chapter 7

Brand Image

Although the concept of brand awareness is easy to grasp, understanding brand image is more difficult because brand image is the cumulative influence of all the associations with a particular brand.25 Take out a piece of paper and think about your favorite team. Now, time yourself. Spend one minute writing down all the words and phrases that come to mind when you think of that team. The words and phrases that you have written down are called brand associations, because they represent the thoughts that the mention of a brand name triggers. If you were thinking of the New York Yankees, you may have been thinking such things as "world champions," because of the many World Series that the Yankees have won. Or you may have been thinking about Monument Park, the area in the outfield of Yankee Stadium where statues of Yankees greats stand. In both cases, these thoughts are unique, strong, and favorable. That is the goal in developing a brand image—to develop unique, strong, and favorable brand associations. Marketers of sport may have an advantage when it comes to creating unique associations. Where else is the product so packed with drama because of an unknown outcome? Where else is the emotional involvement between the consumer (the fan) and the product (the game or event) so high? The key is making sure that these brand associations are both strong and favorable. This task is not necessarily easy given that the outcome of the event is unknown. And, as noted earlier in the text, the marketer cannot control when a team performs well or when an athlete gets hurt. In an ideal world, we would be able to know when the team we were marketing was going to succeed. That way, we would know that fans would have strong and favorable associations with winning. The team's ability to win in the current or upcoming year, however, is undetermined. Thus, although winning can certainly create a strong, unique, and favorable brand association, sport marketers should focus their energies on nurturing this association in advance of a team's actual performance. One aspect of winning can serve as a valuable brand association—past success. After Michael Jordan retired from the Chicago Bulls in 1998, the Bulls immediately entered a rebuilding era. For six consecutive years, the Bulls did not make the playoffs, and in three of those years the Bulls did not even win 20 games.26 At the same time, the Bulls led the NBA in average attendance between 1999 and 2009.27 This success may have resulted from their marketing efforts, which reminded fans of the six NBA championships that the Bulls won in the 1990s and suggested that the period following Jordan's retirement was the time to get tickets because the Bulls would again become a championship-caliber team. Thus, a tradition of past success can be an important brand association. Given the traditions of competing for national championships at schools such as Duke University (men's basketball), the University of Michigan (football), and the University of Connecticut (women's and men's basketball), fans of those schools have strong associations with the past accomplishments of their teams. Beyond success and tradition, a variety of other sources of brand association exist in sport. A sampling of these are discussed in the following sections.

How Agencies Create Brand Associations

Sport marketing and management agencies are typically not visible entities to the average consumer, although they are visible behind the scenes of events—to the athletes they represent, the sponsors they are helping to activate sponsorships, or the event management crew responsible for the logistics of the event. So how do these agencies (at which some of you will invariably be employed) generate brand associations? The easiest answer is through the clients that they represent. David Falk made a name for himself as a player agent at least partially through his representation of Michael Jordan. Another answer is through the people who work for the agencies. For example, before his passing, Mark McCormack, founder of IMG and a sport marketing industry leader, was a strong association linked to IMG. Sport marketing agencies also generate brand associations through the way that they deliver their services. For example, Just Marketing International (JMI) has differentiated itself in the agency world by focusing heavily on corporate consulting and activation within the motorsports industry.

