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1. THE BEGINNING
This innovation came to life when…
Ash was looking for a unique, sports-related gift for one of his kids. How can it be so hard to get something which is really different for a budding sports-fanatic? And that got him thinking…sports clubs could offer so much more to their supporters! Why is it so hard to find these things online? Over the following weeks and a quite a few beers, a plan and a team started to come together. Sportaroo was conceived.
2. WHAT & HOW
The purpose of this innovation is to…
Help any kind of sports team or athlete to raise funds and engage with their supporters.
It does this by…
Providing a platform where athletes and teams offer merchandise, experiences and sponsorship within a time-limited, all-or-nothing crowdfunding campaign. Each campaign has a funding goal and a time limit (from 1-90 days) set by the campaign creator. Funds are only collected if the target is achieved within the time limit encouraging all involved to enthusiastically promote the campaign.
3. PURPOSE & BENEFITS
This innovation improves on what came before because…
It enables athletes and teams to raise more funds, with less effort and less risk. They are no longer dependent on finding or keeping that perfect ‘major sponsor’. Additionally, Sportaroo takes the legwork out of sports fundraising by harnessing the power of the Internet and social media to reach a larger audience more easily.
The benefits to the customer/end-user include…
- Raise more funds for important sporting projects
- Reduce the time and effort invested in fundraising
- Reduce the risk of depending on a small number of major sponsors
- Increase engagement and interaction with supporters
4. COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE
In the past, this problem was solved by…
- Cold calling for major sponsors
- Additional levies on top of the usual membership fees for important projects
- Special raffles, BBQs and chocolate bar sales drives
Its predecessors/competitors include…
Manual sales processes by phone or face to face.
5. TARGET MARKET
This innovation is made for…
Any sports team or athlete including professional, semi-professional and grass-roots. In particular, grass-roots sports clubs (there are 60,000 in Australia) are an important market.
6. DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY
It is available for sale through…
Teams can register online for free.
Our marketing strategy is…
We are exploring a range of marketing strategies including:
- SEM and social media advertising
- Referral and recommendation
- Affiliate
Applicant’s note: Here’s the video created by our first customer to promote their Sportaroo campaign. Look out for the Sportaroo logo!
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FINE PRINT
This SMART 100 profile and the information it contains is a duplication of content submitted by the applicant during the entry process. As a function of entry, applicants were required to declare that all details are factually correct, do not infringe on another’s intellectual property and are not unlawful, threatening, defamatory, invasive of privacy, obscene, or otherwise objectionable. Some profiles have been edited for reasons of space and clarity.
