THE EFFECT OF SPORT SPONSORSHIP ON BRAND EQUITY : Does the sponsorship of Usain Bold help Puma to increase their brand equity?
Schmid, Florian (2017)
Schmid, Florian
Hämeen ammattikorkeakoulu
2017
All rights reserved
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201705025951
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201705025951
Tiivistelmä
Sponsorship has become increasingly popular as a marketing tool in recent years. It is one of the most used tools and especially sport sponsorship is often used to promote their products and to reach their targeting customers. Because of its popularity and the lack of research on how sport sponsorship influences the brand equity of a company, the author decided to do further investigation about this topic.
The principle aim of this bachelor thesis was to investigate if sport sponsorship has an influence on the brand equity of a company. The other objectives were to investigate the current as well as the previous position of the brand Puma in the Finnish market as well as to give recommendations about future sponsorship activities. In order to get a theoretical basis to achieve the goals, the author performed a literature review, as well as analysed various authors to get other perspectives and to ensure a critical point of view. Furthermore, to ensure a structured approach, a questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data. The primary data has been gathered through an online survey with the tool SurveyMonkey. The questions are based on the research objectives and the hypotheses.
The results showed that a wisely chosen athletic platform could help to increase the brand equity of a company. In the case of Puma, the research has shown that Usain Bolt is representing the right values to help Puma increasing their brand equity. Furthermore, investigations have shown that the brand is going through a process of repositioning from fashion/lifestyle towards performance and the current position of the brand is not so clearly definable. Therefore, the author recommends that Puma should clearly return to their roots which are in the performance sector, especially football and track shoes.
The principle aim of this bachelor thesis was to investigate if sport sponsorship has an influence on the brand equity of a company. The other objectives were to investigate the current as well as the previous position of the brand Puma in the Finnish market as well as to give recommendations about future sponsorship activities. In order to get a theoretical basis to achieve the goals, the author performed a literature review, as well as analysed various authors to get other perspectives and to ensure a critical point of view. Furthermore, to ensure a structured approach, a questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data. The primary data has been gathered through an online survey with the tool SurveyMonkey. The questions are based on the research objectives and the hypotheses.
The results showed that a wisely chosen athletic platform could help to increase the brand equity of a company. In the case of Puma, the research has shown that Usain Bolt is representing the right values to help Puma increasing their brand equity. Furthermore, investigations have shown that the brand is going through a process of repositioning from fashion/lifestyle towards performance and the current position of the brand is not so clearly definable. Therefore, the author recommends that Puma should clearly return to their roots which are in the performance sector, especially football and track shoes.