Kontra Covid : En kvalitativ studie om hur Allsvenska fotbollsklubbar har arbetat med sin marknadsföring under Covid-19 pandemin

Sammanfattning: Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate how Swedish football clubs in Allsvenskan have handled the Covid-19 pandemic in terms of maintain the relationship with their supporters, maintain their brand and compensate for the financial losses. Method: The method of choice is qualitative research based on semi-structured interviews as the method for data collection. The study is based on hermeneutic interpretation of reality. Theoretical frame of reference: The chosen theories include relationship marketing, brandbuilding, Corporate Social Responsibility, crisis management and social media marketing. Empirical data: Empirical data has been collected through semi-structured interviews with people from six (6) different top tier Swedish football clubs. Conclusions: A total of ten (10) conclusions have been drawn based on the empirical data andanalysis of the theories, connected to the data. The main conclusions are: The main focus area during the pandemic, for the clubs has been digital marketing and their social media. The clubs have been more transparent in their communication with the supporters The pandemic has not affected the brands of the clubs in regard to the fans The clubs' finances have been negatively affected and there is uncertainty about how the finances willdevelop in the future. The clubs have implemented several types of digital activities in order to make up for the loss of profitthat the pandemic has lead to. Redundancy has been one way to reduce the financial losses. A way of minimizing economic loss has been wage cuts for players, as well as staff.