Social media is defining a new era of athlete endorsements. “It used to be that you needed the networks to build your brands and be in a major city, but all that has changed now,” said Priority Sports & Entertainment Founder & CEO Mark Bartelstein during a panel discussion on Day 2 of the ’15 Intersport Brand Engagement Summit. “All that has changed now. Whether you are in Oklahoma City, like Kevin Durant, or LeBron in Cleveland, it comes down to how you build the brand.” The power of social media is also driving fans to get closer to the players, which is changing the nature of endorsements. “Fans want to know more and connect more,” said Unilever Senior Dir of Marketing Matthew McCarthy. “Social media has helped transform that.” But there are big risks in the rise of social media that is transforming the endorsement business. “There is great risk and great reward,” said State Farm Advertising Dir Ed Gold. “Because of social media, things can blow up in seconds. Morals clauses have changed. We have much quicker outs if something blows up. As much as you want to vet everything, it is impossible.” Brands are now changing how they identify potential endorsers by digging deeper into an athlete’s background. “There is further vetting,” said Burns Entertainment President Doug Shabelman. “It is, what are their likes and dislikes? It is, what are their real interests? It is, what is the story the brand wants to tell?” The panel used Warriors G and NBA MVP Stephen Curry as the poster boy of an athlete endorsement. “You look at Steph and he could be any one of us,” said NBPA CMO Jordan Schlachter. McCarthy, who signed Curry to an endorsement deal, said it was Curry’s unlikely journey into the NBA that attracted the company to one of the league's highest-profile players. “There is an underdog story to it,” McCarthy said. “It’s not only his fame, but his character. He seems to be the beginning of the new guard.”
