Business Marketing

The Chicago Bulls engage in Business Marketing every time the organization attains a new player, coach, or trainer. These newly acquired (and veteran) personel are classified as business products because they are "bought" to attain a level of success on the hardwood that will likely get them into the postseason and generate massive revenue, thus helping the organization reach their marketing goals.

The Chicago Bulls also create a relationship with their fans (consumers). When a fan buys season tickets it ensures the Bulls that they will be there for every home game the Bulls play. So for 42 home games in the season, excluding playoffs, there will be a ticket that has been sold to every season ticket holder. Season tickets range from $1,000 to $8,000.Talk about Commitment to your team. Here is an overview of the season ticket holders prices and benefits.

Moreover, with the Chicago Bulls having only one retail store, which is in their stadium, they rely on Strategic Alliances to generate most of their merchandise revenue. Company's like Footlocker and Modells, sell team jerseys, hats and other merchandise. These alliances help the NBA and companys like Footlocker generate high profits. Just look at the predicted losses Footlocker would have sustained had the NBA lockout continued.

The Chicago Bulls as an organization relies heavily on Business Marketing to make profit and gain revenue. How else can an organization attain 169 million in stadium revenue alone. The Bulls are going to be a strong organization for decades to come and wiht the NBA lockout drawing to a close, they will not miss a beat this year.

Segmenting and Targeting Markets

The NBA has numerous teams in different cities, sometimes two in one like the Los Angeles Clippers and the Los Angeles Lakers. Where they are located is usually where their target market will become in reference to geographic segmentation which segments markets by region the region of a country or the world, market size, market density, or climate. For the Chicago Bulls their segmented market will be in Illinois, Chicago to be exact. They use the city of Chicago as the center of their basketball operations and is their most profitable region in terms of ticket sales and merchandise. As stated in previous blog post, it doesn't hurt their cause that they're the only team in the state.

According to Scarborough Research, NBA fans are 60 percent male and 40 percent female. Thirteen percent of fans are ages 18-24, 19 percent 25-34, 20 percent 35-44, 19 percent 45-54, 14 percent 55-64 and 14 percent 65-plus. Ten percent of NBA fans have an average annual household income less than $25,000, with 18 percent between $25,000 and $39,999, 11 percent between $40,000 and $49,999, 18 percent between $50,000 and $74,999, 18 percent between $75,000 and $99,999, 14 percent between $100,000 and $149,999, and 10 percent at $150,000 or more. These numbers help to determine the demographic segmentation which is segmenting markets by age, gender, income, ethnic background, and family life cycle. As you can see, the NBA is very diverse in terms of gender with only a 20 percent discrepancy, in income with the highest discrepancy between two household incomes being 8 percent, and in age with only a 5 percent difference. Although these numbers seem close the Chicago Bulls target market is males 25-34 with an average income between 50,000 and 75,000.

Due to the lockout and its continuality, if the NBA season is canceled there will not only be huge losses in profit but also fans will grow weary and lose interest in the NBA causing less fans to watch and view games in the future. The is bad news considering the NBA had one of their highest t.v. and attendance ratings in recent years, actually since Michael Jordan retired from the Bulls. Now with new superstars like Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin, etc the NBa is losing fans and their demographics wont look the same next year without an NBA season.

Holiday SeasonaBULL

Due to the NBA Lockout and the refusal of the NBPA on the latest bargaining agreement, which would have split revenue profit 50/50 between players and owners, the hopes of a Christmas game between the Chicago Bulls and the Los Angeles Lakers is in major jeopardy. With there Thanksgiving game already canceled there will be no basketball this holiday season much to my dismay and the entire NBA season is on life support. On a good note though, the Chicago bulls will visit many charities, clubs, and also food drives for families in need. The holiday games may be canceled but the spirit will always be intact.

Developing and Managing Products

New ideas are the cornerstone of any business. Without personnel to brainstorm about new product ideas or new ways to enhance old ones there wouldn't be much life in marketing or their product counterparts. Innovations sells and usually this is what marketers are aiming for when thinking of new products.


In March the Chicago Bulls and Vibes Media, a leading mobile marketing company, developed a way so that fans can receive updates via text on live games depending on what they type. If one text score to BULLS you can get the live score of  current game they are playing. You can also see how your favorite player is doing by texting their last name to BULLS to receive a live stat update. The Bulls are the first team to introduce this type of ability to receive self-driven live game scores.

"SMS has been a key component of our digital marketing platform for three years," said Jeremy Thum, director of interactive marketing for the Chicago Bulls. "Introducing this groundbreaking functionality, however, moves us closer to our goal of expanding mobile capabilities while allowing our fans control over content they receive. In just a short time, the campaign has already attracted more than 4,000 unique users and continues to grow with each game."

"We've recently seen an explosion in SMS text messaging, as industry experts predict that over 2 trillion messages will be sent in the US in 2011," said Jack Philbin, Vibes co-founder and president. "As a result, more brands are taking advantage of mobile to connect with consumers because your mobile phone is your most personal device, and it gives users information immediately. The Bulls have created a great program that lets their fans always stay connected to the team – an example of a storybook franchise that has expanded its excellence into an innovative mobile initiative."

These two quotes shows how innovation is key to a great business and how the Chicago Bulls thrive to be the front-runners not just on the court but off it as well.

Intergrated Marketing Communications

In order to build up hype for the next season the Chicago Bulls go through many events which in turn will create a fresh start and have leave fans with championship aspirations. AIDA can be intergrated in this process.

A=Attention

The Chicago Bulls grab the fans attention for the upcoming season during the NBA draft and free agency periods. This is when new players join the team and veterans leave. The Bulls draft for success and go into free agency with the hopes of landing someone who can help them in their road to glory. Last year the bulls traded away the draft pick but they made a lot of noise in free agency. Deals with former All-Star Carlos Boozer and the signings of defensive minded coach Tom Thibodeau grabbed the fans attention.



I=Interest

After the Bulls sign their draft picks and free agents they start training camp. This is when fans get their first peek as to how their team will play.  It is usually televised and can be seen on NBA T.V. during the summer. Many pplayers who are not signed on to the team get invited and management makes a decision to sign them if the player gels with the team.



D=Desire

After training camp ends the Bulls start to play their pre-season games which are exhibition games versus other NBA teams.  These games are televised and fans can buy tickets and see these games and enjoy basketball atmosphere in October. The Bulls also partake in Media day where they have photoshoots, take interviews and talk about their team and their goals for the upcoming season.



A=Action

The Bulls finished the season with the best record in the NBA and only 3 wins away from reaching the NBA Finals. There were numerous amounts of Bulls games which were sold out and they had one of the best T.V. ratings in the league.  Derrick Rose won the M.V.P. award and Tom Thibodeau won coach of the year.  It was a succesful season that ended in heartbreak but it lit a fire on this team to do better this season. If this season ever starts..........