors Crimson ("Ferris Red") and Gold ("Ferris Gold").

The Athletic Department is led by Athletic Director, Perk Weisenburger a Michigan native and previous Associate Athletics Director for External Operations at University of Nevada. Weisenburger is assisted in his duties by Associate Athletic Director, John Coles. Coles hired in 2008, is also a Michigan native and was previously employed by Big Rapids High School as the Activities and Athletics Director/Assistant Principal. (Staff) The athletic department is located in Ewigleben Sports Complex. The Athletic Department’s goal is to give “opportunities for student-athletes, strengthen our university and reflects positively on our community”. The athletic department has booster clubs such as the “Gridiron Club” for football, “Blueline Club” for hockey, “Rebounders Club” for men’s basketball, “Sixth Dawg Club” for women’s basketball, and “The Gallery” for men and women’s golf. They also host events such as Hockey Alumni Weekend, Rebounders Club Halftime Receptions, and Football Golf Outing. The athletic department also runs youth camps during the summer run by the coaches and players of the different sports teams.

Tony Annese is in his second year as the Head coach of the Ferris States Football team. Rob Zeitman (Assistant Head Coach), Lou Esposito (Defensive Coordinator), Ryan Brady (Offensive Coordinator) are the other faces of the Bulldogs football program. There are currently 120 players on the team with a total of 36 scholarships among the team according to the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The team plays thirteen games this year headlined by Grand Valley State University, Saginaw Valley State University, and Ohio Dominican. The Bulldogs captured the GLIAC Championship finishing the 2014 regular season with an unblemished 11-0 record. The undefeated record made them the #1 seed for the NCAA DII Football Tournament.

Ferris State University offers season tickets to adults, FSU students, FSU faculty/ staff, seniors, and students K-12 for hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, soccer, football, and volleyball. The cost of season tickets depends on the sport due to the attractiveness of the sport and length of the season. The athletic department also sells individual tickets for all the sports listed above with ticket prices vary on premium games or if you purchase your tickets in advance.

b. Mission and Vision Statements

i. Ferris State University Mission:

Ferris State University prepares students for successful careers, responsible citizenship, and lifelong learning. Through its many partnerships and its career-oriented, broad-based education, Ferris serves our rapidly changing global economy and society.

i. Ferris State University Vision:

Ferris State University will be: The recognized leader in integrative education, where theory meets practice throughout the curriculum, and where multi-disciplinary skills important in a global economy are developed with the result that Ferris State University will also be: • The preferred choice for students who seek specialized, innovative, career- and life-enhancing education

• The premier educational partner for government, communities, agencies, businesses, and industries through applied research and joint ventures

• A stimulating, student-centered academic environment that fosters life-long engagement, leadership, citizenship, and continuing intellectual development

• A university that aligns its practices and resources in support of its core values of collaboration, diversity, ethical community, excellence, learning, and opportunity (Mission) ii. Ferris State Athletics Mission:

Ferris State University Athletics integrates intercollegiate athletics into higher education by providing a program that has lasting importance on students' future success. Through education, competition and a personal environment, we stimulate attitudes of passion, sportsmanship, integrity, leadership, resourcefulness, and service to community. This corresponds with the Ferris State University mission to prepare students for successful careers, responsible citizenship, and life-long learning. Maintaining a successful, highly competitive athletic program will enhance the university by providing a rallying point for the campus, community, and alumni.

ii. Ferris State Athletics Vision:

By utilizing highly qualified coaches, dedicated support staff and administrative personnel to provide a stimulating student-centered environment, multi-disciplinary skills will be developed through practice, competition and collaborative team efforts. As a result, Ferris State University Athletics will: *Provide an athletic program that is a source of pride and is a connective rallying point for the student body, faculty and staff, alumni, local and regional community, future students and diverse educational partners.

*Continue as a leader in developing students for academic, athletic and personal achievement.

*Field athletic teams, which consistently perform successfully in conference and national competition.

