The 5 biggest sponsorship deals in sports

Businesses around the world try to reach customers by using sports stars as billboards. Oftentimes the amount of money invested in these athletes is for us consumers not comprehensible. But in some cases the athlete is more popular then the brand!

Make up your own mind on whether or not the following sponsorship deals actually help the brand or not. Does sponsorship influence your buying behavior?

5) Tiger Woods & Nike (Golf)

4) George Foreman & Salton Inc. (Boxing)

3) David Beckham & Adidas (Soccer)

2) Derrick Rose & Adidas (Basketball)

1) Michael Jordan & Nike (Basketball)  

While there are only estimates for the amounts of money made through and paid to the athletes these 5 examples are certainly some of the most lucrative ones of all time. Other examples include basketball players Lebron James and Kobe Bryant or soccer players Lionel Messi and Christiano Ronaldo which knowingly increased Nike's sportswear sales as well as brand recognition by a lot. The fact that both Adidas and Nike are so well represented in this list makes us doubt whether all this money is well spent on the one hand, on the other hand it might be the reason why we think of those two brand when we think about sportswear. Also, of course it is easier to identify with sportswear advertised by an athlete than with a electronic device or alike.

Sponsorship is more than a cost benefit analysis. It is primarily a tool for brand recognition. Therefore a huge sponsorship deal with Michael Jordan seemed inappropriate in the past, today it certainly still pays off for both sides. 

Red Bull's success story

Red Bull - "gives you wings"

What do you think of when someone talks about energy drinks? Some flavored drink with a lot of sugar and caffeine. Now, what brand do you think of when you think about energy drinks? It almost feels like there's only two brands to choose from. Red Bull and Monster Energy drinks.

While there are plenty more brands and Energy drink makers out there, the famous Austria based Red Bull and the US "knock off" are the most popular ones due to their big marketing and sponsorship efforts in extreme sports. How come other energy drinks cant manage to get the same amount of attention and popularity through their marketing efforts?

The answer is simple. Red Bull and Monster Energy reflect a lifestyle whereas other energy drink varieties or brands such as 5h Energy for example advertise with a simple benefit from the usage of their product. That does not mean that other brands do not profit from the purpose from their products, but they miss out on a wider consumer range that could possibly identify with the product and the lifestyle it is reflecting.

Red Bull is a master in using it's marketing channels. The Austrians managed to raise awareness of their product around the globe, being sold in over 160 countries.

The brand's sponsorship efforts in sports are huge. Several world class athletes are brand messengers and all kinds of motor and bike sports are sponsored by the energy drink manufacturer. While acting as a sponsor for several other events, Red Bull recently has gone as far as to support sports franchises and in return having the franchises carry the Red Bull logo or brand name in their team names. Examples include the soccer clubs Red Bull Salzburg in Austria and the New York Red Bulls from New York or the Formula one team Red Bull racing around motorsport star Sebastian Vettel, who just won the F1 championship with Red Bull for the fourth time in a row.

Additional events like Red Bull "Stratos" when stuntman Felix Baumgartner did a supersonic space fall back to earth, reached news audiences around the world as well. All those images were dominated by the Brands red and yellow "taurus" bulls.

The Red Bull example proves once again, to be a successful advertiser/marketer, your efforts have to reflect the image of your product or the image you want the product to have. Additionally you have to be careful to find the right image for your product. A mini fridge cant represent an adventurous, dangerous lifestyle. A energy drink certainly can and should do so.

Before you invest money into expensive advertising campaigns or sponsorship efforts it is critical to define your own product and what your audience perceives it as.

Here a couple examples of how NOT to do it!

Aston Martin:

https://www.astonmartin.com/en/live/news/2011/09/19/aston-martin-becomes-tsv-1860-m%C3%BCnchen-s-new-main-sponsor

Bruno Banani:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/five_ring_circus/2014/02/07/bruno_banani_fuahea_semi_the_tongan_who_changed_his_name_to_get_money_from.html