eCommSports Kit Curriculum Guide

Step 2 Supplement

Brainstorming Session Checklist (Student Version)

Brainstorming Checklist - Part I

The problem to be solved in the first part of this eCommSports brainstorming session is:

Which sports team in your school will be your client for this eCommSports Kit?

Can we make a significant difference in the fan base for this team?

• You want to select a team for which your efforts will have a noticeable impact as well as be appreciated. For example, if your football team already receives loads of local and in-school publicity and the team averages 1,000 fans per home game, even if your class’s efforts result in an increase of 100 more fans, that impact will be difficult to notice. On the other hand, if you can draw 100 more fans to a girl’s softball team game or varsity wrestling match that currently only averages 50 spectators per contest, your efforts will be instantly recognized and valued.

Can the team’s playing facility handle our success?

• Regardless of which team you select, make sure the facility at which they play can handle your success. For example, are there enough seats for an increased number of fans? Is the environment appropriate for a fan participation activity or contest? Etc.

Will the coaches of this team approve of our efforts, cooperate with us, and support our class company?

Do any students in this class play on that team? Do any students in this class have friends/relatives who play on this team?

• If there are, this is a definite advantage because you’ll have someone working on the project with intimate knowledge of the sport, team members, and key contacts (i.e. coaches, booster club, other team members, etc.)

Does the team have a booster club?

• The good thing about promoting a sport that has a booster club is that members of the club will probably be quite willing to help your class do whatever is necessary to promote the team. The negative of choosing a sport with a booster club is that the club may already be doing many of the things your class could do to promote the team, thereby making it more difficult for your class to make a significant difference.

What is the average number of fans that attend this team’s home games?

• Remember, the fewer the number of existing fans, the fewer the number of new fans you’ll have to attract in order to achieve a noticeable difference. Usually, however, the fewer the number of fans a team attracts to its games the more time and effort it will take marketing the team to increase that number.

Based on your application of the above criteria to each suggested sports team, it is now time to select which team will serve as the “client” in your class’s eCommSports Kit.

Brainstorming Checklist - Part II

Once the client team has been selected, continue your brainstorming session by responding to the questions given below. The questions ask you to put yourself in the shoes of people who already attend the team’s games as well as those that don’t. Your answers to these questions will help you better define the marketing challenge you face in this project.

What are some of the reasons why people attend this team’s games?

What are some of the reasons why people do not attend this team’s games?

Describe the market for potential fans for this team.

If you are one of the people who does not currently attend this team’s games, what would make you consider doing so?

Brainstorming Checklist - Part III

Now that you’ve selected the team and considered ideas that could make more people want to attend the team’s games, it’s time to start planning the specific things your class can do to convince those people to do so. You’ll also use this final part of the Brainstorming session to establish the key goals your class hopes to attain by completing this project.

What types of marketing and promotional things can our class do to get people from our school and community to attend this team’s games?

What types of content and features should be included at the eCommSports Web site the class will create and maintain as part of this project?

• Your Web site will serve as the primary communications with your market. Using the notes from your case-study observations, the eCommSports Lincoln High School Demo site, and the ideas already discussed during this brainstorming session, come up with the titles of the feature pages that will be included at your eCommSports Web site for this project.

• Next, try to describe what type of content will appear at each of these pages, where that content will come from, and how often it will need to be updated.

What should be the goals of the marketing campaign for this team?