Welcome to the blog of Dr. Lisa Burns' Media Studies senior capstone class (2 pm section) at Quinnipiac University. If you're looking for the latest on media industry trends and insightful media analysis, you've come to the right place!
Wednesday, April 4, 2018
Sports & Celebrity Blog 9, Question 2 (April 10th)
Why is branding so important in sports?
How is it similar to, and different from, celebrity branding?What are some of the ways that successful athletes
and franchises leverage their brands in the marketplace?Limit: 6 responses
Branding is so important to sports because in a capitalist world in which teams and players make more money if their teams are more watched it means that the strength of the team’s and player’s brands directly correlates with how much money they make. A team profits from games airing on a national level, merchandising, and selling tickets. The most efficient way for a team to do this is to deliver a product that fans will become loyal to and want more and more of in their everyday life. Teams have a great deal of financial incentive to do so also. Just look at Jerry Jones’ Dallas Cowboys, the most valuable franchise in sports: “Jones bought the Cowboys in 1989 for $150 million, including $10 million to cover deferred salaries, and built the club into the most valuable team in sports, worth $4.2 billion” (Badenhausen)
The nature of sports differentiates the type of branding that goes on in the sports world compared to celebrity branding. There is a culture surrounding sports that makes the branding much more systemic than celebrity branding. Sports are competitive, and the fans get into this. If your team is better than your friend’s team it behooves you to buy the jersey, sweatshirt, hat, keychain, and tickets to rub in your buddy’s face. Sports have a designated season and schedule in which games take place. It makes perfect sense for the Green-bay packers to sell winter coats and warm socks to their fans that are sitting outside for three hours during a Wisconsin winter. Sports are also televised, which means there are going to be commercial breaks. If somebody is going to sit in front of the television screen for 2 hours because they have to watch the Cleveland Cavaliers, then advertisers might as well throw LeBron James into the commercial since they already know the fans will like the celebrity selling the product. Neilson’s website shows exactly how well this works for LeBron: “LeBron James (N-Score 76) led the Cleveland Cavaliers to their third straight NBA Finals appearance in 2017, and he leads all U.S. athletes in terms of brand marketability via social media with more than 96.9 million social media followers. Like Serena Williams, James added Intel to his list of endorsement contracts, which also includes a $1 billion lifetime contract with Nike and deals with Beats by Dre, Coca-Cola, Kia Motors and Verizon.” (Neilson) The players are inherently celebrity to the viewers of a highly televised event, it only makes sense to use those celebrities, and for LeBron and company it pays dividends.
The players are even given press conferences after every game, and are often times bound to say something absurd of noteworthy that fans will recall for a long time. Making reference to this can show the player’s sense of humor and make them more marketable. Just look at Kyrie Irving’s Nike sneaker commercial in which they poke fun at his plant-based diet and flat-earth remarks. (Tsuji)
There are obviously a great deal of similarities between celebrity and sports marketing that could be listed endlessly, but the culture and nature of athletics leads to a specific style and norms of sports marketing that can be used more consistent and not rely as heavily upon innovation. Obviously sports marketing adapt to marketing shifts such as social media and more, but even this is done through the lens of athletic culture.
Badenhausen, K. (2018). Forbes Welcome. [online] Forbes.com. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2017/07/12/the-cowboys-and-yankees-top-the-worlds-most-valuable-sports-teams-of-2017/#2eab69c35018 [Accessed 6 Apr. 2018].
Neilson. (2018). Tops of 2017: Pro Athlete Marketability. [online] Available at: HTTP://WWW.NIELSEN.COM/US/EN/INSIGHTS/NEWS/2017/TOPS-OF-2017-PRO-ATHLETE-MARKETABILITY.HTML [Accessed 6 Apr. 2018].
Tsuji, A. (2018). Kyrie's shoe display shows flat Earth flipping like a coin. [online] USA TODAY. Available at: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ftw/2018/01/02/kyrie-irvings-signature-shoe-display-shows-flat-earth-flipping-like-a-coin/109108322/ [Accessed 6 Apr. 2018].
While sports are often seen as a form of entertainment, each sports team is a business and, more specifically, a franchise. Branding is important in sports because it creates a face of the franchise. It is this ‘face’ that provides something tangible to represent each team. Branding is also important in sports because it brings in revenue for the team. More specifically, when a sports franchise has a strong brand, businesses in other fields have more incentive to advertise through the sports franchise. An example of this comes from the Forbes article written by Kurt Badenhausen which shows that General Motors pays $80 million a year to have the Red Devils team display the GM logo on the team’s jerseys. GM recognizes that the Red Devils have a large and widespread viewership and a strong brand and thus that advertising through them will be beneficial to GM. This additional income adds to the team’s revenue and then the revenue created by the franchise trickles down to the players. There are some similarities and differences between sports branding and celebrity branding. One of the differences would be that sports branding is tied to a team and a franchise while celebrity branding is strictly attached to an individual. Another difference would be that any sport branding revenue related to a franchise goes back to that franchise or the league under which the franchise operates, while celebrities are able to keep the revenue from their branding (though some proceeds may also be due to the celebrity’s franchise). In another Forbes article, related to the highest paid athletes of 2016, the Forbes staff presents endorsements as a form of celebrity branding as it helps increase athletes’ total earnings by supplementing their salaries. An example of this would be Christiano Ronaldo, who earns $56 million in annual salary but also $32 million in endorsements making him the highest paid athlete of 2016. In some cases, an athlete’s endorsement money exceeds their actual salaries or yearly earnings. Phil Mickelson, in 2016, made $2.9 million in salary but $50 million in endorsements (Forbes). Despite these differences, sports branding and celebrity branding are similar to one another in that they are both very lucrative. Previous examples including Christiano Ronaldo and Phil Mickelson demonstrate how lucrative celebrity branding can be and sports teams’ revenues, such as the New York Yankees who come in at $3.7 billion, show just how lucrative sports branding can be (Badenhausen). Franchises and athletes can leverage their brands in the marketplace today by increasing the likelihood of their brand awareness and marketability. One of the ways athletes can do this is by having a large social media following. Doing so, provides them with an avenue to reach millions of followers instantly. This alone can encourage companies to endorse these franchises or athletes in order to increase the company’s audience. In Nielsen’s “Tops of 2017 Athlete Marketability,” Lebron James is highlighted as being a prime example. In total, NBA superstar James has over 96 million social media followers, and this entices companies to want to endorse him because of his influence on such a large number of people. Increasing social media presence also helps franchises and athletes leverage their brands because it encourages companies to partner with them. Martin Roll is a business and brand strategist company that is knowledgeable in the field. The company explains how Michael Jordan, one of the greatest professional basketball players of all time, used his large following of supporters to petition Nike to create his “Air Jordan” shoeline. Nike also paired up with Tiger Woods, one of the most well known professional golfers to create aparell and golf equipment, which created revenue for both parties.
All in all, sports branding is a ‘win win situation’ for all involved. It allows fans to demonstrate their pride of a particular team or player, it increases advertisers’ revenue and helps franchises and players bring in more money for themselves and their teams.
Works Cited
Badenhausen, Kurt. "The Cowboys and Yankees Top the World's Most Valuable Sports Teams Of 2017," Forbes 12 July 2017.
