The impact of brand portfolio management on the identification process of sport consumers

Abstract

Nowadays, the function of a brand is first the promise of an experience for the consumer (Miligan, 2009). Sport has become a business on its own right that following trends and leads to a “sportainment” of this industry (Richelieu). According to Giannoulakis and Apostolopoulou (2011), “action sports companies have started to expand to mainstream markets in order to survive and secure their viability in an extremely competitive sport industry, where brands emerge and attempt to acquire a share of the action sports pie”. The sport companies also have developed a lot of brands in order to fit the best with the need of identification of the consumer. Sports are accessible for everyone through different channels and medias but the business part of the industry is more and more noticeable. Hold before by sport enthusiasts that wanted to develop the sports and the performance, companies are now hold by business men that want to make them profitable. In realizing some similarities between themselves and the team or athlete, people transfer the positive traits on themselves and so, are more likely to adopt a buying behavior. That is the essence and so the main justification of the sponsorship. Some brand portfolio management can have decisive consequences on the consumers and we can question ourselves on the impact of brands’ portfolio management on the identification process of sport consumers. Globalization tends to have as consequences to reduce the number of brands under one name, getting some economies of scale, communication savings, higher visibility and so on, but what about the need of identification of the consumer? The fact that sport is one of the only sector where the origins doesn’t matter, rules are the same for everyone, does this fact also plays on the sport consumer or does the identification expectations are still different? Through a qualitative analysis, the main objective of the research was to observe some phenomenons, which are not really measurable, and to determine hypotheses and theories for future tests. The first observation was about what was bringing a positive customer feeling on the brand identity. The observation was supposing that a positive feeling on the brand identity was helping the customers to identify. That positive feeling can be driven by sponsorship, as it is a goodIII mode to lead identification process. Embodying the brand and bringing credibility to the brand through sport involvement is one of the methods to enhance the identification process. That was the second observation. The next step into this process was the brand identification which can leads the customer to become loyal. We finally found out that through great customer experiences, customers can become involved into the brand and then become loyal. The purpose of this analysis leads to the fact that loyal customers are more willing to buy and they can go over the price. That’s why they are a considerable importance for brands. The main findings about the brand are the role played by the brand identity, the brand architecture and the consumers. Interviews helped in crossing the knowledge shared in the literature review. The mix of the observations, the interviews and Literature review helped in determining the best ways to avoid damaging the identification process while managing the brand portfolio on a given economical context.