Gold Coast Titans • Marketing Analysis

1.0 TERMS OF REFERENCE

This investigative report will examine the Gold Coast Titans marketing activities and the underlying strategies the Rugby League club has implemented as an entertainment brand. The constructs of this report will be analysing the brand’s attempts to differentiate itself from competitors, consumer satisfaction, and assessment of the venue.

2.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Gold Coast Titans are a Rugby League team in the NRL Telstra Premiership. Since their inaugural season in 2007, the club has been put in the spotlight for poor performances on and off the field, creating a negative image within the local and national community. This report critically analyses and evaluates the marketing strategies of the Gold Coast Titans as an entertainment brand focusing on their consumers (fans), consumer satisfaction, and the organisation’s operations at CBUS Super Stadium their home venue. The main findings of this report discovered the Gold Coast Titans need to create pride and loyalty to the club through experiential marketing; giving fans and tourists of the Gold Coast, an experience. Therefore creating brand advocates and loyal supporters of the club.

3.0 MAIN REPORT

The core of this report will be investigating the marketing strategies of the Gold Coast Titans primarily concentrating on their consumers (fans), consumer satisfaction, and the organisation’s operations at CBUS Super Stadium their home venue. Additionally, the report will be delving into the history of the Gold Coast Titans and investigating how that has affected the club’s public image within the community and nationally. 

3.1 INTRODUCTION

The Gold Coast Titans are a Rugby League team in the NRL Telstra Premiership comprising 16 teams (National Rugby League, 2020). The Titans played their inaugural season in 2007 with a list of representative players bringing a huge excitement to the Gold Coast and an instant fanbase. 2008 Stadiums Queensland opened CBUS Super Stadium a 27,400 capacity multipurpose venue and a home ground for the Gold Coast Titans which gained the team more excitement and momentum (CBUS Super Stadium, 2020).

Since their impressive inaugural year performance and the 2009 season which saw the team finish in the top four and entering their first final series the club have shown a decline in numbers for the team’s home games from season to season (Gold Coast Titans, 2020). The clubs home games struggling to compete in the entertainment mecca that is the glitter strip. Sports management academic Dr Jason Doyle commented that the past and current decline in interest in sporting teams on the Gold Coast is a direct effect of the region’s transient population and an outdoor lifestyle that offered residents a wide variety of interests and activities, stating: “There’s also a lot of outdoor activities to choose from and they all compete and jockey for our limited time, attention and spending money” (Prain, 2015). The Gold Coast Titans only made this more difficult for themselves with public image and behaviour.

The Gold Coast Sporting public image has had a troubled past since the National Rugby League brand first arrived on the Gold Coast in 1988 with the Gold Coast-Tweed Giants which ultimately saw the team change its name and brand three times before disbanding and adding its name to the extended inventory of sporting franchises that have failed in the area which included: “Gold Coast Blaze, Gold Coast United, Gold Coast Seagulls, Gold Coast Gladiators, Gold Coast Aces, Gold Coast Rollers, Gold Coast Cougars, and Brisbane (in their Gold Coast era) Bears (Prain, 2015).”

The relatively young team has faced an extraordinary amount of unnecessary self-inflicted image problems. In 2012 the club went into 35 million dollars worth of debt which was the predicted end of the club, if it weren’t for the National Rugby League bailing the club out and keeping it in operation (Badel, 2012). The 2015 season saw Greg Bird, Dave Taylor, Beau Falloon, Jamie Dowling and Faifai Loa, and past players Ashley Harrison and Joe Vickery with charges of cocaine supply and possession (Forbes, 2015).

Midway through the 2019 season the club famously sacked coach Garth Brennan due to the team’s performance, only two years after Neil Henry was also sacked in 2017 less than three years into his contract, following a public feud with high-profile recruit Jarryd Hayne (ABC News, 2019). Rugby League commentator, coach, and player Phil Gould stating ‘When a club has to sack a coach everyone’s failed, not just the coach’ (Glover, 2019).