“Branding And Celebrity Endorsements.” Martin Roll, 25 Feb. 2018, martinroll.com/resources/articles/marketing/branding-and-celebrity-endorsements/.
Communications, Forbes Corporate. “Forbes Releases The World's Highest-Paid Athletes List 2016.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 8 June 2016, www.forbes.com/sites/forbespr/2016/06/08/forbes-releases-the-worlds-highest-paid-athletes-list-2016/#13800c3e5b96.
Tops of 2017: Pro Athlete Marketability," Nielsen.com 21 Dec. 2017. Web.
If you were a successful brand, whom would you best choose to promote your product- a well-known celebrity or athlete? While sports branding is usually based off of talent, celebrity branding usually has to do with using his or her social status and/or fame. Athletes and celebrities are comparable in the way that they both need to have a strong connection with their brands and audiences in order to actually make money out of their ‘fame’ or ‘fame from the game’. For example, Lebron James is currently the best NBA player in history, but without his commercials, sponsorships, deals etc. he’s just an amazing player. Other than being talented and famous, both celebrities and athletes must have other qualities, such as being a trendsetter, a role model, and influential to the general public. Something special that marketing corporations do successfully in the athletic world in particular is incorporate commercials for a brand during a game that they know will have a hefty viewership as well as championships, major rivalries etc. One matchup in particular in recent NBA finals, the Cavaliers vs. the Warriors, was so popular, that in fact the audience was recorded to be the highest finals game audience since the Michael Jordan era. During this time, the NBA league itself also promoted a new sponsorship for the fist time, “The Jersey Patch” in 2017-2018. These performance patches “place sponsored assets within, rather than around, the action” (Nielsen, 2017), while acting as a sponsored benefit. This is just one of the many factors that lead the NBA franchise to grow its success. These patches suggest “an evolving sponsorship landscape for the advantage of all stakeholders” (Nielsen, 2017). Evidently though, it’s up to the teams and the top players in the league by how well they do in order to really create that excitement, leading to more sponsorships, brand connections, and partnership opportunities. “According to Forbes the endorsement for successful tennis players and golfers incomes are an estimate of sponsorship deals, appearance fees and licensing income for the 12 months through June 1.” (Forbes, 2016). As social media is continuing to grow, sports are providing “an ideal platform for brands to reach passionate consumers through compelling content” (Nielsen, 2017). What are the most successful athletes doing that the others aren’t? Cristiano Ronaldo, star fútbol player and Lebron James, star NBA player, are the top highest-paid athletes in the world as of 2017. Ronaldo’s endorsements are worth 35 million, while James’ endorsements are worth 55 million. Aside from Ronaldo’s success in his athletic capabilities, he has recently engaged himself in a lifetime deal with Nike that is worth $1 billion or more, as well as Tag Heuer, Herbalife, Abbott Labs and many more. By leading his team (Real Madrid) on Sunday to win back-to-back Champions League titles for the first time in history, sponsors further contributed to his immense salary. He also has branded products on his fast-growing CR7 line, which includes underwear, fragrances, jeans, shoes and hotels. “It’s no secret that winning helps boost the endorsement power of professional athletes. But in 2017, some of the biggest names in sports were able to elevate their celebrity status and marketability even when they weren’t competing” (Forbes, 2017). Along with LeBron James’ success, in terms of brand marketability on social media, he is the top athlete in the Unites States, due to his 96.9 million or more followers on social media. Serena Williams as well as James, has joined his list of endorsement contracts, which includes deals with Coca Cola, Beats by Dre, Verizon, Kia Motors and not to forget, a $1 billion lifetime contract with Nike.
Athleisure is a trending style right now and currently the athlete and celebrity are progressively battling in the same place for the same athletic endorsement deals and “the must-have signature sneaker.” For example, recently in 2016, Cara Delevingne signed a deal with Puma which “has sparked another conversation this week about the role of celebrity endorsement at athletic brands”. Joe Favorito, sports media consultant stance is, “I think there is equal value for all… but one thing is for sure: if you partner with the right athlete and they are in the news every day and part of your brand every day, [then], you get a touch point with those fans every day.” Nike and Adidas’ main idea for branding is diversity; having deals with celebrities and athletes are seen to be beneficial. Adidas in particular has deals that range from Kanye West to NFL starting quarterback, Aaron Rogers, and many amazing professional soccer players. Under Armour on the other hand, extends its performance-based market share strategy by bargaining a lot of its money on sports stars ranging from Steve Curry of the Golden States Warriors, and Tom Brady of the New England Patriots, as well as Misty Copeland of American Ballet Theatre and Gisele Bundchen, famous model. Dorfman says the idea is that, “not everyone buying an athletic shoe is a sports fan.” Many well-known athletic brands these days are trying to branch out and being a brand that holds variety by embracing fashion and lifestyle. The goal is “making sure everyone is aligned” within your brand.
Just like how celebrities are good at promoting their own movies that are coming out soon, in a way, it’s almost easier for athletes to promote their (athletic) brands because there’s a better chance you will actually see them wearing or using their product or company they are being endorsed by, whether its during a game/interview on television or if they are out and about. Personally, when I see Kylie Jenner promoting athletic apparel, I know that it is most likely just for the money, because there’s never much evidence of her actually working out.
And so, the question remains… Who would you pick to best promote your brand? -An athlete or a celebrity?
“Year in Sports Media Report 2017, “Nielsen.com Feb. 2018. Web.
“Forbes Releases the World’s Highest-Paid Athletes List 2016, “Forbes June 8, 2016. Web.
“Badenhausen, Kurt. “Ronaldo, LeBron Top The World's Highest-Paid Athletes Of 2017,” Forbes Jun 7, 2017. Web. “The Worlds Highest-Paid Athletes”, Forbes 2017. Web.
"Tops of 2017: Pro Athlete Marketability," Nielsen.com 21 Dec. 2017. Web.
Sutherlin, Margaret. “The Athlete & the Celebrity: Who Is More Valuable for Athletic Brands?,” Footwear News September 22, 2016. Web.
Branding is so important in sports because sports is a business and it’s all about making money. The more money a sports team has, the better chance they have of winning, and winning leads to more money. Branding is also important in sports because teams with good branding attract fans to your product. Fans are probably the most important aspect of sports because these are the people that are buying tickets to the games, purchasing cable subscriptions to watch the games live, buying team and player merchandise, etc. Fans are also promoting the brand to other people when they wear team merchandise. In one of the articles I found, Herman Davis talks about how to brand the right way and he uses the Oregon Ducks as an example. He states, “The University of Oregon, for example, might be the most recognized college team in the Pacific Northwest. They brand their products by teaming up with Nike, one of the world’s most successful and recognizable brands to create uniforms, footwear, and advanced technology for athletes and fans to wear. Oregon’s brand does an amazing job of capturing their teams’ images at its core. Although the school’s values aren’t clear at first within the school’s logo, it prompts us to look deeper into the meaning behind it. Who would have thought something as simple as an “O” on a helmet or jersey could become so iconic? (Davis.)