Sources of Brand Association With Teams

The success of the team is one source of brand association, but other aspects of the team and its marketing, promotion, and publicity efforts can develop strong brand associations. These include, but are not limited to, the following: Logo, marks, nickname, and mascot Owners Players Head coaches Rivalries Entertainment package surrounding the game or event Stadium or arena in which a team plays The NFL's Oakland Raiders create many brand extensions from their nickname and colors. The "Black Although branding is more than just managing the organization's logo, the logo, marks, nickname, and mascot can all create strong, unique, and favorable brand associations. Take team colors as an example. Los Angeles Lakers fans would probably mention the purple and yellow uniform colors, Oakland Raider fans often refer to their team as the silver and black, and University of Michigan fans have strong associations with the maize and blue. When creating or changing a logo, teams should take great care to consider the ways in which brand associations can be developed. For example, should the nickname represent a unique feature about the location of the team, as is the case with the Phoenix Suns (referring to the perpetual sunny, warm weather in Phoenix) and the Pittsburgh Steelers (hearkening back to Pittsburgh's history as a steel town)? Or, should the logo contain colors that are fashionable and attractive (such as the San Jose Sharks' use of teal in the early 1990s when that color was popular)? Or, should the nickname be easily translatable into a mascot that can create strong brand associations in the minds of kids (as is the case of Benny the Bull, the mascot of the Chicago Bulls)? All these things need to be considered when changing the logo or nickname. The owner or owners of the sport franchise are often the most visible team personnel aside from the head coach and the players. Through their actions, owners can generate positive brand associations. For example, when John Henry and Tom Werner purchased the Boston Red Sox of MLB, they publicly stated initiatives geared toward pleasing their fans and making their fans more proud of the team. In a similar vein, Mark Cuban has responded directly to e-mails from fans of the Dallas Mavericks of the NBA on a daily basis. By doing this, he creates the impression that he cares about the fans' opinions, thus creating a favorable brand association. Now consider the Steinbrenner family, owners of MLB's New York Yankees. Although baseball fans who do not like the Yankees tend to have negative associations with the Steinbrenners, Yankees fans tend to have favorable associations with the family because they are committed to winning championships and do everything in their power to do so. A more obvious source of brand associations for teams is the players themselves. A variety of associations can be developed in association with the players. For example, associations could be formed based on how a player actually performs. Michael Jordan was perceived to walk on air, particularly in his early years with the NBA's Chicago Bulls. Zdeno Chara of the NHL's Boston Bruins is a 6-foot-9-inch (206 cm) defenseman. Besides his perennially excellent play, his unique size (for a hockey player) creates brand associations. Associations can also be formed around a player off the court. An interesting case related to developing associations based on behavior is Metta World Peace (formerly named Ron Artest) of the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers. When he was with the Indiana Pacers in 2004, Peace was one of the players who left the game floor and entered the stands to fight with fans at Detroit's Palace at Auburn Hills. From that incident and his subsequent suspension (73 regular season games), Peace created negative brand associations in the minds of fans who found the behavior inexcusable. Following his suspension, Peace became involved in causes related to mental-health counseling. In recognition of this effort, the Pro Basketball Writers presented Peace the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award.28 Through this off-court work, Peace may have offset the previous negative associations with his brand by creating positive associations. Similarly, the head coach of a team can serve as a significant source of brand associations. If you are a football fan, think about the brand associations that Coach Jim Harbaugh of the NFL's San Francisco 49ers generates: successful coach, great motivator, entertaining person, and a man players respect. Similar to players, coaches have the potential for associations that go beyond their performance on the field or court. Given the fact that high-profile college athletes play for their teams for a maximum of four years, head coaches can be a more important source of brand associations on college campuses. For example, Mike Krzyzewski, or Coach K as he is most often called, has generated a number of brand associations during his long tenure as the head coach of the men's basketball team at Duke University. Besides directing the significant success that Duke has experienced on the court, Coach K has developed a variety of associations such as an academic focus and integrity. Beyond the fact that Coach K has graduated student-athletes at a high percentage and has never experienced a rules violation scandal, he has been a significant benefactor to Duke and its surrounding community. Coach K's name is on an academic leadership center, and his Duke basketball legacy fund has helped create a large community center in downtown Durham, North Carolina.29 A word of caution must be offered with respect to players and coaches as sources of brand associations. Player mobility at the professional team sport level is as great as ever; few players remain a member of the same team for their entire careers. Further, many high-profile collegiate athletes now stay at their universities for only one or two years before turning professional. For that reason, a team should not focus its brand-building efforts on one player, particularly when that player's contract is nearing an end. Professional and collegiate coaches are also mobile these days. Thus, although coaches can be tremendous sources of associations, their departure can cause a significant loss of brand associations that ultimately hurts the team's brand. One way to counteract such departures is to understand whether and how the player or coach played a role in building the team brand and then sign players and coaches who either have the potential to build similar associations or have the potential to build their own unique and favorable associations. Does this mean that owners and athletics directors should consider the marketing implication of their coaching decisions? Based on the preceding discussion of how they create brand associations, the answer is yes. As noted in chapter 10, the effective use of promotional elements can greatly enhance the experience that people have at games. This enhancement of the entertainment package through promotional tactics such as giveaways and on-court, on-ice, or on-field promotions during time-outs and intermissions can serve to create strong brand associations. Earlier it was mentioned that the NBA's Chicago Bulls were able to maintain large crowds in the post-Jordan era despite poor performance on the court. Although their nurturing of brand associations tied to past success might be part of the reason for the high attendance, another reason could be the fact that Bulls games are highly entertaining. Time-outs, halftime, and the breaks between quarters are used to provide additional entertainment for those in attendance. In college athletics, several unique factors can create strong brand associations tied to teams. For example, at the University of Mississippi, "the Grove" serves as a popular tailgating area both before and after games. At Ohio State University, fans are often in Ohio Stadium 30 to 45 minutes in advance of the game so that they can see the nationally renowned marching band enter the stadium and execute its pregame routine. Finally, where college athletics events attract large and loud student sections (such as at Duke University men's basketball games), the exuberant, youthful crowd can also serve as a source of brand associations. In fact, when asked what would enhance their enjoyment of college athletics events, season-ticket holders (who are not students) often mention larger and louder student sections. Another way that the entertainment experience can be enhanced is through a focus on the service elements that a consumer experiences when attending a game. Think about all the experiences that you have when attending a game; any of these could theoretically form a brand association. Some facilities offer unique cuisine items at their concession stands, whereas others have unique features built into the stadium, such as the swimming pool in the outfield at Chase Field in Phoenix. Now more than ever, the stadium or arena can serve as a source of brand associations. Strong brand associations are typically formed around two types of arenas these days: (1) those with long histories and traditions and (2) new facilities that are built with many features to enhance the customer experience. Facilities such as Wimbledon (tennis), the Daytona International Speedway (auto racing), Yankee Stadium (MLB), Fenway Park (MLB), Lambeau Field (NFL), Old Trafford (English Premier League), and Notre Dame Stadium (college football) all have long histories of hosting significant sporting events. Because of the tradition associated with these venues, consumers may form strong brand associations. The stadium construction boom that started in the early 1990s focused on building facilities that not only generate more revenue but also have unique features that form strong brand associations. This trend is particularly noticeable when considering baseball stadiums. Since 1992, stadiums such as Camden Yards (Baltimore), Progressive Field (Cleveland), Coors Field (Denver), and Safeco Field (Seattle) have incorporated features that are reminiscent of baseball a long time ago. Because baseball stadiums have no standardized size, the unique features can be tied to the dimension of the park, such as the hill in center field at Minute Maid Park in Houston. Or, the actual location of the park can create a unique association. At both AT&T Park in San Francisco and PNC Park in Pittsburgh, home runs can land in bodies of water.