The Gold Coast Titans have appointed new coach Justin Holbrook for the 2020 season, who won the 2019 Premiership with Saint Helens in the English Super League (Chammas, 2019), along with the appointment of the 13th Immortal and Australian Coach Mal Meninga as Head of Performance and Culture, the club looks to be changing in a positive direction (Gold Coast Titans, 2018). The 2020 NRL Telstra Premiership must be a turning point for the Gold Coast Titans and the beginning of an upward trajectory, otherwise, the club is set for the same path as its Gold Coast sporting team predecessors.

weren’t for the National Rugby League bailing the club out and keeping it in operation (Peter Badel, Courier Mail 2012). The 2015 season saw Greg Bird, Dave Taylor, Beau Falloon, Jamie Dowling and Faifai Loa, and past players Ashley Harrison and Joe Vickery charges of cocaine supply and possession (By Tom Forbes May 2015 - courier mail) 

Gold Coast’s NRL team looks set for the same path as its predecessors unless drastic changes are made.

3.2 fans

Winning games is our main priority and if you do that the fans will turn up.” - Justin Holbrook (Gold Coast Bulletin, 2019)

“Fan loyalty has been described as the steadfast allegiance to a person or cause and a level of psychological commitment and persistent behaviour toward a sport, league, team, player, or coach” (Pritchard, 1991 cited in Jones, 2003) In the NRL, the fans generate revenue, advocates for their brand (the game itself or the individual clubs), creating user-generated content, secondary interaction rituals in fan clubs & primary interaction rituals by attending games. The fans in Rugby League can also sway games by creating an intimidating venue for rival clubs to attend and even so far to persuade match officials on-field calls. This can be seen in full effect in Rugby League heartlands like Leichhardt Oval and Brookvale Oval. 

During the 2019 NRL Telstra Premiership the Gold Coast Titans had 8,866 club members  (National Rugby League, 2020) and in their 12 Home Games at CBUS Super Stadium had a total of 139,048 people and an average of 11587 through the gates. Although numbers still show a reasonable amount of people, the statistics from 2007 their inaugural season are considerably higher. During the 2007 season’s 12 Games for the Gold Coast Titans, they had a total of 257,866 people with an average of 21,489 per game. This shows a significant dip with 118,818 fewer fans coming through the gates (AFL Tables, 2019). This statistic should be increasing with surrounding areas growth rates.

The Gold Coast city population will exceed 943,000 in 2026 and the Gold Coast Titans club should be attempting to convert those incoming population to fans (Bruce, 2008). New locals to the city either from overseas, interstate or from other cities in Queensland may not be aware of the Gold Coast Titans team or even the game of Rugby League. A tried and proven method of raising the audience involvement level of passive spectators is through the education of the game and giving the community a high cultural capital. Brisbane Broncos, the Titans closest competitor manage this sector extremely well, starting a grassroots level and introducing younger generations to the game by running training days with local Rugby League clubs. This also gives the young kids high cultural capital of who the NRL club’s players are and making them a hero. The Brisbane team also gives the grassroots clubs so many tickets for their players to attend the home games, giving the opportunity to the young fans to show their high cultural capital while also bringing families through the gate and spending money in the venue (Brisbane Broncos, 2019).  

The Gold Coast Titans already do a high level of work with the Gold Coast & Northern New South Wales Communities with three of the clubs retired and current players Preston Campbell, Luke Douglas, and captain Kevin James winning The Ken Stephen Medal which recognises the efforts of an NRL player who has not only achieved on the field but has committed time off the field to community projects. (NRL Community, 2020)

Sportsmen and women have an increasingly rare quality of authenticity that gives them the ability to lift and inspire people. “Athletes perform in the public eye and under the pressure of competition with the best opponents” (Clanton, 2007). Despite all of these efforts to create a community presence and image in their catchment area with the high turnover of players, the unbridled image, and poor on-field commitment, It would be hard to believe their engagement can undo all that. At the end of the 2019 season the Titans played with no pride for the community they were playing for and working in finishing at the bottom of the competition ladder and showed no desire to succeed leaving fans uninspired (Read, 2019). The Gold Coast Titans “has to be a beacon of inspiration and aspiration for all kids everywhere; if they want to play in the NRL this is the place they want to be and they just haven’t done that” (Glover. 2019)

