Irving Rein

Today's high-performance sports business is more complex than ever before and presents new challenges to the industry at all levels. Sports organizations are fighting hard for the money and engagement of fans, media, and sponsors while facing unprecedented competition both domestically and internationally. The cost of doing business continues to rise, while traditional revenue streams are under increased pressure. In The Sports Strategist: Developing Leaders for a High-Performance Industry, authors Irving Rein, Ben Shields, and Adam Grossman demonstrate that relying too much on winning is a losing long-term strategy for dealing with these challenges. Instead, they argue that sports organizations must focus on identifying and maximizing key factors that, unlike winning, can be controlled and shaped. By building a more well-rounded business, sports strategists will position themselves and their organizations for sustainable success in the industry. Blending extensive industry experience and real-world case studies with their academic expertise, the authors arm students with the combination of the necessary tools to help them make better strategic decisions. Students will learn how to design identities, reinvigorate venue experiences, manage narratives, and maximize new technology in today's connected world. In addition, readers will explore how to implement business analytics, build public support, and apply ethics in decision-making. These techniques are vital to creating a successful sports organization that is ready to reap the benefits of winning when it does happen, without having to suffer when it does not. The demand for innovative leaders who can address these issues and make tough decisions on which challenges to prioritize has never been greater. The Sports Strategist is an essential resource for anyone looking to thrive in the sports industry.

Sports are a multibillion-dollar global business that will continue to grow by leaps and bounds into the foreseeable future. The bad news is: It's never been harder to attract, engage, and retain the sports fan. Today's sports fans are bombarded by choices. Traditional sports, such as baseball, football, and basketball, compete for fans' dollars with snowboarding, lacrosse, poker…even paintball. The old business formulas, developed in the age of three TV networks and creaky stadiums, no longer apply. World-renowned communication expert Irving Rein, international marketing guru Philip Kotler, and communication specialist Ben Shields deliver an innovative new business model centered squarely on fan satisfaction and retention. They give you the tools to transform your sports product into an enduring brand-immune to the vagaries of winning and losing-that quickly adapts to changing market conditions. Along the way they illustrate their points with fascinating case studies, includingManchester United's transformation from a plucky home team to a billion-dollar international franchiseProfessional golf phenomenon Michelle Wie's quest to maximize her talents and marketabilitySouthlake Carroll High School football team's benchmarking of professional and college football programs to build its own brandDaytona International Speedway's reinvention of fan intimacyCombining expert analysis with field-tested strategies for winning hearts and minds, The Elusive Fan is your guide to surviving and thriving in today's ever-widening world of sports.

The classic guide to personal and public image making--now updated for the digital ageThe groundbreaking, critically acclaimed original edition of High Visibility established celebrity--the creating and managing of one's public persona--to be a critical factor in achieving personal and professional success and status. Now, in this new third edition, international communication expert Irving Rein, international marketing guru Philip Kotler, and coauthors Michael Hamlin and Martin Stoller show you how to achieve and benefit from high visibility--in any profession!" High Visibility brilliantly captures the how, why, and what of the celebrity-building process."--Al Reis, bestselling author of Positioning and Marketing Warfare"High Visibility is the Bible, the Das Kapital, the Origin of Species of the infant science of celebritology."--Peter Carlson, Washington PostToday, it's not just what you know or who you know--it's who knows you. High Visibility is the difference between being just a member of the crowd and becoming a highly recognized individual.

Today's headlines report cities going bankrupt, states running large deficits, and nations stuck in high debt and stagnation. Philip Kotler argues that thousands of "places" - cities, states, and nations - are in crisis, and can no longer rely on national industrial policies, such as federal matching funds, as a promise of jobs and protection. The authors show that places must, like any market-driven business, become attractive "products" by improving their industrial base and communicating their special qualities more effectively to their target markets. From studies of cities and nations throughout the world, Kotler offer a systematic analysis of why so many places have fallen on hard times, and make recommendations on what can be done to revitalize a place's economy. He shows how "place wars" - battles for Japanese factories, government projects, Olympic Games, baseball team franchises, convention business, and other economic prizes - are often misguided and end in wasted money and effort. The hidden key to vigorous economic development, the author argues, is strategic marketing of places by rebuilding infrastructure, creating a skilled labour force, stimulating local business entrepreneurship and expansion, developing strong public/private partnerships, identifying and attracting "place compatible" companies and industries, creating distinctive local attractions, building a service-friendly culture, and promoting these advantages effectively. Strategic marketing of places requires a deep understanding of how "place buyers" - tourists, new residents, factories, corporate headquarters, investors - make their place decisions. With this understanding, "place sellers" - economic development agencies, tourist promotion agencies, mayor's offices - can take the necessary steps to compete aggressively for place buyers.