Sports branding and celebrity branding have their similarities and differences. They are similar in the sense that athletes are celebrities. They are in the spotlight just about as much as your typical celebrity is. However, celebrities are not athletes. I believe that there are far more differences than similarities between the two styles of branding. For example, athletes are much more likely to use the products that they are endorsing while they are performing for the world to see. Also, there is evidence that these products are successful. One of the articles notes that LeBron James has a $1 billion lifetime contract with Nike (Nielson.) James is the greatest basketball player on the planet and perhaps the greatest of all time. Now that’s not because he wears Nike shoes while he plays but the fact that he does wear Nike shoes helps Nike show their potential customers that their product is successful. Another difference is that when it comes to sports branding, everything is kind of lumped together in a group rather than individually. Each sport is its own group and each franchise is one group. Celebrities are seen more as individuals. Also, sports are aired on live television and you know that whoever is watching is very likely to be a sports fan so you have to account for commercials, which leads to more opportunities for branding.
An article by Kurt Badenhausen talks about LeBron James and Cristiano Ronaldo, the two highest-paid athletes of 2017. He discusses the impact that branding had on these athletes which allowed them to make so much money in 2017. He states, “James signed a three-year, $100 million contract extension with the Cleveland Cavaliers in July after leading the club to their first NBA title in franchise history a month earlier. His $31 million salary this season made him just the third NBA player after Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant to earn $30 million. The salary bump pushed his total earnings, including endorsements and playoff bonuses, to $86.2 million” (Badenhausen.) As for Ronaldo, he goes on to say, “Ronaldo earned $58 million from Real in salary and bonuses, while sponsors kicked in another $35 million. The Portuguese forward has endorsements deals with Nike, Tag Heuer, Herbalife, Abbott Labs and others. Meanwhile, his growing line of CR7 branded products now include shoes, underwear, fragrance, jeans and a line of hotels” (Badenhausen.)
Branding is important in sports because of its positive influence that could become profitable to the teams and to the individual athletes. Daniel Roberts, writer from Yahoo Finance, talked about how the NFL may be reaching their peak in term of popularity in “The NFL is nor Dying, But it May Be Plateauing”. Roberts says “Sports fans are increasingly able to find highlights and replay clips online, on platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat, so they feel less of a need to pay for cable to watch live games. This trend is hurting ESPN and Fox Sports 1 as well, not to mention viewership of other sports, too, like Nascar racing” (1). Sports are heavily reliant on branding because the lowest figures in viewers are surfacing, and the NFL is getting hit hard since the Colin Kapernick taking a knee movement dividing fans and teams` managers. Branding is important to every aspect of sports because it drives teams value. When the Rams located from St. Louis to Los Angeles last year, there value increased because the market for sports in LA is steadier than in Missouri (Kurt Badenhausen p1). Location and the name of the sports teams play a vital part in the revenue and sponsorships. Overall, branding can help or hurt the name of an athlete or a sports team, which leads me to my next point.
Popular athletes can use their sponsorships and endorsements to boost their brand and vice versa. Star athlete, Serena Williams, has used her Ralph Lauren and Tide endorsements to help her brand. Since she is a national and global undefeated tennis player, her talents have been used to help brands market to their consumers. On the other hand, celebrities are marketed differently depending on their social media following and influence online. Some top examples are Beyonce and Kylie Jenner. Their brands are tailored to their fans and their own merchandising that are usually exclusive to more women than men. Beyonce and Kendall will brand for themselves, sports teams and athletes are branding to the sports association or to the next game. Advertisers are picking up on the importance of picking the right celebrity or athlete to market. In a New York Times article written by Rachel Arther called “The Marketing Power of Sports Stars”, luxury brands are also trying to join into the sports brand and marketing industry. Misha Sher, head of sport at the media agency MediaCom, emphasized how leveraging their product can support and compliment the notability of the sports star because “You wouldn’t traditionally associate football fans with luxury, but rather than focusing on existing niche audiences that can already afford luxury product, these brands are now aligning with sports that can help them target the next generation of consumers” (1). Overall, the mission of the sponsorship is to do more mass targeting to influence the next generation of consumers to purchase a product, while also helping the sports athlete gain more recognition and digital influence and profits off of every deal they make.
Arthur, Rachel. “The Marketing Power of Sports' Stars.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 4 Apr. 2016, www.nytimes.com/2016/04/05/fashion/sports-athletes-marketing.html. Web. Accessed 9 Apr 2018.
Badenhausen, Kurt. “The Cowboys And Yankees Top The World's Most Valuable Sports Teams Of 2017.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 12 July 2017, www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2017/07/12/the-cowboys-and-yankees-top-the-worlds-most-valuable-sports-teams-of-2017/#2eab69c35018. Web. Accessed 9 Apr 2018.
Roberts, Daniel. “The NFL Is Not Dying, but It May Be Plateauing.” Yahoo! Finance, Yahoo!, 30 Dec. 2017, finance.yahoo.com/news/nfl-not-dying-may-plateauing-161457955.html. Web Accessed 9 Apr 2018.
Branding is so important in sports because it enables the ability of growth, exposure and generates revenue for individual players and teams. The success of a team is determined by several factors, some of those main factors are: how well they play, how many high profile players they can obtain, the amount of money they have within the franchise, where they play and how well known that team is, how well know is their brand. Branding for sports can be done so easily and cheaper than celebrity branding. If a team has a strong enough fan base, the fans will make sure that franchise is the success and that the franchise is well known. In his article, “The Success Behind Sports Team Branding & Marketing – Doing It The Right Way”, Davis Herman stated, “As humans, we are attracted to companies that think and feel like us and share the same values. If we’re able to identify with them, we’re much more likely to buy their products and feel drawn toward them (Davis 2017). If fans are able to develop a connection with a team, they will essentially do a majority of the branding; this stems from jersey sales, ticket sales, team decals on their cars, and other merchandise.
Branding in sports is also important for individual athletes to build and establish themselves. In his article, “The World’s Highest Paid Athletes 2017”, Kurt Badenhausen discusses how LeBron James and Cristiano Ronaldo were the two highest paid athletes in 2017. In the article, Badenhausen states, “James signed a three-year, $100 million contract extension with the Cleveland Cavaliers in July after leading the club to their first NBA title in franchise history a month earlier. His $31 million salaries this season made him just the third NBA player after Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant to earn $30 million. The salary bump pushed his total earnings, including endorsements and playoff bonuses, to $86.2 million" (Badenhausen). He makes a similar statement regarding Ronaldo, stating, “Ronaldo earned $58 million from Real in salary and bonuses, while sponsors kicked in another $35 million. The Portuguese forward has endorsements deals with Nike, Tag Heuer, Herbalife, Abbott Labs and others. Meanwhile, his growing line of CR7 branded products now includes shoes, underwear, fragrance, jeans and a line of hotels” (Badenhausen). LeBron and Ronaldo receive these huge payouts because their teams, as well as the companies, know they have a huge fan base and a well-established brand. They know that by paying these individual players large amounts, they will see that money returned to them through merchandise, ticket sales, jersey sales, etc.
