In sports being popular is more than just being good at your sport. Athletes have an ability through their personality, interviews, and social media to build a brand and create their public persona. This list is going to look at 5 athletes, in no particular order who have done this exceptionally well.
- Paul Bisonette
Paul Bisonette or “Biznasty” as he has dubbed himself, is a name familiar to most hockey fans. With 657,000 Twitter followers he’s the fourth most followed hockey player in the world, behind superstars Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, and Patrick Kane. Not bad for a guy who hasn’t played in the NHL in over a year, averaged 5 minutes of ice time a game and played in Phoenix, one of the smallest markets/fan bases in the league. Based on talent alone it’s a wonder he even has a twitter following, or that people even know who he is, yet his level of popularity would make you think he’s a star player. Why? Well, when it comes to hockey and maybe even sports in general Biznasty might be the king of Twitter. His often controversial comments (his team shut down his original twitter account), style of self deprecating humour, and the way he interacts with his followers has made him too interesting to ignore. He never fails to poke fun at his lack of hockey talent or chirp anyone brave enough to try and get under his skin.
- Danica Patrick
As much as I love sports, I don’t know too much about professional racing. I’ll admit it right now, I can only name 3 professional drivers off the top of my head and there’s only one I actually know anything about, Danica Patrick. She isn’t highly ranked, other than a few shining moments she’s never been anything close to dominant as a driver. Despite that I know who she is, I know she wears #10, I know her sponsors, and I know about her racing history. She’s currently the 18th ranked NASCAR driver, but the #1 most followed driver in the world on Twitter. Plain and simple, in a sport dominated by men Danica stands out. She’s attractive, charismatic and knows how to market herself. She’s best known for her Go Daddy commercials and if you ever want an example of a sponsor and athlete benefiting each other, look no further.
- Brian Bosworth
Brian Bosworth is truly the first athlete to be his own marketing machine. It’s impossible to make a list like this without including him. Bosworth made a name for himself in college as a linebacker for the Oklahoma Sooners. Despite his on field dominance, he was best known for his personality and alter ego, “The Boz”. In his normal life he was Brian, but on the field and in front of the media he was The Boz. In an era before social media he was Biznasty before there was a Biznasty. With his wild ever-changing hairstyles, dark shades and tough guy attitude Brian Bosworth went from star college player to cultural phenomenon. It wasn’t just the look and attitude, Bosworth was a master self promoter. This started a whole trend of Boz followers. Fans emulated his hairstyle and way of dressing so they too could be the Boz. True to his self-promoting style, Boz claimed in front of the nation that he would shut down the game’s best running back Bo Jackson. Although this was an outrageous statement it was in keeping with his bravado. That statement alone created sky rocketing ratings.
- Bo Jackson
Bosworth called him out and true to from Bo Jackson delivered. Bo meets him head on at the goal line and runs him over for a touchdown. Bo always had a penchant for doing special things when everyone was watching. Nothing worked quite as well as when he was the lead off hitter at the 1989 MLB all-star game and hit a home-run on the first pitch. As Bo finished rounding the bases the broadcast cut to the famous “Bo Knows” commercial. The commercial is light hearted, funny and ground breaking for it’s time. For Bo to hit a home run and then cut to a commercial that represents Bo excelling at every sport, it’s almost like he validated everything in the advertisement. He made people believe he really could do anything. Nike made Bo Jackson the face of their sneaker campaign. The decision increased sales 1000%, allowing Nike to overlap Reebok and they’ve never looked back.
- Michael Jordan
This list is in no particular order, but it still would have felt wrong to put “His Airness” anywhere other than at number one. Over the years there have been many athletes who have been larger than life, who’s popularity extends beyond the confines of the sport they play. None though, have equaled what Michael Jordan has accomplished. Amongst sports there’s often debate over who the greatest athlete is, when it comes to basketball there’s no debate. It’s Jordan. Jordan has been on the cover of Sports Illustrated a record setting 50 times, he’s been mentioned in raps too many times to count and he has an undeniable association with greatness and winning. Bo Jackson helped Nike explode, but Jordan made it what it is today and sustains it. Michael Jordan has not played professional basketball in over decade, yet his iconic image and superstar power lives on. Today’s fans of all ages continue to aspire to have a pair of Jordan sneakers, the most iconic sneaker line of all time. In 2013 Jordan sneakers brought in 2.5 billion dollars in revenue, almost 5 times that of Nike’s second highest selling line. There is no other athlete in history who has been able to achieve such a long lasting and sustainable brand as Michael Jordan. Time will tell if any other athlete will ever be able replicate his success.
Interesting list! I agree, how do you put MJ anywhere, but at the top of a list. His legacy reaches farther than simply the basketball court. The “like Mike” idea is something I remember growing up with and absolutely he has influenced my biases towards Nike. I think another interesting list would be 5 athletes who use to have iconic brands but let scandal impact their iconic brand.
Marketing and sports… a gold mine for many athletes. In some cases they earn more money as brand embassadors than as athletes. People follows them, kids want to be like them and brands want to take advantage.
Josh – this is so well written and I love the simplicity of your blog theme. I couldn’t agree more with Michael Jordan being number 1. I feel like a common thought when it comes to professional athletes is “But what are they going to do when they can’t play anymore? How will they sustain their lifestyle?” and you’ve explained in detail exactly what. They become a part of the marketing world. I had never even thought of how Jordan likely put Nike in the position where they were able to build the empire that they are today. Good read!!!
Josh, as soon as I read the headline of your post, Michael Jordan appeared in my head right away, and then I see him on the first place ☺ Agree, a lot of brands use athletes in their commercials and as brand ambassadors. We know a lot of examples of such collaboration on energy and soft drinks markets. But my favorite one is the “Turkish Airlines” campaign with Kobe and Messi. I read somewhere that guys not just had fun, but also earned pretty penny for those commercials. Do you like it?
It’s fascinating how today I’m sure some athletes are more widely associated with the brand they represent than the sport they play. I’m not a crazy sports fan but do you feel as though the “branding” of athletes has taken away from the sport at all? The one thing that comes to mind specifically is an interview with Genie Bouchard, female Canadian tennis player, not too long ago. She was asked to twirl after one of her matches, and while many people thought it was completely inappropriate, others commented that she is getting paid to wear certain clothes, and therefore has a sort of obligation to speak about her apparel when asked (along with commenting on her game). What do you think?
Love the idea of doing a list of athletes who’s brands were ruined by scandal or bad decision making! I’m definitely going to do a post about that in the future.
That’s so true, people talk about how much money athletes get in their contracts from the teams they play for, but often times they’re making even more from endorsement deals and partnerships with brands.
I think that’s a really good question. Personally I don’t think the branding of athletes has really taken away from the sport. I don’t feel that it has an impact on the actual game itself. I haven’t seen the Genie Bouchard interview you’re talking about so I’m not sure I can comment, but to me that sounds a bit on the inappropriate side. She is getting paid to wear certain clothes, like any athlete, but the way she was asked to display the clothes doesn’t feel right. It’s her choice to wear the clothes and she does have a responsibility to talk about it and represent the brand, but being asked to “twirl” for everyone feels off to me.
I hadn’t seen that Kobe and Messi ad in a while, but I just re-watched it and it really is a great commercial. I love seeing two stars from different sports teaming up to work on something together. It does seem like the kind of thing they would have fun making.
Thanks for the comment! It really is amazing how much an athlete or celebrity can benefit a brand through their relationship.