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This study explores the relationship between brand image and brand equity in the context of sports sponsorship. Keller's (1993, 2003) customer-based brand equity models are the conceptual inspiration for the research, with Faircloth, Capella, and Alford's (2001) conceptual model – adapted from the work of Aaker (1991) and Keller (1993) – the primary conceptual model. The study focuses on the sponsorship relationship between the New Zealand All Blacks and their major sponsor and co-branding partner, adidas. The sporting context for the study was the 2003 Rugby World Cup held in Australia. Data were collected from two independent samples of 200 respondents, utilizing simple random sampling procedures. A bivariate correlation analysis was undertaken to test whether there was any correlation between changes in adidas' brand image and adidas' brand equity as a result of the All Blacks' performance in the 2003 Rugby World Cup. Results support the view that Keller (1993, 2003) proposes that brand image is antecedent to the brand equity construct. Results are also consistent with the findings of Faircloth et al. (2001) that brand image directly impacts brand equity.

This paper analyses whether jersey sponsorship has an effect on team performance at FIFA World Cup matches, taking team qualities into account. Team qualities are measured by the Elo-ratings of national soccer teams. We measure the performance of sponsors by comparing the Elo-ratings at the start and the end of World Cup tournaments. The Elo-ratings are used to calculate the expected probabilities of a win during knockout matches and to compare them with the actual outcomes. The results show that in the knockout stages of the World Cup tournaments, national teams sponsored by Adidas perform significantly better than expected, while teams sponsored by other companies, such as Puma or Nike, perform worse. The average advantage per knockout match for the Adidas teams is to raise the probability of winning by 10 percentage points.

This study examines the strategies used, and the challenges faced, by global sport company adidas as it established a major sponsorship deal with the New Zealand Rugby Football Union. In particular the study focuses on how adidas 'localised' into the New Zealand market, how they used the All Blacks as part of their global marketing campaign and, the resistance they encountered based on claims they were exploiting the Maori haka.

The objective of this research is to understand and compare the perceived brand positioning of two football megabrands (Adidas and Nike) for a specific social group, the registered amateur football players in France, using the social representation theory (SRT) as the theoretical framework and the free word associations as the main method.

A survey was conducted through face-to-face questionnaire among a convenience sample of registered amateur football players in France (n = 362) and for which 52 percent chose Adidas and 48 percent Nike.

Findings demonstrated that Adidas and Nike have a different perceived brand positioning for the registered amateur football players in France. Adidas is perceived as more typical and positioned “inside the football ground” through main characteristics of its football goods for training and competition. Nike is more positioned “outside the football ground” through their sportswear goods for daily life and fashion.

The interest of this research is to be primarily inductive and focus on a specific group (membership of registered amateur football players) to understand the perceived brand positioning in the football market. The method allows activating the belonging with this group (higher level of practice with these brands) by using the SRT method of free word associations. Thanks to this original approach, results could help managers of Nike and Adidas reinforce their brand positioning and gain market share, as well as build their specific brand community like both megabrands did for the runners in France.

The purpose of this paper is to explore historical paths of successful companies’ sustainability commitment, discover internal and external forces that shaped today’s sustainability leaders and show how companies implemented efforts toward sustainability to respond to those circumstances. It offers an in-depth understanding of sustainability-related strategies implemented by highly sustainable companies and serves as encouraging cases for other companies willing to engage in sustainability.

This research took a case-study approach to help build a new theory toward sustainability development and approaches. A content analysis and review of both companies’ annual financial reports and corporate sustainability reports, between 1995 and 2012, and relevant news articles was performed.

Data analysis showed that companies initiated and executed various strategies sustainability in their business, which evolved into themes for their stages of growth. Findings showed that: different companies approached sustainability differently based on their varied experiences; companies’ past and present efforts help to understand their business strategies and commitments more as a holistic process. Companies were affected by external circumstances, such as rewarding partnerships, ranking indices and media criticism for their working conditions, in response to which both the companies designed and implemented their own sustainability approaches.

This study explored a longitudinal analysis of leader companies’ historical sustainability practices. It focused on how two different companies approached sustainability differently based on their varied experiences, thus showing that sustainability can be a source of competitive advantage for companies.

Corporate co‐branding is analysed within the context of a case study of the sponsorship relationship between adidas and the New Zealand Rugby Union. The study indicates that corporate brands may develop co‐branding relationships in order to redefine brand identity, discursively reposition the brand and build brand equity. Corporate co‐branding is established at a fundamental brand values level that, in turn, influences the type of marketing communication campaign that may be undertaken. Discourse theory provides insights into the importance of an articulation campaign in order to increase the equity of corporate brands. Co‐branding offers corporate brands access to the brand strategy of the co‐brand partner, the alignment of brand values, the marketing communication association and brand reach and network of relationships.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the value of the artist's authentic identity in fashion design and art collaborations and evaluate the efficiency of collaborative brand projects.

