Title: Capitalising on CSR-based partnerships in sports branding and sports sponsorship

Authors: Kenneth Cortsen

Addresses: Department of Sport Management and Department of Business Communication, University College of Northern Denmark, Aalborg, Denmark; Business and Social Sciences, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

Abstract: The purpose of this article is to develop a toolkit for academics and practitioners, which elaborates on how strategic application of corporate social responsibility (CSR) may guide sports branding initiatives and sponsorship partnerships and lead to increased levels of brand capitalisation. Inspired by Shank's (2009) notion of the sports brand building process, i.e.: 1) brand awareness; 2) brand image; 3) brand equity; 4) brand loyalty, the interacting nature of sports brands exemplified by how sports brands at the corporate level interact with sports brands at the personal and product levels is integrated in the article. This is done to propose how these interactions may increase the effect of the work with strategic CSR on corporate sports brands.

Keywords: strategic CSR; corporate social responsibility; emotional equity; brand equity; ROI; return on investment; sport management; sport marketing; sports branding; sports sponsorship; brand capitalisation; brand awareness; brand image; brand loyalty; corporate sports brands.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSMM.2014.069105

International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing, 2014 Vol.15 No.1/2, pp.75 - 97

Received: 12 Mar 2014
Accepted: 29 Jan 2015
Published online: 27 Apr 2015 *

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