Skip to main content

LUP Student Papers

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

English Premier League Clubs as Iconic Brands? A case study of three English Premier League football clubs from a cultural branding perspective

Björkman, Agnes LU and Larsson, Emma LU (2022) SKOK11 20221
Department of Strategic Communication
Abstract
Arsenal F.C., Manchester City F.C. and Newcastle United F.C. are three leading football clubs in the English Premier League. These three clubs are consolidated in terms of having a rich history, culture and traditions as well as local embeddedness. Douglas B. Holt’s contributions to the field of branding added a new dimension to how to operate a brand and are recurrently being used in new research. Research within a football context that builds on Holt’s theories of cultural branding is limited and has to our efforts not been found. Therefore, the main purpose of the study was to, through the lens of Holt’s theories, provide knowledge regarding how cultural branding is practised within a football club context. This study explored how three... (More)
Arsenal F.C., Manchester City F.C. and Newcastle United F.C. are three leading football clubs in the English Premier League. These three clubs are consolidated in terms of having a rich history, culture and traditions as well as local embeddedness. Douglas B. Holt’s contributions to the field of branding added a new dimension to how to operate a brand and are recurrently being used in new research. Research within a football context that builds on Holt’s theories of cultural branding is limited and has to our efforts not been found. Therefore, the main purpose of the study was to, through the lens of Holt’s theories, provide knowledge regarding how cultural branding is practised within a football club context. This study explored how three English football clubs engage in cultural branding and whether they can be recognised as iconic brands. In order to answer our research questions, we conducted a thematic analysis following the process of Braun & Clarke (2006). Through coding the data, several key themes were discovered and identified, all of which conductively illustrated how the clubs engage in cultural branding as well as how the supporters experience the clubs' brand. This allowed us to conclude what kind of brand these clubs should be identified as. The study implied that all three clubs analysed actively engage in cultural branding in various ways, to different degrees and extents. However, the findings in this study allude that these clubs should not be regarded as iconic brands, but rather as identity brands that offer their consumers a high value of identity creation and a great opportunity for cultural expressions. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Björkman, Agnes LU and Larsson, Emma LU
supervisor
organization
course
SKOK11 20221
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Cultural branding, iconic brands, identity brands, Arsenal F.C., Manchester City F.C., Newcastle United F.C., English football clubs
language
English
id
9106526
date added to LUP
2023-01-12 14:59:18
date last changed
2023-01-12 14:59:26
@misc{9106526,
  abstract     = {{Arsenal F.C., Manchester City F.C. and Newcastle United F.C. are three leading football clubs in the English Premier League. These three clubs are consolidated in terms of having a rich history, culture and traditions as well as local embeddedness. Douglas B. Holt’s contributions to the field of branding added a new dimension to how to operate a brand and are recurrently being used in new research. Research within a football context that builds on Holt’s theories of cultural branding is limited and has to our efforts not been found. Therefore, the main purpose of the study was to, through the lens of Holt’s theories, provide knowledge regarding how cultural branding is practised within a football club context. This study explored how three English football clubs engage in cultural branding and whether they can be recognised as iconic brands. In order to answer our research questions, we conducted a thematic analysis following the process of Braun & Clarke (2006). Through coding the data, several key themes were discovered and identified, all of which conductively illustrated how the clubs engage in cultural branding as well as how the supporters experience the clubs' brand. This allowed us to conclude what kind of brand these clubs should be identified as. The study implied that all three clubs analysed actively engage in cultural branding in various ways, to different degrees and extents. However, the findings in this study allude that these clubs should not be regarded as iconic brands, but rather as identity brands that offer their consumers a high value of identity creation and a great opportunity for cultural expressions.}},
  author       = {{Björkman, Agnes and Larsson, Emma}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{English Premier League Clubs as Iconic Brands? A case study of three English Premier League football clubs from a cultural branding perspective}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}