Brand and Corporate Image of a Sport Organization as a Factor of Building Loyalty

Purpose:The aim of this paper is to highlight the importance of focusing on customer loyalty on exaple of Polish sport organisations which neglect this area in their marketing strategies. For members of sport organisations who provide a balanced healthy lifestyle or fans and supporters who are a part of a TV or stadium audience sport means strong emotions, love for the game, competition and values they share. Sport organisations give their customers opportunities to practise their beliefs and engage in rituals that develop and strengthen connectivity to their ideologies and the brand, too (Head et al., 2012, p. 209). It is also proofed that corporate reputation may effect satisfaction and loyalty of consumers (Chun, 2005, p. 91). Strong brand and the good reputation have become an important beneficial attribute of an organisation nowadays (Davies et al., 2010, p. 530). When, on the other hand, poor performance of the organisation (or an athlete or a whole team in case of sport industry) may destroy its reputation and cause poor self-esteem not only of employees or members but most importantly of customers (fans and supporters) (Arnett et al., 2003, p.92). Fans can be also a public relations mechanism who spread the word through word-of-mouth (Hopwood, 2010, p. 140). That is why sport organisations should concider their fans as customers for whom brand and organisational image are factors strenghtening loyalty that also play important part of their lives. Design/methodology/approach: Customers (also fans of Polish football teams) were sampled (N=150), with qualitative and quantitative results suggesting that there are many factors influencing reputation of Polish football teams what builds (often a negative) an image of the whole discipline in Poland. Findings: The research revealed that even though football is the most popular sport among Polish fans, even those loyal fans do not share only positive opinions of their favourite teams (also in case of management). In their opinion football clubs do not focus as much as they should on customer satisfaction, which does not attract potential customers. Originality/value: Most of researches focus on business performance, financial stability of sport organisations, and effectiveness of sponsoring or media attention in Poland. There is almost none attention paid on fans and supporters as consumers. The study shows an importance of implementing business strategies in polish sport organisations that focus more on customer, building loyalty and attracting customers. Managers of those organisations should concentrate on customers as much as they focus on sport results. They should consider the game and a team as a product (or service) that has to be presented on the market properly.