Community, Brand, and Sponsorship: Strategic Dilemmas in Lyngby BK

Abstract

This thesis investigates how Lyngby Boldklub (Lyngby BK), a mid-tier Danish football club, navigates the complexities of sponsorship strategy within a competitive sports landscape. Positioned between larger, commercially dominant clubs and community-oriented football entities, Lyngby BK faces the dual challenge of maintaining its authenticity and local identity while fostering long-term, value-driven partnerships with sponsors. The study explores Lyngby's brand identity as a strategic filter and governance tool in its sponsorship model, emphasizing emotional resonance, local embeddedness, and trust-based collaboration. Through qualitative interviews with key stakeholders, including Lyngby executives and external sponsors, the research identifies essential dynamics in sponsor engagement, activation, and co-creation of brand value. The analysis also highlights strategic tensions, including the balance between local relevance and commercial scalability, as well as the challenges of maintaining brand consistency during periods of growth. The research incorporates a multi-theoretical framework, integrating perspectives from Brand Equity Theory, Resource-Based View, Sponsorship Effectiveness Theory, Psychological Continuum Model (PCM), Community and Relational Brand Approaches and Stakeholder Management Theory to explain how Lyngby creates sponsorship value through its relational and community-focused approach. This case study offers insights into the distinctive sponsorship models of community-anchored sports organizations and their ability to leverage cultural authenticity and relational capital in an increasingly commercialized environment.