Sometimes on the surface the matchup of an athlete or celebrity with a brand may be a little quizzical, and such was the case when high-end shoe retailer Cole Haan announced its first-ever athlete endorsement deal with tennis star Maria Sharapova. Now Sharapova is already becoming the stuff of legend in the endorsement world, even in a down economy. Her deals with companies like Canon, Tiffany and the watch brand Tag Heuer pull in millions, almost as much for her ability to understand and deliver messages to a high end consumer as for her on court results and tennis pedigree. Still, matching Sharapova with Cole Haan still could be a stretch for a brand with little TV presence and no sports marketing background. Take into effect Sharapova's injuries which have kept her out most of the year thus far, and it seems loaded with issues for disaster. However look again. Cole Haan is a long-time Nike brand, her time off the court has allowed her to develop a key line to be debuted in the fall (right around US Open time) and her high end success with brands translates to the casual fan and embodies a brand which is trying to skew younger and find a new audience. The resul. A larger exposure for Cole Haan with a tennis audience that is still upscale, but with a twist to a younger audience who follow Sharapova religiously online through her site and will be even more interested as she begins her comeback toward Wimbledon, at a time when even the casual fan is thinking tennis. The result to date (profiled by Dan Kaplan in a recent Sports Business Journal)
have been solid for both the shoe company and for Sharapova…an expansion of exposure, a high end product line and the anticipation of return to action which will lead to more media attention for both. Well designed and well carried out.
Some other good reads…for those who wonder what sports life is like after sixty, turn to Monday's New York Times, which profiled IBAF president Harvey Schiller (almost 70) and Georgia State football coach Bill Curry …Reuters had a good look at the positives and negatives of Callaway Golf in a slow economy…and Media Post had a retrospective on Gillette's 70 year sponsorship of MLB.
