Week 4 Blog Post

Evaluating WNE Football's Marketing Strategy to Recruits

The task of evaluating our marketing strategy to our recruits is similar to the scenario briefly touched upon by Professor Spotts in his lecture, regarding the process of high school students deciding on a future school and depositing.  Obviously, the scenario is the same for us, but a lot more factors are involved.

What is unique about our marketing process is that we have direct contact and feedback with our potential customers.  While we do receive a handful of customers (players) that we have had no previous contact with, the majority of next-season's incoming freshmen were recruited by our staff, which entailed numerous emails, letters, post cards, phone calls, text messages, and personal visits to their school and at WNE.  During the recruiting process, we make sure to receive direct feedback from the recruits regarding our process and the processes of our competitors.  For example, we will ask which means of communication each recruit prefers and, usually towards the end of the process, which tactics worked best for them, and which had a negative effect on them.  We will even go as far to survey them as to what other schools are doing to successfully recruit.  For example, at the Division III level, it is impossible to really offer a student anything extra in terms of scholarship money.  Students have to make their decision based on a school's scholastic programs, football program, proximity to home, appearance, financial package, etc.  In surveying our recruits, we found that other schools were offering guaranteed roster spots for camp to those recruits who decided to commit early on in the process.  We decided to experiment with it, and found it to be less useful than we hoped for.

The only critique I can make with our marketing process to recruits is that we do not stay ahead of the curve in terms of what techniques our competitors are utilizing.  Much like the example above, we spend a lot of time surveying recruits as to what others are doing, and try to emulate the successful techniques.  I think it would be more beneficial to research more into what is appealing to the high school demographic now-a-days, and come up with a technique on our own that has not been utilized.  I believe we would benefit in our recruiting classes if we stayed ahead of our competitors in terms of our innovativeness when it comes to recruiting, instead of copying what is already being implemented.

I would be interested to investigate whether or not we could utilize hard numbers in some sort of regression analysis, cluster analysis, tabular analysis, etc.  I think it would be interesting to see a market report in terms of recruiting college football players, and to get specific demographics on where the best athletes come from and what types of characteristics they possess.  This could be an interesting new field of research to look into, because as far as I know it is not easily accessible.    

PHARMASIM

The two prices I selected to test the market were $4.89 and $5.38.  The baseline price in which it was compared to was $5.29.  My results were as follows:

$4.89 -  Awareness stayed the same (78.6%), unit market share rose (22% to 23.7%) and share of manufacturer's sales rose (22.4% to 22.7%).  Net contribution impact: -13.4 mil

$5.38 - Awareness stayed the same (78.6%), unit market share dropped (22% to 21.7%) and share of manufacturer's sales stayed the same (22.4%).  Net contribution impact: 3.4 mil

For the next test, I analyzed Bundle #4 ($4.89, drop alcohol) and Bundle #12 ($5.38, Allround original).  My results were as follows:

Bundle #4 ($4.89 drop alcohol) - Stock price rose to $49.39, sales 112.1 mil, market share 22.4% (36.3% for cold remedy market)

Bundle #12 ($5.38 Allround original) - Stock price dropped to $37.20, sales 115.2 mil, market share 21.4% (35% for cold remedy market)

In terms of testing just for price, I expected the market share and manufacturer's share to rise, but was not expecting the net contribution to drop, especially as much as it did when testing the unit price of $4.89.  Conversely,  when testing the price of $5.38, I expected the market share and manufacturer's sale to decrease, but only the market share did.  Due to these results, I did not expect the net contribution impact to be positive.

When analyzing the test for the Bundles, I expected #4's results to be better than #12's results, which they were in every category except sales.  This is interesting to see that when you raise the price, which is less favorable to customers, that sales rose higher than that of the lesser price, but then see a less favorable stock price due to this.  This surprises me.

Dilbert and the Mar.ke.tin.g Blog

This week I chose to look at David and Marty's blogs.  I like how David uses the Dilbert Comics to bring a sense of humor towards the subject of marketing, and does an impressive job of relating it to the current topic as well.  I definitely do not possess the humor he displays in his writing, so it is entertaining for me when viewing his blog.  All jokes, or comics, aside, he does a great job of engaging the reader and getting them to think deeper into his topics.  He does a thorough job explaining his findings, especially with the Pharmasim tasks and explaining his reasoning behind his findings, which is great to see another perspective into the assignments.   Marty is also very thorough with his explanations as well.  I also like how he develops all of his ideas, first by giving his initial impressions on a topic, and then proceeds to talk through how he learned more about a given subject, and then describes his new impressions with evidence to back it up.  Both are very engaged in the class discussions, and do a great job of carrying it into their blogs, as it makes them easy to read and very insightful.