Fans impact the marketplace financially by spending an inordinate amount of money on sports and sport-related products. Revenues from licensed-product sales have become a significant part of the sports industry (Jones, 2003). While using their fan base to keep their club afloat it also has the opportunity to create brand advocates. With Club Membership the Gold Coast Titan should be giving their fans special rites and exclusive access to their players and club legends rewarding their members with a remembered consumption experience and a feeling of nostalgia (Arnould, 2004) Brisbane Broncos have created Ambassador Line, an immersive experience where they pick 30 club members to be on the field as the team run out onto Suncorp Stadium (Brisbane Broncos, 2019). The Gold Coast Titans should be rewarding members for their loyalty as it will benefit the club, especially when the team’s on-field performance is poor. 

Consumer (fan) retention and strengthening are critical in the Gold Coast Titans remaining a financially competitive sporting franchise (Jones, 2003).

The Gold Coast Titans are in a prime position to compete for the tourist dollar offering an experience to visitors of the area that they can’t get anywhere else. Like a tourist visiting the United States attending NFL games or visitors to Canada attending NHL games. International visitor expenditure on the Gold Coast hit $1.4 billion for the year ending March 2019, with tourists spending large on hotels, food, and theme parks (Business News Australia, 2019). The Gold Coast Titans have a unique selling proposition (USP) that can allow tourists to see one of Australia’s biggest sports at play, in a premier stadium. This method would also give the club the ability to use team merchandising as a form of souvenir, adding to the consumer’s core consumption experience, providing the visitors with a positive memorable experience, generating profits for the club and filling the stands of CBUS Super Stadium. This could be achieved through links to a tourism service and promotion through travel agents.

The Gold Coast Titans need to target loyal fans who have a strong psychological commitment and who persistently support the club. Focusing on loyal spectators is a conventional and cost-effective strategy in strengthening and growing market share and will assist in progressing towards a prolonged competitive advantage. Rewarding the members who have remained loyal when many have abandoned them will help them attract more through advocacy. Taking advantage of the influx of population to the Gold Coast area in terms of residence and tourism will also develop the club expanationally (Jones, 2003)

“In order for a team or sport to thrive, there must be fans that purchase souvenirs and other team-related paraphernalia and demonstrate continued support by purchasing tickets and attending events. Sports fans, or more specifically, loyal sports fans, are important to a sport organization because they repeatedly engage in behaviours that benefit a team or league.”- (Jones, 2003)

3.3 Fan Satisfaction

The outcome of a sports competition unlike most entertainment forms is unpredictable. The sports team’s failures and successes are played out in front of the audience to analyse unlike an actor or musician whose errors are hidden behind rehearsal doors or the cutting room floor (Clanton. 2007). This unpredictable is what attracts most sports fans, but what effect does it have on the consumer’s (fans) satisfaction?

The Gold Coast Titans only won four of the 25 games played during the 2019 season making it their worst season on record and the second time the team has finished a season at the bottom of the NRL Telstra Premiership table. This has a huge toll on the fans as seen in the dismal numbers on the entry gate to CBUS Super Stadium as only two of the games the team won during the season were at their home stadium (AFL Tables, 2019). 

Investigating the links between a fan’s team losing and customer satisfaction in the venue can be defined using the “emotion-satisfaction-behaviour” model by synthesizing attribution theory (Weiner, cited in Jensen, 2018) and the transactional theory of coping (Lazarus & Folkman, cited in Jensen, 2018).

