Brand and Value Co-Creation: A stakeholder approach to Ottawa’s CFL expansion franchise By: François Rodrigue Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts in Human Kinetics School of Human Kinetics Faculty of Health Sciences University of Ottawa August 2014 © François Rodrigue, Ottawa, Canada, 2014 BRAND AND VALUE CO-CREATION IN PROFESSIONAL SPORT ii Acknowledgements Beginning in 2012, my Masters was a marathon that could not have been completed with the assistance of many great individuals that supported me along the path. First and foremost, I have to thank my thesis supervisor, Dr. Benoit Séguin. He not only believed in me from our first meeting to the last, but he also helped me to grow as a man. Being similar on many aspects, from being former athletes to being focus on multiple projects, he taught me some valuable lessons that will definitely be applied beyond institutional boundaries. I also have to thank the committee members for their insightful suggestions and valuable comments. Dr. Parent and Dr. MacIntosh had a significant role in my progression. The completion of this two-year race would not have been possible without their feedbacks. Thank you to all the research participants and in particular, to Mr. Jeff Hunt and the Ottawa REDBLACKS, for allowing me to access key individuals from their network as well as to participate in one-on-one interviews. The rhythm of the business world can be really high, yet they still made time for my research project. Thank you! It goes without saying that my girlfriend, my parents, my parents-in-law, and my godparents played an immense role in my tenacity and determination over those two years. They cheered me up in my down times and prevented me from resting on my laurels when I was ahead. As a coach, I believe that skills are important, but I believe that your work ethic is even more important. They are the ones who made me the worker I am, and I have to sincerely thank them considering the sacrifices they made for me to achieve my goal. Finally, I have to thank Anh Nguyen for being such a wonderful “co-supervisee” that embraced a teammates’ philosophy. I also have to thank my closest friends that appreciated my presences rather than criticize my absences. BRAND AND VALUE CO-CREATION IN PROFESSIONAL SPORT iii Abstract This study intended to advance the understanding of brand and value co-creation in sport management. A single exploratory case study of the Ottawa REDBLACKS, the CFL expansion franchise launching in 2014, was conducted. The purpose of the research was to unveil the practices that could lead to brand and value co-creation in the relationships between the Ottawa REDBLACKS and their stakeholders. Semi-structured interviews were performed with 20 participants from the focal organization’s network of stakeholders. The sample was built through a purposeful and snowball sampling method that added to stakeholders identified from the literature. Archival data of media publications, organizational online content, and radio podcasts were also gathered in order to complement the data from the interviews. The deductive and inductive data analysis highlighted five main practices that could lead to brand or value co-creation in the stakeholder-firm relationship performance in a unique sport context: establishing relationships, supporting public relations, sharing resources, enhancing the experience, and driving brand image. The findings explained that joint actions between stakeholders and the REDBLACKS can lead to increases in brand equity and value creation. In the end, the study suggested that future research should investigate the threat of co-destruction. BRAND AND VALUE CO-CREATION IN PROFESSIONAL SPORT iv Table of Contents Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... ii Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................... iv List of Appendices .......................................................................................................................... v List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. vi Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Literature Review............................................................................................................................ 3 Brand and Value .......................................................................................................................... 3 Brand and Value Co-Creation ..................................................................................................... 7 Stakeholders Identification ........................................................................................................ 13 Case Description ........................................................................................................................... 18 Research Purpose .......................................................................................................................... 21 Methodology ................................................................................................................................. 24 Data Collection .......................................................................................................................... 25 Sampling.................................................................................................................................... 29 Transcription ............................................................................................................................. 30 Data Analysis ............................................................................................................................ 31 Results and Discussion ................................................................................................................. 35 Stakeholder Categorization ....................................................................................................... 35 Establishing Relationships ........................................................................................................ 43 Supporting Public Relations ...................................................................................................... 52 Sharing Resources ..................................................................................................................... 60 Enhancing the Experience ......................................................................................................... 68 Driving Brand Image ................................................................................................................. 79 Discussion ..................................................................................................................................... 92 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 106 References ................................................................................................................................... 109 BRAND AND VALUE CO-CREATION IN PROFESSIONAL SPORT v List of Appendices APPENDIX A. Epistemology…………………………………………….…………………….124 APPENDIX B. University of Ottawa Ethics Approval Notice…………………………………125 APPENDIX C. Letter of Permission: Ottawa REDBLACKS………………………………….127 APPENDIX D. Recruitment text for interview participants……………………………………128 APPENDIX E. Research Study Consent Form…………………………………………………130 APPENDIX F. Interview Guide ……………………………………………………………….134 BRAND AND VALUE CO-CREATION IN PROFESSIONAL SPORT vi List of Tables Table 6. List of themes, their definitions’, and the codes pertaining to each ………………….138 BRAND AND VALUE CO-CREATION IN PROFESSIONAL SPORT 1 Introduction Managing a brand is an important component of modern professional sport franchises since brands are strong predictors of a franchise’s financial success (Bauer, Sauer, & Schmitt, 2004). Brand equity ultimately results in the production of value for an organization (Christodoulides & de Chernatony, 2009). Furthermore, it is suggested that brand management should be the primary focus of sport owners, who desire to promote long-term franchise value (Gladden, Irwin, & Sutton, 2001). Thus, it highlights the importance of increasing brand equity and creating value within the strategic plan of a professional sport organization. Brand co-creation has recently been shown to have the potential to contribute to a firm’s total brand equity (Jones, 2005; Merz, Vargo, & He, 2009). Value co-creation has been argued to be a great support to an organization (Gronroos & Ravald, 2010). The concepts of brand co- creation and value co-creation are respectively the creation of brand equity and value-in-use through stakeholder-firm relationship performance (Helm & Jones, 2010; Jones, 2005). Value co-creation was also said to be a safety net for brand equity (Helm & Jones, 2010). Consequently, the understanding of brand co-creation and value co-creation