As we have reported many times (see, for example, 1, 2, 3), self-branding is one of the key concepts in our career success. This certainly applies to celebrities as well.
Consider these observations by Erin Brown, writing for Designmantic:
“Companies like Nike, sponsor players and launch sports shoes/clothing series in their names; turning them into unique and famous athlete brands the world over. Take, for example, Lebron James, who is currently the world’s number one, most valuable, athlete brand on the Forbes Fab 40. His total brand value is estimated $37 million which is a solid 10 million raise from 2013. All in all, he is NBA’s biggest marketing star who earned a huge sum of $53 million from endorsers like Nike, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, and Upper Deck.”
“Then we have Roger Federer, who enjoys a third position on the same list of Forbes Fab 40, with a total brand value of $32 million in 2014. He has secured several long-term deals with companies like Nike, Credit Suisse, Rolex, and others which collectively pay him over $40 million per year. Other players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Kobe Bryant, Lionel Messi, and Rafael Nadal are also part of the top 10, the crème de la crème, of the Fab 40 earning big bucks.”
“Now, where even a small scale business may have misconceptions about designing logos, it is cannot survive without a good logo identity, do you think that an athlete brand could work without an amazing brand mark? Absolutely not! Even if they don’t need one as a sportsperson, they need it to promote their products through advertising and distinctive design. Following are 10 sports celebs and their outstanding brand identities. Review and share!”
The impact of player branding under major brands such as nike, rolex, mcdonalds, etc., is often overlooked. It is a brand strategy that respects and recognizes the sporting icons and really solidifies their uniqueness in sports. From a consumer’s point of view, there is this thought that if I buy Jordans, I would become as great as Michael Jordan on the basketball court.
I love this article because I only knew about some of these logos, but I liked learning about new ones. Or some of them I had seen before but missed a key part to the importance of part of the logo. I respect athletes that do have brand logos because more often than not, they are the business savvy ones who make money on other things besides playing sports. It is respectable, as well as fascinating to see what they see as important enough to go on their logo and how they want to be perceived by people purchasing products with their logo on it.