Crise reputacional de marca e brand equity no marketing esportivo: o impacto da crítica pública de Neymar Júnior à Penalty no Campeonato Paulista de 2025

Abstract

This study analyzes the impacts of Neymar Júnior's public criticism of the Penalty soccer ball, during the 2025 São Paulo State Championship, on the brand's reputation and brand equity. The research is qualitative, exploratory, and descriptive, using a case study and content analysis of public documents and digital publications collected between February 12 and 22, 2025, interpreted in light of the meaning transfer, source credibility, brand equity, honeycomb, and SCCT models. The results indicate a predominance of negative content toward Penalty, accelerated dissemination of the episode by the press, and a 2.16% drop in Cambuci S.A./CAMB3 shares, interpreted as a catalytic event in a context of pre-existing selling pressure. Neymar Júnior's high credibility, stemming from the combination of attractiveness, trustworthiness, and expertise, amplified the impact of his criticism, while Penalty's institutional response, classified as a diminishment strategy under SCCT, proved inadequate to the public's high emotional involvement. The study contributes to marketing management by integrating five theoretical frameworks in the analysis of reputational crises originating from public figures' technical statements on digital media. Keywords: Marketing management. Neymar Júnior. Brand reputational crisis. Digital media. Brand equity