Sports sponsorship and the brewing industry: case studies of
Swedish and Finnish brands

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of how and why
firms in the brewing industry sponsor sports events. The thesis attempts to
describe, explore and starts to explain the different objectives that
brewing companies have with their brands’ sports sponsorship, the selection
of what sports the brands should sponsor, the evaluation methods connected
to the brewing brands’ sports sponsorship involvement, as well as the
perceived advantages and disadvantages of sports sponsorship. To be able to
reach the purpose of this thesis, qualitative case studies on two Swedish
corporate brands and two Finnish product brands have been conducted, namely,
Åbro and Herrljunga Cider, as well as Lapin Kulta and KOFF. The study shows
that the most common objectives for brewing brands sponsoring sports are to
build and support a positive brand image, position the brand, create or
increase the visibility of the brand, as well as reach a specific target
market. Moreover, results show that the possible image association potential
is the most significant sports selection criterion, and that the evaluation
of sports sponsorship is perceived as difficult and primarily conducted
through media coverage measurements. Finally, the research reveals that the
advantages of sports sponsorship are several, whereas only one major
disadvantage, the risk for badwill, is perceived.