- Email: [email protected]
And Now a Final Word …
APPENDIX: AND NOW A FINAL WORD …
Nigel Jamieson, Principal Lecturer Centre for Recreation, Sport and Tourism at TAFE-SA North Adelaide, South Australia, Australia Nigel Jamieson is currently the Principal Lecturer at the Centre for Recreation, Sport and Tourism at TAFESA North in Adelaide, South Australia and he has been a Visiting Professor at Daniel Webster College, New Hampshire, USA. He has held management positions in Rugby Union, Lacrosse, Australian Rules Football, and the YMCA in Australia and has been involved in organizing and marketing National Championships (both open and age) and a range of events and activities associated with recreation, sport, and tourism. Nigel also has been a Professional Event Organizer for a major regional center in South Australia, and has owned, operated and marketed a fitness training program, fitness organizations and served on numerous advisory boards. He has had consultancies in recreation sport and fitness – Pheidippides Fitness (reflecting his early Bachelor of Arts in Classical Studies and History), in the Zone Sport Management (conducting sport for Primary Schools in his home state as a District Convener for the South Australian Primary School Sports Association), an event management company (Movers and Shakers which organized the SA National Aerobic Championships for 10 years), and extensive employee fitness programs, including the Adelaide Corporate Challenge which is lunchtime sport for office workers that is approaching its twentieth year of operation. In addition to this he is the President of the South Australian Chapter of the Australian Society of Sports Administrators and he has written seven books on Event Management for the Paris based Le Cordon Bleu.
382
You may pay lip service or false homage to the “ethical Gods,” but in reality the need for ethics in sport marketing is real and powerful. In a sports world bombarded with messages, both sublime and “in your face,” the need for believable, honest, and ethical marketing has never been so acute. We are an increasingly cynical and disbelieving public and rightly so with some of the less than scrupulous “operators” continuing to make outrageous claims and raising the levels of bad taste in our industry. As an industry, we also have some of the most media savvy and discerning public to market our products and services to those who can very easily see through false and dishonest marketing messages. All of these factors combine to make the need for ethics in sport marketing acute and critical in our current times. Ethics, I believe refers to the principles and concepts of right and wrong in terms of personal and professional conduct and decisions. I have adopted my own “creed” or code of ethics and try to act in a manner that is without reproach and continue to be a “beacon” to other administrators and players that I am associated with. I believe that this is essential to my continued success in the industry over a long period of time. I also do not believe that this should be isolated only to my professional career as I continue to teach right and wrong in all aspects of my life. I would like to suggest that everyone involved in the administration and marketing of sport should adopt a code of ethics for competition, (players, spectators, and officials) and for business practices to enable the sport, organization, or competition to be beyond reproach. Do not exhibit any bias or prejudice toward player selection and treat everyone as truly equal, officials included! Do not allow false or unethical marketing claims to emanate from your organization or sport and be true to yourself and your sport at all times. One of the most powerful forces in sport, and indeed society as a whole, is the peer group pressure of following the “pack” and facing continual temptation to use business practices and marketing that may be less than ethical. My one piece of advice for people in the management and marketing of sport is to hold onto your good values even in the face of criticism and peer group pressure to follow the next person or organization – stand up and show your moral fiber! Act responsibly and without fear of retribution – do not blame others or shirk from your responsibilities as an administrator and “bastion” of your game – if you do not, who will? And remember in order to be considered ethical, an action must be voluntary, without fear of compromising those values you hold dear – stand up and be counted! Live your life and your sport in the most ethical manner. Everyone is responsible for ethical behavior – it is not optional and fair play is the respect all constituents of your sport or organization must display – no one is exempt from this responsibility and make sure you impress that on your organization all the time. My strong belief is that if prospective employees do not hold ethical behavior in such high esteem as I do, then perhaps they are the wrong people to employ. I cannot instill ethical behavior in them; it must be innate and is one of the first things I look for in prospective employees. They must “walk the talk” and I value this quality highly in my current employees and I simply do not tolerate any unethical marketing practices. What can we do as in sport to help raise ethical marketing standards? A P P E N D I X : A N D N OW A F I N A L WO R D …
383
I believe we must be united in our condemnation of the behavior that we currently see in sport marketing and general business practices that does not do our cause any good. Bring pressure to bear on those who have a role in terms of funding and “control” of the sports that have transgressed, and exercise some disdain and condemnation of those who have transgressed and do not make excuses for them. My other piece of advice is to be beyond reproach in your sport and act as a model for others in sport and society. We are facing many challenges in sport marketing at the moment. Those challenges include restrictive privacy laws, marketing “clutter,” and the get rich quick “characters” that still surface from time to time. This attracts unwanted criticisms from those who have rightly stepped up to the plate and given us a “hammering” (to borrow from the sporting vernacular). Please weather the current storm and show respect, fairness, justice, and responsibility and be caring, trustworthy, and ethical! It is the least we can do for our sport, our organization, and our employees! Keep the faith! It will be more than worth it in the long run!
