Blog Post 4: The Product Life Cycle of Various Maverik Products

The Product Life Cycle

With my experience at Maverik Lacrosse, Ive learned that the product life cycle is very prevalent in every product line that Maverik and Cascade (A partner company of Maverik) creates. For this blog, I will focus on the product life cycle of different Maverik products.

What is the Product Life Cycle?

New products go through a sequence of stages from introduction to growth, maturity, and decline. The introduction stage is the stage that is usually the most expensive for a company because the size of the market for the new product is small, and sales are usually low, while the cost of research and development is high based on competition. The growth stage is the stage characterized as the stage with high sales and profits. The maturity stage is that stage where the producer must aim to maintain the market share they built up. This is the most competitive time for most products as well. The decline stage is the stage where the market will begin to shrink and usually meet its demise and companies will begin to find a cheaper way to produce these items, or stop making them all together.

Examples of Maverik Products in Each Stage

Introduction Stage- The New Centrik Head: Maverik's newest head just hit the shelves in September

Growth Stage-  The Tank and Optik Heads: 

2 of Maverik's most popular heads that have established a spot in the market 

Maturity Stage- The Cascade R Helmet:

Still the best selling helmet today, the cascade R is used by teams across the country.

Decline Stage- The Maverik WonderBoy Shaft:

One of Maveriks first shafts they created. Has 

been replaced by newer technology in recent years.  

Blog Post 3: Paul Rabil- Marketing Genius

Paul Rabil

My goal for this blog is to show how a professional lacrosse player who's salary is $65,000 a year can market himself in both a smart and strategic way through various outlets to become Lacrosse's first "Million Dollar Man".

What Makes Him Different?

The game of lacrosse has grown exponentially in the past decade. Certain players work hard to grow the game with hopes that lacrosse can grow into a premier worldwide sport. One of these pioneers is the undisputed best player in the world, Paul Rabil. Rabil has received more accolades than any other player in MLL history. Obviously this is an extreme feat to accomplish, but what he has done off the field in a marketing perspective is just as impressive. In the MLL, most, if not all, players have another job to help financially support themselves. Paul Rabil is the exception. His entrepreneurship and the way he markets himself is his other job. Paul continues to grow his image through various social media outlets, his own website, and his industry leading portfolio of endorsements.

Social Media

Paul is probably the professional lacrosse player who is involved with social media the most out of any other. Currently Paul has pages on all major social Media sites. His involvement in Social Media enables him to brand himself as more than just a lacrosse player, and this is where his success as an entrepreneur branched from as he gained popularity. Below, I will talk about a few social media outlets that Paul uses to connect with the world and grow his image.

LinkedIn

He has over 500 connections on LinkedIn, where he outlines his current and past work and volunteer experiences, as well as the many skills he has acquired through these experiences. I believe one of the reason he is able to thrive and gain so much popularity is because of how dedicated and passionate he is to laying out his portfolio. After seeing his profile, it has inspired me to take more time in constructing mine to help myself look as desirable as an employee as possible. 

Rabil's LinkedIn Page

Instagram

To many people, Instagram is a Social Media outlet in which people share pictures of pretty much everything. It is usually used by everyday people who share pictures of themselves with family and friends, but more and more companies and employees/employers are taking advantage of this popular social media outlet to engage followers to news about different products and brands. Rabil has used his personal Instagram account for a combination of both. On his account you will see a plethora of pictures of  brands and products he has invested in, as well as snapshots of family, friends, and himself in everyday life. The way he contracted his Instagram profile, in my opinion, is the perfect balance of work and fun because followers are excited to see what this legendary athlete does as a daily routine, as well as engage in his various work outlets. 

Paul Rabil's Instagram Account

Twitter

Twitter is quickly emerging as one of the most popular social Media Outlet. Many powerful figures like President Obama and Presidential Candidate Donald Trump have twitter accounts and connect with people around the world through it. Paul does the same by connecting with over 63K followers and once again highlights his personal and business life.

Paul Rabil's Twitter Account 

Personal Website

Rabil has his own personal website that perfectly displays all the Paul Rabil does, both business wise and lacrosse wise. The website is very ascetically appealing and includes a biography on him, a photo gallery that shows his various business partnerships, his equipment line, and his charity organization, the Paul Rabil Foundation. This website really helps him market himself as not only a lacrosse player, but as an entrepreneur and an ambassador.

http://www.paulrabil99.com

Notable Endorsements

As explained throughly on his website, Paul has an extremely extensive portfolio of endorsements which include partnerships with Redbull, Warrior, GoPro, and MetRX to name a few. He has also established Rabil Companies, Inc., which was found through annual camps and clinics for children ages 8-16. Rabil focused on skill set development, strength and conditioning, nutrition, and mental preparation to develop youth lacrosse players to excel at the next level.

Citations:

http://www.paulrabil99.com

http://www.bloomberg.com

Blog Post 2: Maverik's Marketing techniques: Player and League Endorsements

Maverik Lacrosse has come very far since its humble beginnings in 2005. The for profit company was founded by John Gagliardi and Jay Jalbert. In June 2010 Gagliardi sold his company to New York City private equity company Kohlberg & Co, the parent company of sporting goods powerhouse Bauer Sports. 

