A series of unfortunate events -- numerous back surgeries and the spectacular collapse of his marriage, threw his game off and it was feared he would not live up to his potential of overhauling legend Jack Nickalus' record 18 major tournament victories. The Masters win brought Woods' tally to 15.
While the golfing world sighed with relief -- Woods is a joy to watch and brings a certain electricity to the events he participates in, an underlying subplot was playing out, about how sports equipment company Nike stayed with Woods on their roster product endorsements when most of his major sponsors took the hills when he was in trouble.
Experts were unanimous that Nike, which has a reputation for signing on racy characters didn't suffer too much for being associated with Woods' travails but more clean cut brands like you would find in the financial or children's sectors may have suffered if they stayed with the star.
Celebrity endorsements of products are intended to gain the product greater awareness and serve as positive association for what brand the celebrity endorses. If the brands vision and values are aligned to that those of the star it can work to the mutual benefit of both parties --- helping the brand to sell more and making the endorser fabulously rich.
In Uganda this has not caught on much. Probably a function of marketing departments being a bit green about milking the potential benefits of such tool in their marketing strategy toolbox.
Endorsements contracts if crafted well benefit from the fact that people enjoy stories about other people, because it allows them to relate or even aspire to their heroes. This emotional connection can ensure untold mileage for the product owner, give them much more bang for their buck.
No comments:
Post a Comment