Developing 'appropriate' marketing within the public leisure and library sectors: a comparative study

Doherty, Neil F.; Saker, Jim; Smith, I. G.

doi:10.1080/136067198376058

Cited by 11 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…The literature regarding “responding to the environment” tends to find that the leisure services are not particularly market orientated (Torkildsen, 1994; Doherty et al , 1998). However, measuring the ability to respond to opportunities through the adoption of market research, marketing plans and so on, as one might have thought of doing, is rendered problematic by the evidence and discussion suggesting limited effectiveness of these things in context (Nichols, 1996; Guest and Taylor, 1999).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies of leisure management at this micro level have frequently focused on the general application of singular management techniques and philosophies to the sector and its customers. The importance of marketing is seen as axiomatic either in its private sector form, or appropriately modified (Doherty et al , 1993, 1998; Guest and Taylor, 1999; Torkildsen, 1999; Novatorov and Crompton, 2001), while the benefits of quality awards and Investors in People remain problematic.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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UK leisure centres under best value: a strategic analysis

Benson¹,

Henderson²

2005

International Journal of Public Sector Management

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Purpose - To understand the effects of the best value regime on the public provision of recreation at the level of the leisure centre. Design/methodology/approach - A strategic auditing device is applied to 87 leisure centres to investigate the strategic variables of environmental stability and attractiveness, service strengths and financial resources. The analysis produces a typology of leisure centres, and evaluates the prospects of each type under best value. Findings - The findings suggest that a large number of leisure centres managed by local authorities will make limited headway in implementing best value. What is more, many face problems that will be exacerbated, rather than eased, by current policy. Leisure centres managed by Trusts generally face more benign local environments, which appear to offer greater prospects, but it is clear that Trust status itself offers few advantages outside a greater range of financial sources. Research limitations/implications - The research focuses on strategic choices as they face leisure centre managers. It does not directly explore the strategic and policy decisions made at other levels. Practical implications - The paper argues for subtler recreation policy (and by implication, the provision of public sector services generally) that pays due regard to the local conditions of service providers. Policy that focuses only on general prescription of managerial (and often rhetorical) practices will frequently lead strategies towards satisficing performance indicators that may be arbitrary, rather than focusing on problems and issues as they face professional leisure managers. Originality/value - The use of a formal strategy tool as the level of a service provider is novel, and augments work on hybrid firms facing strategic choices based not only on political factors but also private sector market-oriented competitors. Further, useful comparisons are made between leisure centres managed by Trusts and those still controlled.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

UK leisure centres under best value: a strategic analysis

Benson¹,

Henderson²

2005

International Journal of Public Sector Management

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“…Although marketing theory has existed for some time, libraries once were said to be behind comparable organisations in their attitude to marketing (Doherty et al, 1998), yet modern librarians are positive about marketing (Aharony, 2009). Staff at all levels of a library can impact on how marketing is executed, meaning that any difference in opinion between strategic and operational staff will influence the implementation of marketing strategies (Harrison and Shaw, 2004).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Marketing to teens: a study of two New Zealand public libraries

Biggs

Calvert

2013

Library Management

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Purpose – Marketing in libraries has been widely discussed in literature, but is often limited to either prescriptive writing on the application of marketing theory to libraries, or descriptions of marketing at individual libraries with little theoretical basis. The purpose of this paper is to investigate marketing to teens as practiced by public libraries, and to discover whether the application of marketing mix concepts to practice is a conscious decision by libraries. Design/methodology/approach – Staff were interviewed at two large New Zealand public libraries to discover whether they considered marketing targeting theory and marketing mix concepts when marketing to teens. Findings – It was found that while both libraries did some formal teen marketing, the majority of marketing was conducted more informally by individual branch libraries. Libraries struggled in particular with defining their teen users, and the marketing mix was dealt with in an ad hoc manner. Overall, library marketing was more tactical than strategic. Originality/value – Library managers can review their development of marketing strategies for teens in the light of the findings described in this paper. A closer application of marketing concepts can help with the development of marketing plans.

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“…Perhaps it is as a result of this that libraries have been seen to be behind comparable organisations in their approach to marketing (Doherty, Saker, & Smith, 1998). Another reason that has often been offered is that librarians have a negative attitude towards marketing, although, recent research has shown that this is not the case; librarians are overall positive about marketing (Aharony, 2009;Nkanga, 2002).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Public Libraries Marketing to Teens: a Study of Two New Zealand Libraries

Biggs¹

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<p>Marketing in libraries has been widely discussed in literature, but is often limited to either prescriptive writing on the application of marketing theory to libraries, or descriptions of marketing at individual libraries with little theoretical basis. The purpose of this research was to compare the teen marketing practiced by public libraries with library marketing theory, and to discover whether the application of theory is a conscious decision by libraries. Staff were interviewed at two New Zealand public library networks to discover whether they considered marketing targeting theory and the marketing mix when marketing to teens. It was found that while both library networks did do some formal teen marketing, the majority of marketing was conducted more informally by individual community libraries. Libraries struggled in particular with defining their teen users, and the marketing mix was dealt with in an ad hoc manner. Overall, library marketing was more tactical than strategic.</p>

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Developing 'appropriate' marketing within the public leisure and library sectors: a comparative study

Cited by 11 publications

References 11 publications

UK leisure centres under best value: a strategic analysis

UK leisure centres under best value: a strategic analysis

Marketing to teens: a study of two New Zealand public libraries

Public Libraries Marketing to Teens: a Study of Two New Zealand Libraries

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