“The consumers’ behavioural intention vastly differed depending on the result of a game. The consumer team winning saw the fans linking satisfaction to the game outcome and the service and this mediated the emotions and behavioural intent of the consumer. Fans satisfaction after a loss would move towards either the attribution theory (Weiner, cited in Jensen, 2018) when experiencing a service failure, consumers search for someone or something to blame for the outcome (Walton & Hume, 2012) or the concept of “cutting off reflected failure” (CORFing; Snyder, cited in Jensen, 2018). CORFing is based on balance theory (Heider, cited in Jensen, 2018). The concept identifies the individual’s tendency to distance themselves from an unsuccessful affiliation, due to self-preservation and managing one’s self-identity and protecting their image (Jensen,  2018). As a result of this tactic, fans would completely disassociate themselves from the team and incidentally the whole experience. (Jensen, 2018)

A study into fans of the American Baseball team the Chicago cubs showed that despite their teams terrible losing streak fans were displaying signs of “basking in spite of reflected failure” (BIRFing) an element of the Balance Theory. The theory shows fans revelling in the allegiance, comradeship, defiance, and other reasons for supporting the team aside from backing a winning team (Heider, cited in Jensen, 2018)

Underneath the base of basking in spite of reflected failure are team identification, commitment and comradeship are antecedents. Installing these in the younger generations now will create a cycle within generations and the future die-hard fans of the club. Due to the Gold Coast Titans young history, they need to create and promote the little they have to inspire fans to support despite results and create fans that bask in spite of reflected failure. Celebrate the legends of the game the club had and will have in the future and get fans excited to and attending CBUS Super Stadium. 

“Growth is achieved through finding the customers who are willing to join you or believe in you or support you. The only customers willing to do that are the ones looking for something new. Growth comes from change, light and noise” - (Godin, 2008).

3.4 Assessment of the Home 

“Consumers have decided to spend their money buying things that aren’t factory-produced commodities. Consumers have decided, instead, to spend time and money on fashion, on stories, on things that matter, on things they believe in.” -  (Godin, 2008)

CBUS Super Stadium is the Gold Coast’s premier rectangle stadium, which many areas of the state were vying for the opportunity to have a venue in their city; most famously the bid by Cowboys legend Jonathan Thurston to gain a stadium in far North Queensland (Tapiolas, Clarke and Calderwood, 2015). The stadium is a multi-purpose venue funded by Stadiums Queensland and was created to bring more activity and jobs to the area (CBUS Super Stadium, 2020). The problem with the stadium is not the stadium itself but the area around it and its proximity on the Gold Coast. Physical motivators for fans to attend are often stimulated by the performance venue itself. (Sayer, 2016)

Analysing CBUS Super Stadium compared to its Brisbane counterpart Suncorp Stadium shows exactly what the Gold Coast’s stadium is missing. Brisbane’s entire flow from public transport stations, the CBD offices, the available parking is laid out for the ability for local businesses to attract the consumers attending the stadium for any event and allow them to profit off the pre-consumption dollar. Caxton Street has become an icon for the consumers attending the stadium and an abode for sports fans. It has atmosphere and energy, which adds to the consumer’s pre-consumption experience (Arnould, 2004). Once at the Suncorp Stadium grounds there is more life with Brisbane Broncos well-planned entertainment around the entrances and internal bars of the stadium. With the success of the food truck industry in Brisbane they have cashed in creating minibars with gourmet food trucks around the grounds with live music, fan interaction with Broncos staff and ex-players through Rugby League games, and photo opportunities. One of the biggest things is the celebration of the Brisbane Broncos club history on display with past players immortalized in bronze statues, along the pavement of the entrance is a walk of legends, and the large mural of all the Broncos captains all this before the consumer has reached the core consumption experience of the game (Arnould, 2004; Brisbane Broncos, 2019). The Gold Coast Titans have not got this formula right and apart from the poor performances would be a large reason why people are not attending games. 