Humble Beginnings to Household Lacrosse Company

So how was Maverik able to attain so much popularity in such a short time? Maverik took the route of advertising through partnerships in order to get the name out to the world. From the beginning, Maverik's plan was to develop brand loyalty to their potential consumers. The way Maverik designs its product lines allows for brand loyalty to occur because they have various lines with new and improved products continuously being developed. If a consumer purchases a Maverik Rome product, for example and enjoys it, they will more than likely purchase the next generation of that product when it comes out. This was the basis for Maverik's marketing strategy.

League and Team Endorsements and Partnerships

Since the company's beginning, Maverik has expanded exponentially, acquiring various team and league equipment partnerships. These partnerships have allowed Maverik to gain popularity through all levels of the game, making Maverik a household name in the lacrosse world. Following, I will highlight Maverik's largest team and league equipment partnerships.

Major League Lacrosse
On April 22nd 2014, Major League Lacrosse, the premier professional outdoor lacrosse league, announced that it teamed up with Maverik Lacrosse as an Official Equipment Partner of the MLL. This year, they have extended their contract with the MLL to another 4 years. As part of this partnership they will outfit specific players with gloves, heads, shafts, and other protective equipment. They have also signed partnerships with specific teams such as The Long Island Lizards and Rochester Rattlers.

“We’re excited to have Maverik Lacrosse join Major League Lacrosse as an Official Equipment Partner, Having one of the top lacrosse manufacturers as a partner is another important step in uniting the sport.”- MLL Commissioner David Gross

NCAA Division 1 Universities

Along with partnerships with the MLL, Maverik has joined forces with top level Division 1 lacrosse powerhouses such as Notre Dame, Albany, Penn State, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Georgetown, To name a few

Notable Player Endorsement

Drew Adams

Along with equipment partnerships with Teams, Maverik has signed over 20 superstar MLL athletes including 2015 Goalie of the year, Drew Adams. Drew played his collegiate lacrosse at Penn State and was then drafted to the Long Island Lizards. Since then, he has been a member of Team USA and an MLL MVP numerous times. Since 2010, Drew has been an Marketing Manager at Maverik and is responsible for the marketing budget of the company, planning product launch strategies, and managing print, online, and in-store advertising. he has been a crucial player in Maverik's success and popularity side he entered the MLL in 2009.

Blog Post 1: Introduction of Myself, My Goals For The Semester, and The Company I am a Part of

Who Am I?

Hi everyone. My name is Matthew Hanley and I am a sophomore attending Saint Michael's College located in Colchester Vermont. Currently, I am a Business Administration Major, and I may pick up an Economics minor, but I am not positive yet. Along with my academics here at Saint Mike's, I am a member of the lacrosse team. This semester, I will be composing a blog based off my experiences this summer as a Marketing Representative for the Maverik Lacrosse company, along with translations of material from my current Marketing class. Through this blog, I hope to connect my many experiences professionally with Maverik to this Marketing class' teachings, which will benefit me when I work with them again next summer. My goals for this upcoming semester are to balance and excel both academically and athletically, all while keeping up with the social aspects of college life.

For this first post, I've decided to give an overview of the company I work for and explain what I did for them this summer. This will set the ground work for the rest of my posts where I will then connect my experiences to class material.

About Maverik Lacrosse

As I said before, this blog will mainly focus on my time at Maverik, and how this class will shadow my experiences as a Marketing Representative, giving me the tools and knowledge in marketing to help me strive. Maverik Lacrosse was founded in 2005 by John Gagliardi and Jay Jalbert. The company both designs and develops Lacrosse equipment and apparel, such as heads, shafts, shoulder pads, elbow pads, and gloves. In 2010, Maverik was acquired by Kohlberg & Co, the parent company of Bauer Sports and is a partner company with Cascade Lacrosse, who specialize in lacrosse helmets. Maverik Lacrosse partners with many Collegiate lacrosse teams including Notre Dame and The University of North Carolina, along with Professional teams like the New York Lizards and Florida Launch.

Below I've attached a link of a commercial Maverik ran recently. This commercial really shows what the company is all about and how their goals aren't just to make a profit, but help grow the game of lacrosse for the future.

Maverik Lacrosse :: The Making of The Future is Here

So What do I do for the Company?

As a Marketing Representative for the company, I travel around the east coast, attending youth and high school lacrosse tournaments. I am responsible for a Ford F150 truck, a small trailer, and a team of two other employees. At these tournaments, I set up a tent and a table, displaying new and upcoming products that Maverik and Cascade have to offer. While I am working at these tournaments, My team and I need to be engaging with the consumers. We want everyone that comes to our tent to leave better informed of our products, and happy with their overall experience. Even a normal conversation with young lacrosse players and their parents about how they are doing in their games or anything else that happens to come up at that time goes a long way for the brand. Since we don't actually sell any product at these events, it is crucial for my team and I to give the potential customers who are interested in our product a reason to go to their closest lacrosse retailer and purchase our product after meeting us. To me, theres nothing better as an employee than hearing young players say they have a ton of Maverik gear and love it.

Below is a few pictures of my truck and tent set up: