What makes certain athletes so appealing to advertisers? Success obviously helps but are there other attributes that make companies seek out athletes to be featured in their advertisements. Almost everyone recognizes names like Tiger Woods, LeBron James, Peyton Manning, and Roger Federer, but is this because of their accomplishments on the court, field and golf course or their depiction on the T.V. screen?
The Tiger Woods Saga can tell us a lot about what companies are looking for in their celebrity endorsements. Many companies seek out athletes that are admired not only for their play on the field but for their veneration in the community as well. Many of the companies who are sticking by Tiger market towards a male audience that is not as put off by his marriage infidelity. These include watchmaker Tag Heuer, Gillette, Tiger Woods’ PGA Tour videogame, and the sports apparel giant Nike. Clearly, we can see that image is of utmost importance to companies, and if this becomes tarnished it can have disastrous results for corporations’ profits.
To help determine what marketing departments look for in athletes I am going to focus on two people. One is a well-known and establish NFL superstar, and the other is a college football phenom. Peyton Manning is known by almost everyone, especially in this state, but what made advertiser’s think that he could make their company more profitable? In an interview with Darren Rovell, the chief marketing officer for MasterCard, Larry Flanagan, sat down to explain why Petyon made a perfect fit for their organization.
Darren: “Why did you specifically choose him [Manning] to represent your brand?”
Flanagan: “…because of his fit with the brand values—authentic and being a leader and being a competitor and competing to win.”
This helps show what types of things go through a marketing director’s head when making a decision on an endorsement. Flanagan later commented that Manning was a “solid person” when asked about the current climate of uncertainty in celebrity endorsements.
I lastly want to look at Tim Tebow, the former University of Florida quarterback who will enter the draft this year. He is known by almost everyone that follows college football, but lacks the wide appeal of a Peyton Manning. So what might make him appealing to advertisers? Well, as previously mentioned, he was an outstanding athlete who hopes that his skills will translate well in the NFL. Second, he is a deeply religious person known for his strong moral values. His Super Bowl advertisement for ‘Focus on the Family’ directly projects his strong family ties. Another passion of Tebow’s is his missionary work in the Philippines, where he was born while his parents were serving as missionaries. It is attributes like these that will be valuable to advertisers in the fallout of the Tiger Woods chronicle especially to companies with a strong emphasis on family values.
To conclude, I think we will see many companies start to look at athletes that can offer not only dominance on the playing field but upstanding character that children and adults alike can look up to and idolize in their own lives. This is what makes athletes like Tim Tebow and Peyton Manning so appealing to corporations today.
Sources:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/35259233
http://www.cnbc.com/id/34935760
When one thinks of a marketable athlete who can help a company promote its product, one would think of an individual who is successful at their sport and who has good qualities in their daily lives. These companies are looking for people who give back to their communities, donate to charities, and volunteer their time to help others. However, there is a problem with this, the sporting culture is changing drastically now. Players are being offered hundred million dollar contracts and they are promoting a way of life that does not coincide with what companies are looking for in their spokesperson and name of their product.
ReplyDeleteThe result is exactly what we are seeing in the current sports promotion world today. We are seeing commercials done by the same few athletes, who are representing many different products and companies. But the question that we must ask ourselves is at what point do these few athletes begin to lose their appeal to the targeted customers? By looking at Tiger Woods before his marriage problems and by currently looking at Peyton Manning, it can be seen that they represent a wide variety of products from Nike to Oreos. Does this wide diversity of promotions hurt the impact that they could have on each individual deal? I believe that it does, Peyton Manning could be more effective if he just promoted Oreos. This would be due to the dramatic impact that his presence would bring for that company which would be greater than if people saw him doing an Oreo commercial and just thought “Oh, Peyton is doing another commercial.” Despite these ideas, some companies like Nike believe that the current trends are the most successful paths. Nike’s CEO, Mark Parker, says “This is a strategy that works” when asked about the companies celebrity endorsements.
Another aspect that must be understood here is whether or not this trend of few marketable athletes will continue and if there will be anymore athletes that companies can even use in the future. I believe that with the emergence of college stars like Colt McCoy and Tim Tebow, both of whom posses the positive qualities companies are looking for, that there will still be athletes for the future of promotions. However, the sports’ culture has changed in a way that there will always be a limited supply of reputable athletes which companies will have to continue to deal with.
Sources:
Mediapost.com/publications
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ReplyDeleteMany companies choose to use athletes or celebs to endorse their products, and most of the time this really works. Athletes and celebs really have an appeal about them and people are often very curious about them.
ReplyDeleteTake Michael Jordan for example. In the late 1990s Michael Jordan got one of the biggest endorsement deals of that time period, a 13 million dollar deal with Gatorade. In their Gatorade campaign they encourage people to "Be like Mike, Drink Gatorade." It makes people think that if Michael Jordan drinks Gatorade and is successful, why can't I drink Gatorade and be successful? Okay well people don't dumb it down that much but people definitely want to "Be Like Mike." It seems like a relatively simple concept, and it is, but it really seems to appeal to people. Whether its an athlete or a celeb, people seem to be able to connect with them and are very curious about them, making them great for endoursing products.
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