The creation of RB Leipzig. Authentic identity or self-deception?
1st Edition
Published on 24. October 2016
Book
Paperback/Softback
108 pages
978-3-96067-077-3 (ISBN)
Description
This book examines a five-year old football club from Leipzig which was founded by Red Bull for marketing reasons. Because the audience's interest is surprisingly high, the motivation for the attendance of those fans has been investigated. To identify the degree of affiliation of Leipzig fans with the club, the SSIS has also been examined. In a survey both online and at the stadium 223 football fans have been interviewed to give their opinion on RB Leipzig. In order to approach the core topic, the literature review considers sport sponsoring, identity based team brand management and team identification.
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E-Book
11/2016
1st Edition
Diplomica Verlag
€29.99
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Person
Martin Wenzl was born in 1979 in Rotthalmünster. After an apprenticeship as a technical drawer, he studied micro system engineering at the FH Regensburg, obtaining the qualification of a graduated engineer. Following up, he gained practical experience as a process engineer in the semiconductor field and as a design engineer in the aerospace industry. Most recently, he received a Master degree in Business Administration at the private college of economics and management (FOM) in Stuttgart. At the moment he is working as a configuration manager in the avionic industry.Alongside his economic career, he played soccer since the age of 14. Afterwards, he was active as a functionary on a two-year basis; in both cases at amateur level. Nevertheless, he was always fascinated by the mechanism in professional football and the relationship of supporters to their clubs. Especially the newly founded club in Leipzig by means of Red Bull got into his focus and motivated him to deal with and write about this subject.
Content
Text sample:
Chapter 3.1 TYPES OF BRANDS:
In comparison with another brand customers are willing to pay a price premium which is also an indicator of loyalty.These definition stands in correlation to the effectiveness of a brand. But the understanding of the term brand has changed over the last 50 years. But first of all is not tried now to give a complete overview about this topic, nevertheless a rough sketch will be given.
Therefore in the beginning years respectively in the 60´s the feature-oriented understanding has dominated in regard of a brand. This approach occurred through the idea to create differentiation against other providers. Later the sight on the product has changed and the sight from the perspective of the consumer came up. Out of that several groups in the early 70´s started to discuss which factors of the brand have an effect by the customers.
Moreover in the 90´s also in order to determine the brand equity groups started to determine sub-terms of the generic term brand. At this time also an integrated approach has been discussed. In other words both perspective of the provider and the costumers were combined in one approach. These decade also gave brands an own personality on the one side and emphasizes that brand can exist also in any other possible ways on the other side. Nowadays the brand is driven by communication in general and in communication style with customers in order to create a durable connection with them.
Summing up the understanding of the term brand changed with the perspective, the extension of the conceptual framework and the techniques to reach potential customers. This is one major reason for the huge variety of different categorizations in regard to the term brand.
Because brands exists at all branches, also in the sport surroundings the term is highly discussed. Therefore several meanings and types of brand who have a sport context are shown in the following. To provide facts how a brand has to be essential elements and functions of the brand for the provider and the customers are given.
First of all a brand must have some essential elements in order to be realized as one. For this reason a brand has to have an indistinguishable characteristic to be differentiable against others. However a brand can exist as nearly everything what might be possible. Therefore a symbol, person, service, also an organization or a league is imaginable but also just a letter, a number or a colour are possible to exist as a brand. The pre-condition is that people have an awareness of the brand-exist because only after they can create an association and an image of the brand. To secure a durable success it is necessary to have both a clear message and a continuous improvement to stay in mind.
As a consumer a brand has first and foremost a function for them. In everybody's mind there is a distinctive and unique imagination of the brand. By buying, using and showing the affiliation with the brand the consumers is also trying to differentiate from others. Therefore the consumer expects a constant type and quality of the preferred brand. If these facts are guaranteed he might be able to identify with the brand to receive for example prestige and confidence. The brand has also the advantage to provide a faster orientation in buying decision which discharges them from regular evaluation. Not only but especially in the sport context to express the affiliation with a player or a team is an emphasizing of the own personality.
From the perspective of the brand owner the functions of the brand are different. One of the first functions ever has been the protection of the own brand. But also in case of diversification of the product range the provider can mark his new products and services with his advantageous sign. If the brand is unique the distinguishing itself from other competitors is easier. The creation of preferences helps both to stay in a competitive market and to demand a price premium. The brand of the owner's perspective secures also costumer relations and provides also transfer functions with potential partner.
