European Journal of Physical Education and Sport Science
ISSN: 2501 - 1235
ISSN-L: 2501 - 1235
Available on-line at: www.oapub.org/edu
Volume 3 │ Issue 5 │ 2017
doi: 10.5281/zenodo.570951
ANALYSIS OF FOOLAD KHUZESTAN CLUBS BRAND WITH
EMPHASIS ON BRAND ASSOCIATIONS
Mahtab Khanmohamadii,
Abdolrahman Mehdipour2,
Sedighe Heydarinejad3,
Amin Khatibi4
Master of Sport Management, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences,
1
Shahid Chamran University, Ahvaz, Iran
Associate professor, Department of Sport Management, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport
2
Sciences, Shahid Chamran University, Ahvaz, Iran
Professor, Department of Sport Management, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences,
3
Shahid Chamran University, Ahvaz, Iran
Assistant professor, Department of Sport Management, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport
4
Sciences, Shahid Chamran University, Ahvaz, Iran
Abstract:
Brand is strategically valuable to organizations. The aim of this study was to identify
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of Foolad Khuzestan Club based on
brand associations. Due to limitation of the research statistical population of all the
senior managers of the club, were all 15 persons the sample was considered equal to the
society using the statistical sampling method. In order to collect data, the association’s
questionnaire of brand the Ross (2006) was used. The justifiability of questionnaire was
confirmed by five of sport management professors and its reliability was 0.85 achieved
by Cronbach's alpha method. Binomial and Friedman test were used to analyze data. At
the end a 20 items significant was obtained from 53 items in questionnaire which
include, 10 strengths, 4 weakness, 4, opportunities and 2 threats. The findings according
to Friedman test (x2-39.23, Pvalue-0.05) showed that great efforts of club management
for success, is the most important strength and the low fan interaction competitions, is
the most important weakness and the most important opportunity is the low opponents
readiness to confront the club and spending money by the club arrivals to hire a coach,
is the most important threat. In general, and with regard to the number of internal and
Copyright © The Author(s). All Rights Reserved.
© 2015 – 2017 Open Access Publishing Group
31
Mahtab Khanmohamadi, Abdolrahman Mehdipour, Sedighe Heydarinejad, Amin Khatibi
ANALYSIS OF FOOLAD KHUZESTAN CLUBS BRAND WITH EMPHASIS ON BRAND ASSOCIATIONS
external factors for the club brand, this can be acknowledged that Foolad Khuzestan’s
club is currently in a right position, and its offered that in order to maintain and
improve this position the club had better to develop and implement some strategies
with considering the achieved internal and external factors.
Keywords: brand, Khuzestan Foolad club, brand associations, SWOT analyze
1. Introduction
Over the past decades, the value of a company was measured in terms of its real estate,
tangible assets, plants, and equipment. Today, however, the economics and
management researchers conclude that the real value of a company is out of its place in
the minds of potential buyers. In today's world, the organization's brand is the main
asset of many organizations (Moharramzadeh, 2013). The brand may be conceptualized
as a name, term, sign, symbol, or a combination of them; it makes the goods and
services of one seller or group of sellers to be identified and distinguishes them from
other competitors (Sehat et al, 2012; Cutler, 2004). Besides having successful and
powerful brand, the establishment of brand in minds of customers is more important to
achieve their loyalty. The mentality of a brand is the perceptions of brand which are
organized meaningfully in consumer's mind and impact on judgment of consumers
about product’s value Dean,
. The value and sense which arises in mind of
consumer and distinguishes one brand from other brands is called brand association.
