Consumer-Led Brand Development for a University Athletics Program

A foundational aspect of sports marketing is the study of how consumer relationships contribute to brand loyalty and behavior. A new baccalaureate university introduced intercollegiate athletics—and needed a process to define its distinctive brand assets and to select a brand name and brand mark. The qualitative and quantitative consumer-led process built brand loyalty using a Gronroos' customer relationship model of external, internal and interactive marketing. A brand personality survey demonstrated significant differences in characteristics desired by different stakeholder groups. The benefits, challenges and implications of the consensus-building approach are identified for practitioners--and the need for stronger concepts and measures in this emerging research area suggested.