How Brand Equity Is Developed

Now that we have established the important benefits of brand equity (and their relationship to long-term revenue generation), you are probably thinking, OK, how is brand equity developed? That is a good question. According to brand researcher Kevin Keller, two components are essential to developing brand equity: (1) the creation of awareness about the brand and (2) the creation of a brand image.22 Think about your favorite professional athlete for a minute. First, and most obviously, you are aware that the athlete exists. That is brand awareness. The second step is a little more challenging. What adjectives come to mind when you think of that athlete? Why is that athlete your favorite? Your answer probably has something to do with the way that the person plays the sport or his or her personality both in and out of competition. The combination of these elements is what we call the brand image.

How Sponsors Create Brand Associations

One motivation for companies to sponsor sporting events or programs is to enhance or reinforce the brand associations with their company. This motivation is based on the belief that image attributes of the entity being sponsored can be transferred to the sponsor. A sponsor such as Gatorade or Powerade might seek to align itself with the best college basketball or football teams to reinforce the perception that their sports drink is of high quality and is used by the best athletes. Similarly, Nike, Reebok, Adidas, and others often fight for the footwear and apparel rights associated with professional sport leagues, college athletics programs, and athletes. This competition is probably at least partially because of the desire to be associated with the best. Besides perceptions of quality, other brand associations might be transferred to the sponsor. Several classic examples include the Air Jordan basketball shoe and the Mountain Dew sponsorship of action sports. Coinciding with the launch of the Air Jordan basketball shoe (containing Nike's then-revolutionary air-pocket technology), Nike ran an advertisement featuring a young Jordan running and jumping to the background noise of a jet engine.30 This ad provided the nexus for Nike to create the perception that the Air Jordan helped people jump higher. Whereas Nike used an athlete endorsement to create a brand association, Mountain Dew used a new sporting genre to redefine its image. Dating back to 1960, Mountain Dew was perceived to be a drink of people in rural areas (mostly in the southern United States). In 1992 Mountain Dew launched a new campaign under the tag line "Do the Dew" that featured people taking part in risk-taking activities such as skydiving. Mountain Dew followed this up by becoming one of the first sponsors to become involved with the emerging action sports captured by events such as the X Games and the Dew Action Sports Tour (note the title sponsor). By undertaking these actions, Mountain Dew completely redefined itself as cool, edgy, and exciting.31 The Air Jordan and Mountain Dew cases demonstrate how the image of a sport entity can help create strong, unique, and favorable associations for the sport brand. They also raise a practical point for all sponsorship decision makers: The image of the sport entity that a company is thinking about sponsoring should have the potential to either reinforce or positively alter the brand associations as a sponsor.32 Consider the potential for negative associations that occur when an athlete runs afoul of the law or a college athletics program is found to have violated NCAA rules. Might such occurrences create a negative association with a sponsor by virtue of its involvement with that particular sport entity? Perhaps! Following news accounts of Tiger Woods extramarital affairs in late 2009 and 2010, a number of the companies that endorsed Woods discontinued or terminated their contracts. International brands Tag Heuer, Accenture, Gillette, and AT&T discontinued their relationship with Woods.33 Did you know that corporations often embed morals clauses into their endorsement contracts that allow termination of the relationship if the athlete does something that is illegal or immoral and draws significant negative attention? Another interesting aspect to the Woods situation was that Nike did not discontinue their relationship. Do you think that maintaining the relationship negatively affected the Nike brand? As discussed in chapter 9, successful sponsorships require a strong relationship between the buyer and the seller of the sponsorship program. For this to happen, both must receive benefits. In some cases, the sponsorship seller may receive image benefits beyond the cash and in-kind contributions they might receive from the sponsor. For example, take the case of the WNBA. Upon formation of the league, the ability of the WNBA to secure visible name brands such as Spalding probably helped lend credibility to the league. On a smaller scale, think about an event in your local area, such as a road race or grassroots soccer tournament. These events probably tried to secure brand-name sponsors as a means of generating credibility for their event, particularly in their first years of existence. Because some of these associations with corporations may be formed based on the experience that users have when consuming the brand, a new form of branding through sponsorship has emerged—branded entertainment. Have you ever attended a fan festival affiliated with a pro or college team that has interactive games for people to participate in? For example, Boston College turns one of its campus recreation centers into a Fan Zone on football game days. If you walk into the Fan Zone on a football Saturday, you will see kids in line waiting to participate in various football-related activities, such as throwing a football with accuracy. This effort is an example of a team's branded entertainment. Another example is the Richard Petty Driving Experience, in which people pay to drive a NASCAR car on a racetrack. This experience is sponsored by a variety of companies, including Goodyear and DuPont.34 As existing NASCAR sponsors, DuPont and Goodyear are likely just trying to add a branded entertainment element to their involvement with auto racing. A related form of branding is the use of branded content to further the influence of a brand. The sidebar at the end of this chapter explores the concept of branded content and explains its importance to branding efforts.

