Having managed one of the biggest sports brands & guiding quiet a few business to take advantage of sports associations, I think it’s time to understand why sports works for brand building in our context. More so because I was suggesting an isight yesterday and have continued to refine it over the night.
"Consumers believe that automobiles have continued to be our “freedom machines,” a means of both transportation and personal expression. Such long drives/races are a pinnacle of performance for man & machine. While they may not have the necessary skills or perseverance to participate but social causes and associated activities helps them with a fan identity, as with any group identity, being beneficial to the individual in that it may provide a sense of community thus triggering imitation syndrome.”
It’s time for me out down my thoughts on identities and how they build from strictly a sports/celebrity perspective & how it becomes important for brands to learn to distinguish between fan and spectator. We must understand the root of word ‘ Fan’. It comes from ‘Fanatic’.
Within social psychology, there are two dominant theory of identity –
- Identity theory and
- Social identity theory
Identity theory is a direct derivation of McCall and Simmons (1978) role-identity theory, which suggests that individuals will base their actions on how
- They like to see themselves
- They like to be seen by others.
Therefore, the role-identity requires two components, specifically, the role itself and the identity to be associated with that role. With this in mind, identity theory is rooted in the concept of roles and role-identities.
Social identity theory, however, is based on Festinger’s (1954) social comparison theory, which suggests that individuals will strive to attach themselves to other individuals who are similar or slightly better. Social identity theory, therefore, focuses on the ways in which individuals perceive and categorize themselves, based on their social and personal identities. Rather than emphasizing role and role behaviors, social identity theory emphasizes group processes and inter-group relations. Both of these theories posit that, theoretically, the self is multifaceted, dynamic, and is generally responsible for mediating the relationship between social structures and individuals behaviour. However, the social identity theory has come to dominate the study of intergroup relations (Brown and Capozza, 2000), while identity theory focuses on the concept of role identities.
Most sport fan researchers have focused exclusively on social identity theory; however, I argue that identity theory should be used as well. Within identity theory, the process of identity formation requires the individual to define him/herself in terms of the social relationship. In the creation of a fan identity, the individual will develop either a personal identity, a social identify, or both. Identity theory suggests that individuals have choices and it examines why they make the choices they do. The questions that arises and remain to be answered are, why, and how have they chosen a specific team? Furthermore, if identity is created through interaction, what types of interaction led the individual to make the choices he/she made? why individuals find sports to be enjoyable. These reasons include benefits associated with self esteem, an escape from everyday life, entertainment, economic factors, aesthetic or artistic qualities, group affiliation and family needs..
As for the differences between spectators & fans, the former will observe a sport and then forget about it, while fans will have more intensity and will devote parts of every day to the team or the sport itself. Fanship has also been defined as “an affiliation in which a great deal of emotional significance and value are derived from group membership”. Key here is word “group membership” so it makes sense to create communities of like minded people for us i.e. Superbike racing, Endurance racing. In that sense social media becomes very important.. remember its a community of like minded people.
Every activity that we plan must have an objective linking up to one grand idea. It must reinforce the brand relationship with subjects of adulation & create a favourable neighbourhood in consumer mind.
May be this is theory but has been basis of building brands in past i.e. Gillette Mach3, Smirnoff, Captain morgan, Chennai Super kings as I have seen
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