What About the Unsung Athlete?



Like most families, we passionately watched many of the Olympic events and cheered on our favorite athletes. Now that the Olympics have ended, I’ve had some time to digest it all as a marketer for big brand names and as a mom to an athlete “in the making.”  So not only was I glued to the competitions, I was also very attuned to the ads.  Not only were Phelps, Bolt and Simone Biles the biggest winners in their sport, they were also the biggest winners in the endorsement/advertising world.

As a marketer I understand why brands sponsor these elite athletes – the crème of the crop, if you will - they have fame, name recognition, they’re cool, and they have the makings of a great story - humble beginnings, hardships, and wild success due to hard work and perseverance. Brands want a piece of that because they know that these types of stories serve to inspire people and by buying the brand, consumers get to feel a little bit of that magic.

The thing is, it seems like nowadays a multitude of sponsors are after the same elite athletes. The best of the best have multimillion-dollar deals with numerous sponsors. It’s always the athletes that win the most medals and have some sort of celebrity flair. Phelps for example has endorsements with Under Armour, Omega, Masters Spas, Sol Republic Headphones and 800razors.com. I’ve seen him in different ads for different brands across different mediums. Unless the ad is simply extraordinary like his latest Under Armour ad, it’s hard to keep straight which brands they represent, and this ultimately defeats the purpose of endorsing an athlete.

I see a lot of value in sponsoring and supporting the “’unsung” hero and lesser- known athlete, especially for brands that aim to be genuine, authentic and make an emotional connection. Without a doubt, each and every athlete has an amazing story behind his or her success. An inspiring story of defying odds, of overcoming obstacles, of persevering, of putting their heart and soul into everything that they do. The tenacious discipline, the grueling hours, the ups and downs, and finally it making it to the Olympics is in and of itself a tremendous feat that most of us will never experience. Some win medals and others win great experiences and memories. A few are lucky enough to obtain lucrative endorsement with big name brands.

It shouldn’t be a popularity contest, these athletes have a lot to offer as an influencer while helping brands maximize their sponsorship dollars. It takes a lot of courage and will power to be an athlete and what brand doesn’t want to be associated with that? The lesser known athlete will likely not be featured in multiple ads for different brands and most likely, he or she will already have amassed a significant following on social media, especially if he or she has a fanatic, passionate mom like me.

So I encourage brands to consider the unsung athlete and by doing so they will most likely strike gold.


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