A market segment is defined as a subgroup of people or organizations sharing one or more characteristic that cause them to have similar product needs.
In my opinion Celtic would use segmentation bases such as general demographic and geographical segmentation. There is, however, one aspect of demographic segmentation which would be of less importance than other organizations offering consumer goods; ethnic segmentation.
There are multiple reasons I believe that ethnicity is of minimal importance to Celtic’s marketing strategy:
1. Firstly, as established in the first posts of this blog, Celtic was founded as an organization free of discrimination, sectarianism and racism. The Celtic Football Club was founded originally as a charitable organization to help the poor and needy in Glasgow. The beneficiaries of this charitable was almost entirely, but not limited to Irish immigrants and Catholics shunned by society. As a result of these roots, the club positions itself as a sports team “for all”, it is my belief that therefore the general marketing of Celtic related products is “for all”. When marketing a match day ticket or a replica jersey, there is no difference in marketing whether the consumer is black, white, Hispanic, Asian or any variation of these.
2. Secondly, in comparison to other nations, such as England or the United States of America, Scotland is a nation of minimal ethnic diversity. In the last major census study, just 2% of the population of Scotland were from a non-white ethnic group. As Scotland is a country of only 5 million inhabitants, the largest non-white ethnic group (Pakistanis), numbered just 31,000 (Scottish Government, 2001). Whilst these figures have undoubtedly grown since 2001, they do demonstrate quite clearly that ethnicity is not a major factor when marketing products to the residents of Scotland.
3. Lastly, sports themselves are often credited with bringing individuals together from different nations, religion or skin colors based on a common and mutual passion. Whilst a multinational corporation with a wide range of products may see benefit from targeting ethnic groups separately, the brand, products and image of a sports team and specifically Celtic is generally not open to multiple interpretations. The club’s players, values and identity are either attractive to an individual, or they are not.
When considering the above points, it should be noted that Celtic is attractive to sports fans globally due to its proud history, traditions and passion. Any attempt to tailor this to specific audiences may be seen as diluting what makes the club great and potentially lessen its appeal.
Despite this lack of focus on ethnic segmentation, there is the opportunity to market products to audiences outside of Scotland. These segments would fall under geographic segmentation as opposed to ethnic segmentation. As discussed over previous weeks a player of a particular nationality can generate considerable demand for Celtic products tied to that player in his home nation. Examples include current players such as Emilio Izaguirre (Honduras), Ki Sung Yung (Korea) and Biram Kayal (Israel). Ex-players such as Shunsuke Nakamura (Japan) or Henrik Larsson (Sweden) are excellent examples of how a popular foreign player can generate huge merchandising demand in their home nations and beyond.
Sources:
Analysis of Ethnicity in the 2001 Census - Summary Report