How Health Clubs Create Brand Associations

ou work out? Do you use health club services such as cardiovascular and weight equipment? If so, you are a member of the market targeted by health clubs. Some of you may have facilities on your campus that are free of charge. If so, what brand associations exist in your mind with respect to those facilities? Are they too crowded at peak times? Do they offer enough hours? Embedded in these two questions are potential associations for health clubs. Those of you who are not satisfied with the facilities on campus may have looked at health clubs in your town. If so, do you hold brand associations with each of them? One might be big and spacious but perhaps a little more expensive. Another might be smaller but less expensive. These perceptions represent potential associations. What do you think about the staff at the various health clubs? Are they friendly? Are they helpful? As is the case with professional sport teams, brand associations can be formed based on the service provided by the front-line personnel.

35 Ways to Grow Your Brand

Marketers, looking for ways to take your branding strategy to the next level? Here are 35 ideas andexamples of brands that are doing it right.1. Go fullon BransonVirgin Group gets brand extensions right, creating new products in categories such as airlines,hotels, communications, and banking. Not all of those ventures succeed, but they are always alignedwith Virgin's daring attitude and tone of voice.2. Adapt your formula to meet consumer concernsOnce, Aspartame was OK. Now, consumers are worried it might be dangerous for their health. PepsiCo has announced it will stopusing aspartame as a sweetener in its drinks.3. Attack your competitionThat's risky, but also memorable. Apple and Microsoft have engaged in a series of ads comparing each other's products. If you thinkyou might lose, better skip this one.4. Partner upThis is like dating a 10 to make you less of a 6. Harnessing another brand's appeal might make you cooler. Target's collaboration withdesigners such as Missoni and Zac Posen helped elevate the store's fashion game.5. Deliver similar benefits in a different shapeTide fights stains at home; Tide Pen delivers stainfighting power in a convenient way for onthego clumsy coffee drinkers.6. Go on a dietCoke tastes great with a burger. Diet Coke has no calories, helping you eat more burgers.7. Dominate your verticalPlanters knows everything about peanuts; therefore, Planter's Peanut Butter must be great.8. Get your audience more of what they loveOprah Magazine offers content to fans who can't get enough of O's wisdom through TV and her book club alone.9. Bank on your brand's prestige to sell bigticket itemsLuxury brand Fendi is branching out into real estate, developing FENDI Château Residences in Miami.10. Get a mascotDo you wish Mr. Clean could show up and clean your house? I do.11. Go after the hipstersWith smart branding and product placement, Pabst Blue Ribbon reinvented itself from cheap to hip.12. Start speaking SpanglishTaco Bell's "Live Más!" tagline is young and fresh, and it resonates with a growing multicultural millennial population.13. Get a new logo 1/19/201735 Ways to Grow Your Brandhttp://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/print/2015/28714/35waystogrowyourbrand2/3Every now and then GAP updates its logo to keep up with the times. It also reverts back to the previous logo when the new onedoesn't work.14. Get a new nameBlue Ribbon Sports wanted a new name to bring its confident spirit to life. It found a much better name: Nike.15. Sell subscriptionsDollar Shaving Club completely disrupted the market for shaving supplies. Enough with struggling with the locked shelves at CVS!16. Sharpen up your brand identityPeople can identify UPS and TMobile ads without reading anything. Resist the urge to reinvent your look all the time; find somethingyou can keep for the long run.17. Go after a new demographicBudweiser created a new bowtie can and ad campaign to entice millennial consumers to give it a try.18. Started online? Now add brick and mortarWarby Parker started as a designereyewear online store. It has since opened stylish showrooms that bring in customers not yetfamiliar with its digital shopping experience.19. Create a new pastimeGo Pro created a product that resonated with people's increasing interest for sharing their life through social media. GoProenthusiasts are now documenting sports, family life, and travel in a way only GoPro enables them to do.20. Create a causeDove's Campaign for Real Beauty created a discussion about selfacceptance and expanded into confidencebuilding programs forgirls around the world.21. Enter a new market/geographyExpand into a new market and find new customers. Sounds simple, but it's actually one of the hardest strategies on this list toimplement.22. Find a new use for the same productMake a prom dress or a book cover? Repair a taillight? Check. Check. Fans keep finding new uses for duct tape.23. Create a loyalty programKeep your existing consumers happy. Amazing service and product, along with special rewards, points or miles, helps keep themcoming back.24. Use direct marketingAnn Taylor has a solid email program, with targeted offers, flash sales, and firstlook promotions of new collections for its best clients.25. Adopt new packagingPlum Organics was a pioneer of food pouches for babies and toddlers.26. Do green better than the competitionMethod found a way to make earthfriendly products that aren't hippie. Its packaging is stylish and the fragrances go beyond thepredictable citrus and lavender.27. Become a sponsorP&G's sponsorship of the 2012 London Olympic Games alongside its "Thank you mom" campaign offered heartwarming adsfeaturing athletes and their families.28. Show you truly careBecome the Zappos in your industry. Make customer care your thing, and go above and beyond. Your clients will come back—andbring their friends. 1/19/201735 Ways to Grow Your Brandhttp://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/print/2015/28714/35waystogrowyourbrand3/329. Have a unique brand voiceCheck Charmin's campaign #tweetfromtheseat. The brand has managed what seemed impossible: To create fun and cute bathroomhumor.30. Empower your internal advocatesREI's employees embody the company's outdoorsy lifestyle; they know a lot about the products, and they're glad to bring rookies intotheir world.31. Get your brand ambassadors talkingSmart companies get their fans to do all the talking on their behalf. BMW has hardcore fans connected through social media,constantly sharing their love for the brand.32. Create an eventRed Bull events, filled with contests and stunts, truly reflect the brand's daredevil personality. They also provide a wealth of contentfor the brand to use for connecting with fans.33. Create a referral programDropbox's referafriend program helped the company boost memberships by giving free storage space to members and the friendsthey bring in.34. Stretch your brand to other segmentsLuxury brands do it all the time: Armani, for example, created Armani Jeans and Armani Exchange to cater to segments that desirethe brand's status and style at lower price points.35. Be an authority in your fieldRachel Zoe started as a stylist, telling people what to wear and creating a name as an expert in fashion. Once she launched herfashion line, it became an instant success

