Effects of Sports Stars in Advertising free essay sample

Given the increasing popularity of sports in all of the world, sport has become a very dominate theme in advertising. Sports stars are seen as idols and almost like super heroes to young kids in the American society. Many brand owners corporate with sports stars to promote the sales of almost any kind of products, even if they have no apparent relationship with sports. â€Å"In the beginning, no one was giving us a chance,† said Rich Paul, a childhood friend of the NBA’s biggest star, LeBron James, â€Å"but it’s a new day. Sports marketing in 2006 is different, athletes are different and the way people perceive athletes is different† (Thomaselli) The theme of passion and vitality is essentially attractive to youth, who is impressed by famous good-looking sports stars. Thus it is a sensible choice for advertisers to use sports personality in today’s markets. Yao Ming, a household name in both China and America, is a good example to reflect the phenomenon. The magazine Campaign(UK) in March, 2006 reported that Yao has features in the advertising campaign of several companies and brands including Gatorade, McDonalds Corp. , Reebok, Tag Heuer, Apple, China Unicom, Sohu, Garmin and Upperdeck (Nick). In some ways he is one of the leading figures in sports marketing in China, where exists a expandable market supported by 1. 3 billion potential consumers. Obviously the direct beneficiaries of these advertising activities are the owners of sports brands. Adidas, for instance, always signs with stars of NBA, soccer and NFL to get higher reputation. The Adweek, a weekly American advertising trade publication, described a spot of Adidas last summer season: The best spot from last month did however tap into the soccer fever that swept the globe, an Adidas spot called Partido. Filmed in a Spanish-speaking country; the commercial, directed by Ivan Zacharias, celebrates the love of the sport through the imaginative eyes of a young boy playing on an urban field. Soccer stars like David Beckham and Zinedine Zidane join him and his friend in the game until his mother yells for him to come in. Playtime is over, the boy reluctantly goes home and his new playmates disappear in the latest from Adidas +10 campaign. (Parpis and Lynn) The participation of soccer stars Beckham and Zidane in this spot exactly fitted the exciting surrounding of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and the impressed idea that young kids get involved with soccer stars is truly attractive to soccer fevers. It’s not advertising for any particular product in this spot anyway; however, more and more youth get the idea of Adidas and fall in love with this brand just because these familiar players and the popularization of sports sprits. Another main participant in sport marketing is the industry of beverage. One example is last year a line backer named Brian Urlacher for the Chicago Bears in the NFL drank a kind of vitamin water at a press conference, and ever since vitamin water has become a very successful and popular drink. For the simple fact that he drank that water, more kids thought: â€Å"Hey, I’ll try it, if it’s good enough for him; it’s good enough for me. † Besides energy drink like this vitamin water, which is no doubt that will use athletes for advertising, Coca-Cola Co. is putting the sports element to almost all its products. The emphasis is not just the physical effect of the drink anymore, but also the fashion perception of the brand which can be represented on the most popular celebrities of film, music and sports. The recent advertising activity of Coca-Cola was it announced the plans for a new global Olympic television commercial featuring Olympians LeBron James and Yao Ming. Business Wire disseminated: â€Å"We are excited about the coming year of uplifting Coca-Cola programs that will celebrate the magic of the 2008 Olympic Games together with our partners and consumers,† said Hendrik Steckhan, president and general manager, Sparkling Beverages, Coca-Cola North America. â€Å"The Olympic Games and Coca-Cola both connect people in a positive, inspiring way. In our new commercial, LeBron and Yao will come together not as competitors, but as individuals to show how the Olympic Games and Coca-Cola truly unite cultures and people. † (Business Wire, Aug 7, 2007) In this hot event the athletes are not just representing an individual or any idolatry; they do represent their countries and culture using the common feeling to sports that can be perceived by people wherever in the world. This high stepped idea makes people feel ever better to Coca-cola, which has already been the dominant brand in the soft drinks industry. Also, some sports stars create their own brands and advertise them just using the fame of their own names. As we all know, Michael Jordan has his own shoes, which established in the 90’s. An article in Advertising Age published 7 years ago said: â€Å"Perhaps the most ongoing of Mr. Jordans marketing efforts is Nikes Jordan Brand, created two years ago. Last year, the separate Nike division grew to $300 million, and Mr. Jordan says he wants to increase revenue to $1 billion soon† (Friedman). Time passing, Jordan is not the only one who dominate such kind of market. Following him, LeBron James, who have established an advertising company deals with Nike, Coca-Cola, Bubblicious, Upper Deck trading cards, and Microsoft, is planning to turn Mr. James into a global icon, building partnerships with global companies. Lynn Merritt, senior director of basketball sports marketing and Nike, said: â€Å"The state that LeBron comes in with now, with the internet and all kinds of technological advancements that werent around when Michael was at his peak, well, LeBron could be the first billion-dollar athlete in all aspects† (Thomaselli). It’s true that the sports stars gain wealth and more fame than before by these advertisements. Consumers especially teen and high school kids are also affected by the fashion products. Take ‘Jordan shoes’ again. If you wore the â€Å"Jordan shoes†, then you would be seen as popular or you had money or something like that. In addition, some youth would collect the posters or download the spot video of a product just because of the athletes they love, ignoring the product itself. Thus spiritual and visual enjoyment enriches our life in diverse ways. Sellers and consumers both affect by this kind of sports marketing that using sports stars in advertising, as well as the stars themselves. In general, it’s beneficial to all the three parts engaged in the market, not only economically but also educationally and culturally. Furthermore, with the global communication in all the aspects in our society, the way to develop sports advertising will be expanded, and the efforts of sports star will be ever larger.