My Process of Purchasing Cold Remedies

Unfortunately, I no longer live at home and have the luxury of rummaging through Mom's medicine cabinet whenever a cold takes over my body.  Being a starving graduate assistant coach, I usually consult whatever the school store has on display, since part of my stipend is points/meals, just as the students utilize.  In this case, I will usually choose whatever works best, since it is essentially free for me.  The selection at the WNE convenience store does not always have what you need though, so my process changes when searching for cold remedies at your traditional CVS, Walgreens, etc.  I usually search for a name brand remedy, and if the price is reasonable, I try and get  a reputable brand name item, such as Advil or Tylenol.  Depending on how steep the price is, or how light my wallet is at the moment, I then search for the generic brand, as they are essentially the same product, just without the brand name.  Finally, I'll look for a sale on any of the items.  To be honest, and fortunate, I do not take much medication or consult a doctor very often, and usually try to battle through whatever sickness I endure.  In the rare case where I am deathly ill, or feel the need to consume medicine, I'll call home to consult with Dr. Mom or Dr. Grandma first, then search for the strongest thing I can find.

K-Mart Advertisement

This advertisement has created quite a stir on the internet, and will be released for cable television soon (after 9 pm to protect it from younger audiences).  It is an interesting (and funny) play on words, and very intriguing that a company like K-Mart would utilize it.  Very effective in my opinion.  

Week 3 Post

This week we will look into how college football programs utilize competitive analysis in their everyday operations.  Before we jump into this, we must define two different scenarios in which college football programs operate.  The first scenario is performance, which refers to the on-field output of a team (ex. wins and losses).  The second scenario is recruiting.  Each scenario has its own specific customers.  In the performance scenario, the customers are the current players, while in the recruiting scenario, high school prospects are the customers.

Direct vs. Indirect Competitors

When considering performance operations for the Western New England University Football Team, our direct competitors are those teams on our schedule for a particular season.  Usually, our schedule consists of 7 conference games, and 3 out-of-conference games.  Therefore, all of the teams competing within our conference (which are pictured in the above image) are direct competitors of WNE Football.

Our indirect competitors regarding performance consists of all of the other NCAA Division III teams throughout the country (with the exception of the 3 on our current schedule).  These teams are defined as our indirect competitors because while we do not have to face them during the regular season, they factor into our regional and national rankings throughout the season, and considering we reach the NCAA Div. III Playoffs, we would have to face a team that we had not previously accounted for during the regular season.  In terms of performance, we limit our indirect competitors to Div. III teams because under no scenario would we ever have to face a team in a higher division.

When it comes to recruiting, our direct and indirect competitors differ.  Our direct competitors are all schools, with football programs, located within and around the Northeast section of the United States, with similar programs of study, with the exception of Football Bowl Subdivision schools (formally known as Div. 1A).  With the exception of FBS schools due to the fact that their budgets are higher and they have the ability to recruit nationally and offer the most full-academic scholarships, the division or conference of the schools does not matter because we all compete for the same type of prospects within the same area.  To put it simply, most schools located within the region recruit athletes in the same region.  We consider schools with similar programs of study as our direct competitors because we target high school prospects interested in the degrees of study we provide.

For recruiting purposes, we consider all FBS schools and schools that do not have our programs of study as our indirect competitors.  As mentioned before, we do not have the budgeting and scholarship capabilities as the FBS schools, as they usually recruit out of area, or go after the athletes that are too talented to play at the Div. III level.  We consider all local schools with different programs of study to be indirect competitors.  For example, WNE is known for its Business and Engineering programs of study, while Springfield College (which is very close in location) is known for its Physical Education and Exercise Science programs.  While the two schools are located very close to each other, if a prospect is interested in Exercise Science, WNE does not consider this prospect to be a targeted consumer because WNE does not offer Exercise Science.  Conversely, if a student is interested in Business, Springfield College does not consider the prospect because they do not offer the program.