Ability to Charge Price Premiums

Another potential benefit of high brand equity is the ability to charge price premiums.16 In the sport setting, where having revenues exceed expenses is often challenging, this benefit can be particularly important. Team Marketing Report annually publishes a report called the Fan Cost Index, which highlights both the average ticket price for a professional sporting event and the average cost of attending for a family of four. Table 7.1 documents the five teams with the highest ticket prices in Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League, the National Football League, and the National Basketball Association. Although some teams regularly made the playoffs before 2012, such as the New England Patriots, Los Angeles Lakers, and New York Yankees, quite a few teams, such as the Chicago Cubs, Edmonton Oilers, and Minnesota Twins, had not been in the playoffs in several years before the season listed in table 7.1. Another interesting point of comparison can be found when looking at the NFL data. The average ticket price for the New York Jets was higher than that for the New York Giants in 2011. This disparity is particularly illustrative of brand equity for several reasons. First, the two teams share a stadium, thus eliminating the possibility that one team's attendance was higher because of stadium design, amenities, or history. Second, the Giants, not the Jets, had most recently won a Super Bowl (in 2008, and they would go on to win the Super Bowl again in 2012), while the Jets had not even played in a Super Bowl since 1969! How else can we then explain the ability of the Jets to charge a higher average ticket price? The strength of the Jets brand, going back to the historic 1969 upset of the Baltimore Colts by the Namath-led Jets allowed for revenue generation despite a lack of Super Bowl championships.

Brand Awareness

As brand researcher David Aaker put it, "An unknown brand usually has little chance."23 If a potential consumer is not aware that a minor league hockey franchise exists 20 miles (32 km) from her home, then the minor league hockey franchise has no brand awareness. For that reason, brand awareness is often seen as the starting point in developing brand equity. The easiest way to define brand awareness is to refer to it as the ability of a consumer to name the brand's existence when its product category is mentioned. For example, if we were to ask a resident of Charlotte, North Carolina, to name all the professional sport franchises in the area and he did not name minor league baseball's Charlotte Knights, then the Knights would not have brand awareness. The two most important components to building brand equity are brand awareness and brand image, but brand image cannot be developed without brand awareness. Developing brand awareness is typically not an issue for major league sport franchises such as NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB, and MLS teams, but it does become more challenging for events, facilities, and minor league sport franchises. Additionally, a primary challenge for a sport agent representing a new athlete is to create brand awareness for her client. Similarly, you may be familiar with "Heisman hype," the publicity campaigns that colleges and universities undertake to promote their star athletes for college football's most outstanding player award. Past efforts to promote athletes for the Heisman Trophy include Rutgers University's sending out binoculars so that people could "see" running back Ray Rice and the University of Southern California's sending out highlight videos of receiver Marqise Lee set to music by the legendary Beatles rock band.24 These are great examples of efforts to develop brand awareness. The development of brand awareness is also important for corporations that sponsor events. Sponsors pay to be associated with athletes, teams, events, and leagues (often called sport properties). Part of their expectation is that fans of those sport properties will feel better about the corporate sponsor because they are supporting the property. Such a transfer of goodwill cannot happen if the consumer is not aware of a corporation's sponsorship efforts. If you have even the most remote interest in professional race car driving, you are probably aware that Sprint is the sponsor of the overall points championship. But are you aware of the other NASCAR sponsors or the individual team sponsors? How many of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s sponsors can you name? For this reason, sponsorship evaluation usually involves measuring the level of awareness of the sponsorship.