Overall, branding within the field of sports has several similarities to celebrity branding, the most significant similarity being that both sports branding and celebrity branding are endorsing products for money or some form of compensation. These athletes and celebrities have the ability to increase or decrease the value of a business or company based off of how well they endorse the product. Companies and brands are willing to pay celebrities and athlete’s huge sums if they believe it will increase and generate new revenue. According to ‘Moneyish', Pepsi paid Beyoncé $50 million in 2012 for endorsements that included an Andy Warhol-esque image of the singer and the soft drink can (Djanezian 2017). The reason this company is willing to pay such a large sum is that her social media accounts reign supreme, she is one of the worlds most influential celebrities. “Queen Bey is now the most valuable personality on social media, a feat that’s even more impressive when you consider that she’s only the 22nd most followed person online”(Djanezian 2017).
However, just how celebrities and athletes have the ability to help increase a company’s revenue, they have the ability to decrease it as well. If a celebrity or athlete does not like a product and takes to social media to discuss their disapproval it has the ability to tarnish a company or product. This was displayed when Kylie Jenner, who is one of Snapchat’s most influential users according to Kaya Yurieff from WRAL.com, posted on her snap story stating, “Sooo does anyone else not open Snapchat anymore? Or is it just me... ugh this is so sad," Jenner tweeted on Wednesday” (Yurieff 2018). After Jenner’s post, Snapchat’s stock dropped 6% and the company’s market value decreased by $1.3 billion (Yurieff 2018).
In conclusion, there are similarities and differences between the celebrity and sports branding, but both are great for branding purposes. I personally do not think either one is better at branding than the other, but I do think fans are more susceptible to athletes when branding because an athlete has the ability to reach a wide range of consumers (young, old, female, male). Branding will continue to be an important part of both sports and celebrity culture; it might even become more prominent for the average Joe in the near future.
Works Cited Ang, Kristiano, "One Social Media Post from Beyonce is Worth $1 Million in Advertising," Money-ish 3 April 2017. Web.
To monetize sports, many marketing managers must find a way to capitalize on the fans of a sports team or a specific athlete. This is primarily done through branding, which cultivates brand loyalty in the form of a dedicated fan base. Establishing a strong franchise in turn attracts other businesses to take their advertising over to where that franchise’s team may be playing. According to the Forbes article “The biggest gainer this year is PGA professional golfer Jordan Spieth, who moved up from No. 85 to No. 9, thanks to his $10 million FedEx Cup payday, new endorsements, rich appearance fees and sponsor bonuses from winning two major tournaments.”(Forbes) These numerous externalities illustrate how profitable merchandising is compared to game itself – LeBron James makes more than double his salary from sponsorships and advertising. As is written in the Nielsen article, “LeBron James (N-Score 76) led the Cleveland Cavaliers to their third straight NBA Finals appearance in 2017, and he leads all U.S. athletes in terms of brand marketability via social media with more than 96.9 million social media followers.”(Nielsen) A 2017 Forbes article written by Kurt Badenhausen listed the many sponsorships under Cristiano Ronaldo’s belt, the second highest paid athlete after LeBron himself. ““Ronaldo earned $58 million from Real in salary and bonuses, while sponsors kicked in another $35 million. The Portuguese forward has endorsements deals with Nike, Tag Heuer, Herbalife, Abbott Labs and others. Meanwhile, his growing line of CR7 branded products now include shoes, underwear, fragrance, jeans and a line of hotels.” (Badenhausen) This is how merchandising leads teams to transcend the game itself – after all, a franchise is a business that is selling many products, which is where there is a difference between a celebrity and a sports franchise when it comes to marketing. Franchises must market to the greatest amount of people they can – only within their geographic area. LeBron James, Cristiano Ronaldo, and many other world-class athletes have transcended this by becoming celebrities in their own right (especially those athletes whose endorsement deals are larger than their sports salaries) based off their skills and talents. Also, other celebrities usually don’t continuously market their brands the way athletes do. A celebrity may do an advert of be paid to wear a particular garment to an event but don’t wear the same trademarked jersey on nationally syndicated programming every single night the way athletes do, who sign contracts with the brands they represent. Not only that, but the franchise ends up keeping the profits generated from the branding, unlike celebrities who keep it. At the same time, celebrities must be much more cognizant of their image since they are obviously one person, while a sports franchise is an ever changing group of players who don’t have the same expectation of media engagement that a media personality or celebrity figure has. However, these things become subject to change once the sports stars themselves make their transition into becoming major public figures with audiences and brand endorsements outside the sports world.
Branding has become increasingly important within the sports world. Athletes are considered celebrities and their social media draw huge followings, making them prime candidates for branding. This is a beneficial relationship for companies and athletes, as both are receiving attention, and money from brand deals. Some of the highest paid athletes, including Cristiano Ronaldo, received almost half his salary in endorsements, with his salary estimated at about $56 million and endorsements at about 32$ million (Forbes). Athletes are beginning to find success in the celebrity world, in addition to the sports world.
Athletes support companies similarly to celebrities, through their social media pages, television advertisements, etc. According to a Neilson report, “some of the biggest names in sports were able to elevate their celebrity status and marketability even when they weren’t competing.”(Neilson). Athletes have the reach to connect with niche audiences, and also to create new audiences, making them the perfect target for brand deals. Similar to celebrity branding, the use of social media is key to creating this connection. Neilson discussed the reach of Serena William’s social media particularly, commenting on the potential success of using her for brand deals. They write, “A photo of her in her wedding dress garnered more than 833,000 likes and 12,000 comments. If a brand had sponsored this particular wedding post using a hash tag, the media value would have topped $66,000, according to a Nielsen Sports social media valuation.”(Neilson). One of the biggest draws of athletes as advertisers is their ability to brand products in individualized and creative way.
In the New York Times article The Marketing Power of Sports Stars, Rachel Arthur discusses companies’ success with athletes. She includes a comment from Ms. Baker of Tommy Hilfiger, saying “Digital content has also helped these partnerships to evolve. “We can now tell the story in a much more authentic way than we used to with traditional media, and really amplify our messaging,”(Arthur). Story telling is an important part of creating loyalty to brands, as audiences have more motivation to buy into products. Arthur goes on to write “history has proved that athletes can sell products and, perhaps even more important, create the connections between brand and consumer that contemporary companies consider key to success”(Arthur). Advertising has become much more about relationships than the products themselves. Audiences connect to the athlete, not the product, and bonding over a given product gives consumers more incentive to buy the products. The success of athletes in branding products is steadily increasing, creating a larger draw from diverse audiences, as compared to celebrity branding. The interest in athletes branches from their strength in bringing people together and making connections through certain brands. Sports stars have the highest hope for not only reaching their niche audiences, but creating new audiences.
Arthur, Rachel. “The Marketing Power of Sports' Stars.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 4 Apr. 2016
Communications, Forbes Corporate. “Forbes Releases The World's Highest-Paid Athletes List 2016.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 8 June 2016
"Tops of 2017: Pro Athlete Marketability," Nielsen.com 21 Dec. 2017. Web.
