The bat that started it all
In 1905, Honus Wagner was already one of the best hitters on the planet, with multiple National League batting titles to his name. That year he signed a deal letting J.F. Hillerich & Son put his signature on the Louisville Slugger bats they sold in stores. It's widely considered the first professional athlete endorsement ever.
More than a century later, Louisville Slugger is still the bat most people picture when they hear the word baseball. That's the real win. Not that people saw Wagner's name on a bat, but that they never forgot it.
Most brands get seen. Few get remembered. An athlete endorsement, done right, is one of the fastest ways to land in the second group. Done wrong, it's a very expensive way to rent a famous face for thirty seconds. Here's how we think about the difference.
Why athletes sell your product better than you do
You can tell people your product is fast, tough and built to win. Or you can put it next to someone they've watched be fast, tough and win for a decade. One of those lands harder.
Borrowed meaning. People take the traits they associate with an athlete and quietly pin them on the brand standing next to them. Researchers call it meaning transfer. Grit, swagger, speed, humor, all of it rubs off. Academic research has repeatedly found sports celebrities to be among the most effective endorsers at moving purchase intent.
Earned trust. Fans have followed these athletes through wins, losses and press conferences. That relationship took years to build, and a good endorsement lets your brand borrow some of it on day one.
Attention. Viewers skip, scroll and second-screen their way past most ads. A familiar face is one of the few things that reliably stops a thumb. Just remember that attention is a rental. Memory is the thing you actually want to own.
Where most athlete ads go wrong
Signing the athlete is the easy part. Plenty of brands write a big check and still end up with an ad nobody can recall a week later. The usual suspects:
- The cameo trap. The athlete holds the product, reads a line, smiles. Viewers remember the athlete and forget whose ad it was.
- Fame over fit. A huge name with no real connection to the product feels like a transaction, because it is one. Fans can smell it.
- Playing it safe. Most athletes are funnier, weirder and more charming than brands let them be on camera. Sanding off the personality sands off the reason you hired them.
- One and done. The shoot produces one hero spot and nothing else, so the investment disappears the moment the flight ends.
How to do it right
Every decision we make on an athlete campaign runs through one question. What's the one thing someone will remember tomorrow? If we can't answer that in a sentence, we're not ready to shoot.
1. Fit before fame. The athlete's real personality has to line up with what your product actually does. The right match beats the biggest name almost every time, and it usually costs less.
2. Build a memory hook. Give people something to hold onto. A character, a visual device, a line they'll repeat at the bar. The hook is what turns an ad into a moment, and it's what ties the moment back to your brand.
3. Pair art with purpose. The Color side of what we do is the joy, the levity and the visuals people screenshot. The Matics side is the structure underneath it. Respect the budget, cut the fluff, and make sure every spot lands the hook, shows the product and closes on the brand.
4. Move with style and speed. Athletes' time is scarce and schedules shift constantly. We plan so a few hours on set turn into a full campaign. And when there's no on-camera access at all, we've built spots around the talent with live action, animation and VFX.
5. Build for the whole season. Shoot once, win all year. Plan your :30s, :15s and social cuts up front so the campaign can flex for new games, playoffs and cultural moments without going back to set.
Why Sports Celebrity Endorsements are Effective
Humans are social beings. We often look to others for guidance on what we should do. We might ask our close friends or experts for help.
Celebrities hold even greater sway over public opinion and purchasing behavior.
Not only can sportswear giants Nike and Adidas attest to the effectiveness of sports celebrity endorsements, but science can back this fact up.
A study published in September 2020 found that “A sports celebrity is the most effective type of endorser in increasing consumers’ purchase intentions…”
This is primarily thanks to a psychological effect known as classical conditioning.
When a celebrity (unconditioned stimulus) endorses a product (conditioned stimulus) they transfer some of their own personal traits and values onto that product (conditioned response).
And that's just one reason a sports celebrity's endorsement is effective.
Including professional athletes in your advertising strategy also increases ad recall, and promotes a positive brand image and credibility.
Learn more about why Athlete Branding is the Key to Successful Marketing
People Pay Attention
More than half of TV viewers stop paying attention to ads as soon as they come on TV.
To say the competition for your sports fan audience's attention is challenging is an extreme understatement.
The right sports celebrity is seen as a positive role model by your target audience, they impact their lives.
Because of this, the advertisement is attractive and interesting; breaking through the clutter of advertisements and making the advertisement and the brand memorable.
Stimulus or Response Advertising
Some sports-based advertisements use celebrities as a way to make the product look more exciting.
This is known as stimulus or response advertising, where brands associate themselves with something positive to make their image look better.
Nike is a perfect example of this.
By signing Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the most popular athletes in the world, to endorse their products, Nike is able to tap into his global fan base.
In return, Nike gets to use Ronaldo’s image to make their own products look more exciting and appealing.
It’s a win-win situation.
Credibility and Trust
People tend to believe what they see, especially if it’s coming from someone they admire or look up to.
When a sports celebrity uses or endorses a product, it gives the product an air of credibility because people trust that celebrities would only endorse products that they actually believe in and use.
How to Use Celebrity Endorsements the Right Way
Now that we know how effective celebrity endorsements can be, it’s time to learn how to use them the right way.
Choosing the right sports celebrity is paramount.
For the endorsement to be successful, there needs to be a match in the consumer’s mind between the celebrity that is featured in the advertisement and your product.
You see, a professional athlete represents specific qualities to people, and these qualities need to be consistent from that athlete through to the features of the product that they are endorsing.
Good news? You don’t need to understand the theories behind a successful match-up.
That's our thing.
Hit the pink chatbot in the bottom right-hand corner to speak with a Colormatics team member.
Examples of Professional Athlete Endorsements
Colormatics has worked with countless professional athletes to produce memorable ad campaigns. Often under strict timelines or without access to the celebrity themselves. Check out a few recent examples below.
Stephen Curry
What do you get when you mix basketball stars Stephen Curry and Shaquille O’Neal?
One of the most memorable crypto ads of the year.
The “Not an Expert” ad follows Stephen Curry throughout a day of outrageous activities like ice carving a giant ape to prove that crypto doesn’t need to be complicated.
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Udonis Haslem
Udonis Haslem is not only a star player for the Heat basketball team but also a zealous advocate for using and investing in cryptocurrency.
Because of this passion for crypto, he was a natural choice to become the spokesperson for the partnership between FTX and the Heat.
The 30-second, ‘You in, Miami?’ commercial aired in FTX Arena during The Miami Heat’s opening night.
Later, the video took over Miami through social media, broadcast, OTT, digital, and billboards.
Learn more about OTT Advertising: How to Advertise on Streaming Service
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Naomi Osaka
Empowering women is one of the causes that Naomi Osaka champions. Including the crypto space, which is known for being a male-dominant industry.
As a company that stands for social change, it was a no-brainer for FTX to make Osaka a global ambassador.
Without the ability to film Naomi, Colormatics combined live-action with animation and VFX to create an engaging 2-minute video.
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Trevor Lawrence
Trevor Lawrence, the first NFL draft pick to receive cryptocurrency as part of the deal, including currencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana.
Colormatics set in motion a huge display advertising campaign targeting 29 NFL markets in the U.S. made up of consumers interested in crypto, finance and sports.
Taking the internet by storm and generating over 1.5 million clicks
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Sports Celebrities Advertising: Key Takeaways
- A sports celebrity is the most effective type of product endorsement.
- Professional athletes increase ad recall, promote a positive brand image and credibility.
- For the endorsement to be successful, athlete’s qualities need to match with the product features in the consumer’s mind.
Learn more about current Marketing Trends.