Managing a Competitive Strategy in College Football

After reviewing "The Hypnotic Danger of Competitive Analysis", I realized that there is a fine line between an organization focusing too much on its competitors, and not enough on its customers.  The author of  suggests that a competitive analysis is not the basis or "cornerstone" for competitive strategy. When analyzing college football programs (specifically in terms of performance, where there is more of an emphasis on competitive analysis), I believe that there needs to be a balance between competitive analysis and focus on your consumer needs.

A typical weekly schedule for our coaching staff is as follows:
Sunday: Review the game film from the previous week of our own team, present the findings to our players, and introduce our opponent for the current week.
Monday: Compile all data from our competitor analysis and create a scouting report and game plan for the current opponent.
Tuesday: Present the scouting report/game plan to our players, introduce new schemes and depth chart adjustments for the week; Plan practice; Practice.
Wednesday: Review practice film from the night before, correct mistakes, present to players; Adjust game plan accordingly; Review opponent film with players; Plan practice; Practice.
Thursday: Review practice film from the night before, correct mistakes, present to players; Review opponent film with players; Plan practice; Practice; Begin breakdown of the opponent for the following week.
Friday: Review practice film from the night before, correct mistakes, present to players; Review opponent film with players; Plan practice; Practice; Continue breakdown of the opponent for the following week.
Saturday: Gameday; Review game film; begin correcting mistakes; Finish breakdown of next opponent.
Sunday: See above...
(Also factored into the in-seaon schedule is recruiting, but it is omitted above since we are just looking at performance operations)

As you can see from the above schedule, there is a strong emphasis on competitor analysis.  Sometimes I feel like there can be an over-emphasis on it at times.  There are times in which the players need more attention and it is more important to develop them instead of focusing on analyzing the upcoming competition.  If there is not a balance of the two, your team will falter because of it.  If you put too much emphasis on breaking down the opponent, your players will not as ready as they should be to play the game.  Consequently, if you focus too much on developing your players, you will be caught off guard on game day because your team will not know what to expect from the opponent, and will not be put in the best positions to succeed.  It is difficult, especially at the Div. II level, to have that balance between competition and consumers.  If we had ideal conditions and a larger budget, I would recommend that specific teams be incorporated to handle each specific task, meaning develop a team for the competitor analysis, and a team for developing players.  Obviously, the two teams must work together and be a cohesive, interdependent unit, but this would allow for the players and the competitive analysis to get the required attention.  Since most programs, other than the FBS schools, do not have this budget, I would recommend that a daily schedule be put in place for coaches, in which half of the day they focus on competitive analysis, and the other half focused towards player development.  This schedule can be flexible depending on the progress of your players and the opponent you are facing, but for the most part the scheduled time towards each task should remain equal.

Ethics when Considering Competitive Analysis in College Football 

Like with any organization, I believe you should obtain your information for your competitive analysis in an ethical way.  Any information that can be found publicly is acceptable.  With the advancement in technology, teams can exchange films with a clock of a button and share information with one-another very easily.  It is considered acceptable in the football world to even obtain film from another team that has played an opponent of yours, some tradeoff is usually utilized in this case.

Ethics come into play regarding private information about another team, or any other organization in general.  Any information that is not intended for your eyes should not be sought out.  Also, especially in the sport of football and the fast that opposing players know each other, it is important to be able to sort through all of the information and rumors that can be swirling around. Personally, I like to live by the saying: "Believe half of what you see, and nothing that you hear."  Players will tell us information that they hear opposing players they know.  We have to realize that all of this information could be false and just an attempt to throw us off, so it is safer to utilize the information you can ethically obtain and prepare your team accordingly.

Pharmasim Observations

"263.9 million people live in Pharmasim World"

It is important for any organization to create a market definition.  In this case, Allstar competes within the cold and allergy relief market.  In my personal opinion, I am finding it difficult to sort through all of the information on the Pharmasim Simulation, and being the perfectionist that I am, I keep progressing throughout the periods and restarting them because I don't like where my stock price is at.  I guess I have to learn that all markets and companies are not perfect, and they go through their ups and downs, whether I like it or not. That being said, I am not certain as to where to find the information regarding market potential.

To help control the ups and downs, it is important to consult and understand the various research reports available to you.  The one I decided to look at this week was "Sales Force $", since I personally feel like I do not put enough attention towards this when making decisions.  I like the fact that it compares Allstar to its direct competitors, so you can directly compare yourself and see how you stack up against the competition in terms of how much they are allocating to each specific sales force.  Also, the graphs make it easier to see your progress and the trends of your own company, as well as your competitors.  This information could help me in the future so I can start to model my company around those who are already encountering success within their ales force.  I understand that I can not automatically adapt their philosophies, and that I still have to tailor my plan towards the current and future status of the market, but it will help me know where to start allocating funds little by little to help aid in the effectiveness of Allstar's sales force.