D.A (1991) considers the brand association as anything which is related with brand in
customer's mind. “ccording to Chen’s brand association classification, the associations
are the basis of purchase decisions, brand loyalty, and create value for company and
their customers (Chen, 2001). The brand association enables customers to make the best
choice considering specific items in mind (Parhizgar, 2012). Today, therefore, the brand
management is of great importance for organizations. Melovic (2014) argues that the
modern brand management reflects the integrated management of all brand contacts
and consumers and is a tool to manage market communications. Due to strategic value
of brand to organizations as well as its role in identifying product (Sajjadi, 2013), many
research have been conducted in recent years on brand management in sports
organizations. The researchers have emphasized on increasing importance of this field;
therefore, the sports organizations get more willing to try in this field. In addition, the
sports organizations should find solution to deal with regional and global changes. The
brand and its management have the potential to take advantage of a comprehensive
program and provide a competitive advantage to organization. Kapferer (2006) argues
that the wealth of a football club like Manchester United is its global community with
European Journal of Physical Education and Sport Science - Volume 3 │ Issue 5 │ 2017
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Mahtab Khanmohamadi, Abdolrahman Mehdipour, Sedighe Heydarinejad, Amin Khatibi
ANALYSIS OF FOOLAD KHUZESTAN CLUBS BRAND WITH EMPHASIS ON BRAND ASSOCIATIONS
over 4 million fans who buy its sports packages and products and are willing to watch
its games. However, the success of a brand is often dependent on club success and
profit of famous brands. Holt (1995) stated that the brand should help the professional
sport teams to increase their emotional connection with fans in order to create brand
trust and brand and organization loyalty. Gladden and Funk (2002) argued that the
sports teams need managers who are aware of brand equity components, because these
components may greatly affect the quality of brand equity; they emphasized on brand
association to enhance brand equity. In his research, Chen (1996) provided a scale to
measure customer-based brand equity; the brand association was its main tool. In their
research, Gladden and Funk (2002) identified the 16 factors which shape brand
association in sport: success, star players, coach, management, logo design, stadium,
product presentation, team history, offered benefits, identity of fans, friends reception,
nostalgia, passion in location, importance, knowledge, and influence of name. Also,
Ross (2006) provided the scale to measure brand association in professional sports
teams which contained
factors team staff, team success, team history, team’s game
features,
stadium,
team
brand,
commitment,
organization’s
attitudes,
social
interactions, advantages, and competition.
Korchia (2004) found that the brand association features have no impact on
brand awareness, while the unique and acceptable associations impact on creating
higher brand equity and brand attractiveness. Brain et al (2011) stated that the strategic
map of brand associations provides a clear, strategic, and customer- based vision to
managers. Williams
studied on brand associations’ measurement by exploring
the relationship between brand associations and brand loyalty in sports, identified 10
brand associations factors (Product presentations, socialization, location, value,
popularity, physical space, logo, nostalgia, passion, and management), and concluded
that there is relationship between brand associations and brand loyalty. He showed that
from among the factors, there was significant relationship between location, value, logo,
and passion and brand loyalty. Thilo (2014) conducted a study entitled (Strategies to
develop sports brand to strengthen consumer relationships with product). Through
content analysis, he identified 3 brand's development strategies: market penetration,
market development, and product development. Rui (2015) studied the role of fan club
membership in understanding brand equity of football teams and concluded that there
was significant difference among factors including brand, social interaction,
commitment, team history, organizational features, team success, coach, management,
stadium, and internalization. Chanavat & Bodet (2009) provided strategies to create a
global brand in professional sports teams and in this regard, they emphasized on
several key factors including team, organization, and market. In this study, they found
specific characteristics for each club’s brand equity.
European Journal of Physical Education and Sport Science - Volume 3 │ Issue 5 │ 2017
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Mahtab Khanmohamadi, Abdolrahman Mehdipour, Sedighe Heydarinejad, Amin Khatibi
ANALYSIS OF FOOLAD KHUZESTAN CLUBS BRAND WITH EMPHASIS ON BRAND ASSOCIATIONS
In recent years, the Iranian researchers have also studied the position of brand in
sport. In a study entitled The effect of successful teams’ brands on fans’ loyalty in
Football Premier League of Iran), Ehsani (2012) found that the benefits of brand
association is the most influential factor on fans’ brand loyalty the attitudes and assets
were in next ranks. Moshabbaki Esfahani (2013) designed the model of Iran sports
industry's brand identity and found that the most important factors shaping brand
identity in sports are: success, color, name and logo, delivery, clothing, fans and rivals,
geographical links, history, tradition, star players, performance, stadium, and nonplayer staff. Esfahani (2013) conducted a study entitled (Brand development strategic
planning with an emphasis on brand associations at Mahan Sepahan Club) and
concluded that Foolad Mahan Club’s brand has 9 strengths,
weaknesses,
opportunities, and 1 threat. Alavi (1393) referred to mediator role of loyalty in
relationship between loving sport brand and sport brand advocacy. In a study entitled
(Modelling the fan-based brand equity (AFBBE) in football clubs in Iran), Farahani
(2014) concluded that the characteristics and factors of brand association had no
significant effect on brand loyalty; there was significant direct correlation between
attitude factor of brand association and brand identity factor and brand loyalty of Iran
Football Premier League’s fans.
Despite considerable sports research on brand, the sports organizations and
clubs have not tried significantly in this area. The Foolad Khoozestan Club has been one
of the successful sports organizations in Iran in recent years which has always tried to
benefit from scientific principles in order to progress. Despite the good position of this
club in domestic and foreign leagues and its various products and services which are
offered to customers and fans, there has been no brand management in this
organization. However, this study tries to answer three questions: What are the most
important strengths and weaknesses of Foolad Khozestan Club emphasizing on brand
association? What are the opportunities and threats of Foolad Khozestan Club
emphasizing on brand association? What is the strategic position of Foolad Khuzestan
Club’s brand?
