Managing Brand

Abstract The congruence or fit between a sponsored brand and sponsoring firm is a central tenet of sponsorship research. The influence of such congruence on the sponsored brand however, has received scant attention. This question is important because the strength of a sponsored organisation’s brand equity is the basis for many sponsorship alliances. The two experiments undertaken in this paper empirically evaluate the dynamic effect sponsor portfolio congruence has on perceptions of the sponsored organisation’s brand equity. The results of Study 1 indicate sponsor incongruence is particularly detrimental to the brand equity of the sponsored organisation at the title sponsor level. Study 2 shows this adverse effect can be attenuated by increasing the number of congruent sponsors at the presenting level. The second study also provides support for nationality as a salient congruence dimension in an international sporting context. Implications of these findings are discussed.