Advertisers have been using sports to reach their consumers for a very long time. In the late 1800’s, advertisers used tobacco ads featuring boxers, hunting and horse racing. This concept grew and with the advent of television in the 1940’s advertisers began to truly realize that sports broadcasts and personalities could be used to market products. Now, the concept of using a celebrity or athlete to endorse a product is ubiquitous. It is hard to go 30 minutes without watching an athlete on television pitching a product for consumers to buy. Advertisers realized the popularity of athletes and consumer’s feelings about the athletes could allow them to effectively brand their product with that athlete and appeal to the consumer. In return for their endorsement the athlete receives recognition and compensation, and the company’s product is set apart from the competition. This usually creates a good return on investment for the company.
Some partnerships with products and athlete have become so well known that almost everyone, even non-sports fans, are aware of which company an athlete is an endorser of. We think about the holy grail of endorsers, Michael Jordan, and immediately Gatorade and Nike come to mind. Tiger Woods and Nike, before his scandal. Even a non-athlete like John Madden, is synonymous with the endorsement of his video game which is released by EA Sports.
 | |
| Favre in Wrangler's Ad |
If we look deeper at former NFL quarterback Brett Favre and his endorsements we can see how he has crafted his image in order to appeal to consumers. Favre was arguably the most popular football player of the mid-to-late 90s and into the 2000s, so advertisers flocked to him. Which product an athlete chooses to endorse can tell us quite a bit about what the athlete is trying to convey to us about him or her.
A good example of this is Favre and his endorsement of Wrangler Jeans. Favre crafted an image as a player as a gritty, tough, blue-collar, gunslinger who was a leader of his team. Favre endorsed very few products throughout his career, but as the end of his career neared he started endorsing Wrangler Jeans. It’s easy to see the similarities between the product and Favre, and they feel like a natural fit. That is why the ad works well. There is no disconnection between endorser and product. If Favre were to start endorsing products like Rolex or Lacoste, then the audience may be smart enough to realize that there is something wrong with that connection and the ad would be unsuccessful. So, it’s important for advertisers to realize how their product connects to the endorser.
This 1997 ad caught Favre in his prime playing years and at the height of his popularity. The ad does a good job of selling the Nike brand, but at the same time what it really does is sell Favre as the blue collar, rugged quarterback. His image is one of a guy who is unconcerned with the limelight, and who just wants to play football. For the next 13 years, this is how the Favre brand would be portrayed to the audience.
Throughout the years, Favre’s endorsements have ranged from companies like Remington and Sears to Snapper and Prilosec. While the companies have changed the Favre brand remains the same. His image is crafted to be down home country boy strong. His endorsements have maintained that image and even though he has retired he remains one of the most popular athlete endorsers in the country. The last few years of his football career may have taken the spotlight off of him, and rubbed some fans the wrong way, but the Wrangler ads show us that he still can be a profitable endorser for companies.
No comments:
Post a Comment