Because so far the varieties of brands are explainable trough the historic relevance and functions for each, the term is also characterized that people tend to give them a personality. In a study especially designed for football teams in Germany the characteristics and typical features have been determined to measure the personality of each club. In addition the study has been examined online in 2007 by Alexa with a sample size of 8400. The target of this approach has been to give the clubs a tool to compare actual versus target personality of their brand. Through interviews with experts first and a survey with football fans second 24 typical features were found and clustered in four categories. (See figure 3.1) [.].
The main categories are professionalism, emotional, tradition and down to earth. As typical representatives of the group professionalism teams like Leverkusen and Bayern Munich were determined. In the group of emotionalism teams like St. Pauli and Cologne are mentioned as typical. The clubs Karlsruhe and Rostock are seen as teams who are Down-to-earth. Finally fans identify clubs like Kaiserslautern and Monchengladbach as typical traditional.
The evaluation of Alexa was a first step to allocate the clubs features and characteristics. To sort these clubs into different types of brands Bühler and Scheuermann examined a study in 2011 to research the opinion of 5400 handball, football and basketball fans in Germany.
In considering which types of brands exists in German professional sport, five different types were determined. The various categories are defined by ist brand attributes:
The Champions brand is characterised by dominance in sport and in economic attributes, they are also defined by extreme polarised acceptance of the fans. Fans feel either a high attachment or an extreme aversion concerning the club. The Tradition brand is specified through numerous achievements and titles in the past, but still now the club got a good name. The club possesses high sympathy also in rivalled fan groups. The Iconic brand is determined by an extraordinary distinctiveness. The supporters are highly identified with the club and own a huge fan base. They receive also high acknowledgement by competing supporters. The Test-tube brand is described thereby that structures are created artificially in a short time and with a huge invest. Out of that reason there is now evolved tradition. The fan base is typically quite small. The local-regional brand ("local hero") is defined through an extreme incarnated fan group who comes mainly from the own region. But, the club receives no attention outside of this area. [.].
In the end all clubs of the first division in the sport football, handball and basketball were sorted in dependence of clearness in a brand net. Caused of ist relevance only football clubs were shown in figure 3.2. In addition the sport fans have been also asked if it's important for them that their favourites club is perceived as a true brand. In the sum 58.1% of the sport consumers show that the function of the brand is important for them. While the desire that their club is perceived as a true band is equal for both football and basketball fans with around 52% the basketball fans vote with almost 65%. The football fans have been although asked which club is from their own perspective except of their favourites club a true brand. The result shows that out of 36 professional football clubs only 4 are perceived as true brands. These clubs are St. Pauli, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04.
However in regard of categorization the club Bayern Munich was elected from the majority of 89.7% of all football fans to be a champions-brand. As the most typical iconic brand fans have voted with 76.2% the club St. Pauli. The representatives of local-regional brand are clubs from Freiburg and Hannover. In the category tradition are the most clubs from Bundesliga like Schalke and Dortmund. In regard to Schalke it was observable that the club are perceived as both traditions-brand (49.8%) and as iconic brand (26%). Typically for a test-tube brand is the club Hoffenheim with 93.3%.
Chapter 3.1 TYPES OF BRANDS:
In comparison with another brand customers are willing to pay a price premium which is also an indicator of loyalty.These definition stands in correlation to the effectiveness of a brand. But the understanding of the term brand has changed over the last 50 years. But first of all is not tried now to give a complete overview about this topic, nevertheless a rough sketch will be given.
Therefore in the beginning years respectively in the 60´s the feature-oriented understanding has dominated in regard of a brand. This approach occurred through the idea to create differentiation against other providers. Later the sight on the product has changed and the sight from the perspective of the consumer came up. Out of that several groups in the early 70´s started to discuss which factors of the brand have an effect by the customers.
Moreover in the 90´s also in order to determine the brand equity groups started to determine sub-terms of the generic term brand. At this time also an integrated approach has been discussed. In other words both perspective of the provider and the costumers were combined in one approach. These decade also gave brands an own personality on the one side and emphasizes that brand can exist also in any other possible ways on the other side. Nowadays the brand is driven by communication in general and in communication style with customers in order to create a durable connection with them.
Summing up the understanding of the term brand changed with the perspective, the extension of the conceptual framework and the techniques to reach potential customers. This is one major reason for the huge variety of different categorizations in regard to the term brand.
Because brands exists at all branches, also in the sport surroundings the term is highly discussed. Therefore several meanings and types of brand who have a sport context are shown in the following. To provide facts how a brand has to be essential elements and functions of the brand for the provider and the customers are given.