2. Methodology
This was applied-descriptive research. The population consisted of all senior managers
of Foolad Khoozestan Club (N= 15). Due to limited number of population, all of these
managers were selected as sample. The Ross’s ”rand “ssociation Questionnaire
was used as research tool; it included eleven factors (team staff, team success, team
history, team game features, team brand, stadium, commitment, organization attitude,
social interactions, benefits, and competition) and 53 items. The content validity of
European Journal of Physical Education and Sport Science - Volume 3 │ Issue 5 │ 2017
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Mahtab Khanmohamadi, Abdolrahman Mehdipour, Sedighe Heydarinejad, Amin Khatibi
ANALYSIS OF FOOLAD KHUZESTAN CLUBS BRAND WITH EMPHASIS ON BRAND ASSOCIATIONS
questionnaire was confirmed by ten sport management professors. Using Cronbach's
alpha, its reliability was determined to be 0.85. The SPSS software was used to analyze
the data. The binomial test was used to determine the significance of strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. In this test, the test probability and cutoff point
were determined to be 0.5 and 3, respectively. Also, the Friedman test was used to rank
significant factors.
3. Findings
In this study, the SWOT “nalyze Foolad Khoozestan Club’s brand was determined. The
results are provided in following. From total of 53 items in questionnaire, 40 items are
internal factors and 13 items are external factors. The binomial test result was
significant for 20 items; of these, 14 items were internal factors and 6 items were
external factors. Of 14 internal factors, 10 items were strengths and 4 items were
weaknesses of club's brand. Also, of 6 external items, 4 items were opportunities and 2
items were threats. The table 3 provides the results of Friedman test for strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
Table 1: Results of testing statistical hypotheses to determine the significance of internal
(strengths and weaknesses) factors
Tested item
Observed
Test
Sig.
probability
probability
level
Result
Club symbol is known to fans
8/08
8/80
8/830
Significant
Club logo is known to fans
8/33
8/80
8/110
Insignificant
Club special color is known to fans
8/08
8/80
8/083
Insignificant
Club negotiates with local clubs and
8/33
8/80
8/110
Insignificant
8/08
8/80
8/830
Significant
Club knows its competitors
8/03
8/80
1/888
Insignificantly
Club is aware of its strengths and weakness
8/83
8/80
8/881
Significant
Club is prepared to deal with opponents
8/13
8/80
8/883
Significant
Availability of food in stadiums
8/03
8/80
8/380
Insignificant
Availability of beverages in stadiums
8/08
8/80
8/083
Insignificantly
Possibility of buying and selling club brand
8/08
8/80
8/083
Insignificantly
8/33
8/80
8/110
Insignificantly
Interaction between fans during games
8/03
8/80
8/883
Significant
Participation of fans as groups with their
8/08
8/80
8/083
Insignificantly
companies
Club negotiates with foreign clubs and
companies
goods in stadium
Games provide an opportunity to fans to
have social interactions
European Journal of Physical Education and Sport Science - Volume 3 │ Issue 5 │ 2017
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Mahtab Khanmohamadi, Abdolrahman Mehdipour, Sedighe Heydarinejad, Amin Khatibi
ANALYSIS OF FOOLAD KHUZESTAN CLUBS BRAND WITH EMPHASIS ON BRAND ASSOCIATIONS
friends
A special period in history of club
8/33
8/80
8/380
Insignificantly
Club teams’ win games
8/13
8/80
8/883
Significant
Club’s wined cups
8/08
8/80
8/830
Significant
Presence arte of fans at each game
8/73
8/80
8/803
Insignificantly
Following regularly the games by fans
8/08
8/80
8/830
Significant
Club’s loyal fans
8/08
8/80
8/083
Insignificantly
Club fulfills the commitments to fans
8/33
8/80
8/110
Insignificantly
Loyalty of club to fans
8/13
8/80
8/880
Significant
Club fulfill its duties in regard with
8/03
8/80
8/380
Insignificantly
Club’s head coaches popularity among fans
8/73
8/80
1/888
Insignificantly
Club’s coaches popularity among fans
8/78
8/80
8/083
Insignificantly
Popularity of club’s head coaches compared
8/33
8/80
8/110
Insignificantly
8/03
8/80
1/888
Insignificantly
Employing best coaches in club
8/08
8/80
8/830
Significant
Spending more money to hire a coach
8/33
8/80
8/380
Insignificantly
Popularity of club management among fans
8/33
8/80
8/110
Insignificantly
Club management effort for success of club
8/83
8/80
8/881
Significant
Club owner effort for success of club
8/83
8/80
8/881
Significant
Club’s stadiums location in city
8/33
8/80
8/81
Significant
Unique features of stadiums
8/03
8/80
1/888
Insignificantly
Using internal stadiums
8/33
8/80
8/380
Insignificantly
Special features of club’s teams
8/03
8/80
8/110
Insignificantly
Point taking procedure of club teams
8/78
8/80
8/083
Insignificantly
Club teams performance
8/83
8/80
8/881
Significant
Quality of club teams players
8/03
8/80
8/110
Insignificantly
Quality of club teams
8/83
8/80
8/81
Significant
community
with the head coaches of other clubs
Popularity of club’s coaches compared with
coaches of other clubs
Table 2: Results of testing statistical hypotheses to determine the significance of external
(opportunities and threats) factors
Tested item
Observed
Test
Sig.