More Corporate Interest

As noted in chapter 9, corporate sponsorship is an ever-increasing presence in sport today. Although corporations clearly see the benefits in this marketing method, another reason for the increased presence may be sport organizations' efforts to seek new revenue streams. But more events than ever are looking for sponsorships, and sponsors are becoming more discerning about which events they sponsor. One factor that sponsors may consider is the strength of the sport organization's brand. For example, NASCAR sponsors realize that both the governing body (NASCAR) and a number of the individual drivers (Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Danica Patrick) have high brand equity. One contributing factor to this high brand equity is the emotional connection and commitment that fans have toward the race teams. As a result, sponsors are attracted to NASCAR teams because they know that these brands hold powerful places in the minds of consumers. Sport organizations with high brand equity increase the price of the sponsorship package to take advantage of the fact that many corporations might be interested in becoming sponsors. Think for a minute: What sport event or organization can charge some of the highest rates for a sponsorship? If you said the Olympic Games and soccer's World Cup, you are correct. Taking the Olympic Games as an example, the International Olympic Committee (which oversees the Olympic Movement and has the responsibility for selling Olympics sponsorships) is able to charge approximately $60 million for Olympics sponsorships for a four-year period.17 Similarly, according to the International Events Group (IEG), FIFA, which oversees the World Cup, has increased its revenues from $584 million between 1998 and 2002, to $1.6 billion between 2007 and 2010 by charging between $24 and $44 million to the sponsors at the highest level.18 Without question, the equity associated with the Olympic Games and World Cup events create the opportunity to charge high sponsorship fees for affiliation.

How Athletes Create Brand Associations

As noted in the previous section, one of the associations with Michael Jordan was that he could walk on air. Other associations might have been clutch player, prolific scorer, and champion, based on his style of play and his achievements. Because professional athletes can make money from corporate endorsements, having strong, unique, and favorable associations is important for an athlete. In fact, player agents should view the players they represent as brands and attempt to develop strong brand associations with their clients. The Jordan example illustrates the two ways that athletes can generate brand associations for themselves. First, they can generate associations based on their performance in athletics competition. These associations are derived from their accomplishments, from their style of play, and from any signature moves that they create. A great example of this is tennis player Andrea Petkovic. Following any match that she wins, she does what is now called the Petko dance on the court. The celebration dance started after her coach encouraged her to do something unique if she was successful in a first-round U.S. Open match.35 A second way that athletes can generate associations is through their actions off the court. For example, former soccer star Mia Hamm raises money to help female athletes and patients who are seeking bone marrow transplants.36 In each case (Petkovic and Hamm), the associations serve to create an image that may or may not be appealing to sponsors.

Less Drastic Revenue Declines When the Team Loses

Because strong brands have high levels of loyalty, they are better able to withstand downturns in fortunes on the field. Although winning is not the only creator of brand equity, teams clearly reap short-term benefits when they win. Few teams, however, are able to compete for championships year in and year out. The myopic sport marketer sees the organization's fortunes tied to the performance of the team on the field. The sport marketer who adopts a longer-term view, however, focuses on other things that can be done to enhance brand equity so that when the team loses, fortunes do not drastically decline. Again, take the Chicago Cubs as an example. Here is a team that has not won a World Series in more than 100 years, yet it still draws large crowds for its home games. The Cubs posted a record of 61 wins and 101 losses in 2012 but still drew nearly 2.9 million fans to Wrigley Field! This figure is only about 425,000 fewer fans than they drew in 2007 when the Cubs won nearly 100 games.15 So yes, performance may affect attendance, but when a team has high brand equity and high brand loyalty, the drop-offs are much less extreme. Figure 7.1 depicts the revenues over time of two teams that experience cycles of winning and losing, one with high brand equity and the other with low brand equity. When brand equity is high (team A), revenue declines are less drastic over time as the team's fortunes change. Meanwhile, when brand equity is lower (team B), more drastic revenue changes are seen as the team wins and loses.

Brand Associations in Other Realms of Sport

Beyond team sport, brand management is important throughout the sport realm. For example, the development of brand associations is also important to the following segments of the industry: Sponsors Athletes Agencies Health clubs

Brand Associations Based on the Benefits of Consumption

Beyond the features and aspects of the sport product, brand associations can also be developed based on the consumer needs that are satisfied or the benefits that consumption provides. For example, nostalgic (remembering and perhaps glorifying an experience) memories can serve as a source of brand associations. Whether it is a recollection of following a team with a family member or friend or remembering the elation felt when a team won a championship, nostalgic memories can serve as a strong source of association. For these reasons, a hidden benefit for teams that own or partially control their own cable networks (often called regional sports networks, or RSNs) is the ability to generate programming that will foster these nostalgic memories of team accomplishments. For example, New England Sports Network (NESN) is owned by the Boston Red Sox and distributed through cable networks free to most of New England. That arrangement affords the Red Sox a unique opportunity to create programming (particularly in the winter months) that reminds people of the march to the 2004, 2007, and 2013 World Series titles. Social benefits can also serve as a source for brand associations. A parent could form a strong association to a minor league baseball team because it provides a platform for the parent to do something fun with his or her children. Think about the athletics programs at your college or university. You may have some associations tied to attending games with a large group of friends. A person's feeling of identification with a team can serve as a source of brand associations as well. Identification with a team entails several things, mostly tied to what it means to be a fan of a particular team. In the case of the Boston Red Sox, being a Red Sox fan means that a person is a member of Red Sox Nation. In essence, Red Sox Nation is a term that creates a sense of belonging to a group, or even a special club. Up until the 2004 World Series, membership in this club meant being a part of a group that often suffered when the team failed to win a big game. But with the 2004 World Series championship and the additional titles in 2007 and 2013, the Red Sox Nation celebrated as a group. For example, 3.2 million people turned out for a parade in Boston to celebrate the 2004 World Series title. Just as identification can form with a team, so too can it form with a particular geographic location. In this sense, identification with a city can be exhibited by someone following a sport team. For example, someone from Chicago living in another part of the country could demonstrate to people that he is from Chicago by wearing a Chicago Cubs hat. Further, when the Cubs finally win the World Series, people will see it as a positive reflection on their city.