First of all a brand must have some essential elements in order to be realized as one. For this reason a brand has to have an indistinguishable characteristic to be differentiable against others. However a brand can exist as nearly everything what might be possible. Therefore a symbol, person, service, also an organization or a league is imaginable but also just a letter, a number or a colour are possible to exist as a brand. The pre-condition is that people have an awareness of the brand-exist because only after they can create an association and an image of the brand. To secure a durable success it is necessary to have both a clear message and a continuous improvement to stay in mind.
As a consumer a brand has first and foremost a function for them. In everybody's mind there is a distinctive and unique imagination of the brand. By buying, using and showing the affiliation with the brand the consumers is also trying to differentiate from others. Therefore the consumer expects a constant type and quality of the preferred brand. If these facts are guaranteed he might be able to identify with the brand to receive for example prestige and confidence. The brand has also the advantage to provide a faster orientation in buying decision which discharges them from regular evaluation. Not only but especially in the sport context to express the affiliation with a player or a team is an emphasizing of the own personality.
From the perspective of the brand owner the functions of the brand are different. One of the first functions ever has been the protection of the own brand. But also in case of diversification of the product range the provider can mark his new products and services with his advantageous sign. If the brand is unique the distinguishing itself from other competitors is easier. The creation of preferences helps both to stay in a competitive market and to demand a price premium. The brand of the owner's perspective secures also costumer relations and provides also transfer functions with potential partner.
Because so far the varieties of brands are explainable trough the historic relevance and functions for each, the term is also characterized that people tend to give them a personality. In a study especially designed for football teams in Germany the characteristics and typical features have been determined to measure the personality of each club. In addition the study has been examined online in 2007 by Alexa with a sample size of 8400. The target of this approach has been to give the clubs a tool to compare actual versus target personality of their brand. Through interviews with experts first and a survey with football fans second 24 typical features were found and clustered in four categories. (See figure 3.1) [.].
The main categories are professionalism, emotional, tradition and down to earth. As typical representatives of the group professionalism teams like Leverkusen and Bayern Munich were determined. In the group of emotionalism teams like St. Pauli and Cologne are mentioned as typical. The clubs Karlsruhe and Rostock are seen as teams who are Down-to-earth. Finally fans identify clubs like Kaiserslautern and Monchengladbach as typical traditional.
The evaluation of Alexa was a first step to allocate the clubs features and characteristics. To sort these clubs into different types of brands Bühler and Scheuermann examined a study in 2011 to research the opinion of 5400 handball, football and basketball fans in Germany.
In considering which types of brands exists in German professional sport, five different types were determined. The various categories are defined by ist brand attributes:
The Champions brand is characterised by dominance in sport and in economic attributes, they are also defined by extreme polarised acceptance of the fans. Fans feel either a high attachment or an extreme aversion concerning the club. The Tradition brand is specified through numerous achievements and titles in the past, but still now the club got a good name. The club possesses high sympathy also in rivalled fan groups. The Iconic brand is determined by an extraordinary distinctiveness. The supporters are highly identified with the club and own a huge fan base. They receive also high acknowledgement by competing supporters. The Test-tube brand is described thereby that structures are created artificially in a short time and with a huge invest. Out of that reason there is now evolved tradition. The fan base is typically quite small. The local-regional brand ("local hero") is defined through an extreme incarnated fan group who comes mainly from the own region. But, the club receives no attention outside of this area. [.].
In the end all clubs of the first division in the sport football, handball and basketball were sorted in dependence of clearness in a brand net. Caused of ist relevance only football clubs were shown in figure 3.2. In addition the sport fans have been also asked if it's important for them that their favourites club is perceived as a true brand. In the sum 58.1% of the sport consumers show that the function of the brand is important for them. While the desire that their club is perceived as a true band is equal for both football and basketball fans with around 52% the basketball fans vote with almost 65%. The football fans have been although asked which club is from their own perspective except of their favourites club a true brand. The result shows that out of 36 professional football clubs only 4 are perceived as true brands. These clubs are St. Pauli, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04.
However in regard of categorization the club Bayern Munich was elected from the majority of 89.7% of all football fans to be a champions-brand. As the most typical iconic brand fans have voted with 76.2% the club St. Pauli. The representatives of local-regional brand are clubs from Freiburg and Hannover. In the category tradition are the most clubs from Bundesliga like Schalke and Dortmund. In regard to Schalke it was observable that the club are perceived as both traditions-brand (49.8%) and as iconic brand (26%). Typically for a test-tube brand is the club Hoffenheim with 93.3%.