probability
probability
level
Result
Opponents are ready to compete with club
8/03
8/80
8/883
Significant
Opponents are aware of strengths and
8/08
8/80
8/830
Significant
1/88
8/80
8/888
Significant
weaknesses of club
Negotiations of opponents with foreign
clubs and companies
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Mahtab Khanmohamadi, Abdolrahman Mehdipour, Sedighe Heydarinejad, Amin Khatibi
ANALYSIS OF FOOLAD KHUZESTAN CLUBS BRAND WITH EMPHASIS ON BRAND ASSOCIATIONS
8/73
8/80
1/888 Insignificant
8/03
8/80
8/380 Insignificant
Providing food at stadium by opponents
8/08
8/80
8/830
Club's competitors winning
8/03
8/80
1/888 Insignificant
Club’s competitors cups
8/73
8/80
1/888 Insignificant
Competitors loyalty to their fans
8/78
8/80
8/083 Insignificant
Competition spend more money to hire
8/08
8/80
8/830
Significant
8/888
8/80
8/888
Significant
Quality of rival teams
8/03
8/80
8/380 Insignificant
Quality of rival teams’ players
8/03
8/80
1/888 Insignificant
Negotiations of opponents with local clubs
and companies
Restrictive government regulations in the
field of providing food
Significant
coach for their club
Home stadiums of rival teams
Table 3: Results of Friedman test for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats
Influencing
Chi-
Degree of
Sig.
Test
factors
square
freedom
level
error
Organizational
Strengths
33/03
3
8/881
8/80
factors
Result
There is significant
difference between
items
Weaknesses
10/70
3
8/881
8/80
There is significant
difference between
items
Environmental
Opportunities
18/773
3
8/837
8/80
factors
There is significant
difference between
items
Threats
3/00
1
8/810
8/80
There is significant
difference between
items
According to table 3, the significance level of all four lists is lower than test error value;
therefore, there is significant difference between items on each list. Also, the average
rating value was considered to rank each of internal and external factors according to
their importance level. The results for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats
are provided in tables 4, 5, 6, and 7, respectively.
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Mahtab Khanmohamadi, Abdolrahman Mehdipour, Sedighe Heydarinejad, Amin Khatibi
ANALYSIS OF FOOLAD KHUZESTAN CLUBS BRAND WITH EMPHASIS ON BRAND ASSOCIATIONS
Table 4: Ranking the strengths
No.
Factors
Mean ranking
Total ranking
S1
Club manager’s hard work to be successful
0/33
1
S2
Managers are aware of club's strengths and weaknesses
0/03
0
S3
Good performance of club teams
0/13
3
S4
Loyalty of organization to fans
0/03
7
S5
High quality of club teams
0/38
0
S6
Club is prepared to face with opponents
0/03
0
S7
Fans follow regularly the games
7/38
3
S8
Number of club teams’ wins
7/33
0
S9
Number of cups for each club teams
7/08
3
S10
Negotiation with foreign companies and clubs
7/03
18
Table 5: Ranking the weaknesses
No.
Factors
Mean ranking
Total ranking
W1
Fans have low interaction during the event
7/03
1
W2
Club icon (Steel construction process) is not known to fans
3/08
0
W3
Improper position of stadium at outside of city
3/38
3
W4
Not employing best coaches
0/73
7
Table 6: Ranking the opportunities
No.