*Be the preferred choice for student-athletes who seek specialized, innovative, career and life-enhancing education while participating on highly competitive teams.

*Have a department that aligns its practices and resources in support of institutional core values as well as conference and NCAA policies and procedures (Athletics 1).

c. Objectives & Goals for Athletics

To draw more support to Ferris State football games while creating an atmosphere that is welcoming, exciting, filled with school spirit, and the place to be for college football Saturday.

d. Organization’s Strategy

Ferris State Athletics must consider new alternatives in order to bring fans in. Repeating promotional events will only work to a certain extent. Football is a major sport at most institutions, and is typically the major source of school spirit for their students. Ferris can capitalize on their current football program success to and generate more awareness by playing a D1 team for a warm up game, forming recruiting alliances with surrounding D1 programs, and drawing more interest from brands/companies who want to be associated with a successful team.

e. Organization’s Culture

Ferris State Football is not very popular among students and community members. Reasons for this exist in an umbrella that covers the beliefs of most students when it comes to Ferris football. These reasons include a no defined/separated student section, a lower level of competition, “friends don’t go”, and the majority of people go home on the weekends. For community members it could stem all the way down to the hiring of the relatively new Athletic Director Perk Weisenburger, the firing of previous Head Coach, Jeff Pierce, their simple lack of success in previous years, or just being in the shadow of the Bulldogs Division I hockey team.

For students the solution is simple: create an atmosphere that draws attention and market activities to students because if people would go, everyone would go. We understand that we do not need a “Kelly Shorts” size stadium to produce a big time atmosphere much like our hockey program has been showing us in the recent years. We do not have a well defined student section at Top Taggart like we have had in the past. For members of the community we need to get the new coaches, Athletic Director, and the whole football team more involved in the community. Big Rapids is a small tight knit group of people who do not break out of the norm too much, so getting the “faces” of our program out in front of the community so they can get to know them would be huge step in getting more local support.

II. ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN

a. Competition:

i. Direct
Ferris State Athletics has direct competition for all their sports. The direct competition is due to the location of Big Rapids relevant to other sports team. Nearly all the sports Ferris State University can be found at the Division 1 and Professional level within a 100-mile radius of Big Rapids. The Ferris State Football team competes with Central Michigan, Michigan State, and the University of Michigan for fans on game day. With that being said having the DI competition of Central Michigan and other MAC schools relatively close to Big Rapids could be a huge opportunity for Ferris State in terms of a recruiting alliances and or the possibility of a preseason scrimmage.

ii. Indirect
Ferris State Athletics has indirect competition with their student body for every home athletic event. Students have other hobbies that pose a challenge for Ferris State athletics to draw students to the game. The community also has other hobbies, and interest, which decreases the number of fans at the sporting events.

b. Technology

Technology is always changing creating new and different marketing challenges. Upgrading faculties that are technologically advanced to help recruit better athletes to Ferris State. Ferris State added new scoreboards for football, volleyball, and broadcasting more games on radio and TV for hockey.

c. Cultural and Social Trends

Trends are always important to realize within sports because these are what people beliefs such as individualism, youthfulness, achievement/success, and family. The new trend in college football is new uniforms and uniform style. Ferris State responded to that trend by getting new uniforms for football and by signing a uniform deal with UnderArmor. (Leigh)

d. Physical Environment

Ferris State is affected by the environment because in Big Rapids the weather can get ugly in the winter months. Ferris State normally schedules most of their home games early in the year allowing for better weather, which could generate more fans.

e. Political, Legal, and Regulatory Environment

Colleges must follow many rules and regulations enforced by the NCAA in order to have a successful athletic department. If these rules and regulations are not followed the athletic department can be fined or even suspended. (Title)

f. Demographics

i. Students
Ferris State University has roughly about 14,000 students on the Big Rapids campus. The majority of the students leave the Big Rapids area during the summer months. (Ferris)

ii. Community
The Big Rapids community has a population of 10,700 in 2013. The median income is roughly $21,000 per household. (Big Rapids)

