"Ice to the Eskimos" By Jon Spoelstra
             As a marketing consultant and chief operating officer of the New Jersey Nets, Spoelstra was faced with a team that ranks near the bottom of the league in terms of standings and ticket sales. In order to overcome this obstacle, Spoelstra utilized a number of marketing tactics in order to help the New Jersey Nets create a market. Primarily, he had to identify and break into a market in which success was inevitable and resulted in increased market share. Instead of marketing the New Jersey Nets, Spoelstra and his team decided to market the opponents that would be playing against the Nets. Other teams could offer an experience that the Nets themselves could not. A competitive team, the hope for a competitive team, hometown support, and franchise players were all identified as factors that could be marketed by the New Jersey Nets to their fan base (Spoelstra, 1997).
             The place is important for the marketing manager to focus their efforts since there must be a high potential for sales if the plan is to be successful. As a result, Northern New Jersey was chosen as the focus for marketing efforts due to its large population. Equally as important as the place is the target market of the marketing efforts. Unlike the New York Knicks who place a large emphasis on selling to corporations, New Jersey does not have the large companies that call Manhattan home. Thus, family entertainment was to be the focus for the nets marketing strategies, emphasizing on a family friendly environment. For Spoelstra, this was the first step in determining a course of action for the Nets to gain market share.
             Identifying the consumer is an additional factor that is important in terms of market segmentation. The frequency of purchases, the quantity of such purchases, and the method of payment are all important factors in determining who the active users of the s...