Canberra Raiders are a team in the NRL Telstra Premiership that are excelling at providing fans with a unique experience, promoting fan enthusiasm, pride and positive culture in the isolated capital. The club’s success and identity grew significantly when marketers started investigating global sport communities to see how they can better their fans and experience unlike any other in Australian sport. The Canberra Raiders main goal was to bring in the local fans and revive the “Green Machine”. A pivotal experience that the team installed was the addition of the Viking Clap and Viking Horn which was influenced by the Icelandic Football Club, latching to identity “We’re Vikings, We’re Raiders”. The club also developed the concepts to take advantage of celebrities through the use of “Autograph Alley” to make the players more accessible on game days and using a club legend or celebrity to blow the horn giving the club a celebrity endorsement. Studies indicate that the most effective celebrity endorsers influence brand recognition, attitudes, recall, and behaviours (Yang, 2018). Since the Canberra Raiders implemented these practices their fan base went from 14,000 to 20,000 in two years (Burnside and McKay, 2019).

CBUS Stadium’s access points have zero atmosphere or excitement, with nothing but suburbia, a gas station and fields. The venue is accessible only by train, bus, or taxi with no public parking close to the grounds (CBUS Super Stadium, 2020). The Gold Coast Stadium at Robina is difficult to get in and out of (Santow, 2015). The closest pre-consumption is the Robina Town Centre a shopping centre and only has a few volunteers running games for kids around the entrances. The only pre-consumption is the bars and food outlets within the venue, which is a great way to control the revenue, although does not add anything to the consumer’s experience (Arnould, 2004). With the growth of persistent and personal entertainment, the club and stadium have to do more to entice fans to watch the game at the stadium live instead of their personal media devices.   

The Gold Coast Titans should be looking outside of the Australian sporting community for experiences to promote their stadium and club like the Canberra Raiders. CBUS Super Stadium needs to become a spiritual home of the Titans, where their fans feel at home and the players feel the same. The Gold Coast Titans should be applying simple marketing ideations to create the atmosphere, incorporating and referencing their mascot and name to give their brand identity equivalent to Canberra Raiders’ “We’re Vikings, We’re Raiders”. The club should be taking advantage of the vast open spaces around the stadium. Investigating the Titans equivalent NFL the Tennessee Titans, they created a marketing tactic called TitanUP Tailgate Party (Tennessee Titans, 2020). Seth Godin states “It takes two things to turn a group of people into a tribe shared interest and a way to communicate” (Godin, 2008). Implementing this tactic would provide the two factors in one event, before the core consumption of the game allowing fans the opportunity to group together; communicate and celebrate their common cause. Offering an experience that no stadium in Australia can offer while also generating revenue for the club as a package ticket. The idea would also encourage fans from Northern Gold Coast, Southern Gold Coast, Northern New South Wales, out west and Brisbane to drive to the stadium if they don’t have access to public transportation (Refer to Appendix). 

4.0 Conclusion 

The Gold Coast Titans are without a doubt suffering due to poor image in the Rugby League community with players behaviour, poor decisions made by the club board, lack of experiences offered within home games and to round it out poor on-field performances all in the spotlight.

After analysing the Gold Coast Titans’ consumers (fans), consumer satisfaction, and the organisation’s operations at CBUS Super Stadium their home venue; the club has a huge potential to become a successful Rugby League team within the Gold Coast community and on a national scale. If the club can correct its direction with image and provide an experience for fans of the club loyalists and advocates of the Gold Coast Titans, the club will gain a larger audience. The Gold Coast Titans need to implement strong marketing objectives in the analysed areas to create experiences and atmosphere, giving consumers a reason to come back to CBUS Super Stadium defiant of the game outcome. The club needs to take advantage of the already booming market that is the Gold Coast. This would be achieved through the implementation of pre-consumption experiences, giving the fans special rites and access to the players, pride for the team regardless of winning or losing and the unique selling proposition that is the Rugby League played in the centre of a tourist mecca.

In conclusion, the Gold Coast Titans need to create pride and loyalty to the club through experiential marketing; giving fans and tourists of the Gold Coast, an experience. Therefore creating brand advocates and loyal supporters of the club.