Factors
Mean ranking
Total ranking
O1
Low preparedness of opponent clubs to face with this club
3/03
1
O2
Rivals are not aware of club’s strengths and weaknesses
0/33
0
O3
Rivals have little negotiations with foreign companies and
0/33
3
O4
clubs
Rivals do not provide food products in stadiums
0/83
7
Table 7: Ranking the threats
No.
Factors
Mean ranking
T1
Rivals spend more money to recruit best coaches
0/81
1
T2
Stadium of rivals is in good condition
1/08
0
European Journal of Physical Education and Sport Science - Volume 3 │ Issue 5 │ 2017
Total ranking
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Mahtab Khanmohamadi, Abdolrahman Mehdipour, Sedighe Heydarinejad, Amin Khatibi
ANALYSIS OF FOOLAD KHUZESTAN CLUBS BRAND WITH EMPHASIS ON BRAND ASSOCIATIONS
4. Discussion and conclusion
The findings showed that the Foolad Khoozestan Club’s brand has some strengths.
According to table 4, it has 10 strengths: good performance of club teams, club
manager’s hard work to be successful, loyalty of organization to fans, the managers are
aware of club's strengths and weaknesses, prepared to face with opponents, negotiation
with foreign companies, the number of cups for each club teams, fans follow regularly
the games, number of club teams’ wins, and high quality of club teams. Considering the
strengths of club, it can be said that the club brand is in good condition. The strengths
are the activities which are performed well by organization or the resources which are
under the control of organization. Therefore, the organization should try to maintain
and improve them and enhance its performance. According to findings, the Foold
Khoozestan Club’s brand has these weaknesses the club icon Steel construction
process) is not known to fans, fans have low interaction during the event, improper
position of stadium at outside of city, and not employing best coaches. The weaknesses
are those activities which are not performed well by organization or the resources
which should be available, but are not. Therefore, it is necessary to take strategies to
turn these weaknesses into strengths based on opportunities and threats. Also, the
findings show that the Foolad Khoozestan Club’s brand has these opportunities low
preparedness of opponent clubs to face with this club, the rivals are not aware of club’s
strengths and weaknesses, the rivals have little negotiations with foreign companies
and clubs, and the competitors do not provide food products in stadiums. The
opportunities are the situations which have absolutely clear benefits; if certain actions
are taken, they may be realized. It should be noted that the Foolad Khoozestan club
should benefit from strengths to achieve opportunities and use these opportunities to
eliminate weaknesses and threats. The findings showed that this club’s brand has these
threats: the competitors spend more money to recruit best coaches and the stadium of
rivals is in good condition. The threats are the potential situations that if necessary
actions are not taken, they will led to harmful consequences (Khabiri & Memari, 2012).
Esfahani (2013) conducted a study entitled (Brand development strategic planning with
an emphasis on brand associations at Mahan Sepahan Club) and concluded that Foolad
Mahan Club’s brand has 9 strengths,
weaknesses,
opportunities, and
threat.
Comparing the internal factors (strengths and weaknesses) of brands of Foolad
Khoozestan Club and Foolad Mahan Sepahan Club, it was found that these two teams
are different in these regard: the size of Foolad Khoozestan Club is larger than Foolad
Mahan Sepahan Club, Foolad Khoozestan Club has teams at different age ranges in
football and Foolad Mahan Sepahan Club has teams in different sports, Foolad
Khoozestan Club has a football academy, and etc. Since the internal factors of a sport
European Journal of Physical Education and Sport Science - Volume 3 │ Issue 5 │ 2017
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Mahtab Khanmohamadi, Abdolrahman Mehdipour, Sedighe Heydarinejad, Amin Khatibi
ANALYSIS OF FOOLAD KHUZESTAN CLUBS BRAND WITH EMPHASIS ON BRAND ASSOCIATIONS
organization are associated with administrative activities of staff, members, sports
programs, and facilities, these factors are available to organizations and managers; the
managers may influence them. “lthough the external factors are important for today’s
sport even more than internal factors, the sport managers often ignore these factors.
Comparing the external factors opportunities and threats of two clubs’ brands, it was
found that they have similarities. The external environment of a sport organization
consists of technical advances in communications and administration, political
environment, sports’ social environment, economic stability of sponsors, other
attractive sports activities, public perception about sports, interests and tendencies of
young people to different sports, and etc. Due to similarity of some of external
(opportunities and threats) factors, the two teams (Foolad Mahan Sepahan and Foolad
Khoozestan) which work in a community may have some of these mentioned factors. In
general, it may be said that considering the external and internal factors, the Foolad
Khoozestan Club’s brand is in relatively good position. It is expected that the managers
of this club to design and implement strategic plans in accordance with internal and
external factors of club’s brand to maintain and improve this position.
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