III. SWOT ANALYSIS

Strengths
-GLIAC Champions
-Free for students
-Proven Coach
-New Scoreboard
-Reached #1 ranking in NCAA Division II this season
-Higher Ranked Recruits
-NCAA Tournament Bid

Weaknesses
-Level of competition
-Minimal interest from students
-Not Filling Top Taggart Stadium even with an Undefeated Record
-No official student section
-Students leave campus on weekends
-Community upset with the firing of previous Head Coach Jeff Pierce

Opportunities
-Host Preseason Game vs. Division 1 Program
-Increase Media and Recruit Exposure by Winning National Championship
-Form Recruiting Alliances with Surrounding D1 Programs
-More Businesses want Brand/Name associated with a successful team.

Threats
-NCAA Division 1 schools
-Bigger NCAA Division II schools
-Grand Rapids (big city)
-Big Rapids (small city)

IV. MARKETING OBJECTIVES

i. Mid-Summer/July:

Obtain $15,000 worth of Sponsorships for the upcoming 2015 Ferris State Football season.

ii. Beginning of the Season/Week 1:

Increase ticket sales by 5% from last season at Week 1. Increase Student attendance at the football games by 10% from Week 1 last season. Obtain an additional $5,000 in sponsorships from the Mid-Summer/July deadline, equaling a total of $20,000 worth of sponsorships.

iii. Mid-Season/Week 5:

Increase ticket sales by 3% since Week 1 of this season. Increase student attendance at football games by 5% since Week 1 of this season. Have a total of $23,000 in sponsorships, an increase of $3,000 since Week 1 of this season.

iv. End of the Regular Season/Week 11

Increase ticket sales by 2% from Mid-Season this year. Increase student attendance at football games by 3% since the Mid-Season of this year. Have a total of $25,000 in sponsorships for Ferris State Football, an increase of $2,000 since the Mid-Season of this year.

V. MARKET STRATEGY

a. Target Markets

The target market for Ferris State University's football team includes the student population of Ferris State University and the general public who are football fans.

i. Students
The student population varies in age from 17 to 25. These students are male and female and live on and off-campus, with a small percentage of these students commuting from surrounding areas; most notably Grand Rapids.

ii. General Public
The general public segmentation consists of Ferris State University Alumni, Ferris State University supporters, families, and fans of the overall sport of football. This segmentation varies in age from as young as infants to 80 years old. These individuals are male and female and live in the greater Big Rapids area.

b. Marketing Mix

i. Product Strategies/tactics
Our product strategy will focus on our award winning players and coach. This past season the Bulldogs placed 16 players on the All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference teams, and received a number of the top awards. Junior quarterback Jason Vander Laan was the player of the year, senior left tackle Jacob VanderKlock from South Christian was the offensive lineman of the year and Tony Annese was the coach of the year. With Jason, Jacob, and Coach Annese all receiving such high regards they can now offer our program and school credibility. All of these players and coaches can make appearances at not only Ferris events like Ferris Fest, “The Big Event”, and Dawg Days but, other community events, surrounding area football games, and be involved in the county school districts’ Project Outreach conference where they can offer students life advice and what it means and takes to be a leader.

With increasing attendance we hope to reserve part of Top Taggart’s seating as the student section. In order to promote this to students we will make new Dawg Pound t-shirts with a saying emphasizing last year’s GLIAC Championship. On top of that we want to have a tailgating event for students before a few games where students can come and get free food.

ii. Price Strategies/tactics

Students can attend games for free while general admission ticket prices are displayed in the appendix. Generating money from ticket sales is important but keeping our prices reasonable will draw more members of the community to attend games and create more of a home field advantage. Students will remain free to help us increase the student fan base.