Products Originally Intended for Other Uses

When asked to think of any products in which the customers influenced a company to use a product in other ways in which they envisioned it, I immediately thought of Duct Tape.   Originally, the product was used to seal off heating and ventilation ducts, but has since turned unto a use for everyday quick fixes.  The brand "Duck Tape" has since formed from this, and has created its own niche in the general supplies industry.

Week 2 Blog Post

Marketing, Leadership, and Coaching

According to Drucker, good leadership is essential to good marketing, going so far as to call leadership a "marketing job".  Cohen went on to conclude that if leadership is marketing, then marketing is leadership.  Cohen states that "this is important because just as leaders gain from applying research done in marketing, marketers gain from research done in marketing."  

In sticking with my football themed blog, I thought it would be interesting to break down a college football team and look at it is if it were a business corporation.  The Athletic Director would serve as the President, the Head Coach as the CEO, the full-time assistant coaches as managers, the part-time/volunteer coaches as lower level employees, the current players as current customers, and high school prospects as potential customers.     

You could even go as far to classify the full-time coaches as Marketing Managers, who determine what customers value.  We do this by conceptualizing, implementing, and monitoring, both when maintaining our customers (keeping our current players happy and engaged), and gaining new customers (recruiting high school players for next season).  We formulate a plan in which we work with our current players to develop them and keep them happy, implement the plan, and monitor it to determine its effectiveness.  The same holds true with recruiting new players; we develop a recruiting plan, implement it, and monitor its effectiveness.  We track our success rate with our current players through performance on and off the field, as well as track how many we are able to maintain year-by-year.  We do the same when recruiting new players, as we compare what recruits we get and which ones we lose to our competitors, and we strive to hit a certain quota of quality players at specific areas of need.  

Drucker believed that the purpose of a business is to help insure that the mission of the company remains focused on the customer.  If we take a look back at last week's post, I included the mission statement for the WNE Athletic Department:

The Western New England athletics department is committed to enhancing the overall development of its students and student athletes through competent and appropriate role modeling by our coaching staff.  Lessons learned in the competitive environment of intercollegiate athletics and the responsibility of team membership must be applied in the present, but most importantly, are used to prepare the student for life after college.

As coaches, we have to ensure that we not only keep our players (customers) happy in terms of wins and losses and how engaged and enjoyable our "service" of college football is to them, but we have to continually remind ourselves as managers to stick to our mission of enhancing the overall development of our players through competent and appropriate role modeling, and prepare them for life after college.  We do this through running study halls and encouraging and guiding them as to getting involved with other activities on campus.  We market such tactics to our potential customers, our high school prospects.

This week during our lecture, we were asked what does our company do to market internally?  In terms of running a college football program, our staff is required to meet with the Athletic Director on a regular basis, in which we evaluate our current progress and status amongst our competitors, and even review our internal processes to determine whether or not they require improvement.  Meeting with the Athletic Director is a good reminder for our organization as to what our mission is and to make sure we are sticking to it.  When we do our daily meetings with our head coach (our CEO), more internal marketing is conducted, but usually this is when we are regularly conducting SWOT analyses, looking at our internal strengths and weaknesses within our team, and our opportunities and threats amongst our competitors.  It is important for us to market internally throughout our organization so we do not lose focus on our mission.  Especially in the sport of college football, we as coaches can get caught up in just trying to win, or in general business terms, sell, sell, sell.  We have to remember that our purpose is to maintain our current customers and gain new ones, so we have to make sure we keep our current players happy and do an effective job at recruiting new ones for next season.

We were also asked whether or not the senior executives (leaders) in your company were marketers?  It is essential for our leaders to be marketers.  As coaches and managers of our organization, if we do not market our product to our current and potential customers, our job is at risk.  In our business, our success depends on how well we market our services to our customers, because without quality players, we do not succeed.  It is important for us as coaches to market our services to our players and have them buy-in to our system, and just as important to market to prospective players because we want to exhibit continued success.  Our success at marketing to our current players has a direct correlation as to our success at marketing to our prospective players, simply because the more we win, the more quality players we gain the next season.

