Does Performance Make or Break a Brand Ambassador?Thursday 21st July, 2008 
By Seth HolmesOver the weekend I received an email from the Nike team, solicited by me through a year of marathon training with Nike + ipod, and urging me to get behind Nike sponsored athlete Paula Radcliffe as she attempted the Olympic marathon. The email proudly proclaimed her a strong medal prospect, and then announced her part in October’s Nike 10k Human Race. Opening this on Monday was an unfortunate episode after the weekend’s results, and no doubt plays to the common perception that athlete endorsement is risky. So from a brand’s perspective does her performance make or break the relationship?
A moment of sympathy for Paula; she certainly polarises our opinion in both directions, but deserves our utmost admiration for her efforts, despite not making the podium. And herein is the key. She’s earned our loyalty. We’ve invested our emotions and will continue to support her. She has the qualities we respect and idolise in the Olympian spirit.
Nike will be as proud of her as a figurehead for the 10K. Paula has helped the brand re-position itself to core runners, and it’s unlikely that she would ever sell product in the way a Nadal or LeBron do, thereby the effect of her result on sales would be negligible. Nike does an incredible job in bringing athletes into our collective consciousness and like a marriage, the power of the best endorsements rest in the personality as much as performance. It’s about crafting your message through the lens of that personality, and Paula embodies ‘just do it’ Olympic medal or not.
The case of Paula should be looked at in the context of an injury to the even more high profile Liu Xiang. His Sponsors (Coke, Lenovo, Nike) will argue they had four great years of exposure running up to and during the Games, and benefited hugely from him being the ‘face’ of the Chinese team. So much of Olympic marketing is tailored to the build up, savouring and anticipating success that arguably they have already achieved what they set out to. Xiang is only two home grown icons (with Yao Ming), so it’s likely that his withdrawal was more detrimental for brand China than the sponsors that can still deal effectively with his and Chinese peoples’ disappointment. Liu Xiang’s loss will be another’s gain, and China now has some forty or more success stories to choose from.
No International athlete will emerge with such credit from Beijing as Michael Phelps whose sponsors (AT&T, VISA, Omega, Speedo) will have benefited hugely by the coverage his record eight gold medals have brought in the worldwide media. How to effectively leverage this exposure will be foremost on their minds as the games wind up. The window for marketing Olympians is essentially short – unless you are a hardened swim fan, can you honestly tell me when and where Phelps or his fellow swimmers will be in the pool before 2012? Sponsors have a chance to celebrate his success and Phelps himself has the opportunity to catapult himself into the realms of great – rising above the profile of the Olympic pool. This is an opportunity only few have and his trip to London is no doubt the first step to becoming a global sporting icon and capitalise on the limited window the Games itself provides.
As China takes stock of what its achieved, Team GB will return to a hero’s welcome. Many of its stars such as Chris Hoy (Adidas, B&Q, BT) and Ben Ainslie (JP Morgan Asset Management, BT, Corum) are established athletes with a roster of brand supporters, but the Olympic Games is unique in its ability to throw new stars from obscurity and the likes of Rebecca Adlington (double Olympic swimming gold) will be inundated with offers, in the hope she is adulated and promoted by her country in a similar way to Liu Xiang. Done well, there’s nothing as powerful as a personal endorsement.
To those brands looking to recruit themselves an Olympian, here are five rules of engagement as you seek out and initiate your perfect partnership:
1.Create before you negotiate – Work out how and where you will need your ambassador before negotiating these rights in your contract
2.Plan for every eventuality – Don’t let marketing success be solely defined by athlete achievement
3.Extend the window – The Olympic Games happens on a four year cycle so developing a strong series of events and stories in between is key
4.Identify the personality, as well as the performance – aligning your brand to a similar personality will create the right fit
5.Be ready for anything – Retain budget to celebrate either success or heroic failure; in the worst case scenario be prepared to take a definitive line on an issue.
