In the search for a sponsor object, corporations often see sport as a perfect way to embody their vision or business ideology. The reasons for that decision are quite simple, sport is emotion, it attracts a large public and if winning, sport will get you lots of rewards and respect. Companies love to grab something from that amount of respect, in order to boost their image. What’s even more interesting, is not just a specific sport, but a specific player who stands out due to his specific qualities. Or even a player who dominates a whole sport, for example Roger Federer, who has an endorsement deal with Nike.
The same goes for sponsoring Tiger Woods, but not only because he is the best in his sport. He’s the first ever coloured person to dominate such an elite and “white” sport as golf. This gives people the image that his sponsor, Nike, sure does care about integration and the race-issue, thus adding an “awareness-factor” to their already positive image.
Adidas countered this when Champion stopped providing clothing to the NBA, the world’s leading basketball league. They stepped in, in order to compete with Nike to show that they also care about equality, but also because the mentality in sponsoring is changing. It’s less but bigger objects these days.
That would explain why Puma, the German sports brand, did sponsor all of the African teams in the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations and 2006 World Cup Soccer. This is what we call a natural fit. The corporation is called Puma, named after a cat that lives in Africa, and the sponsor objects in this particular case are all nations in
Back to sponsoring a single player. In this category, there are also some natural fits. We’ve had Michael Jordan endorsing Nike, which fitted perfectly with his nickname “Air
Also in the NBA, more recent, we have a young Slam Dunk-champion, Gerald Green, who was drafted by the Boston Celtics. Doesn’t ring a bell? Well, the main colour in the Celtics’ jersey is green, hence the fit. It’s too bad he was traded to the Timberwolves in the half year after that, and now he plays in his hometown,
To conclude with one of today’s most admired young players in the NBA, besides wonderboy LeBron James, Dwight Howard. Howard is a 22-year old center from the Orlando Magic, most famous for his outrageous dunks. He came in 2nd behind Gerald Green in 2007, but managed to snatch the title in front of him this year, in 2008. Howard showed off a couple of incredible dunks that have never been performed before on national television. This kind of creativity, and the positive way in which he presents himself (he’s also a devoted Christian), make him a very, very wanted player for sponsors and teams alike. Just look at him in the two Slam Dunk competitions:
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