384
A D VA N C E D T H E O RY A N D P R AC T I C E I N S P O RT M A R K E T I N G
Nigel Jamieson, Principal Lecturer Centre for Recreation, Sport and Tourism at TAFE-SA North Adelaide, South Australia, Australia Nigel Jamieson is currently the Principal Lecturer at the Centre for Recreation, Sport and Tourism at TAFESA North in Adelaide, South Australia and he has been a Visiting Professor at Daniel Webster College, New Hampshire, USA. He has held management positions in Rugby Union, Lacrosse, Australian Rules Football, and the YMCA in Australia and has been involved in organizing and marketing National Championships (both open and age) and a range of events and activities associated with recreation, sport, and tourism. Nigel also has been a Professional Event Organizer for a major regional center in South Australia, and has owned, operated and marketed a fitness training program, fitness organizations and served on numerous advisory boards. He has had consultancies in recreation sport and fitness – Pheidippides Fitness (reflecting his early Bachelor of Arts in Classical Studies and History), in the Zone Sport Management (conducting sport for Primary Schools in his home state as a District Convener for the South Australian Primary School Sports Association), an event management company (Movers and Shakers which organized the SA National Aerobic Championships for 10 years), and extensive employee fitness programs, including the Adelaide Corporate Challenge which is lunchtime sport for office workers that is approaching its twentieth year of operation. In addition to this he is the President of the South Australian Chapter of the Australian Society of Sports Administrators and he has written seven books on Event Management for the Paris based Le Cordon Bleu.
382
You may pay lip service or false homage to the “ethical Gods,” but in reality the need for ethics in sport marketing is real and powerful. In a sports world bombarded with messages, both sublime and “in your face,” the need for believable, honest, and ethical marketing has never been so acute. We are an increasingly cynical and disbelieving public and rightly so with some of the less than scrupulous “operators” continuing to make outrageous claims and raising the levels of bad taste in our industry. As an industry, we also have some of the most media savvy and discerning public to market our products and services to those who can very easily see through false and dishonest marketing messages. All of these factors combine to make the need for ethics in sport marketing acute and critical in our current times. Ethics, I believe refers to the principles and concepts of right and wrong in terms of personal and professional conduct and decisions. I have adopted my own “creed” or code of ethics and try to act in a manner that is without reproach and continue to be a “beacon” to other administrators and players that I am associated with. I believe that this is essential to my continued success in the industry over a long period of time. I also do not believe that this should be isolated only to my professional career as I continue to teach right and wrong in all aspects of my life. I would like to suggest that everyone involved in the administration and marketing of sport should adopt a code of ethics for competition, (players, spectators, and officials) and for business practices to enable the sport, organization, or competition to be beyond reproach. Do not exhibit any bias or prejudice toward player selection and treat everyone as truly equal, officials included! Do not allow false or unethical marketing claims to emanate from your organization or sport and be true to yourself and your sport at all times. One of the most powerful forces in sport, and indeed society as a whole, is the peer group pressure of following the “pack” and facing continual temptation to use business practices and marketing that may be less than ethical. My one piece of advice for people in the management and marketing of sport is to hold onto your good values even in the face of criticism and peer group pressure to follow the next person or organization – stand up and show your moral fiber! Act responsibly and without fear of retribution – do not blame others or shirk from your responsibilities as an administrator and “bastion” of your game – if you do not, who will? And remember in order to be considered ethical, an action must be voluntary, without fear of compromising those values you hold dear – stand up and be counted! Live your life and your sport in the most ethical manner. Everyone is responsible for ethical behavior – it is not optional and fair play is the respect all constituents of your sport or organization must display – no one is exempt from this responsibility and make sure you impress that on your organization all the time. My strong belief is that if prospective employees do not hold ethical behavior in such high esteem as I do, then perhaps they are the wrong people to employ. I cannot instill ethical behavior in them; it must be innate and is one of the first things I look for in prospective employees. They must “walk the talk” and I value this quality highly in my current employees and I simply do not tolerate any unethical marketing practices. What can we do as in sport to help raise ethical marketing standards? A P P E N D I X : A N D N OW A F I N A L WO R D …
383
I believe we must be united in our condemnation of the behavior that we currently see in sport marketing and general business practices that does not do our cause any good. Bring pressure to bear on those who have a role in terms of funding and “control” of the sports that have transgressed, and exercise some disdain and condemnation of those who have transgressed and do not make excuses for them. My other piece of advice is to be beyond reproach in your sport and act as a model for others in sport and society. We are facing many challenges in sport marketing at the moment. Those challenges include restrictive privacy laws, marketing “clutter,” and the get rich quick “characters” that still surface from time to time. This attracts unwanted criticisms from those who have rightly stepped up to the plate and given us a “hammering” (to borrow from the sporting vernacular). Please weather the current storm and show respect, fairness, justice, and responsibility and be caring, trustworthy, and ethical! It is the least we can do for our sport, our organization, and our employees! Keep the faith! It will be more than worth it in the long run!
384
A D VA N C E D T H E O RY A N D P R AC T I C E I N S P O RT M A R K E T I N G