Why are so many football athletes becoming the face of eCommerce lately?

Celebrity endorsements wield significant influence in the current digital landscape with around 82% of Southeast Asia consumers admitting to being influenced by recommendations from influencers or celebrities in their purchasing decisions. 

Interestingly, these celebrity endorsements have expanded out of actors on the silver screens and musicians who croon sweet lullabies to include athletes. Most recently, luxury fashion house Dior tapped British racing driver Lewis Hamilton, who is also a seven-time Formula 1 world champion, as its latest brand ambassador following his victory at the British Grand Prix. 

In the fast-paced world of eCommerce especially, brands are also, interestingly, increasingly turning to football icons as ambassadors to elevate their visibility and credibility. Some recent examples include David Beckham for AliExpress where the athlete was sworn in as its brand ambassador for the ongoing UEFA Euro 2024 and J&T express which named Lionel Messi as its first-ever global brand ambassador to promote greater awareness of the brand.

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Meanwhile, Singapore-based Shopee scored Cristiano Ronaldo as its regional brand ambassador to work on a wide range of initiatives to engage and inspire consumers in the Southeast Asian region.

These partnerships, however, are more than just celebrity endorsements. According to industry leaders MARKETING-INTERACTIVE spoke to, these partnerships are strategic alliances aimed at leveraging the global appeal and persona of athletes to resonate with diverse consumer bases and enhance brand position.

Kenny Yap, COO of Havas Play and managing director of Havas Red, said that there is a shift towards influencer marketing and that influencers can play a crucial role in expanding the brand’s online presence. However, global sports personalities are in another league.

“While there is a rising influence held by content creators, global sports personalities are in a class of their own - be it reach, engagements, and overall influence."

“Brands usually engage them with various objectives ranging from new market penetration, building brand affinity and association to leveraging global sporting occasions such as the World Cup, or the UEFA Euro 2024,” added Yap.

Rohan Lightfoot, founder of Signal Consulting agreed with him, adding that eCommerce businesses face similar challenges in terms of a lack of tangible assets to anchor their brands in the lives of consumers. As such they have chosen to “rent the fame of their brand ambassadors in order to give them some element of cut through,” said Lightfoot.

“The hope is that the association with a Beckham or a Messi will pull through into awareness of the brand and some positive association. In the case of AliExpress, they'll be looking for David Beckham to strengthen their link to this month's Euro 2024,” said Lightfoot.

A recent study by YouGov Global Profiles revealed that 21% of residents in key APAC markets (Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia) are football followers, most of whom take notice of one or more brand sponsors. 

In fact, those in Indonesia (92%) are most likely to notice one or more brand sponsors, ahead of Hong Kong (89%) and Thailand (88%), followed by Australia (83%) and Singapore (75%). 

Football followers in Australia are most likely to have noticed event sponsors (57%), while half of football followers in Hong Kong (51%) and Indonesia (50%) say the same.

A shortcut to attention

Although the rationale behind using sports icons as ambassadors allows a brand to gain recognition and positive association, Lightfoot warns about the short-term nature of attention boosts and stresses the importance of authentic brand-building over time.

“It’s difficult for digital service platforms to differentiate their actual service. Even a fantastic product innovation can be replicated by the competition quite easily. Faced with that challenge, it's easy to understand how a brand ambassador can provide some short-term recognition, relevance or visibility,” explained Lightfoot.

However, short term endorsements by athletes or anyone else are a shortcut to attention. This is especially since endorsements don't build brand if there's no connection between the athlete and the category.

"Cristiano Ronaldo has sold a lot of football boots in his time and he's probably shifted a reasonable amount of shampoo, but his lasting legacy for Shopee is mostly about how dreadful their campaign was,” added Lightfoot. 

If a brand wants to activate around sport or entertainment, they need to commit to that over time and show up consistently in those spaces, not just "rent" someone else's fame for a short term shot in the arm.

Meanwhile, Stanley Clement, CEO of MBCS Malaysia, added that the risk of mismatched values and the unpredictable nature of athletes’ careers can also impact brand reputation and ROI.

“Brands have to ensure that the player's image, values, and public behaviour align with the eCommerce platform's brand values and mission. A mismatch can lead to public relations issues and damage the brand's reputation,” said Clement.

Clement added that players also have unpredictable careers due to injuries and performance which could shorten their appearance and career timeline. Most all, changes in the political or social beliefs of the player can also impact the brand. 

“Players are known to take a stand on issues these days and some of these issues are beyond the control and narrative of the eCommerce platforms,” he added.

Clement also explained that cost is a big issue too. This is especially since the stature of the players and high-profile players will demand significant compensation. He added that ensuring a positive ROI and justifying the investment can be challenging too. 

Being authentic to a brand's DNA

To overcome these challenges Clement emphasises the need for eCommerce brands to integrate athletes authentically into their brand narratives and engage them in the creative process to resonate genuinely with target audiences. 

He said: 

Treat the player as part of the brand DNA and not just another endorsement where you can slap on the face of the player in every collateral.

Clement explained that eCommerce brands can develop marketing campaigns that tell authentic stories, highlight the players’ real-life experiences, challenges, and successes that resonate with the brand’s narrative and audience values as well as include the player in the creative process to ensure that it's genuine.

“Cultural relevance is also key. Leverage on their stature and cultural impact of these players in certain communities or regions to help improve brand relevance,” said Clement.

Photo courtesy of Shopee, Lazada, J&T Express

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