iii. Place Strategies/tactics

Promotions will take place all over campus including residence halls and academic buildings. We do not do enough to make the players of our team recognizable to the student body and in return the students feel no connection with the players on the team. Surrounding the Top Taggart Field’s chain link fence would be a great place for vinyl banners displaying the GLIAC Championship trophy along with pictures of Coach Aneese, Jason Vander Laan, and Jacob VanderKlock reading “2014 GLIAC Coach of the Year”, “Player of the Year”, and “Offensive Lineman of the Year”. This places focus on the students. We will get players out in front of surrounding area schools by having them participate in activities surrounding area school are doing like Project Outreach or sending players to elementary schools to read to students during reading month. This will help us target surrounding areas such as Morley Standwood, Reed City, Chippewa Hills, Howard City, and White Cloud.

iv. Promotion Strategies/tactics

1. Media Budget
Low – $500 - $1000 worth of media coverage at Ferris State football consist of locally broadcast television and radio coverage. Select games can be found on Comcast, Charter, DISH Network, and Ferris TV. All games home or away are radio transmitted by Sunny 97.3 FM.

2. Sponsors
Ferris State Athletics will customize a sponsorship package to help sponsors reach their target audience. Three different packages designed to help you win with Bulldogs Football and save money.

Bulldog Package • Double with signage on scoreboard at Top Taggart Field • Four (4) 30 second video board advertisments • Two (2) On Field Signage • Full-Page ad in Bulldog Football Program • Company mentions at Bulldog Football games • Logo and Link Placement on Ferris Athletics Website • Four (4) season tickets to Bulldog Football game • Game Day Sponsorship Two (2) home football games - Multi-Year Investment: $4,000 per year (3 year minimum) - Single-Year Investment: $4,500

Gold Package • Double with signage on scoreboard at Top Taggart Field • Two (2) 30 second video board advertisments • One (1) On Field Signage • Full-Page ad in Bulldog Football Program • Company mentions at Bulldog Football games • Logo and Link Placement on Ferris Athletics Website - Multi-Year Investment: $2,000 per year (3 year minimum) - Single-Year Investment: $2,500

Crimson Package • Signage on the Scoreboard at Top Taggart Field • Half-Page Ad in the Bulldog Football Program • Logo and Link Placement on Ferris Athletics Website • Company Mentions at Bulldog Football games • Game Day Sponsorship for one home Bulldog Football Game - Multi-Year Investment: $1,000 per year (3 year minimum) - Single-Year Investment: $1,500

3. IMC Strategic Plan
Ferris State Football will use social media promotions (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) to reach their student target market. More in game promotions for the student section to increase attendance and increase fan environment. Advertisements such as pep rallies and other pre-season promotions to help build awareness for the upcoming football season.

VI. Implementation

a. Timetable

The implementation of the Ferris State Football marketing plan will begin in the Spring 2015 semester. This selection was made in anticipation of student visitors scouting the campus as potential students in the fall 2015 school year. Schedules, brochures that include comparative statistics and previous records, and similar advertising and promotions can be placed in the bags given to these student prospects on “Dawg Days.” Other materials that can be added include coupons and other promotional materials.

To reach a broader market in the Big Rapids area, a commercial can be produced by Ferris' video production students. This commercial will essentially consist of highlights of Ferris' 2014 football games, and include texts in the video showing the scores and updated record after the highlights against each opponent are ending. This video will also include footage of enthusiastic sidelines, cheerleaders, and a panoramic view of the pumped up crowds at each game. The video can also be placed on Ferris' website as a YouTube video, and promoted on Facebook, Twitter, and other popular social media platforms.

To reach the student body of Ferris State University, there needs to be a refocus of attention by the Athletics Department. Hockey is extremely popular and well-attended by Ferris students. There's a common understanding that it's our “golden child” of sports at the University. Therefore we've essentially reached a saturation of promotion for this particular sport. The attention needs to be shifted towards a sport that is garnering attention from the students. With the level of success the football program is seeing this season, it's time to capitalize!

