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1 – 10 of over 12000D.G. Brian Jones and Alan J. Richardson
The aim of this study is to explore the attempts by early twentieth century cyclecar manufacturers in the UK and USA to segment the personal transportation market and to position…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study is to explore the attempts by early twentieth century cyclecar manufacturers in the UK and USA to segment the personal transportation market and to position early cyclecars through the development of unique product attributes and advertising. More specifically, the authors speculate about early twentieth century British cyclecar marketing strategies that implicitly recognized a sports car segment and positioned cyclecar brands to meet the needs of that segment.
Design/methodology/approach
The primary source material for this research is a sample of 205 print ads and articles from the early twentieth century (1912-1921) specialty magazines devoted to cyclecars in the UK and USA. We combine the content analysis of the sample of ads with a critical reading and interpretation of a sub-sample of those same ads.
Findings
Between 1910 and 1921, a new form of personal transportation was developed that combined the technology of motorcycles with the utility of automobiles. Known as “cyclecars”, these vehicles were typically constructed from off-the-shelf motorcycle parts and assembled in small batches by a myriad of manufacturers. Current scholarship suggests that the cyclecar craze of the 1910s ended with the introduction of low cost “real” automobiles such as the Ford Model T, Austin 7 and Morris Oxford. We use the content analysis of cyclecar advertisements to construct a brand-positioning map of this emerging segment of the transportation market. We argue that while the core cyclecar positioning was in direct competition with small economically positioned cars such as the Ford Model T, a significant part of the market, primarily centered in the UK, could be considered as for sports cars. That segment of the cyclecar market, along with the development of cyclecars into urban delivery vehicles, continued over time and has re-emerged today in a range of three-wheeled sports cars, including the updating and continuation of the British Morgan 3 Wheeler model which was launched during the heyday of cyclecars.
Research limitations/implications
The authors can only speculate about the impact of the Ford Model T in this study. Further research on that issue is needed.
Originality/value
This is the first historical study of cyclecar marketing. Most of what little has been published about cyclecars focuses on their design and technology.
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The purpose of this paper is to review the acquisition of the Mark H. McCormack Collection by the University of Massachusetts, McCormack's role in marketing history and the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review the acquisition of the Mark H. McCormack Collection by the University of Massachusetts, McCormack's role in marketing history and the significance of the collection to researchers.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on an examination of selected documents in the collection and interviews with University of Massachusetts archivists.
Findings
The McCormack Collection contains eight million pages documenting the history of IMG, McCormack's groundbreaking marketing and management company. Most documents cover the period 1960‐2000. IMG, which began as a golf company, became a key player in the marriage of sport and television, as well as the commercialization and globalization of sport and celebrity culture. The University Archives staff plan to make the collection a dynamic multidisciplinary research tool. The collection will be valuable to students of marketing, sport and other forms of popular culture. The availability of archival resources affects what topics researchers pursue. The McCormack Collection will make it possible to investigate a wide range of new topics and personalities.
Research limitations/implications
The paper was written before University of Massachusetts had fully developed its collection access policies or plans for digitizing the collection.
Originality/value
This paper alerts scholars to a major new research resource.
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The purpose of this paper is to explore twentieth century sportscapes and their role in the development of urban arenas as places of sport.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore twentieth century sportscapes and their role in the development of urban arenas as places of sport.
Design/methodology/approach
Utilizing frame theory and sport business history scholarship, the author examines entrepreneurs' development of six‐day bicycle races at Madison Square Garden. The main primary sources include autobiographies, morgue files, and newspapers.
Findings
In this paper, it is argued that entrepreneurs' shaping and marketing of six‐day races and their sportscapes resulted in a popular sporting spectacle and helped to promote arenas as spaces and places of sport.
Originality/value
The paper demonstrates the process and development of “frame management” in urban arenas and their transition to spaces and places of sport. By exploring six‐day bicycle races at Madison Square Garden, the paper shows the importance of a now‐forgotten cultural event to the development of the multi‐billion dollar sport industry and to one of the world's most iconic arenas. The paper adds to scholarship on bicycle racing and marketing history, as well as the historiography of the sport industry.
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The purpose of this paper is to describe the growth of the early ski market and the marketing strategies that the Union Pacific Railroad took in promoting Sun Valley ski resort…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe the growth of the early ski market and the marketing strategies that the Union Pacific Railroad took in promoting Sun Valley ski resort, one of the most popular early destination ski resorts in the USA.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses primary and secondary source material, including ski periodicals, national magazines and the manuscript collection of W. Averell Harriman, the Chairman of the Union Pacific Railroad during the creation of Sun Valley.
Findings
This paper finds that Sun Valley pioneered the western ski vacation by conducting careful market research into not only the snow and weather conditions of western mountains, but also into the habits and economic potential of skiers and winter tourists.
Originality/value
Scholarly work on skiing has primarily looked at the sport from the social and cultural perspective of skiers. Work on entrepreneurial objectives of ski resort designers has largely focused on the period after the Second World War. This is among the first works to analyze entrepreneurial activities and marketing strategies in the ski industry before the Second World War. As a result, the paper challenges the idea that big business only began to shape the ski industry during the Cold War. Instead, this paper shows that large corporations like the Union Pacific Railroad were influential in growing the ski market by building resorts that illustrated the importance of market segmentation to the success of ski areas. In this way, the paper challenges the popular idea that Sun Valley was merely a media sensation and shows that it was a carefully designed business that exhibited a nuanced approach to changes in the ski market.
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Jonathan A. Jensen, David Head and Christopher Mergy
Naming rights sponsorships of sport facilities are among the most highly visible marketing agreements in the world. However, factors that may lead one sponsorship to persist for…
Abstract
Purpose
Naming rights sponsorships of sport facilities are among the most highly visible marketing agreements in the world. However, factors that may lead one sponsorship to persist for decades, while others end after just a few years, have yet to be investigated. Thus, this study examines the decision-making of brand marketers by investigating the predictors of a sponsoring brand's decision to either continue or dissolve such agreements.
Design/methodology/approach
Utilizing a global data set of 219 naming rights agreements, an empirical approach is utilized to isolate whether a variety of factors increase or decrease the probability of sponsorship dissolution.
Findings
Results indicate that agreements entered into with new, as of yet-unnamed facilities lead to a reduction in the probability of dissolution, with a high level of brand equity also reducing the probability of dissolution. Agency conflicts may also play a role, as the sponsoring firm being headquartered in the same metropolitan area as the facility also contributes to the persistence of such agreements.
Originality/value
These results are intended to assist both sides of what is ideally a long-term relationship in better understanding the factors that may either contribute to or inhibit longer-term partnerships.
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