The equity held in brands is a valuable asset of the firm, and not surprisingly, managing corporate and consumer brands are seen as a central mechanism in creating value for companies and their customers. Understanding how brands are developed (or destroyed) is central in setting of marketing strategy and many aspects of overall business strategy. There are several important ways in which brand equity is manifest, including the premium that consumers are willing to pay for a brand, the premium capital markets attach to companies with 'strong' brands, the stock of a company's past advertising, and the mental associations consumers have of particular brands and companies. Untangling some of these issues is central to making brand equity tractable. Brands are built through firm investments across a broad range of areas. Interest is focused here on how advertising, retailing and specifically sponsorship contribute to brand equity. Over the past two decades sponsorship-linked marketing growth has outstripped traditional advertising growth by several percentage points. Despite rapid growth, the area still suffers from lack of a strong understanding of how sponsorship works in the mind of the consumer and how it might be made more effective.
Researchers in the program are currently involved in a number of projects funded by grants from the Australian Research Council and other funding sources.