I agree with Drucker's position that leadership is synonymous with marketing.  I believe that this pertains to all coaches, but since this week we are viewing our players as customers and assistant coaches as employees, we will look at the relationship of leadership and marketing through the eyes of a head coach. Cohen's 8 Principles of Leadership are:

1. Maintain absolute integrity.

2. Know your stuff.

3. Declare your expectations.

4. Show uncommon commitment.

5. Expect positive results.

6. Take care of your people.

7. Put duty before self.

8. Get out in front.

With the media playing such a huge factor in the environment of college football, it is extremely important for a head coach to maintain absolute integrity.  It's important for the the head coach to speak the truth, address any mistakes he has made, and keep his promises.  If he doesn't, he will no longer be credible to those he is leading, and will be scrutinized by the media, further deteriorating his reputation.  Obviously, to be a head coach, you have to know the game of football inside and out, otherwise you probably won't be hired, and if you are, you won't last long where you are it.  It is important for the head coach to declare his expectations to those who serve him, his assistants.  This is important so everyone is on the same page and acting upon the same vision.  A head coach that displays uncommon commitment motivates those around him.  If an assistant coach sees the head coach slacking off, he will think it is acceptable to do so as well, but if an assistant observes the head coach displaying uncommon commitment towards achieving his goals for the team, it creates an expectation throughout the coaching office and makes the assistants feel accountable to do the same.  Expecting positive results keeps a positive vibe throughout the organization, even when it comes to football.  Focusing on the positives in football helps keep morale up, instead of focusing on negatives all the time which can make for a hostile environment.  Head coaches who take good care of his people, in this case his assistant coaches, yields positive results.  Assistant coaches put in countless hours in the office, 12+ hours a day consisting of on the field coaching, running players meetings, film review, game planning, scouting opponents, and recruiting.  When a head coach makes it a priority to display the extra effort of taking care of those who work for him, it keeps morale high and your employees happy because it shows that the head coach recognizes the extra effort his assistants are putting forth.  Similar to displaying uncommon commitment, when a head coach puts duty before self, it shows how important the task is, which trickles down to his assistants.  If the assistants see the head coach putting his responsibilities towards the team ahead of his personal responsibilities, the assistants will follow suite.  Finally, all head coaches must get out in front and take ownership of their team.

Exploring Other Blogs

I figured since Alexis was nice enough to comment on my blog, I would return the favor.  I really liked how she went back and answered all of the questions she composed earlier in the week and added further understanding to them. I also commended that she went ahead and did outside research to answer her first question.

I also enjoyed reading her thoughts on her Pharmasim Simulation for the first week.  I altered the pricing for the product and the advertising and saw a significant increase in stock price, but when I tried adding to it for the next periods, I saw drops in stock price from there on out.  It is good to be able to see what others are doing for the simulation and gain perspective as to what should be done to earn the best results.

The only thing I critique her on, or recommend was that she touch upon more of what was asked by Professor Spotts.  She do a good job incorporating her opinions as to why she made such decisions and how it connects to your personal experiences, so I think touching on some more of the subject would help strengthen her posts.  Overall I think Alexis did a really good job with her first post, as I enjoyed reading it and gaining her perspective.

Week 1 Blog Post

To begin my first ever blog post, I want to preface it by warning readers that I may be taking a less traditional approach to connecting the material learned in MK 640 to real life experiences.  Having been a four-year starter during my playing career at Western New England, currently serving as an Assistant Coach on the same program, and still pursuing my dream of playing at the professional level, most of my posts will be connecting the material to the various aspects of football.  Some readers may get sick of it, while others might not see the connection between the two.  Hopefully throughout my posts, I will be able to connect the two effectively through the various aspects of the game and business of collegiate and professional football.  I will try my best to use other examples as well, as I am sure there may be better examples of the course content outside of football, but having connected much of the content learned in other courses to football, I assume the same will hold true during this course.

The Two Basic Functions of a Business According to Drucker

According to Drucker on Marketing: Lessons from the World's Most Influential Business Thinker, author William Cohen explains a lot of the ideas expressed by his mentor and former professor, Peter Drucker.  Drucker stated that there were two, and only two, basic functions of a business: marketing and innovation.  He later states that everything else is just a cost.  When you first read this, it is hard to comprehend, because you immediately think of all the intricate parts to any business, and to boil them all down to two basic functions seems irrational, and even impossible, but the more you sit and actually consider the thought, the more it makes sense.  

