Jens Blumrodt

Professional football clubs and corporate social responsibility

Purpose – The subject of CSR is nowadays widely discussed, as is its relevance to the sport entertainment industry. The objective of this research was to investigate corporate social responsibility (CSR) actions in the professional European football league and its impact on clubs’ brand image.Design/methodology/approach – The first part of this research discusses some particular points of the worlds biggest sport entertainment, which is soccer. Then a definition of the meaning of CSR for this particular sector will be outlined. The CSR values adopted by sport clubs are observed in first division football in France. This approach has been combined with brand theories.Findings – The specific research protocol evaluates consumers’ perceptions. The method which is developed measures and analyses the impact of CSR commitment on spectators’ brand perception. In linking CSR to brand image, two managerial viewpoints are discussed. CSR is synonymous with a companys social and ethical commitment. Brand theories o...

The Tour de France: corporate sponsorships and doping accusations

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is show how sponsors in a major sponsored event may react when facing a potential doping affair. The Tour de France cycling competition is a premier global sporting event – broadcast worldwide – and thus attracts very significant sponsorship. Cycling teams are named after their team sponsors. Recent global news has, however, shown that there are doping scandals involved in this event which impact both teams and team sponsors. When a doping scandal occurs in a team, the sponsors have to react rapidly and expeditiously to protect their brand reputation. Design/methodology/approach – To ascertain potential reactions, team sponsors are interviewed in depth and their reactions to a doping affair assessed. The sponsors represent different brands and their commitment as team sponsors also varies. Findings – Research shows that sponsors react similarly when a doping scandal occurs in their team and adopt similar communication strategies in that situation. While best practice is...

Managing brand identity strategy: how professional football wins the game

Purpose While research on brand identity is abundant, an area that is less explored is whether an organisation’s communication about itself directly translates to key stakeholders’ perception of that organisation. The purpose of this study is to explore whether certain Web-based communication strategies are more effective in aligning organisations’ communicated identity (CI) with their perceived identity (PI). Design/methodology/approach This study uses a mixed-methods design in the context of professional football league clubs. The CI was determined through an analysis of the clubs websites (n = 20), and PI was investigated through interviews with spectators (n = 244). Both CI and PI were operationalised using image categories. Findings Three main strategies of identity communication are observed. The results show that the strategy focusing on product-related categories leads to discrepancy. WBC with non-product related categories and benefits shows better CI-PI alignment. The study also found that clubs emphasising their CI as local, engaged in community and family-friendly are more likely to achieve greater alignment. Practical implications The quality of the brand identity depends on the discrepancy or congruence of brand image categories. Best practices are observed for brands having largely updated WBC of all categories, attitudes and engagement in the community. Originality/value The interrelated nature of brand identity communication and perception makes it necessary to empirically test how the two may be bridged with one. The developed concepts provide insight into which strategies better contribute to a consistent, coherent brand identity.