5.0 Recommendations 

5.1 Fans 

The Gold Coast Titans need to regain the fans that stopped coming through the gates of CBUS Super Stadium through strategic promotion and unique experiences; converting the focused experiencers back to absorbed identifiers (Sayer, 2016). Titans should be rewarding members for their loyalty as it will benefit the club, along with focusing on consumer (fan) retention and strengthening to allow the Gold Coast Titans to remain financially competitive (Jones, 2003). This should be marketed through special rites within game days, access to the players, and other experiences. Programs such as grassroots football and community work should be prioritised to give the club a chance of mending its image while also giving younger generations in the surrounding community high cultural capital in Rugby League and the players at the Gold Coast Titans. This method would also allow young families to move into the Gold Coast area high cultural capital. 

The Titans should be using celebrities to promote their team’s brand to fans and locals. People want to see celebrities, wear what they wear, and behave like them. By embracing celebrity-endorsed products in this case the team, people feel they are taking on the persona of the celebrity. Celebrities are no longer just endorsing products; they are becoming brands that develop and market products. (Kowalczyk. & Royne, 2013). While also using the players and coaches for promotion to promote their own status within the community as football stars. The process of product endorsement by celebrities in advertising campaigns not only uses celebrities but also helps to make them bigger celebrities (Clanton, G. 2007). This method of marketing would also branch towards bringing tourists through the gates.

Tourism is a massive untapped market by both the Gold Coast Titans and the Gold Coast Suns on the Gold Coast. The Gold Coast Titans have a unique selling proposition (USP) that can allow tourists to see one of Australia’s biggest sports at play, in a premier stadium.

5.2 Fan Satisfaction

“Basking in spite of reflected failure” (BIRFing) and element of the Balance Theory. The theory shows fans revelling in the allegiance, comradeship, defiance, and other reasons for supporting the team aside from backing a winning team (Heider, cited in Jensen, 2018) Underneath the base of basking in spite of reflected failure are team identification, commitment and comradeship are antecedents. Installing these in the younger generations now will create a cycle within generations and the future die-hard fans of the Gold Coast Titans as to not let the concept of “cutting off reflected failure” take place where fans will completely disassociate with the brand (CORFing; Snyder, cited in Jensen, 2018).

Due to the Gold Coast Titans young history, they need to create and promote the little they have to inspire fans to support despite results and create fans that bask in spite of reflected failure. Celebrate the legends of the game the club had and will have in the future and get fans excited to and attending CBUS Super Stadium. 

5.3 Assessment of the Home 

The physical motivators for fans to attend are often stimulated by the performance venue itself. (Sayer, 2016) The problem with the CBUS Super Stadium is not the stadium itself but the area around it and its proximity on the Gold Coast. The pre-consumption experience is non-existent. Around the stadium and internally while the core-consumption is happening needs to be providing fans with a unique experience, promoting fan enthusiasm, pride and positive cultural. With the growth of persistent and personal entertainment the club and stadium has to do more to entice fans to watch the game at the stadium live instead of their personal media devices (Arnould, 2004).

The Gold Coast Titans should be applying simple marketing ideations to create the atmosphere, incorporating and referencing their mascot and name to give their brand identity (lanterns around the grounds, fake swords, sheilds, and helmets for kids). The club should be taking advantage of the vast open spaces around the stadium. Investigating the NFL the Tennessee Titansmarketing tactic called TitanUP Tailgate Party (Tennessee Titans, 2020). Seth Godin states “It takes two things to turn a group of people into a tribe shared interest and a way to communicate” (Godin, 2008). Implementing this tactic would provide the two factors in one event, before the core consumption of the game allowing fans the opportunity to group together; communicate and celebrate their common cause. 

Offering an experience that no stadium in Australia can offer while also generating revenue for the club as a package ticket. The idea would also encourage fans from Northern Gold Coast, Southern Gold Coast, Northern New South Wales, out west and Brisbane to drive to the stadium and engage. 

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