Business in sport †SWOT analysis for DONFI Essay

Business in Sport Identify the Market Research methods that are used in two selected sports Organisations. I will start this assignment by explaining that market research is the gathering of information and studying the data collected relating to the consumers preference. This gives a company an insight prior to introducing a product on to the market. For my first sports company I will choose DONFI. I will start by doing a SWOT analysis, then explain the 4 P’s relating to market research and lastly PEST. A SWOT analysis stands for, Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. So I can relate this to DONFI by explaining that their- STRENGTHS- are that the company came up with an idea of producing t-shirts which a variety of people would buy, they knew they would be unique as the designs were imported from America. The costs were aimed at students not earning a great deal of money this insured the t-shirts would gain interest but at the same time they were still priced so the company would be making profit. Lastly the team that started the company had great belief in the products to succeed which made selling them easier. WEAKNESSES- The fact that DONFI had only a couple of months to get the company up and running made it hard especially as once we got it running there was again only a few months to sell all the produce. This meant that everyone needed to be dedicated. Also the area in which the produce was being sold was the best DONFI could have but would have been better if they had more than one sales area. Another issue would be that if we were to run out of stock we would have to bulk order the next batch which may be too many. OPPORTUNITIES- DONFI would need to think about expanding their sales area in the future to increase sales. They could also expand on their stock by this I mean that they could introduce more designs in perhaps a variety of coloured t-shirts and also bring in smaller t-shirts rather than large as the demand seemed to be greater. THREATS- The threats to this company are that they need to stay aware of other competition wanting to start similar companies and also the designs used may become more common from larger outsider companies. DONFI also need to be aware that the team is going to have to break apart some day down to a variety of interests and future aspirations of individuals. The 4 P’s relating to Marketing stand for Product, Price, Promotion and Place. I will now relate these to DONFI- PRODUCT- This can be either a good product like the idea of the unique T-shirts or a good service provided to a customer the person that buys the product or the consumer the person that wears DONFI’S T-shirt. In this companies case they provide a product range to both. This company is not big enough to sell forming as a chain of distribution because they don’t have the quantity (although they could get it). What DONFI does is realise who their target market is all and sell to them. PRICE- DONFI realised straight away that if the price wasn’t right they would not succeed. This means that the price needs to suit the quality of the product as well as being suited to your target consumers. DONFI attempted to sell shirts at  £15 to begin with but then realised that they were not grabbing the attention of the customer so by lowering the price to  £10 the company was able to break even and start making profit. This method they used is known as cost-plus pricing, where they add a profit mark up to the unit cost. PROMOTION- the main aims are to inform and make people aware of the product being sold. So DONFI did this by distributing flyers, word of mouth and advertising their product on the internet and on TV screens where all students will be made aware of the product. Sales promotions during events were advertised with new flyers to attract more people to buy for the event being advertised. Also by highlighting promotions e.g. 1 T-shirt for  £7 or 2 T-shirts for  £10 attracts customers wanting a good deal. PLACE- DONFI needed to think of the most cost effective way to get the product across to the consumer. DONFI attempted direct marketing on the internet by saying if you were interested in the shirts then contact the Managing Director direct.