What Is Branding?

Branding starts with a brand, which includes the name, logo, and symbols associated with the sport organization.7 For example, the Nike name and the Nike swoosh are both important components of the Nike brand. Similarly, both the nickname Liberty and the logo that includes a version of the Statue of Liberty are important components of the WNBA's New York Liberty brand. Ultimately, the brand name and marks associated with a sport organization provide a point of differentiation from the other sport, leisure, and entertainment-oriented products in the marketplace. These names and marks are important facets of branding as evidenced by the fact that more than half of the teams in the NBA, NFL, NHL, and MLB have modified their uniforms (and sometimes their logos) since 1995.8 But thinking of branding as simply the management and manipulation of an organization's marks would be myopic. The brand name, logos, marks, and colors of a sport organization serve as a starting point in the brand management process, serving to trigger other feelings and attitudes toward the organization. When a Boston Red Sox fan hears the team's name mentioned, a variety of thoughts may come to mind, including the Red Sox's 2004 World Series victory (its first in 86 years!), the 2007 and 2013 World Series victories, the fabled "Green Monster" outfield wall at their home field Fenway Park, or great players who have worn a Red Sox uniform such as Ted Williams, Carlton Fisk, and Curt Schilling. The brand is, as author Daryl Travis suggested, "like a badge that lends you a certain identity."9 Thus, a key point about branding is that it goes much deeper than the names, symbols, and marks of an organization. Branding is really about what a customer thinks and feels when she sees the marks of a particular brand. As it relates to the sport setting, what consumers think and feel toward a sport-related brand is developed based on experiences that they have when consuming sport (for example, attending a game, watching a game on television or through a portable electronic device such as an iPhone or iPad, or watching highlights of a game on ESPN's SportsCenter). The benefits provided by consuming sport are much more experiential than tangible. You cannot touch or taste a baseball game, whereas you can taste the toothpaste that you put into your mouth. Additionally, what makes the experience of consuming sport unique is the emotion tied to sport. Sport has the ability to trigger emotions that are arguably unlike those activated by other leisure or entertainment products available. Can you think of an experience that triggers your emotions (good or bad) more than watching your favorite team play its rival in a game that has playoff implications? Despite the fact that we live in a time when we regularly record or TiVo shows, we are hesitant to do that with sporting events because reviewing the event later is just not the same as seeing it, or experiencing it, live. Being experiential and emotional lends sport organizations some advantage here. As author Marc Gobé stated, In this hypercompetitive marketplace where goods and services alone are no longer enough to attract a new market or even to maintain existing markets or clients, I believe that it is the emotional aspect of products and their distribution systems that will be the key difference between consumers' ultimate choice and the price that they will pay. By emotional I mean how a brand engages consumers on the level of the senses and emotions; how a brand comes to life for people and forges a deeper, lasting connection.10 Think about your favorite team for a minute. Beyond its name and marks, how long does it take you to come up with a memory that has some emotion attached to it? Spectator sport is unique in the variety of emotions that are generated and in the level of emotional involvement that consumers have with their favorite sport team or athlete brands. This emotional involvement can be favorably transferred to sponsors of sport. How else can you explain the fact that many NASCAR fans buy only the products of the corporations that sponsor their favorite drivers? Logic goes out the window when brands are able to create such emotional connections. Therefore, one of the key goals of branding is to create such a strong impression in the consumers' minds that when they see or hear something that includes a brand's name or see its logo, marks, or colors, they experience intense positive feelings. As Declan Bolger, vice president of club services for Major League Soccer has said, "People make decisions based on emotion, and reinforce them with logic."11 If a sport brand triggers positive emotions, the sport marketer can more easily engage fans and consumers in the products of that sport brand.

And the World's Strongest Team Brand Is . . .

