Sitting in Anfield last night, bemoaning Liverpool's lack of form, finishing, and fitness, the value of Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres to Liverpool's fortunes this season could not have been more apparent. Uninventive, unimaginative, and incohesive, Rafa Benitez's side looked confused, disjointed, and unlikely to break their current slump any time soon.
However, as well as the doom and gloom surrounding Liverpool's title chances and hopes of a sixth European cup, the club's reliance on Gerrard and Torres from a marketing perspective struck me equally - dominating Liverpool's marketing and merchandising, and badly overshadowing any of Liverpool's other stars.
As two of the game's biggest stars and brightest talents, their prevalence in Liverpool's marketing strategy comes as no surprise. Moreover, a quick glance through their TOPSTAR traits makes it all the more obvious why the two are highly marketable assets. What we've yet to stress, however, in looking at such athlete brands, is why and how players like Gerrard and Torres become such valuable commercial properties, while other players with similar perceived or potential value, are more often overlooked.
Arguably the greatest difference, and certainly one of the most crucial elements of TOPSTAR not already discussed here, is the effective and strategic management of an athlete's commercial image, and the nurturing and positioning of the athlete within the context of their most valuable TOPSTAR traits and characteristics.
For example, take Liverpool's Dirk Kuyt: a tireless worker and fantastic team player, Kuyt is also one of the club's highest scoring players of all time in European competition, despite of being played out of position. He's become a key leader on the pitch, and has shown over the years to be a caring family man and respected member of the community. Despite his at times unorthodox style of play, and generally un-Dutch skills, he's a much loved member of the Holland national side, and was once the top scorer in the Eredivisie. Few players in today's game represent what Liverpool as a football club stand for, despite his often frustrating first-touch, and occasionally wayward passing.
However, Kuyt's brand and commercial value trails Gerrard and Torres significantly, with little sign of catching up. Even if Kuyt were to score the winning goal in next summer's World Cup, handing Holland it's first major trophy in over 20 years and finally helping the Dutch realize their undoubted potential in world football, it is debatable if his commercial potential would approach that of his more marketable teammates. But why?
While there is no one simple answer, I would argue that underlying any successful or failed athlete brand is the management and positioning of that brand. While the elements of TOPSTAR we've examined here provide the basis for a football player's brand, and are the source of any actual or latent value, it is only through the leveraging and maximization of such characteristic, or combination of characteristics, when a brand achieves any value. Be it of the player's own initiative, that of his representatives, his club, or his sponsors, strategic brand management has been behind every successful athlete brand.
I suppose the next question is, then, who will be next?
No comments:
Post a Comment