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Events and Attractions

Sports Marketing Symposium: Brands Mindful Of Endorser Selection, Contract Language

Brands are becoming more judicious in the way that they choose who to endorse, according to panelists in the "Athlete Endorsements As A Strategic Marketing Platform" session at the IMG Sports Marketing Symposium '12. The fallout from the Tiger Woods scandal, for example, has caused sponsors to think longer and harder about who they sign and about the language they include in their contracts. Celebrities and musicians have started to encroach further into the sponsorship realm, as well, adding to the competition for endorsements. Unilever VP/Marketing for Skincare Rob Candelino said, “Ten years ago, the celebrities who were getting the big bucks before were saying, ‘Hey, these athletes are encroaching on my space.' [Now] these guys are starting to treat themselves like brands. It’s gone full circle.” Gold medal-winning U.S swimmer Cullen Jones said that he “thinks of himself as a brand and believes that is what has to happen for athletes to be recognized.” When even relatively unknown reality TV stars are competing for deals, agents and brands are focusing more on an organic, authentic match-up and becoming better storytellers.

QUICK HITS:

-- Williams & Connolly Partner Jim Tanner, who represents Rockets G Jeremy Lin, on what drives marketing: “One of the things we always tell new clients is don’t start with branding. Start with performance. That drives 90 percent of marketing.”

-- Under Armour Senior VP/Global Sports Marketing Matt Mirchin, on how to reach customers: “As a brand you want to associate yourself with something that resonates with your consumer. From our perspective, Under Armour is all about making athletes better. So it’s nice when entertainers or celebrities wear our product. But we’re going to go right to that sweet spot with the athletes because that’s who resonates with us.”

-- Candelino, on Unilever's athletes representing Dove Men: “Every one of them has told a story or a sentimental moment that has shaped them as men. We think that has been a winning formula because it resonates with our brand. If we started trying to be a sports brand, then we’ve lost the plot. I think far too often nowadays, brands, particularly ones that don’t have both feet firmly entrenched in sports, subcontract their responsibility of brand equity to the athlete. If you do that, you’re done.”

-- IMG Talent Marketing Group Senior VP & Managing Dir Alan Zucker, on athlete overexposure: “People talk about overexposure all the time. Whether it’s Tiger Woods or Peyton Manning or Danica Patrick, [they say] 'I see them everywhere.’ Yeah, they are everywhere, but people keep calling. So obviously they must be doing something right with their brands or people wouldn’t want to work with them anymore.”

-- Jones, on using Twitter: “Granted, I might have thoughts that I might want to instantly put out there, [but] it’s not smart to do that. I consider myself a brand.”

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

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