How Organizations Use Professional Athletes As Figure Heads To Help Promote Their Product - Assignment Example

Running Head: [Short [institute of affiliation] I. Introduction As the marketplace has grown more sophisticated over the years, new ways of communicating and reaching to consumers have emerged. One of these is sports marketing, or using professional athletes as figure heads in order to promote their products or to become brand ambassadors. Over the years, the sports industry have become a huge patron of sponsorships from corporate clients. Professional athletes stand as walking promotional channels in order for companies to reach their consumers. This paper aims to demonstrate how organizations use professional athletes as figure heads to help promote their product. By looking at different spots, different athletes and different sponsors, ways in which companies utilize professional athletes as brand ambassadors are explored. Some of the sports that are looked at include auto racing, football, swimming, basketball, and track and field. II. Body A. Auto racing The world of auto racing is one of the sports that has attracted the attention of many companies. The world-renowned Formula One is one of the greatest events that people around the globe look forward to each year. This huge scope of audience has made companies look at pursuing sponsorships in order to promote the product or the brand. In Formula One, car companies sponsor the engines of the competing teams, which becomes the carrying name of the teams. This is one of the ways organizations sponsor professional athlete to carry on their brand or product. For example, one of the engine sponsors is Ferrari. When the team Brawn GP in March this year has its engine sponsor, Honda backed out (Kemp 2009), it has to find another engine sponsor whose brand name it will carry as its team name. Brawn GP has then signed with Mercedes-Benz, and the teams name becomes Brawn-Mercedes. Apart from the car engine, the teams receive sponsorship in other kinds, such as clothing. As for Brawn GP, the team has made an agreement with Henry Lloyd to sponsor their clothing (Kemp 2009). The team will carry the Henry Lloyd brand while they are on the race, and out of the race when they appear before the media. Gears that teams will use in such sports are the usual way a company uses in order to sponsor a professional athlete. Lastly, companies that cannot provide gears or other things that can be used by athletes to showcase during the event itself can still have the professional athletes as their ambassadors. This is done by providing these athletes with a contract, a paycheck with a figure that somehow hires the athlete as the companys brand ambassadors. Cash sponsorship is one that athletes look forward to as it is similar to a steady salary. In the case of Brawn GP in the recent Formula One event, their other sponsors include MIG Investments and Virgin (Kemp 2009). The logos of these sponsors appear in engines of the team. B. Football Football being a major sports, has attracted a lot of marketers as sponsors. Football players and teams have been sponsored by cash or other kinds. It is very usual that football players get sponsorships for their clothing. Apart from these, many sports gear companies sponsor teams for their footwear as well as other parts of the uniform. A different way of promoting the product has been utilized by sponsors that cannot sponsor the clothing—such as banks. For example, the M&T bank which is based in Buffalo has sponsored Baltimore Ravens. Instead of having their service promoted by football players in the similar way the clothing and footwear sponsors, they use the naming rights of Baltimore Ravens (Scarborough 2009). M&T has an exclusive naming right in the stadium where Baltimore Ravens play for fifteen years (Scarborough 2009). By providing cash sponsorship, the bank can utilize the name of the team in order to promote its product. As the local football team plays in the M&T Bank Stadium, other ways the bank utilizes the team include the banks use of the Ravens logo in its merchandise (Scarborough 2009). For example, bank customers can opt to have their debit cards and checks with the Ravens logo (Scarborough 2009). The bank also offers Ravens “stadium blankets, football-shaped Ravens car magnets, and Ravens checking account packages (Scarborough 2009).” With the naming rights, the bank also showcase Ravens memorabilia at times. The bank employees also wear the signature purple of the Ravens uniform and brand identity at times (Scarborough 2009). C. Swimming Swimming is also one of the sports that has garnered the attention of many marketers. With the record-breaking efforts of many swimmers especially during the recent Olympic games, sponsorships in different forms have taken place and have provided many top swimmers significant amount of salaries from cash sponsorships. Like other sports, in swimming the most basic thing a company can provide for sponsorships include the athletes uniform. For Jason Lezak who has been a four-time gold medalist in the Olympics, the company which sponsors him is Nike, which has backed out before the start of the Beijing Olympics as it has decided not to compete with Speedo (Adelson 2009). For Michael Phelps, who has been highly regarded because of winning eight gold medals in the recent Beijing Olympics, it is Speedo (Adelson 2009). The other kind of sponsorships comes in the form of cash sponsorship. As brand ambassador, the athlete is expected to carry the name of the organization as his official sponsor, in exchange for some cash. In the case of Michael Phelps, by carrying the name of Speedo apart from just being its sponsor for its gears, the athlete gets a bonus of $1 million (Adelson 2009). This is also the same for other companies that Phelps carry with his name, such as Visa (Adelson 2009, Activision, AT&T, and Subway (Tschang 2009). As these company cannot sponsor the clothing of Phelps, they provide cash sponsorship to the athlete in exchange for carrying their names by the athlete as his official sponsors. Companies usually hire athletes in order to hold other figurehead positions within the company. In the case of Jason Lezak, he has been in negotiating terms with the Mutual of Omaha, an insurance and annuities company in order to become its corporate spokesman (Adelson 2009). The company hopes that by doing this and putting Lezak in its PR function, the company can gain better exposure. This is another way of utilizing professional athletes to promote a companys brand or products. D. Basketball Like other sports, the athletes uniforms are the usual stuff sponsored by companies. With major footwear and apparel companies that specialize in the sports industry, these has been the