Branding is so important to sports because in a capitalist world in which teams and players make more money if their teams are more watched it means that the strength of the team’s and player’s brands directly correlates with how much money they make. A team profits from games airing on a national level, merchandising, and selling tickets. The most efficient way for a team to do this is to deliver a product that fans will become loyal to and want more and more of in their everyday life. Teams have a great deal of financial incentive to do so also. Just look at Jerry Jones’ Dallas Cowboys, the most valuable franchise in sports: “Jones bought the Cowboys in 1989 for $150 million, including $10 million to cover deferred salaries, and built the club into the most valuable team in sports, worth $4.2 billion” (Badenhausen)
ReplyDeleteThe nature of sports differentiates the type of branding that goes on in the sports world compared to celebrity branding. There is a culture surrounding sports that makes the branding much more systemic than celebrity branding. Sports are competitive, and the fans get into this. If your team is better than your friend’s team it behooves you to buy the jersey, sweatshirt, hat, keychain, and tickets to rub in your buddy’s face. Sports have a designated season and schedule in which games take place. It makes perfect sense for the Green-bay packers to sell winter coats and warm socks to their fans that are sitting outside for three hours during a Wisconsin winter. Sports are also televised, which means there are going to be commercial breaks. If somebody is going to sit in front of the television screen for 2 hours because they have to watch the Cleveland Cavaliers, then advertisers might as well throw LeBron James into the commercial since they already know the fans will like the celebrity selling the product. Neilson’s website shows exactly how well this works for LeBron: “LeBron James (N-Score 76) led the Cleveland Cavaliers to their third straight NBA Finals appearance in 2017, and he leads all U.S. athletes in terms of brand marketability via social media with more than 96.9 million social media followers. Like Serena Williams, James added Intel to his list of endorsement contracts, which also includes a $1 billion lifetime contract with Nike and deals with Beats by Dre, Coca-Cola, Kia Motors and Verizon.” (Neilson) The players are inherently celebrity to the viewers of a highly televised event, it only makes sense to use those celebrities, and for LeBron and company it pays dividends.
The players are even given press conferences after every game, and are often times bound to say something absurd of noteworthy that fans will recall for a long time. Making reference to this can show the player’s sense of humor and make them more marketable. Just look at Kyrie Irving’s Nike sneaker commercial in which they poke fun at his plant-based diet and flat-earth remarks. (Tsuji)
There are obviously a great deal of similarities between celebrity and sports marketing that could be listed endlessly, but the culture and nature of athletics leads to a specific style and norms of sports marketing that can be used more consistent and not rely as heavily upon innovation. Obviously sports marketing adapt to marketing shifts such as social media and more, but even this is done through the lens of athletic culture.
Badenhausen, K. (2018). Forbes Welcome. [online] Forbes.com. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2017/07/12/the-cowboys-and-yankees-top-the-worlds-most-valuable-sports-teams-of-2017/#2eab69c35018 [Accessed 6 Apr. 2018].
DeleteNeilson. (2018). Tops of 2017: Pro Athlete Marketability. [online] Available at: HTTP://WWW.NIELSEN.COM/US/EN/INSIGHTS/NEWS/2017/TOPS-OF-2017-PRO-ATHLETE-MARKETABILITY.HTML [Accessed 6 Apr. 2018].
Tsuji, A. (2018). Kyrie's shoe display shows flat Earth flipping like a coin. [online] USA TODAY. Available at: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ftw/2018/01/02/kyrie-irvings-signature-shoe-display-shows-flat-earth-flipping-like-a-coin/109108322/ [Accessed 6 Apr. 2018].
While sports are often seen as a form of entertainment, each sports team is a business and, more specifically, a franchise. Branding is important in sports because it creates a face of the franchise. It is this ‘face’ that provides something tangible to represent each team. Branding is also important in sports because it brings in revenue for the team. More specifically, when a sports franchise has a strong brand, businesses in other fields have more incentive to advertise through the sports franchise. An example of this comes from the Forbes article written by Kurt Badenhausen which shows that General Motors pays $80 million a year to have the Red Devils team display the GM logo on the team’s jerseys. GM recognizes that the Red Devils have a large and widespread viewership and a strong brand and thus that advertising through them will be beneficial to GM. This additional income adds to the team’s revenue and then the revenue created by the franchise trickles down to the players.
ReplyDeleteThere are some similarities and differences between sports branding and celebrity branding. One of the differences would be that sports branding is tied to a team and a franchise while celebrity branding is strictly attached to an individual. Another difference would be that any sport branding revenue related to a franchise goes back to that franchise or the league under which the franchise operates, while celebrities are able to keep the revenue from their branding (though some proceeds may also be due to the celebrity’s franchise). In another Forbes article, related to the highest paid athletes of 2016, the Forbes staff presents endorsements as a form of celebrity branding as it helps increase athletes’ total earnings by supplementing their salaries. An example of this would be Christiano Ronaldo, who earns $56 million in annual salary but also $32 million in endorsements making him the highest paid athlete of 2016. In some cases, an athlete’s endorsement money exceeds their actual salaries or yearly earnings. Phil Mickelson, in 2016, made $2.9 million in salary but $50 million in endorsements (Forbes). Despite these differences, sports branding and celebrity branding are similar to one another in that they are both very lucrative. Previous examples including Christiano Ronaldo and Phil Mickelson demonstrate how lucrative celebrity branding can be and sports teams’ revenues, such as the New York Yankees who come in at $3.7 billion, show just how lucrative sports branding can be (Badenhausen).
Franchises and athletes can leverage their brands in the marketplace today by increasing the likelihood of their brand awareness and marketability. One of the ways athletes can do this is by having a large social media following. Doing so, provides them with an avenue to reach millions of followers instantly. This alone can encourage companies to endorse these franchises or athletes in order to increase the company’s audience. In Nielsen’s “Tops of 2017 Athlete Marketability,” Lebron James is highlighted as being a prime example. In total, NBA superstar James has over 96 million social media followers, and this entices companies to want to endorse him because of his influence on such a large number of people. Increasing social media presence also helps franchises and athletes leverage their brands because it encourages companies to partner with them. Martin Roll is a business and brand strategist company that is knowledgeable in the field. The company explains how Michael Jordan, one of the greatest professional basketball players of all time, used his large following of supporters to petition Nike to create his “Air Jordan” shoeline. Nike also paired up with Tiger Woods, one of the most well known professional golfers to create aparell and golf equipment, which created revenue for both parties.
All in all, sports branding is a ‘win win situation’ for all involved. It allows fans to demonstrate their pride of a particular team or player, it increases advertisers’ revenue and helps franchises and players bring in more money for themselves and their teams.
DeleteWorks Cited
Badenhausen, Kurt. "The Cowboys and Yankees Top the World's Most Valuable Sports Teams Of 2017," Forbes 12 July 2017.
“Branding And Celebrity Endorsements.” Martin Roll, 25 Feb. 2018, martinroll.com/resources/articles/marketing/branding-and-celebrity-endorsements/.
Communications, Forbes Corporate. “Forbes Releases The World's Highest-Paid Athletes List 2016.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 8 June 2016, www.forbes.com/sites/forbespr/2016/06/08/forbes-releases-the-worlds-highest-paid-athletes-list-2016/#13800c3e5b96.
Tops of 2017: Pro Athlete Marketability," Nielsen.com 21 Dec. 2017. Web.
If you were a successful brand, whom would you best choose to promote your product- a well-known celebrity or athlete? While sports branding is usually based off of talent, celebrity branding usually has to do with using his or her social status and/or fame. Athletes and celebrities are comparable in the way that they both need to have a strong connection with their brands and audiences in order to actually make money out of their ‘fame’ or ‘fame from the game’. For example, Lebron James is currently the best NBA player in history, but without his commercials, sponsorships, deals etc. he’s just an amazing player. Other than being talented and famous, both celebrities and athletes must have other qualities, such as being a trendsetter, a role model, and influential to the general public.
