Tying your product to a sports star can pay monumental dividends (Michael Jordan and Nike) or lead to catastrophic failure (Michael Vick and Reebok).
Just ask Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt. In March, McCourt signed slugging outfielder Manny Ramirez to a two-year, $45 million contract. The Dodgers were set to reap the benefits not only of the player’s performance on the field, but his appeal off it — Manny and his goofy personality have become a large part of the Dodger’s brand. The ball club has sold thousands of Manny jerseys and other items including 1,800 dreadlock wigs priced $25 apiece.
All was Manny-cool, until last week when Ramirez was suspended by Major League Baseball for 50 games for violating MLB’s drug policy. If Ramirez is caught again, the ban will be 100 days.
Um, son, let’s put that Manny wig on hold for the time being.
And that’s the danger of hitching your star to a public personality, especially a sports star, says Harvard Business School marketing professor Anita Elberse. The expensive endorsement can quickly go south if the star is injured, implicated, or indicted. She wrote a case study on tennis star Maria Sharpova’s marketing strategy and discusses celebrity endorsements in this interview, Marketing Maria: Managing the Athlete Endorsement.
Why use a celebrity endorser at all? One reason is that stars appeal to a wide swath of consumers. Nike certainly thinks they’re worth the money; the company spends more than $400 million a year in sports endorsements from the likes of Tiger Woods and LeBron James. But I’m beginning to wonder whether the risk is worth the reward. Just look at this list of high-octane athletes whose once high-endorsement-value reputations have been sullied after being linked (some proven, others not) to various scandals.
Barry Bonds. (Steroids)
Kobe Bryant. (Bad behavior)
Roger Clemens. (Steroids)
Marion Jones. (Steroids)
Mark McGwire. (Steroids)
Terrell Owens. (Bad behavior)
Andy Pettitte (Human growth hormone)
Manny Ramirez. (Human chorionic gonadotropin — even Manny’s drug infractions are goofy)
Alex Rodriguez. (Steroids)
Michael Vick. (Dog fighting)
What athlete would you trust to represent your brand? My short list begins with Tiger Woods and ends with Peyton Manning. After those two, I’ll use cute dogs and talking babies to pitch my products, thank you very much.
