Marketing in the sport industry – is athlete endorsement still enough?

As a proper ad-junkie, I spend many (free) hours surfing the web looking for smart, creative, out-of-the-ordinary, brilliant and also fun to watch advertisements.

There are many good adverts out there. So, of course, money lets your creativity surpasses limits and your imagination leads the way. So here is my opinion: Although car adverts are very expensive, most of the time I find them boring and so I think sports commercial are the best.

So, you will ask, what makes it ‘special’? Most of the time, it is the famous athlete in the advert.

Having Derrick Rose endorsing a promotional event in London for sneackers was a great idea from Adidas marketers. Not only the video was great but the concept of it was genius: have a look!

                            

      Jump with Derrick Rose

However, isn't it hard for a normal customer to "identify" him/herself to the brand via an athlete, that excels in sport? I could be wearing the same sneakers as Ronaldo, I don't think this would give me the same skills.. 

So what? Celebrity endorsement is not a good promotional tool anymore? 

I think it still provides you with this great competitive edge, but customers might feel the need to feel closer to the brand. Nike has taken this to another level and demonstrated they could show the consumer how to associate more with them. In 2 ways:

- 'The right balance': Endorsing a celebrity, but not an athlete, and to put her (Ellie Goulding) in an everyday activity: going for a jog, in her city's street, during her work day.

               
                              'Music runs Ellie' advert

- 'The right mix': Endless possibilities: featuring women challenging themselves, swimming to the bottom of the ocean and competing on the Olympic stage for gymnastics. Nike creates a community of people by including them in their advert, along with super star like Jessie J and famous athlete such as Piqué. To make them feel they belong here, with the brand, as much as athletes and superstars do.

                           

      Jessie J and a women wearing Nike in 'Endless possibilities' advert

Nevertheless, isn’t it a bit risky to “lend” your brand identity to a single person/team?

I think of Tiger Woods, but also and more recently, the French football team, involved in a pimping affair. A recipe for disaster: a handful of players, and, a not so discreet hooker named Zahia, taking advantage of this all media frenzy.

And, this kind of scandal, we can all agree is far from everyday life/concerns of customers… 

Although, star/athlete endorsements are sometimes necessary for a brand to raise awareness, when this point is reached, I suggest companies should look up at Nike as an example and turn  their focus to what really matters: the person who are going to purchase and are willing to associate themselves to your brand value & identity.

Zahia in the french media after the scandal

In a nutshell, companies should understand that, to walk the bridge up to their customers, they have to show they understand their real interests & motivations. 

Brand identification, emotional attachment is what sports industry companies look for when improving their adverts dynamics. 
The best motto: The real star is you…

                         Piqué and a women wearing Nike in 'Endless possibilities' advert

The Power of Instagram

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These days, it has become almost impossible for any company, whether starting up or well established, to market its products or services without an Internet strategic presence.

But I’ve come to understand, when using one of the major social network - Instagram, that it can be done in many ways. 

Either rather obviously (and annoyingly... Who never felt the urge to strangle the guy at Facebook that added an endless advertisements column?), or it can be done in a rather subtle way.

I am trying to figure out when companies started realising Instagram was a great strategic media to use as a marketing tool. 

Was it when they understood the principle of it? The more likes you get on a pictures, the more chance the picture has to appear on the popular pages, and the more chance you have to gain additional followers (thus potential customers). Or was it when Facebook bought it? Enabling pictures to be broadcast, and even the “likes” & "hashtags" to be synced to your Facebook,  thus, spreading your web activity as a company even more.

I thought this would be my first article on my brand new blog as I, myself, have had successive “customer experiences” rather unexpectedly, on Instagram. 
I always think an argument is led by examples. In this matter, I suggest to list a few to prove that Instagram is a powerful marketing tool that could bring the Wow factor to companies.

At first, when I started my “Instagram journey”, I've added my friends, and then had a look at the popular pages, and the pictures that my friend would “like”. Through that, I discovered this French blogger Camille, working at Net-à-Porter and living in the same London borough as me! She is a talented and rather renowned blogger. Her Instagram activity is beneficial to her company. Indeed, she exercises a sort of extension of her  job at Net-à-Porter. She brings value to the brand identity company via this channel (in addition to her blog)  by posting pictures taken in her work environment (thanks to the "location" option, powered by Foursquare), as well as with her work colleagues at different events.

A more direct way is to have an Instagram account per say for your brand/company. Via the popular pages, I discovered this Australian fashion online shop, Sabo Skirt. This company plays a lot on its internal assets: beautiful team members, & gorgeous models. Photo-shoots, clothes stock coming up, Sabo Skirt maintains a positive and constant presence on Instagram. The co-owners also have their own ‘personal’ accounts. As part of the brand image, they "provide" the company with even more opportunities to reach buyers. Indeed, they take advantage of their personal accounts to post #ootd (outfit of the day), #potd (picture of the day) pictures, to advertise in a more sophisticated manner their own clothing line. A smart way to do it!

Food and drinks companies, also, can “shine” on Instagram. Healthy lifestyle is getting trendier by the minute. Being aware of that, a lot of fitness coaches advertise by showing their before:after client pictures to generate more demand. Companies such as Your tea (tea detox) and Pressed Juices (cleanse juices), which I discovered via the “@” (tag identifying users), also increased and improved their internet profile thanks to Instagram features. 
Being a gym bunny myself, I am always keen on discovering new products to go along my fitness trip. I was able to access these two companies' posts via the “#” (hashtag) option, and went on to visit new fitness inspiration profiles, like befitphotos.

However, Instagram has some downsides as a marketing tool. It can become overwhelming for a follower and turn into a negative experience for them... 
Here is some advice for any company with, or considering, an Instagram presence: At no moment, should your   "followers/customers" feel too pressured about your presence. It must not be too obvious that, as a company, you are promoting your own product or services.

Otherwise, it’s another promotional channel with no specific feature. Indeed, Instagram is seen more as a pictures/leisure/discovery oriented platform where people are probably avoiding the too much 'mainstream' and 'public' feels they get on Facebook nowadays... 

Even with its limitations, Instagram is a great marketing channel to me. It enables you to outperform your competition by reaching a wider range of potential customers to built a better & more sustainable relationship with them, something that the competition will not.