ReplyDeleteSomething special that marketing corporations do successfully in the athletic world in particular is incorporate commercials for a brand during a game that they know will have a hefty viewership as well as championships, major rivalries etc. One matchup in particular in recent NBA finals, the Cavaliers vs. the Warriors, was so popular, that in fact the audience was recorded to be the highest finals game audience since the Michael Jordan era. During this time, the NBA league itself also promoted a new sponsorship for the fist time, “The Jersey Patch” in 2017-2018. These performance patches “place sponsored assets within, rather than around, the action” (Nielsen, 2017), while acting as a sponsored benefit. This is just one of the many factors that lead the NBA franchise to grow its success. These patches suggest “an evolving sponsorship landscape for the advantage of all stakeholders” (Nielsen, 2017). Evidently though, it’s up to the teams and the top players in the league by how well they do in order to really create that excitement, leading to more sponsorships, brand connections, and partnership opportunities. “According to Forbes the endorsement for successful tennis players and golfers incomes are an estimate of sponsorship deals, appearance fees and licensing income for the 12 months through June 1.” (Forbes, 2016). As social media is continuing to grow, sports are providing “an ideal platform for brands to reach passionate consumers through compelling content” (Nielsen, 2017).
What are the most successful athletes doing that the others aren’t? Cristiano Ronaldo, star fútbol player and Lebron James, star NBA player, are the top highest-paid athletes in the world as of 2017. Ronaldo’s endorsements are worth 35 million, while James’ endorsements are worth 55 million. Aside from Ronaldo’s success in his athletic capabilities, he has recently engaged himself in a lifetime deal with Nike that is worth $1 billion or more, as well as Tag Heuer, Herbalife, Abbott Labs and many more. By leading his team (Real Madrid) on Sunday to win back-to-back Champions League titles for the first time in history, sponsors further contributed to his immense salary. He also has branded products on his fast-growing CR7 line, which includes underwear, fragrances, jeans, shoes and hotels. “It’s no secret that winning helps boost the endorsement power of professional athletes. But in 2017, some of the biggest names in sports were able to elevate their celebrity status and marketability even when they weren’t competing” (Forbes, 2017).
Along with LeBron James’ success, in terms of brand marketability on social media, he is the top athlete in the Unites States, due to his 96.9 million or more followers on social media. Serena Williams as well as James, has joined his list of endorsement contracts, which includes deals with Coca Cola, Beats by Dre, Verizon, Kia Motors and not to forget, a $1 billion lifetime contract with Nike.
Athleisure is a trending style right now and currently the athlete and celebrity are progressively battling in the same place for the same athletic endorsement deals and “the must-have signature sneaker.” For example, recently in 2016, Cara Delevingne signed a deal with Puma which “has sparked another conversation this week about the role of celebrity endorsement at athletic brands”. Joe Favorito, sports media consultant stance is, “I think there is equal value for all… but one thing is for sure: if you partner with the right athlete and they are in the news every day and part of your brand every day, [then], you get a touch point with those fans every day.” Nike and Adidas’ main idea for branding is diversity; having deals with celebrities and athletes are seen to be beneficial. Adidas in particular has deals that range from Kanye West to NFL starting quarterback, Aaron Rogers, and many amazing professional soccer players. Under Armour on the other hand, extends its performance-based market share strategy by bargaining a lot of its money on sports stars ranging from Steve Curry of the Golden States Warriors, and Tom Brady of the New England Patriots, as well as Misty Copeland of American Ballet Theatre and Gisele Bundchen, famous model. Dorfman says the idea is that, “not everyone buying an athletic shoe is a sports fan.” Many well-known athletic brands these days are trying to branch out and being a brand that holds variety by embracing fashion and lifestyle. The goal is “making sure everyone is aligned” within your brand.
DeleteJust like how celebrities are good at promoting their own movies that are coming out soon, in a way, it’s almost easier for athletes to promote their (athletic) brands because there’s a better chance you will actually see them wearing or using their product or company they are being endorsed by, whether its during a game/interview on television or if they are out and about. Personally, when I see Kylie Jenner promoting athletic apparel, I know that it is most likely just for the money, because there’s never much evidence of her actually working out.
And so, the question remains… Who would you pick to best promote your brand? -An athlete or a celebrity?
“Ranking.” DMarie, www.dmariearchive.com/rankings.
“Year in Sports Media Report 2017, “Nielsen.com Feb. 2018. Web.
“Forbes Releases the World’s Highest-Paid Athletes List 2016, “Forbes June 8, 2016. Web.
“Badenhausen, Kurt. “Ronaldo, LeBron Top The World's Highest-Paid Athletes Of 2017,” Forbes Jun 7, 2017. Web.
“The Worlds Highest-Paid Athletes”, Forbes 2017. Web.
"Tops of 2017: Pro Athlete Marketability," Nielsen.com 21 Dec. 2017. Web.
Sutherlin, Margaret. “The Athlete & the Celebrity: Who Is More Valuable for Athletic Brands?,” Footwear News September 22, 2016. Web.
Branding is so important in sports because sports is a business and it’s all about making money. The more money a sports team has, the better chance they have of winning, and winning leads to more money. Branding is also important in sports because teams with good branding attract fans to your product. Fans are probably the most important aspect of sports because these are the people that are buying tickets to the games, purchasing cable subscriptions to watch the games live, buying team and player merchandise, etc. Fans are also promoting the brand to other people when they wear team merchandise. In one of the articles I found, Herman Davis talks about how to brand the right way and he uses the Oregon Ducks as an example. He states, “The University of Oregon, for example, might be the most recognized college team in the Pacific Northwest. They brand their products by teaming up with Nike, one of the world’s most successful and recognizable brands to create uniforms, footwear, and advanced technology for athletes and fans to wear. Oregon’s brand does an amazing job of capturing their teams’ images at its core. Although the school’s values aren’t clear at first within the school’s logo, it prompts us to look deeper into the meaning behind it. Who would have thought something as simple as an “O” on a helmet or jersey could become so iconic? (Davis.)
ReplyDeleteSports branding and celebrity branding have their similarities and differences. They are similar in the sense that athletes are celebrities. They are in the spotlight just about as much as your typical celebrity is. However, celebrities are not athletes. I believe that there are far more differences than similarities between the two styles of branding. For example, athletes are much more likely to use the products that they are endorsing while they are performing for the world to see. Also, there is evidence that these products are successful. One of the articles notes that LeBron James has a $1 billion lifetime contract with Nike (Nielson.) James is the greatest basketball player on the planet and perhaps the greatest of all time. Now that’s not because he wears Nike shoes while he plays but the fact that he does wear Nike shoes helps Nike show their potential customers that their product is successful. Another difference is that when it comes to sports branding, everything is kind of lumped together in a group rather than individually. Each sport is its own group and each franchise is one group. Celebrities are seen more as individuals. Also, sports are aired on live television and you know that whoever is watching is very likely to be a sports fan so you have to account for commercials, which leads to more opportunities for branding.
