English Premier League Clubs as Iconic Brands? A case study of three English Premier League football clubs from a cultural branding perspective

Abstract: Arsenal F.C., Manchester City F.C. and Newcastle United F.C. are three leading football clubs in the English Premier League. These three clubs are consolidated in terms of having a rich history, culture and traditions as well as local embeddedness. Douglas B. Holt’s contributions to the field of branding added a new dimension to how to operate a brand and are recurrently being used in new research. Research within a football context that builds on Holt’s theories of cultural branding is limited and has to our efforts not been found. Therefore, the main purpose of the study was to, through the lens of Holt’s theories, provide knowledge regarding how cultural branding is practised within a football club context. This study explored how three English football clubs engage in cultural branding and whether they can be recognised as iconic brands. In order to answer our research questions, we conducted a thematic analysis following the process of Braun & Clarke (2006). Through coding the data, several key themes were discovered and identified, all of which conductively illustrated how the clubs engage in cultural branding as well as how the supporters experience the clubs' brand. This allowed us to conclude what kind of brand these clubs should be identified as. The study implied that all three clubs analysed actively engage in cultural branding in various ways, to different degrees and extents. However, the findings in this study allude that these clubs should not be regarded as iconic brands, but rather as identity brands that offer their consumers a high value of identity creation and a great opportunity for cultural expressions.