Through the case study approach, this paper explores the attempts of Adidas to create authenticity by teaming up with artists. It also investigates consumer attitudes toward the brand's collaborative projects via a questionnaire survey.

Authenticity can be understood in two general aspects: conceptual forms and incarnate forms. Within the value system of authenticity, Adidas' collaborative projects and diverse promotional strategies are to a large degree consistent with consumer aspirations. Nonetheless, the factors that contribute to authenticity via conceptual (e.g. originality, exclusivity) and incarnate forms (e.g. creative process, final designs) occupy different positions in the consumer's mind. This study also reveals that when a brand intends to launch such artistic collaborations, the selection of art style should be treated as an important issue, because specific consumer groups tend to have inclinations toward specific art forms.

More cases should be examined to enable the theory to be generalized to other artistic collaboration practices.

As a pioneering effort in this field, this paper explores the application of artistic authenticity to the fashion world via a collaboration with fashion brands. More importantly, it examines the efficiency of such collaborations and the roles that diverse forms of authenticity play in consumers' minds.

The purpose of this is to analyse co‐branding as leverage for both teams and equipment manufacturers in their internationalization endeavours. In other words, how can teams and equipment manufacturers benefit from their association in order to expand internationally?

The study involves four football cases for the 2009‐2010 season: Paris Saint‐Germain and Nike, Olympique de Marseille and Adidas, Olympique Lyonnais and Umbro, and the French national football team and Adidas. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with managers involved with the four teams and their respective equipment manufacturers. The managers were marketing directors, VPs of marketing, sales managers or presidents of their respective organization. Sponsors, university professors and journalists who interact closely with the teams and equipment manufacturers were also interviewed.

It seems as if the team and its equipment manufacturer do not have a formal strategy to jointly benefit from their association. That would be very important for a successful collaboration and for joint internationalization. Currently, the actions appear a little too ad hoc and opportunistic, with some exceptions (i.e. PSG and Emirates Cup). In other words, the commitment does not really transpire yet in the co‐branding partnerships studied.

Other teams in other sports and other countries should be studied in the next stage of the research. All the more so since the paper focused on a convenience sample, comprised of only French teams. Furthermore, special attention should be paid to the differences between North America and Europe. Indeed, in North America, the league is very much involved and controlling in the international expansion of its teams to the point that the league dictates the internationalization of its teams, brands and merchandising offering; whereas in Europe, teams have much more freedom to expand abroad.

The global brand strategy, which refers to a new market and an existing co‐brand name, would be the most appropriate for sports teams and equipment manufacturers. This would be especially true when both the equipment maker and the sports team benefit from a strong brand equity, which they could carry into international markets and use to trigger a strong synergy abroad. The global brand strategy bears some resemblance with the “Brand Conquistador” strategy, where partnership, either between two teams or between a team and an equipment maker, is used in order to expand internationally.

Due in large part to the proprietary nature of costs, there is a dearth of academic literature investigating the factors influencing the costs for sport marketing investments, such as sponsorship. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to provide an analytical framework for market intelligence that enables managers to better predict and forecast costs in today’s ever-changing sport marketing environment.

Given the dynamic and ultra-competitive nature of the athletic apparel industry, this context was chosen to investigate the influence of four distinct factors on sponsorship costs, including property-specific factors, on-field performance, and market-specific factors. A systematic, hierarchical procedure was utilized in the development of a predictive empirical model, which was then utilized to generate predicted values on a per property basis.

Results demonstrated that both property-specific and performance-related factors were significant predictors of costs, while variables reflecting the attractiveness of the property’s home market were non-significant. Further analysis revealed the potential for agency conflicts in the allocation of resources toward properties near the corporate headquarters of sponsors, as well as evidence of overspending by challenger brands (Adidas, Under Armour) in their quest to topple industry leader Nike.

Though the context of apparel sponsorships of US-based intercollegiate athletic programs limits the generalizability of the results, this study represents one of the few in the literature to empirically investigate the determinants of sponsorship costs, providing much-needed guidance to aid decision making in a highly volatile, unpredictable industry.

According to the age‐old proverb, two heads are better than one. This is surely the case with a co‐branded partnership between two or more different corporations. And when the brands concerned are closely matched to begin with, the resulting co‐brand is likely to make an even greater impact.