An investigation of South African professional cricketers and the development of their personal brands

Abstract

Although the concept of personal branding has been well documented across various industries, athlete branding has not received the same level of coverage. There are numerous examples of athletes who have managed to build their personal brands on a global scale by using specific strategies and techniques and being intentional about their brand building practices. The extent to which professional cricket players in South Africa actively develop and manage their personal brands is, however, unknown. The purpose of this study was therefore to ascertain, the extent to which professional cricketers in South Africa are aware of, and actively manage their personal brands. An interpretive research paradigm was adopted with a cross-sectional mixed method research design. An online survey with a series of open-ended questions sought to address the qualitative inquiry while Likert scale items and “Yes” and “No” questions addressed the quantitative component. A mixed methods approach combining both quantitative and qualitative methods proved useful to elicit rich and meaningful data from South African men’s and women’s national cricket teams, as well as the nation’s franchise teams, on their perceptions of personal branding. A total of 30 cricketers participated in the study. Respondents were purposely selected using a purposive sampling technique. ATLAS.ti. 9 software was used to code and analyse the data. A thematic presentation of the findings revealed that all respondents identified with and understood the term personal branding, and they understood the benefits related to effective personal branding practices. However, the degree of management and activation practices of personal branding across players differed depending on their level of playing experience and their commercial profiles. The study therefore concludes that, while professional cricketers in SA understand the importance of and benefits relative to personal branding, more priority should be placed on the intention to manage and leverage personal brands. This study highlights the importance of personal branding for athletes at all levels of sport within South Africa. It also provides athletes ‒ and all parties involved in the management of athletes ‒ with a list of best practice guidelines for building and managing athlete brands.