An article by Kurt Badenhausen talks about LeBron James and Cristiano Ronaldo, the two highest-paid athletes of 2017. He discusses the impact that branding had on these athletes which allowed them to make so much money in 2017. He states, “James signed a three-year, $100 million contract extension with the Cleveland Cavaliers in July after leading the club to their first NBA title in franchise history a month earlier. His $31 million salary this season made him just the third NBA player after Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant to earn $30 million. The salary bump pushed his total earnings, including endorsements and playoff bonuses, to $86.2 million” (Badenhausen.) As for Ronaldo, he goes on to say, “Ronaldo earned $58 million from Real in salary and bonuses, while sponsors kicked in another $35 million. The Portuguese forward has endorsements deals with Nike, Tag Heuer, Herbalife, Abbott Labs and others. Meanwhile, his growing line of CR7 branded products now include shoes, underwear, fragrance, jeans and a line of hotels” (Badenhausen.)
DeleteDavis, Herman. “The Success Behind Sports Team Branding & Marketing – Doing It The Right Way.” Oregon Sports News, 31 Mar. 2017.
“Tops of 2017: Pro Athlete Marketability.” What People Watch, Listen To and Buy.
Badenhausen, Kurt. “Ronaldo, LeBron Top The World's Highest-Paid Athletes Of 2017.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 12 June 2017.
Branding is important in sports because of its positive influence that could become profitable to the teams and to the individual athletes. Daniel Roberts, writer from Yahoo Finance, talked about how the NFL may be reaching their peak in term of popularity in “The NFL is nor Dying, But it May Be Plateauing”. Roberts says “Sports fans are increasingly able to find highlights and replay clips online, on platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat, so they feel less of a need to pay for cable to watch live games. This trend is hurting ESPN and Fox Sports 1 as well, not to mention viewership of other sports, too, like Nascar racing” (1). Sports are heavily reliant on branding because the lowest figures in viewers are surfacing, and the NFL is getting hit hard since the Colin Kapernick taking a knee movement dividing fans and teams` managers. Branding is important to every aspect of sports because it drives teams value. When the Rams located from St. Louis to Los Angeles last year, there value increased because the market for sports in LA is steadier than in Missouri (Kurt Badenhausen p1). Location and the name of the sports teams play a vital part in the revenue and sponsorships. Overall, branding can help or hurt the name of an athlete or a sports team, which leads me to my next point.
ReplyDeletePopular athletes can use their sponsorships and endorsements to boost their brand and vice versa. Star athlete, Serena Williams, has used her Ralph Lauren and Tide endorsements to help her brand. Since she is a national and global undefeated tennis player, her talents have been used to help brands market to their consumers. On the other hand, celebrities are marketed differently depending on their social media following and influence online. Some top examples are Beyonce and Kylie Jenner. Their brands are tailored to their fans and their own merchandising that are usually exclusive to more women than men. Beyonce and Kendall will brand for themselves, sports teams and athletes are branding to the sports association or to the next game. Advertisers are picking up on the importance of picking the right celebrity or athlete to market. In a New York Times article written by Rachel Arther called “The Marketing Power of Sports Stars”, luxury brands are also trying to join into the sports brand and marketing industry. Misha Sher, head of sport at the media agency MediaCom, emphasized how leveraging their product can support and compliment the notability of the sports star because “You wouldn’t traditionally associate football fans with luxury, but rather than focusing on existing niche audiences that can already afford luxury product, these brands are now aligning with sports that can help them target the next generation of consumers” (1). Overall, the mission of the sponsorship is to do more mass targeting to influence the next generation of consumers to purchase a product, while also helping the sports athlete gain more recognition and digital influence and profits off of every deal they make.
Arthur, Rachel. “The Marketing Power of Sports' Stars.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 4 Apr. 2016, www.nytimes.com/2016/04/05/fashion/sports-athletes-marketing.html. Web. Accessed 9 Apr 2018.
Badenhausen, Kurt. “The Cowboys And Yankees Top The World's Most Valuable Sports Teams Of 2017.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 12 July 2017, www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2017/07/12/the-cowboys-and-yankees-top-the-worlds-most-valuable-sports-teams-of-2017/#2eab69c35018. Web. Accessed 9 Apr 2018.
Roberts, Daniel. “The NFL Is Not Dying, but It May Be Plateauing.” Yahoo! Finance, Yahoo!, 30 Dec. 2017, finance.yahoo.com/news/nfl-not-dying-may-plateauing-161457955.html. Web Accessed 9 Apr 2018.
Branding is so important in sports because it enables the ability of growth, exposure and generates revenue for individual players and teams. The success of a team is determined by several factors, some of those main factors are: how well they play, how many high profile players they can obtain, the amount of money they have within the franchise, where they play and how well known that team is, how well know is their brand. Branding for sports can be done so easily and cheaper than celebrity branding. If a team has a strong enough fan base, the fans will make sure that franchise is the success and that the franchise is well known. In his article, “The Success Behind Sports Team Branding & Marketing – Doing It The Right Way”, Davis Herman stated, “As humans, we are attracted to companies that think and feel like us and share the same values. If we’re able to identify with them, we’re much more likely to buy their products and feel drawn toward them (Davis 2017). If fans are able to develop a connection with a team, they will essentially do a majority of the branding; this stems from jersey sales, ticket sales, team decals on their cars, and other merchandise.
ReplyDeleteBranding in sports is also important for individual athletes to build and establish themselves. In his article, “The World’s Highest Paid Athletes 2017”, Kurt Badenhausen discusses how LeBron James and Cristiano Ronaldo were the two highest paid athletes in 2017. In the article, Badenhausen states, “James signed a three-year, $100 million contract extension with the Cleveland Cavaliers in July after leading the club to their first NBA title in franchise history a month earlier. His $31 million salaries this season made him just the third NBA player after Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant to earn $30 million. The salary bump pushed his total earnings, including endorsements and playoff bonuses, to $86.2 million" (Badenhausen). He makes a similar statement regarding Ronaldo, stating, “Ronaldo earned $58 million from Real in salary and bonuses, while sponsors kicked in another $35 million. The Portuguese forward has endorsements deals with Nike, Tag Heuer, Herbalife, Abbott Labs and others. Meanwhile, his growing line of CR7 branded products now includes shoes, underwear, fragrance, jeans and a line of hotels” (Badenhausen). LeBron and Ronaldo receive these huge payouts because their teams, as well as the companies, know they have a huge fan base and a well-established brand. They know that by paying these individual players large amounts, they will see that money returned to them through merchandise, ticket sales, jersey sales, etc.
Overall, branding within the field of sports has several similarities to celebrity branding, the most significant similarity being that both sports branding and celebrity branding are endorsing products for money or some form of compensation. These athletes and celebrities have the ability to increase or decrease the value of a business or company based off of how well they endorse the product. Companies and brands are willing to pay celebrities and athlete’s huge sums if they believe it will increase and generate new revenue. According to ‘Moneyish', Pepsi paid Beyoncé $50 million in 2012 for endorsements that included an Andy Warhol-esque image of the singer and the soft drink can (Djanezian 2017). The reason this company is willing to pay such a large sum is that her social media accounts reign supreme, she is one of the worlds most influential celebrities. “Queen Bey is now the most valuable personality on social media, a feat that’s even more impressive when you consider that she’s only the 22nd most followed person online”(Djanezian 2017).
