The delicate art of rebranding a minor league baseball franchise: Practices, pitfalls, and payoffs of rebranding the Winston-Salem Warthogs

Abstract

This case study deals with the transformative rebranding of the Winston-Salem Warthogs, a Class High-A minor league baseball franchise and affiliate of Major League Baseball's Chicago White Sox, as the Winston-Salem Dash. It was written and designed to be multi-faceted for instructors to use in various sport management courses, such as sport marketing, organizational behavior, human resource management, ticket and sponsorship sales, and public relations. There are three primary aims of the study. The first aim is to challenge students to critically assess the practices of external rebranding (with implications relative to consumer attitudes and brand equity) and internal rebranding (with workplace outcomes that favor employees and uphold brand values). The second aim is to make students consider the potential pitfalls of rebranding with regard to crisis and contingency planning and public relations. The third aim is to highlight the potential payoffs of rebranding when managers of sport organizations are willing to consider changes in views regarding the spirit and culture of the work environment (internal brand) and the overall quality and characteristics of brand marks (external brand). As a core feature of this real-world case study, interviews with stakeholders and personnel of the franchise give a glimpse at some real scenarios that students may face as they enter into the industry of team sport marketing.