Faculty of Education and Business Studies Department of Business and Economic Studies Scoring with your Brand The Case of the Brand Positioning of Brynäs IF Douwe de Greef Jesse Kapiteijn First Cycle May 2016 Supervisor: Ehsanul Chowdhury Examiner: Maria Fregidou-Malama Abstract Title: Scoring with your Brand: The Case of the Brand Positioning of Brynäs IF Level: Final assignment for Bachelor Degree in Business Administration Authors: Douwe de Greef, Jesse Kapiteijn Supervisor / Examiner: Ehsanul Huda Chowdhury / Maria Fregidou-Malama Date: 2016, May Aim: The aim of this study is to identify how a professional ice hockey club with fans nationwide can position its brand successfully and to discover if this is in line with what the consumers think is important in the branding of the club. Method: A mixed method has been used for this case study, in the forms of interviews and a questionnaire. The interviews have been written out in essay form for presentation and analysis of the qualitative data. The quantitative data has been collected and processed with a questionnaire using APSIS and analysed with Microsoft Excel. Results / conclusions: This research has identified a framework containing all factors that influence the perception of the brand by consumers. Evidence was found for all these factors in this research. Furthermore, the most important factors of the branding of a professional ice hockey club with fans nationwide have been highlighted. Consequently, this research shows that the marketers of such an ice hockey club can position their brand by developing clear points-of-difference that stand out from the competition. Suggestions future research: Research into the perception of the sports branding by the younger target group is suggested, as well from people outside Gävle. Furthermore, the research could be conducted in other (ice hockey) clubs. Finally, the research could be conducted again in a few years. Contribution of thesis: This research fills the gap in the literature about the development of a successful brand of a professional ice hockey club with fans nationwide. The main contribution for managers is that brands can only be used to maintain fans, not to attract them. Key words: Brand Positioning, Point Of Difference, Brand Knowledge, Brand Reputation, Brand Personality I Preface We would like to show our gratitude towards all that have helped us in writing our Bachelor’s thesis. Special thanks go out to our families and friends for their support throughout the process of writing this. Furthermore, we would like to thank Kari Litmanen and Catarina Carlsson for their help in obtaining all the necessary information about Brynäs IF. Finally yet importantly, we want to thank Ehsanul Huda Chowdhury and Maria Fregidou-Malama not only for their guidance and their expertise whenever we encountered problems in our work, but also for offering us the opportunity to study abroad for a year. II Contents Abstract ....................................................................................................................................... I Preface ....................................................................................................................................... II Contents .................................................................................................................................... III Lists of Figures ......................................................................................................................... VI List of Tables ........................................................................................................................... VII List of Abbreviations ............................................................................................................. VIII 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Background .................................................................................................................. 1 1.1.1 Importance of Building a Brand ........................................................................... 1 1.1.2 Considerations in Building a Brand ..................................................................... 2 1.2 Problem Discussion ..................................................................................................... 3 1.3 Aim and Research Questions ....................................................................................... 4 1.4 Delineation ................................................................................................................... 4 1.5 Disposition ................................................................................................................... 4 2 Theoretical Discussion ....................................................................................................... 6 2.1 Marketing ..................................................................................................................... 6 2.2 Branding ...................................................................................................................... 7 2.2.1 Brand Awareness .................................................................................................. 7 2.2.2 Brand Image ......................................................................................................... 7 2.3 Brand Assets ................................................................................................................ 8 2.3.1 Brand Awareness and Brand Reputation ............................................................. 8 2.3.2 Brand Personality and Brand Deep Values .......................................................... 8 2.3.3 Brand Identity, Brand Attachment and Brand Patents ......................................... 9 2.4 Brand Positioning ........................................................................................................ 9 2.4.1 Points-of-difference ............................................................................................ 10 2.4.2 Points-of-parity ................................................................................................... 10 2.5 Sports Marketing ....................................................................................................... 11 2.5.1 The Nature of Sports Marketing ........................................................................ 11 2.5.2 The Nature of Sports Branding .......................................................................... 12 2.5.3 Complications in Building a Sports Brand ......................................................... 12 2.5.4 Steps in Developing a Sports Brand ................................................................... 13 2.5.5 Benefits of the Sport Brand ................................................................................ 14 III 2.6 Theoretical Framework .............................................................................................. 15 2.6.1 Marketing Factors .............................................................................................. 15 2.6.2 Non-Marketing Factors ...................................................................................... 17 3 Methodology .................................................................................................................... 19 3.1 Structure of the Methodology Chapter ...................................................................... 19 3.2 Research Approach .................................................................................................... 19 3.2.1 Deductive Approach ........................................................................................... 19 3.2.2 Inductive Approach ............................................................................................ 20 3.2.3 Abductive Approach .......................................................................................... 20 3.3 Research Design ........................................................................................................ 21 3.3.1 Exploratory Research ......................................................................................... 21 3.3.2 Conclusive Research .......................................................................................... 21 3.4 Methodological Choice .............................................................................................. 22 3.4.1 Qualitative Research .......................................................................................... 22 3.4.2 Quantitative Research ........................................................................................ 22 3.5 Research Strategy ...................................................................................................... 23 3.6 Techniques and Procedures ....................................................................................... 23 3.6.1 Qualitative Research Techniques ....................................................................... 24 3.6.2 Qualitative Sample ............................................................................................. 24 3.6.3 Quantitative Research Techniques ..................................................................... 25 3.6.4 Quantitative Sample ........................................................................................... 26 3.7 Data Processing and Analysing ................................................................................
Details
-
File Typepdf
-
Upload Time-
-
Content LanguagesEnglish
-
Upload UserAnonymous/Not logged-in
-
File Pages93 Page
-
File Size-