It's not the Miami Heat, the Dallas Cowboys, or even the New York Yankees. Think globally! Think soccer, or football, as it is called throughout the rest of the world. Manchester United of the English Premier League is the world's strongest sport team brand. In 2012 Forbes magazine estimated that the Manchester United brand was worth US$2.24 billion.1 This figure is nearly US$400 million more than the valuations associated with the Yankees and the Cowboys.2 At the core of this valuation is the fact that Manchester United has 330 million fans around the world.3 As a point of reference, that total is larger than the entire population of the United States. This large fan base allows the Red Devils to secure large-scale global media and sponsorship contracts. For example, in 2013 Manchester United signed an eight-year sponsorship deal with the Aon corporation. In return for commercial rights associated with the training complex and the training uniform (or kit, as it is called in soccer), Manchester United will receive approximately US$23 million annually.4 The Red Devils have been the highest valued team since Forbes first released valuations of English soccer clubs in 2004.5 Because significant value is associated with Manchester United's brand, the organization carefully manages where the logo appears and how it is used. In fact, if you visit the Red Devils website (www.manutd.com), you will be able to navigate to a specific page that discusses the brand protection of Manchester United's marks. The page stipulates what logos Manchester United owns and how to gain permission to use those logos.6 All this is done to protect and nurture the brand. If Manchester United allowed any company to use their marks, the value associated with the brand and the revenue that they could generate from commercial agreements with sponsors would decrease. This is an example of brand management.

Licensing and Merchandising Opportunities

Sport organizations with strong brands are also better able to develop brand extensions, or to use "a brand name established in one product class to enter another product class."19 Sport organizations can use the organization's name to launch new products to enhance revenue streams. Some sport organizations have taken advantage of their brand strength to sell team-logoed merchandise in a team-owned merchandise store, open restaurants bearing the organization's name, and create television programming and even channels bearing the organization's name. For example, the Pittsburgh Pirates have Pirates Clubhouse Stores from which they sell Pirates-logoed merchandise. At the league level, the National Basketball Association has a merchandise store (the NBA Store) and a TV network (NBA TV). Adopting a slightly different perspective, the NBA has also used its brand to extend into professional women's basketball (with the WNBA) and into minor league basketball (with the National Basketball Development League, or D-League). Such licensing opportunities are also available for teams and players. In 2013 the New York Giants partnered with the Hackensack University Medical Center to create the HackensackUMC Fitness and Wellness Center Powered by the Giants.20 In this venture, the Giants are lending their brand name to a state-of-the art, 112,000 square foot (10,400 sq. m) health club.21 Coming off two Super Bowl victories between 2008 and 2013, the Giants brand lends credibility and uniqueness to this new venture.

Importance of Brand Equity

When a sport organization is able to achieve a strong image in the consumer's mind, it realizes brand equity. According to David Aaker, a leading expert on branding, brand equity is "a set of assets and liabilities linked to a brand, its name and symbol, that add to or subtract from the value provided by a product or service to a firm and/or that firm's customers."12 Strong positive emotional connections formed between the fan and a team are an example of the assets to which Aaker refers. The New York Yankees' 27 World Series wins have helped create a number of strong emotional connections with the Yankees brand that can be seen as assets. But the sport marketer must also be wary of creating negative feelings toward the sport organization. For example, during the late 1990s and early 2000s, the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers experienced several incidents in which players were arrested for running afoul of the law. Similarly, in 2004 the Indiana Pacers were one of the best teams in the NBA. In November of that year, however, two Pacers went into the crowd to fight with several Detroit Pistons fans during a game. This fight and the resulting penalties not only thwarted the Pacers' championship aspirations but also created negative brand associations with the fans. In this case, a series of events created negative impressions in consumers' minds that could be viewed as liabilities linked to the brand.

Benefits of Brand Equity

When a team such as Manchester United of the Barclay's Premier League is able to generate a wealth of assets linked to its brand, the team is thought to have high brand equity. This position is the ultimate goal for the sport franchise manager because a number of benefits result from having high brand equity. Perhaps most important, loyalty to the team brand increases when brand equity is high. Which team has higher brand equity—Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs or Kansas City Royals? Although the Cubs have not won a World Series in more than 100 years, they regularly sell out games at their home field, Wrigley Field. In contrast, the Kansas City Royals struggle to fill half of their stadium, Kauffman Stadium, for most games. Although neither team has had much success recently, the Cubs have a stronger brand because of unique brand assets such as Wrigley Field, which is located in a nice Chicago neighborhood about 1 mile (1.6 km) from Lake Michigan and just a few miles from the downtown business district. Achieving a high level of brand loyalty allows the sport marketer to realize increases in revenue through ticket and merchandise sales. Brand loyalty also typically results in a larger viewing audience for events, which in turn allows the sport organization to realize higher broadcast fees for the rights to televise a property's games or events and attract more sponsors looking for widespread television exposure. The case of the Cubs also underscores the fact that winning is not the only important factor in the creation of brand loyalty. Research has documented that factors other than winning are more predictive of brand loyalty for North American professional sport teams.13 Again referring back to chapter 1, do you remember how a winning-is-everything mentality was an example of sport marketing myopia? Researchers have documented that winning is not everything and that other factors contribute to the realization of ticket sales, corporate sponsorship sales, and other positive revenue outcomes.14 In fact, sport marketers can create equity for their brands in a variety of ways, many of which are discussed later in this chapter. The important point here is that brand equity creates brand loyalty. As chapters 8 and 11 point out, relationship marketing is central to the development of loyal customers. Similarly, building relationships with the customers of a sport organization can enhance the brand.