The playing field for sports personalities
THAIS ARE SPORT addicts. Today we are saturated with a variety of social-driven news on professional soccer, golf, boxing and even a number of amateur sports.
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Intentionally or not, people are exposed to Facebook feeds or Line and Twitter in the morning on their way to work and are occupied most of the time with their mobiles. Those feeds from pages, personnel or business connect to their audience in a multitude of different channels. Some may employ humour, while |others use drama and visual impacts.
But when it comes to content marketing, are those attempts the best way to deliver true messages?
Sport is entertaining and provides a brief distraction from “real life”.
Getting away from the corruption, crimes and scandals so prevalent in today’s headlines, we must accept the fact that sports do inspire us.
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For the fans, victories and failures mutually demonstrate the fundamental nature of competition by providing the motivation and encouragement both sides of our society desperately need: a second chance.
Thailand is a country where people cherish victorious athletes more than the games themselves.
This a country where people love to live in dreams rather than reality, then tend to forget for a while (or are temporarily distracted).
We treat sports celebrities as role models – as long as they keep winning.
Despite the potential benefits of sport-celebrity endorsements, there are many risks that should be treated with full attention by marketers.
Many brands are increasingly cautious about employing sports celebrities, as their believability and ability to deliver the intended effect is focused on a certain group of fans, and is also subject to individuality rather than the sport.
Marketers realise that sports fans, like Thais in general, are quick to forgive as well as to forget.
Therefore, who knows whether a hefty investment for a celebrity endorsement will pay off?
Although some sports agency may well document such figures, little is known about |the actual impacts on sales returns.
This may well be the reason most brands in Thailand choose to invest in something that is reflected quickly in sales results rather than in a sports personality who can help with brand awareness more than swift success.
Every product has an image. Marketers try to connect a brand with the personality or image that has the maximum fit.
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The professional lives of sports personalities are short and uncertain.
Even when we know that a particular sport affects us at every level of our being, the world of sports marketing is not right up on dreams, let alone reality.
The way to justify how we invest is to analyse how long we can expect fans to continue believe in the players.
Because at the end of the game when the whistle blows, it is all about who gets what as well as who gets to win.
This article was originally published on The Nation (Thailand) in 2017
