Background: Customer-based brand equity (CBBE) is the differential effect that brand knowledge has on consumers’ response to that brand’s marketing. This research seeks to apply CBBE to action sports sponsorship in a South African context. CBBE was used to investigate the following; • The impact of sponsorship intervention on CBBE<br> • How multiple CBBE objectives can be achieved through sponsorship<br> • The differential effect of sponsorship leveraging activities on CBBE<br> • The influence of interest and involvement in an event on CBBE <br> Results: A quasi experiment, using interrupted time series analysis, found that only brand awareness was raised owing to sponsorship intervention. Sponsors were not very successful at achieving multiple objectives, while some did manage to achieve their primary objective. It was found that the impact of leveraging activities, according to type of brand, had a differential impact on CBBE. Very little association was found between the level of interest and involvement and CBBE. Conclusion: A framework for sponsors to manage CBBE objectives, sponsorship activities and evaluation was presented. New marketing and leveraging techniques are continuously needed to maintain and raise CBBE perceptions. These techniques should leverage interest and involvement in the event to create goodwill and brand loyalty. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Aim:                Parkour is a relatively new action sport, which is not only popular in non-conflict regions but also in regions where armed conflict is taking place. When being featured in the media, youth from conflict regions frequently report that Parkour has helped them to deal with the consequences of armed conflict. Although Parkour is being used in psychosocial and life skills interventions in European countries, and despite the fact that action sports are used in humanitarian assistance, there is no research on the potential of Parkour as a tool in humanitarian interventions. The aim of this thesis is to analyse how Parkour can be used in humanitarian aid interventions, particularly focusing on its potential for life skills interventions. In order to do so, a mapping of Parkour teams in conflict regions is conducted. What is more, example cases highlight the importance Parkour has for youth in conflict regions. Lastly, a qualitative thematic analysis, will review the cases and academic literature, in order to discuss to what extent these characteristics coincide with the ten life skills as they were outlined by the World Health Organization (WHO). Methods:       Mapping is limited to the timeframe 2013 – 2018 and to countries which display a high amount of organized violence within said timeframe. Furthermore, qualitative thematic analysis in combination with a review of relevant literature is used, in order to understand what Parkour’s potential for life skills interventions could be. Findings:         The mapping indicates that Parkour teams and individuals are active in 16 out of the 22 countries which comply with the mapping criteria. The cases further exemplify that for many practitioners in the conflict regions, Parkour is used as a tool to deal with the consequences of armed conflict.  The qualitative thematic analysis shows that Parkour’s characteristics seem to coincide with the 10 life skills laid out by the WHO. Conclusion:    Action sports are already being used in aid interventions. Parkour’s assets in particular are multiple. It is an accessible, cost-effective and popular sport that youth globally and in conflict regions is attracted to. That, in combination with its characteristics and social media based nature, could be compelling arguments to use Parkour in humanitarian assistance.