Advertisement through sports
Advertising throughout history has become a task which marketers and companies had to perfect in order to catch the advantage over other competitors. Many companies use ideas such as product comparison, band wagoning, and even catchy gingles that get caught up in the consumers heads. However one of the most poplular methods used by companies is celebrity approval. This use of advertisement is very blatant in the world of sports and can be seen in every aspect of sports. According to the website www.sportsjournal.org, sports icons are among the most influential people in the American society and the use of athletes has steadily increased to gain sales of products in recent years. Many companies try and increae the sales of their product by exploiting popular superstars to gain the attention of the consumers. Companies such as Nike or Adidas will compete to gain the rights of athletes to be a spokesperson for their product. Companies will often pay outlandish amounts of money to gain these rights, in fact frequetly pay more than their salary for the spor that they play. By winning the rights of the athlete to be a spokeperson for a company, often sales increase as well for the company. By winning the bidding process and by the athlete signing a contract that particular athlete is at liberty to only use their product. By using this method fans of hte particular athlete will often follow along with the athlete and buy what he uses. For instance, Tiger Woods, arguably the greatest golfer in the world is one of Nike’s greatest icons. When people see Tiger using golf clubs or equipment made by Nike and see him dominate the competition, people will often think that is the best equipment to use. Because Tiger is one of the best golfers in the world, people usually associate that th product he is using is the best in the world as well. As a result if they use the product, their skills will also increase and make them better and give them the edge on the competition. This method has been used throughout time and has never stopped working, unless the spokesperson creates contradiction, in which case the sponsor usually drops the contract. A resent case of this was the Michael Vick case earlier this year. Nike had a huge contract with Vick and when he was convicted of criminal action, Nike dropped his contract to avoid any loss in sales. Athletes are very influential figures in society all around the world because of their spectacular abilities in their respective sports. Athletes gain our respect from their talents and skills rivaled by only few. The search for the best equipment or product is often sought after by people across the globe, and when someone see their idol using a particular product often the consumer will be attracted to it because it is what their hero uses. Sports are so influential and I am guilty of being coaxed into the explotation athletes for partcular products. It is so tempting and luring American and is a strong influence to Americans of all ages.
Nate Jenkins
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