1. Introduction
The marketing industry these days is so vital and important not only to the marketers, but to the consumers as well. When it comes down to what consumers want or need, it all goes in to how well a product is presented to them. Promotion, promotion, promotion. That is the way you can get the product out there in the open with different kinds of advertising. One type of popular advertisement is endorsements. An endorsement is a written or spoken statement endorsing a product. CEOs from companies look to endorse celebrities and athletes so that their product can be marketed by someone who is much known in the public eye.
Sports endorsements is really big, as you see athletes take over so much of the marketing world with their advertising in commercials and magazines. It takes the right kind of athlete to represent the products of these companies. Sports endorsements have been popular for decades now and almost all athletes are looking for one, because not only does it benefit the company for having the athlete on its product, but it helps the athlete out as well with publicity and not to mention that they do get paid.
Micheal Jordan is a big celebrity who got Sports Endorsements really booming back in the 90’s, it has really escalated today in the 21st century. My site will show you different websites, articles, and videos going in more detail about Sports Endorsement.
2. Main Content
Introduction
The marketing industry these days is so vital and important not only to the marketers, but to the consumers as well. When it comes down to what consumers want or need, it all goes in to how well a product is presented to them. Promotion, promotion, promotion. That is the way you can get the product out there in the open with different kinds of advertising. One type of popular advertisement is endorsements. An endorsement is a written or spoken statement endorsing a product. CEOs from companies look to endorse celebrities and athletes so that their product can be marketed by someone that are much known in the public eye. “It has been known by many researchers that when a consumer sees its favorite celebrity or athlete on a product, they are more likely to use the product, and their interest rate goes up” (Rovell 2011).
Sports endorsements is really big, as you see athletes take over so much of the marketing world with their advertising in commercials and magazines. It takes the right kind of athlete to represent the products of these companies, which I will explain later in this paper. Sports endorsements have been popular for decades now and almost all athletes are looking for one, because not only does it benefit the company for having the athlete on its product, but it helps the athlete out as well with publicity and not to mention that they do get paid. “Recent studies show that consumers are more likely to purchase products and use services endorsed by athletes than products / services not endorsed. In today’s society, athletes are big role models and consumers tend to believe in champion athletes. In our era, we see athletes with their own line of shoes, clothes, food, video games and more” ( Associated Press 2009).So on top of their yearly salary from their respective sports’ contract, they get money from their endorsement deals as well.
How Endorsement Deals Work
So how exactly do endorsement deals work? “Endorsement deals mean that sports stars make millions for wearing a certain brand of shoe, using a particular brand of equipment, and doing a commercial or two” (Seepersaud 2009). It isn’t as simple as it may seem. It takes a lot of deliberation, and once they choose the right candidate, he or she is obligated to do numerous things other than just having their face on the product. This is something called endorsement work. “With endorsement work, the company signs the athlete up for a period of time, sometimes a year or two, and they represent the company in various locales” (Freedman 2010). In other words they’re not just doing the typical print advertising or commercials. Sometimes they may need to represent the company at a product’s launch at a mall or store. Sometimes they may be asked to show up at a board of directors meeting to show off the product. These are some of the things that not only help the company and its product but the athlete and its publicity as well, as I mentioned earlier.
Who Gets the Endorsements?
When it comes to which athletes get these endorsements, it varies from product to product and sport to sport. Of course almost all of the high profile athletes get endorsement deals, but what about the low profile ones? If you think about it, there is a lot of athletes in this sports world, but at the same time there are a lot of products and companies to go around for them to represent at the same time. There are even a number of athletes who share the same company but have their own products. A good example of this is the Adidas team of basketball players, Derrick Rose, Dwight Howard, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, and Tracy Mcgrady are all endorsed by Adidas, but all have their own type of show and product under the name brand. Companies such as Nike and Jordan are also popular for doing this. Other than high profile athletes, companies look for the athlete that they feel will best represent their product and give it more sales then it is already receiving. “Since the days of Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio, people known that athletes pulled in attention some fashion” (Mullin, Hardy, Sutton p. 247).A big success is Tiger Woods being a representative for Buick. It isn’t the most popular type of car, but when you have a face like Tiger on it; it makes it a little more appealing. Usain Bolt is an up and coming star on the track who is endorsed with Puma, and has brought their products back in to the consumers eyes. “Bolt has said he wants to be the first runner to earn the sort of money paid to top footballers in Europe and basketball and baseball stars in the US. His aim, he says, “is to make as much money out of this as possible before I retire”. The sum of $10 million a year – in endorsements, appearance fees, prize money – is mentioned”(Crampton 2009).Now there are some athletes who miss out on endorsements or even lose them because of an image that they represent. “Getting paid millions of dollars to have your name and face attached to products is good work, if you can get it. But you have to play reasonably well and stay out of trouble if you want to keep those checks coming” (Seepersaud 2009). There are so many different examples of this, but one big one is when Kobe Bryant got in trouble for a certain incident. He lost some of his endorsements like McDonalds, but Nike still kept him on board fortunately. “Kobe Bryant‘s legal troubles cost him millions of dollars via the nixed endorsement deal with McDonald’s. The fast-food chain dumped him in favor of squeaky-clean Yao Ming” (Seepersaud 2009). Another popular incident is when Micheal Vick was convicted of illegal dog fighting and lost his $2 million dollar endorsement with Nike. “Vick, who at the time had a 10-year $130 million contract with the the Atlanta Falcons, was one of pro football’s top paid players prior to his conviction. He’s since apologized for his actions” (Solomon 2011). Now that he has passed that stage in his life he has recently sealed a two-year deal to endorse Unequal Technologies, a sports gear company that manufactures protective, shock absorbing padding for athletes. Which just shows how people tend to forgive and forget. Some athletes change brands, like Dwayne Wade going from Converse to Nike Jordan. “Wade had three years left on his deal with Converse, which made him the centerpiece of its attempt to reinvigorate a once-thriving basketball business. But decided to leave for the more popular brand” (McCoy 2011).
Conclusion
These endorsement deals are becoming more and more popular as the years go by. Athletes young and old are getting them and companies keep looking for athletes to make their products higher on the consumer scale. Endorsement deals, coupled with income from contracts or tournament purses, have put many athletes among the very richest people in the world. With all of this money coming in, when their playing careers are over, these superstars will certainly never have to look for work.
Sports Endorsement 