How can sports brands effectively market themselves given the shift towards personalities?
Chris Williams
At the Speakers Only event last week, I was invited to share my thoughts on this question. Digging beneath the surface of it, the role of personalities is not new; it is not the dynamics of marketing, but the media landscape that has shifted. Growing up, I supported a new football team most seasons - Arsenal, Leeds, even Wigan…before eventually I admitted life would be much easier if I supported the team of my family.
It would have been a player, or a certain kit that lured me in. Pretending to be certain players over free kicks in the garden, collecting sticker books, and displaying posters from magazines across the walls. I am convinced I wasn’t alone. My experience aside, looking back I see pretty clearly that every major sports brand of that era’s success was inextricably linked to the individuals - Cantona, Beckham, and co in the boom of Man U, Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. The media landscape has changed in recent years and we’re all creators now. Whether it’s sharing a photo on Instagram, logging a run on Strava, or posting a reel on TikTok, people everywhere have the means to build their own following and shape their own story. And among all these creators, athletes are uniquely positioned to inspire. Look at the growth of events like Hyrox and CrossFit; these aren’t just sports, but communities built around individual journeys. In endurance sports especially, athletes bring fans on their journeys with them, fuelling a sense of community and network effect that has the power to amplify brands far beyond what was previously possible.
As brands, we can still play an important role - providing them with a platform. Our competitions serve as authenticators of talent and success, making it easier for audiences to connect with each athlete’s story.
At supertri, we’ve embraced this by removing red-tape for athletes, and focusing on the unique personalities of each athlete, blending their stories with our brand to build strong, identity-driven teams. Take Brownlee Racing as an example, built on the legacy of the Brownlee brothers, whose iconic profiles were solidified around London 2012 and beyond. By nurturing that legacy through the next generation - represented by Olympic champion Alex Yee - they’re not only continuing the Brownlee story, but crafting a powerful narrative around British triathlon that resonates with fans. It’s similar to how TMRW Sports’ TGL golf league, featuring Tiger Woods, allows other golfers to boost their own profiles by playing alongside a legend. Like young football players joining Manchester United, an athlete’s profile can rise simply by association.
Collaboration is another powerful way to elevate athlete personalities while also widening brand appeal. In NEOM, we partnered with the NEOM McLaren Formula E Team’s drivers, Sam Bird and Taylor Barnard, to team up with triathletes Alex Yee and Georgia Taylor-Brown. By engaging multiple sports and multiple personalities, we were able to connect with a broader audience.
We made available to the athletes our teams of content creators whilst in the unique and scenic surroundings to help generate quality content that they are proud to share. There were also much more intimate interactions where athletes were active in community initiatives, and one on one partner engagements.
In the discussion around questions like this it is easy to get sucked into the view that “tapping into” athletes to drive reach is enough. That delivering social engagement is an end in itself. But there is much more depth to an optimised athlete strategy that delivers value back to the business. For our business, having access to one of our elite athletes in an exclusive, one on one engagement with a key stakeholder may be much more impactful in the short term than any content initiative. Our brand strategy depends on consistent and quality content collaboration with a diverse mix of athletes. To truly maximise the benefits that athletes can provide, is about how athletes can be augmented across the full marketing mix.
At the heart of all this is a simple truth: in order to benefit from the shifting media, brands will have to embrace this change. Work with athletes, not against.
