Real Madrid Brand Management Essay

Corporate sponsors: a beneficial relationship for both parties, the increasing awareness coming from the efficient marketing programme from Real Madrid allows a greater financial return and also the possibility to reach the consumers of its sponsors as well. The main sponsors are both in the sports arena, which allows the club to expand its image without over-stretching; eg. Bwin sport betting platform; and Adidas, an experienced brand in the sports scene. Othersports brands People Things Places Adidas & Bwin Galacticos Cristiano Ronaldo Figure 3. Secondary leveraging through associations with people and other brands Externally the team also benefited from strong rivalry with Barcelona and in a smaller scale it also uses the association with football in Spain as a mean to build its brand reputation. 3) Brand performance Real Madrid since its foundation built its reputation over its successful story. Like other European clubs, until last decade it adopted a focus on the sport events only, which enable the team to be known nationally and throughout Europe. In middle of 2000’s, the club identified the opportunity to increase knowledge worldwide and was also able to increase its brand stature, attracting more fans by selecting star players for the squad. According to Young and Rubincam Brand Asset Valuator (Value Based Management, 2011), the club has been for a long time in the position of unrealised/emerging potential. In the last decade it has reached leadership, competing with teams such as Manchester United and Barcelona. Real Madrid has always had good brand strength, but only in the last 10 years it has been able to fully exploit the brand stature. Figure 4. Building brand stature through time 1902 -mid 2000’s Mid 2000’s – now Figure 5. From unrealised potential to leadership (Merlo, 2011) 4) Brand equity sustainability In order to successfully manage the brand through time, it is necessary to analyse the external and internal factors that could affect its equity. Analysing the threats through the external perspective, the most recent proof of the successful strategy of going global was showed when Real Madrid went through the last world economy downturn without suffering any major financial impact: â€Å"We continue to assert that top clubs are well placed o meet the challenges of the economic environment. Large and loyal supporter bases, the ability to drive broadcast audiences and continuing attraction to corporate partners provide a strong base to underpin revenues†, says Paul Rawnsley, director in Deloitte’s sports business group. (licensemag. com, 2011) Real Madrid has made a good use of merchandising and did not over-stretch the brand by launching products that are not related to sports. It has been able to feed fans’ variety seeking without confusing them or diluting the brand meaning. 5) Conclusion Real Madrid’s tactics based on a mix of two strategies (reputation and affinity) is a good balance to protect the club from vulnerability. By constantly having good results the team builds a good reputation while at the same time crystallizing the emotions of the fans and creating affinity. One of the risks faced by the brand lies in over-relating to the image of individual players as eventual personal incidents might damage the brand equity. Real Madrid’s brand uses associations with people and other brands. It could explore further associations with the country Spain.