While the season is underway, our football team needs to be in the public's eye. The football team promotes their own sport and interact with not only the student body, but with the city of Big Rapids. This will develop a personal bond and strengthen the ties between the team and its fans. A pep rally could be held for the home opener, homecoming, and against our bigger rivals like Northwood and GVSU. This will allow the fans to show support to the team and vise versa.

b. Evaluation Plan

The evaluation process will start with the social media campaign. We can track “Likes” and “Shares” on Facebook, “Retweets” and “Favorites” on Twitter, Likes on Instagram, and views on YouTube. This will give us an idea of who and how many people are viewing the video, and who actually liked the video. After this set of data is collected, we can them analyze who are target market actually is rather than who we thought they were.

As for evaluating the campaign's effectiveness, tracking game attendance week by week will reveal how successful or unsuccessful this plan has been. The attendance can be broken up into student and non-student attendance. If each category's attendance is above average, that would be mean our plan is working. If attendance is below average, that means the plan is failing and it's time to adapt the game plan.

VII. Summary

Ferris State Athletics needs to increase their marketing efforts for their football program to increase fan support from not only students but the community alike. While our recent success is helping marketing efforts on its own there is only so much it can do before it gets stale once again. Increasing our student fan base is our number one priority and this can be done in a number of ways. Bringing back an official Dawg Pound student section would be a huge start followed by more in game promotions and before game entertainment benefiting the college students alone. In order to make this happen we need to do a better job informing our students of upcoming games. Knowing students get into the games for free we need to increase ticket sales to help offset an increase in spending with little to no return on investment financially. We really need to draw in more support from the surrounding area. Most surrounding area high school football teams see Top Taggart for the first time when they play there against Big Rapids High School. This means we are not doing enough to reach out there and draw obvious football fans to Ferris State games. Every home game will be promoted to a different school from around the area saying, “If you wear your football jersey to the Bulldogs football game this week you receive free admission”. This will help create awareness around the Big Rapids area and help foster long term relationships.

VIII. Appendix

a. Figure 1

|Single-Game Tickets | | | | |
|Category | | Advance | Gameday | | |
| | |
|Non-Premium Games | |
|Adult | |$9 |$12 | |
|FSU Faculty/Staff |$8 |$12 | |
|Seniors (65+) |$8 |$12 | |
|Student K-12 |$6 |$8 | |
|FSU Students | |FREE w/ ID | |
|Group Rate (20 or more) |$5 | |
| |
|Premium Games - Findlay (Homecoming) & GVSU | |
|Adult | |$12 |$15 | |
|FSU Faculty/Staff |$12 |$15 | |
|Seniors (65+) |$12 |$15 | |
|Student k-12 |$8 |$10 | |
|FSU Students | |FREE w/ ID | |

Works Cited

"Athletics Purpose, Vision & Values." - Ferris State Bulldogs. Ferris State University, n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2014.
"Athletic Scholarships." Athletic Scholarships. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2014. .
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"Ferris Enrolls Highest Big Rapids Campus Total Since 1994." Ferris Enrolls Highest Big Rapids Campus Total Since 1994. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2014. .
"Ferris State University Men's Football Scholarships." Ferris State University Men's Football Athletic Scholarships. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2014. .
Leigh, B. (2014, June 4). College Football Uniform Trends to Watch in 2014. Retrieved from Bleacher Report: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2085639-college-football-uniform-trends-to-watch-for-in-2014
"Mission, Vision Statement, Core Values - Ferris State University." Mission, Vision Statement, Core Values - Ferris State University. Ferris State University, 21 Mar. 2008. Web. 14 Nov. 2014.
Staff Directory. (2014, November 30). Retrieved from Ferris State Bulldogs: http://www.ferrisstatebulldogs.com/information/directory/index
"Title IX and Sex Discrimination." Title IX and Sex Discrimination. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2014. .

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Ferris State Football Marketing Plan