However, just how celebrities and athletes have the ability to help increase a company’s revenue, they have the ability to decrease it as well. If a celebrity or athlete does not like a product and takes to social media to discuss their disapproval it has the ability to tarnish a company or product. This was displayed when Kylie Jenner, who is one of Snapchat’s most influential users according to Kaya Yurieff from WRAL.com, posted on her snap story stating, “Sooo does anyone else not open Snapchat anymore? Or is it just me... ugh this is so sad," Jenner tweeted on Wednesday” (Yurieff 2018). After Jenner’s post, Snapchat’s stock dropped 6% and the company’s market value decreased by $1.3 billion (Yurieff 2018).
ReplyDeleteIn conclusion, there are similarities and differences between the celebrity and sports branding, but both are great for branding purposes. I personally do not think either one is better at branding than the other, but I do think fans are more susceptible to athletes when branding because an athlete has the ability to reach a wide range of consumers (young, old, female, male). Branding will continue to be an important part of both sports and celebrity culture; it might even become more prominent for the average Joe in the near future.
Works Cited
Ang, Kristiano, "One Social Media Post from Beyonce is Worth $1 Million in Advertising," Money-ish 3 April 2017. Web.
Yurieff, Kaya. "Snapchat Stock Loses $1.3 Billion After Kylie Jenner Tweet," CNN Money 23 Feb. 2018. Web.
Davis, Herman. “The Success Behind Sports Team Branding & Marketing – Doing It The Right Way.” Oregon Sports News, 31 Mar. 2017.
Badenhausen, Kurt. “Ronaldo, LeBron Top The World's Highest-Paid Athletes Of 2017.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 12 June 2017.
DeleteTo monetize sports, many marketing managers must find a way to capitalize on the fans of a sports team or a specific athlete. This is primarily done through branding, which cultivates brand loyalty in the form of a dedicated fan base. Establishing a strong franchise in turn attracts other businesses to take their advertising over to where that franchise’s team may be playing. According to the Forbes article “The biggest gainer this year is PGA professional golfer Jordan Spieth, who moved up from No. 85 to No. 9, thanks to his $10 million FedEx Cup payday, new endorsements, rich appearance fees and sponsor bonuses from winning two major tournaments.”(Forbes) These numerous externalities illustrate how profitable merchandising is compared to game itself – LeBron James makes more than double his salary from sponsorships and advertising. As is written in the Nielsen article, “LeBron James (N-Score 76) led the Cleveland Cavaliers to their third straight NBA Finals appearance in 2017, and he leads all U.S. athletes in terms of brand marketability via social media with more than 96.9 million social media followers.”(Nielsen) A 2017 Forbes article written by Kurt Badenhausen listed the many sponsorships under Cristiano Ronaldo’s belt, the second highest paid athlete after LeBron himself. ““Ronaldo earned $58 million from Real in salary and bonuses, while sponsors kicked in another $35 million. The Portuguese forward has endorsements deals with Nike, Tag Heuer, Herbalife, Abbott Labs and others. Meanwhile, his growing line of CR7 branded products now include shoes, underwear, fragrance, jeans and a line of hotels.” (Badenhausen)
ReplyDeleteThis is how merchandising leads teams to transcend the game itself – after all, a franchise is a business that is selling many products, which is where there is a difference between a celebrity and a sports franchise when it comes to marketing. Franchises must market to the greatest amount of people they can – only within their geographic area. LeBron James, Cristiano Ronaldo, and many other world-class athletes have transcended this by becoming celebrities in their own right (especially those athletes whose endorsement deals are larger than their sports salaries) based off their skills and talents. Also, other celebrities usually don’t continuously market their brands the way athletes do. A celebrity may do an advert of be paid to wear a particular garment to an event but don’t wear the same trademarked jersey on nationally syndicated programming every single night the way athletes do, who sign contracts with the brands they represent. Not only that, but the franchise ends up keeping the profits generated from the branding, unlike celebrities who keep it. At the same time, celebrities must be much more cognizant of their image since they are obviously one person, while a sports franchise is an ever changing group of players who don’t have the same expectation of media engagement that a media personality or celebrity figure has. However, these things become subject to change once the sports stars themselves make their transition into becoming major public figures with audiences and brand endorsements outside the sports world.
Badenhausen, Kurt. "The Cowboys and Yankees Top the World's Most Valuable Sports Teams Of 2017," Forbes 12 July 2017.
Delete"Tops of 2017: Pro Athlete Marketability," Nielsen.com 21 Dec. 2017. Web
https://www.forbes.com/athletes/list/
Branding has become increasingly important within the sports world. Athletes are considered celebrities and their social media draw huge followings, making them prime candidates for branding. This is a beneficial relationship for companies and athletes, as both are receiving attention, and money from brand deals. Some of the highest paid athletes, including Cristiano Ronaldo, received almost half his salary in endorsements, with his salary estimated at about $56 million and endorsements at about 32$ million (Forbes).
ReplyDeleteAthletes are beginning to find success in the celebrity world, in addition to the sports world.
Athletes support companies similarly to celebrities, through their social media pages, television advertisements, etc. According to a Neilson report, “some of the biggest names in sports were able to elevate their celebrity status and marketability even when they weren’t competing.”(Neilson). Athletes have the reach to connect with niche audiences, and also to create new audiences, making them the perfect target for brand deals. Similar to celebrity branding, the use of social media is key to creating this connection. Neilson discussed the reach of Serena William’s social media particularly, commenting on the potential success of using her for brand deals. They write, “A photo of her in her wedding dress garnered more than 833,000 likes and 12,000 comments. If a brand had sponsored this particular wedding post using a hash tag, the media value would have topped $66,000, according to a Nielsen Sports social media valuation.”(Neilson). One of the biggest draws of athletes as advertisers is their ability to brand products in individualized and creative way.
In the New York Times article The Marketing Power of Sports Stars, Rachel Arthur discusses companies’ success with athletes. She includes a comment from Ms. Baker of Tommy Hilfiger, saying “Digital content has also helped these partnerships to evolve. “We can now tell the story in a much more authentic way than we used to with traditional media, and really amplify our messaging,”(Arthur). Story telling is an important part of creating loyalty to brands, as audiences have more motivation to buy into products. Arthur goes on to write “history has proved that athletes can sell products and, perhaps even more important, create the connections between brand and consumer that contemporary companies consider key to success”(Arthur). Advertising has become much more about relationships than the products themselves. Audiences connect to the athlete, not the product, and bonding over a given product gives consumers more incentive to buy the products. The success of athletes in branding products is steadily increasing, creating a larger draw from diverse audiences, as compared to celebrity branding. The interest in athletes branches from their strength in bringing people together and making connections through certain brands. Sports stars have the highest hope for not only reaching their niche audiences, but creating new audiences.
Arthur, Rachel. “The Marketing Power of Sports' Stars.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 4 Apr. 2016
Communications, Forbes Corporate. “Forbes Releases The World's Highest-Paid Athletes List 2016.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 8 June 2016
"Tops of 2017: Pro Athlete Marketability," Nielsen.com 21 Dec. 2017. Web.