Dissertation | CHAPTER 5

Chapter 5

The hypothesis was developed through an understanding of marketing, corporate identity/image and the football industry. It's aim to apply interests in these areas to answer the set hypothesis. Through a detailed analysis of available literature and the formulation of primary research helped to establish that the hypothesis could be stated true or proved. Marketing is the discipline, but often organisation's (football clubs) are developing methods to distinguish themselves from the alternative brands. Through having a distinguished and integrated corporate image, the author can clearly and confidently state that this will create a unique position for the organisation/club and thus help to be a vital link in the success of clubs. Of course, other factors exist in order to be successful, but the image strategy helps to display the brand to be offered to the external audiences.

Through detailed primary research it was found that 86.6% of clubs believe that they have a corporate image strategy and with this 93.3% state that such a strategy will complement 'on-the field' activities and 23% believe that it will help to attract supporters to the club. These are some of the success variables football clubs have and so validate the claim that by having a positive corporate image is vital to the success of football clubs, adding value to the core product. It is certainly the clubs researched attitude that by holding a corporate image will boost financial capabilities (93%).

The need for a corporate image strategy in football can be examined as such:

Helps to augment the core offering
Vision which encompasses the whole organisation
Displayed to the external audiences and as such can help create a Unique Selling Proposition
Satisfies the needs of all stakeholders
Reinforces the brand
Turns an intangible product into a tangible offering

Through the in-depth research conducted with Manchester City and Leicester City, it is clear that football clubs are putting the theory of corporate image into practice as a means of better satisfying their marketing needs. It is believed that marketing can be unilaterally applied throughout the football spectrum but corporate image is the means to differentiate the brand.

Football is all about creating long-term/sustainable relationships, through relationship marketing theory this can be achieved. Through an integrated strategy, all the stakeholders of the football club can feel they are a part of the clubs success and so the dream -the idealisation -of the football industry can be felt by all stakeholders. Relationship in football is stronger than any other industry, with very few ever brand switching. Brand allegiances are created by genealogy, it is passed down throughout the family-tree. For this reason football clubs know they will have 'customers' in the future, the current fans' children will be fans of the club and their children and then their children will be fans. As the Bradford City saying goes "Once a Bantam, always a Bantam" and such can be extended to any football club, irrespective of size, glamour or success.

Football is the ultimate brand, no other brand, no other industry can say they have a customer as loyal as that of football clubs. Through corporate image, brand associations can be reinforced to create "brand equity" (Aaker, 1991). The ultimate pinnacle for any football in England is the Premier League. The beauty of football is that any club can achieve that all on the same 'level' -success on the playing field. Unlike other sports, football clubs are unable to achieve 'top-flight' status unless they are good enough on the field (core product). Of course the author points out that off the field successes will help on-the-field activities, through increased media representation, community representation and income.

Phenomenal changes have engulfed English football since the Hillsborough tragedy, the BSkyB television deal and the attitudes of the owners of football have enabled the industry to have business rhetoric established within it. Marketing over the years has developed into a respected theorem and has become established in the 'beautiful game', which too as become more respected, with less negative connotations.

However some believe that football could be approaching breaking point, and that it will be unable to grow at the rate it is going. Whatever happens to football in the future the game has never been as lucrative as it is now:

"Big money now rules the beautiful game. 'New football' has changed enormously and all is down to money"

(Dempsey, P. & Reilly, K. 1998, page 7)

Generally the dissertation went well. Despite the fact that the author found football clubs difficult to respond to research, but indebted to those, that did. The whole concept of corporate image progressed via the help of Jack Yan and integrated well into the football industry. The author was surprised at the number of clubs who openly stated that they have a clear knowledge of corporate image and that it was important to them. It shows that football has become a business industry, shown by the fact that Manchester United is worth more than some of the FTSE-100 companies at the current market capitalisation. What was confirmed to the through this study that the English game is the strongest league in the world and the most affluent for companies to place investment.

Therefore the hypothesis "A Positive corporate image is vital to the success of English football clubs" was found to be true. Clubs must be aware of this business tool and how it can be applied to the club in relation to the needs of the club's stakeholders.