Purpose

Sport is an important economic activity, and understanding the role of teams and managers is necessary, yet managers – specifically their brand personas – have been the subject of limited research. The purpose of this research is to explore the brand persona of a football manager, using Arsène Wenger as a case.

Design/methodology/approach

Due to the exploratory nature of the study, qualitative methods were used to explore the brand-building activity. Media reports and images that centred on Arsène Wenger's words covering a three-year period were analysed. In total, 1364 articles and 23 images were analysed in NVivo, using both a priori and emergent codes.

Findings

The findings show the construction of the brand persona in three main dimensions pertinent to his role as a manager. The first is the performance in the managerial role in which Arsène Wenger is appointed, the second is associated with the person (including emotions and self-expression) and the third is the context (i.e. football) in which the manager operates.

Research limitations/implications

The research focused on one manager while he was managing a premier league club and is limited to England.

Practical implications

While proposing a theoretical model, this study proposes football clubs understand a manager's persona in relation to the club's brand and the interactive effect. The support of the club on the persona is also indicated.

Originality/value

Football managers have received some research attention, but there has been no analysis of their brand personas. This study expands the understanding of the contribution of the manager to the club brand.

中文翻译：

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足球经理的品牌形象——以温格为例

目的

体育是一项重要的经济活动，了解团队和经理的角色是必要的，但经理——特别是他们的品牌角色——一直是有限的研究主题。本研究的目的是探索足球经理的品牌形象，以温格为例。

设计/方法/方法

由于研究的探索性，定性方法被用来探索品牌建设活动。分析了以阿尔塞纳·温格（Arsène Wenger）的话为中心的三年期间的媒体报道和图像。总共使用先验代码和紧急代码在 NVivo 中分析了 1364 篇文章和 23 张图像。

发现

调查结果显示了与他作为经理角色相关的三个主要维度的品牌角色构建。第一个是Arsène Wenger 被任命的管理角色的表现，第二个是与人相关的（包括情绪和自我表达），第三个是经理运作的环境（即足球）。

研究限制/影响

该研究主要针对一位经理，当时他正在管理一家超级联赛俱乐部，并且仅限于英格兰。

实际影响

在提出理论模型的同时，本研究提出足球俱乐部了解经理的角色与俱乐部品牌和互动效果的关系。还表明了俱乐部对角色的支持。

原创性/价值

足球经理受到了一些研究关注，但没有对其品牌角色进行分析。本研究扩展了对经理对俱乐部品牌贡献的理解。