Leveraging sport to build city brands: the case of Cape Town as an emerging city brand

Abstract

This chapter sets out strategic implications for emerging city brand stakeholders wishing to leverage sport. Sport is already acknowledged as having a significant impact for city brands, particularly through the hosting of sport events, as a means of creating global awareness, improved image and differentiation. However, there has been little examination of the contribution of sport more broadly and especially within an emerging African city context. This chapter identifies the major challenges facing city brands and proposes how sport may provide solutions. It reveals the findings of an empirical study that assessed the strategic value of sport to the Cape Town city brand. The qualitative study featured semi-structured, in-depth interviews (n=12), conducted with definitive stakeholders. The chapter identifies the contribution of sport as a competitive differentiator for a city brand. It further reveals the contribution of the different sport elements to this brand benefit, namely: sport events and facilities (that can be used to showcase a city brand); teams/ franchises and personalities (that act as brand ambassadors for a city and contribute to the city brand identity); and sponsors and sport brands (that can be viewed as brand partners as they play a crucial role of supporting and enabling sport through their investment).