When most people hear the word "marketing", they immediately connect it to "selling".  To be able to handle what Drucker is saying, we must first change our impression towards marketing.  As seen in one of the videos shared with us on education-portal.com, marketing is defined as the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and societies at large.  Once we thinking of marketing in this regard, we realize the broad spectrum in which the word covers.  Marketing is not only selling, there is a large process that goes into it, and it covers a large process and purpose of any business.  When it comes to describing innovation, a simple definition could be the introduction of something new and better.  Some people may feel this to be unnecessary for some businesses, and that you should stick to what has brought you to success, that you should not fix what isn't broken per say.  Cohen described multiple scenarios in which lack of innovation led to the downfall of companies and products.  Take for example the extinction of the slide-rule by engineers due to the invention of the calculator, the extinction of wigs worn by noblemen, or even the extinction of cassette tapes due to the invention of CDs, DVDs, and MP3s (CDs and DVDs may soon disappear as well).  Constant innovation is crucial to the existence of a successful organization, no matter what industry.  There are always competitors out there looking for ways to get ahead, whether it be through the invention of better, more effective products and services, or a recent trend or fad that fades or grows.  

An example to support Drucker's claim can be found in college athletics, specifically in recruiting of college football players.  Recruiting is essentially the process of marketing your program to a prospective student athlete.  This is done through face-to-face visits, emails, phone calls, text messages, Twitter and Facebook messages, etc.  This is a challenge to all college football programs, as they are essentially battling against each other to land their recruiting class for the next season.  Innovation is key to gaining an edge in the industry, as programs are constantly looking at ways to improve their recruiting techniques, while staying within the guidelines of the NCAA, the national governing body for all collegiate athletics.  At Western New England, we are constantly evaluating our processes and techniques, and researching and comparing them to tactics used by other programs to innovate the way in which we land recruits.  Innovation is also key to the game itself, as we are constantly seeking ways in which to stay ahead of the competition on the field with constantly innovating and updating our schemes, the tempo, style, and pace in which we play, and the way we go about practicing and preparing both in-season and out of season.       

Mission Statements: Does yours coincide with your marketing strategy?

We were asked to take a look at the mission statement of our companies to see whether or not they align with our marketing strategy.  I will be investigating the mission statements of two different organizations in which I work for, the Western New England University (WNE) Athletic Department and the Professional Developmental Football League (PDFL).

The mission statement for the WNE Athletic Department is as follows:
The Western New England athletics department is committed to enhancing the overall development of its students and student athletes through competent instruction and appropriate role modeling by our coaching staff.  Lessons learned in the competitive environment of intercollegiate athletics and the responsibility of team membership must be applied in the present, but most importantly, are used to prepare the student athlete for life after college.

The following is the mission statement of the PDFL:
To bring affordable family entertainment to fans across the Nation; maximize revenue opportunities for individual franchises, deliver high impact visibility for corporate sponsors; reach our local youth through mentoring and football programs; mentor and help advance our players, coaches, and staff; instill a sense of community pride using local talent; and honor God in all we do.

I do agree that both mission statements reflect the marketing strategy of both WNE Football and the PDFL.  In one of the "Chalk Board Talks" we reviewed some of the problems with various mission statements.  Some of these problems may be that the mission statement is:
1. Incomplete
2. Vague
3. Not motivating
4. Not distinctive
5. Too reliant on superlatives
6. Generic and broad

After reviewing both mission statements, I feel as though they both have very similar problems.  While I feel both mission statements are not incomplete, motivating, distinctive, and not reliant on superlatives or generic, they have parts in which they are vague and broad.  WNE's states that they are committed to enhancing the overall development of its students and student athletes.  This statement is vague and broad in the sense that enhancing the overall development of a person varies by case to case and is hard to measure.  The PDFL's mission statement uses the terms "high impact visibility for corporate sponsors" and "maximize revenue opportunities", which is also very vague and broad in the sense that both of these need a specific goal and process that must be defined.  As we are learning in Cohen's book, a business' focus should not be towards profit maximization, and instead should focus on creating a new customer.  This is ironic that we have just learned about this, and the PDFL has it stated in their mission statement that their focus is towards profit maximization.  Since the owner of our team is also the commission of our league, I will be sure to talk to him about this and steer his focus towards creating new customers.