tradition. Companies who cannot provide merchandise for athletes to wear during the event thus resort to other ways to promote their products, apart from sponsorships. One notable way of promoting its brand is practiced by the bank TD Banknorth in Portland, Maine by becoming a sponsor of the Boston Celtics basketball team. Because the bank cannot provide merchandise that the team can showcase, it gets in return the naming rights of Boston Celtics. According to an article by Scarborough, Boston Celtics has designated TD Banknorth as the teams official bank (2009, 22). Apart from this, the company has used the naming rights for its other activities. These activities include joint marketing campaigns and ventures with the basketball team. For example, one activity which is called the “Kids Clubhouse” which is a section during the Celtics home games (Scarborough 2009). According to the article, “more than 800 local children are chauffeured by limousine to a game, where they are treated to seats, dinner, t-shirts and featured on the Jumbotron” during the season (Scarborough 2009). This event serves the bank in terms of public relations. With the naming rights, the TD Banknorth can align its philosophy of the company with the philosophy of the team, which is known to have a tradition of being involved with the community (Scarborough 2009). This is another way of using professional athletes to promote the brand, apart from the traditional kind of sponsorships. E. Track and field With the rising popularity of stars in Track and Field, large marketers have long supported athletes in these sports. The usual support includes the sponsorships in the form of cash or other kinds. Companies usually sponsor the outfit of the athletes as in the other sports. This is apparent in Pumas tie up with the Jamaican team (Tiltman 2008). By becoming the sponsor of the team, the brand would be carried by the team as they go through the event, as well as acknowledging the brand as one of its official sponsors. In the case of Liu Xiang who won the 110 hurdles in the 2004 Athens Olympics and has been a rising star in China over the years, this sponsor is Nike (Tiltman 2008). As with other sports, cash sponsorship is another way to make the athletes the figurehead of a company to promote its product. For example, as a brand ambassador the athlete has to create a major association with the brand as in the case of Liu Xiang with Coca-Cola (Brosenne 2008). Apart from Coke, Liu Xiang also has Visa and McDonalds as his major sponsors (Balfour 2009). He has appeared in some of the major advertisements of the brands; these companies have the naming rights as well where their brand names will be carried wherever Liu Xiangs persona and name appears. Baisha, a Chinese Tobacco company, as well as Spring of Sudi, a real estate company are also included in his major sponsors (Balfour 2009). The athlete has also received a huge earning by tying up with General Motors in the previous year, becoming its brand ambassador (Balfour 2009). Sports stars also appear in different publicity stunts, such as heroes parades (Kemp, 2008). This is another opportunity for brands to utilize professional athletes to promote their products. III. Conclusion Companies have utilized professional athletes in order to promote their products and brands over the years. As the market has become more and more sophisticated, the rising prominence of sports stars and their influence over consumers have prompted companies to utilize them as ambassadors to promote their products. In the past, companies have resorted to traditional ways of sponsorships to promote their brands and products: providing merchandise athletes can use and wear during and after the event to become walking advertisements. As people see the logos all over the uniforms of the athletes, associations between the athletes and the brands are formed. This is major aim of sponsorship. However, not all companies can provide merchandise for athletes to showcase; and there are not a lot of opportunities where the athlete can be exposed to the media, carrying the logo of other sponsors. Thus, companies have resorted to different ways of using athletes as their figureheads. These ways include making joint marketing campaigns with athletes, making an athlete appear in a publicity stunt that is sponsored by the company, using the naming rights as license to include the names and logos of the athletes with the offers of the company, etc. Thus, instead of making athletes just walking advertisements, companies have made them partner entities in marketing, where the individual brand identities of the athletes can be used by companies as co-branding efforts. This way, companies have expanded the use of athletes as their figureheads by just being walking advertisement to carry their merchandise, to active brand ambassadors in the process. Reference List Adelson, Eric. (2009 March 23). “Americas Unemployed Olympic Hero.” Newsweek. Volume 153 Issue 12. Retrieved April 20, 2008, from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=1&hid=2&sid=daccfcfd-1192-4afa-9d58-bf6b7c5512e9%40sessionmgr9&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=buh&AN=36965281 Balfour, Frederick. (2008 August 19). “China Olympic Hero Liu Xiang Quits Games.” Business Week Online. Retrieved April 20, 2008, from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=1&hid=12&sid=05904b83-0adc-4de8-9492-c89d0b7e5ce6%40sessionmgr7&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=buh&AN=34047202 Brosenne, Matthew. (2008 October 30). “Brands Should Take Note of the New Crop of Sports Stars.” Media. Retrieved April 20, 2008, from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=1&hid=15&sid=db6d8101-40e1-4bb2-ab32-1d7e24269333%40sessionmgr9 Kemp, Ed. (2009 April 8). “Brawn Sponsors Reap Rewards.” Marketing Magazine.co.uk. Retrieved April 20, 2008, from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=1&hid=12&sid=cab1de76-6532-45d5-833e-806e4ece2b70%40sessionmgr3 Scarborough, Melanie. (2009 April). “Being a Good Sports” Community Banker. Retrieved April 20, 2008, from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=1&hid=6&sid=5dd0cdb1-4afa-4d35-a22c-0be375d3493d%40sessionmgr2 Tiltman, David. (2008 September 4). “Which Brand Claims Gold in Beijing.” Media. Retrieved April 20, 2008, from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=1&hid=106&sid=934bfc1e-f105-4669-b729-c2c4b4e96ad7%40sessionmgr107 Tschang, Chi-Chu. (2009 February 3). “Sports Stars Still Find Endorsement Gold in China.” Business Week Online. Retrieved April 20, 2008, from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=1&hid=108&sid=35a739c4-5719-485a-8ab3-de7aa6aeb21a%40sessionmgr102&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=buh&AN=36427184 Read More