Celebration of goals as part of a personal brand
How a few seconds gestures after a goal can make all the difference from a marketing perspective
It was always there. You may not remember all of them or pay attention because you are too busy shouting and hugging someone next to you, but every time after the ball touches the nets, the movements made by a certain athlete are also part of the whole work . We are talking about goal celebrations.
From somersaults and slips with the knees on the grass, until showing his own name printed on the shirt for the fans, what is done by the players after a goal is very important for the photograph of the moment to last in the fans memory for several and many years.
And when a player always celebrates in the same way, the celebration takes on a special character and becomes directly linked to the author of the goal. From the moment that people are able to identify the authorship of a celebration even if its “creator” is not involved, the celebration ends up being incorporated into the image we have of the player. In other words, the celebration becomes inseparable from the athlete and is incorporated into his personal image/brand.
Personal Brand
Just like the brands of companies and products, a personal brand brings to the public several aspects of a personality: its values, posture, physical characteristics, etc. In the field of psychology Carl Gustav Jung developed the term “archetype”, behavioral patterns that people have within their own personalities, and defined the twelve main archetypes (photo below).
Each of these classifications has its own set of values, meanings and personality traits, which can be seen in some celebrations. Highlighted, four archetypes highlighted by celebrations and ideas they convey (photo below).
- Ruler: Exercise leadership, have control, power. Related to kings. Ex: Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s stance
- Outlaw: shock; “The rules are meant to be broken.” Ex: Robbie Fowler “sniffing” the bottom line in reference to cocaine use, in response to accusations by the English press of being a drug user.
- Lover: sensuality, becoming physically and emotionally attractive. Ex: Cristiano Ronaldo showing his abdomen.
- Jester: Having fun, making the world happy, playing. Ex: Daniel Sturridge dance.
Gabigol case
The most prominent example in Brazilian football in recent years is that of Gabriel Barbosa, aka Gabigol. Since 2019 the striker celebrates his goals with the same gesture: serious face, arms raised showing the “muque” and shaking his head (photo to the right of the cover of the story), as if expressing an air of strength and power. The gesture, accompanied by the phrase “today has a goal by Gabigol”, became so popular that it is used by many fans, including children, in everyday situations, so much so that it even became a doll produced by Flamengo in partnership with the player (photo below) .
The celebration is even made by other players as was the case with Luis Leal. A week after losing the Libertadores final to Flamengo (with two goals from Gabigol), River Plater faced Newell’s Old Boys, Leal’s team, for the Argentine championship and saw the striker celebrate in the same way that the Brazilian usually does, in clear provocation to the rival team (wacth the video here; goal from 2:27).
This situation shows a great advantage of a celebration being strongly linked to a specific player. The match had nothing to do with Gabriel, but the player was nevertheless positively remembered with an international reach.
Celebrations also become marketable. In addition to the doll, Gabigol also entered into a partnership with the Kenner company to launch a line of personalized slippers, which feature the silhouette of the attacker’s celebration. According to Júnior Pedroso, who manages the player’s career, Gabriel would also benefit from the field, adding revenue to other areas:
The club sees that Gabriel is not the one who delivers only on the pitch, as he can leverage other areas, and all of this together becomes a very valuable product. PSG does not just think about what Neymar can achieve by playing football ”, said Júnior Pedroso
The businessman also said that more than 70 products of the player are under analysis, especially school supplies and children’s clothing, which also signals the attempt to bring Gabigol closer to the child audience and raise him to a level of national personality, not only Flamengo’s idol.
Patented celebrations… literally
A celebration incorporated into the personal brand probably reached its peak in 2013, when then-Tottenham player Gareth Bale filed an application to patent the logo of his celebration, the “11 of hearts” (“eleven of hearts”)
The logo consisted of the gesture that Bale made with his hands after marking, with the number 11, on his shirt, in the center of the image (photo below).
At the time, The Independent newspaper pointed out that the player could earn millions of pounds annually just by enjoying the logo:
“The possibilities are huge for Gareth Bale. Once he has that right, he can profit from it and become a better known player. A third of its total revenue could be made from its image rights, potentially up to £ 3 million per year, ”said Nigel Currie, director of a sports marketing agency, to the portal.
Also in England, in 2018 the midfielder Jesse Lingard followed the same example and applied for four patents: three related to his nickname, ‘JLingz’, in addition to one referring to the image of his celebration, the initials ‘JL’ with his fingers (publication below ). The patent essentially covered clothing products such as clothes, shoes, etc. opening opportunities for the player to explore the image in this type of business.
Dybala Mask
The importance of a celebration associated with a player is also explored commercially. With almost 40 million followers on Instagram alone, Paulo Dybala is an increasingly influential young player, recently elected the best player in the Italian Serie A, as well as being frequently called up for the Argentine national team.
Dybala also has a celebration as a trademark: the “Dybala Mask” (“mask of the Dybala”) (photo to the left of the cover of the article) which, according to him, is a reference to the film ‘Gladiator’, his favorite, and that the gesture represents aspects of resilience and determination.
Responsible for helping in the marketing of the player, Diego Soraires, sports marketing consultant, saw the potential for the player to build his own brand and highlighted the role of the Argentine’s celebration (read the interview here, in spanish):
“The power of the masks is very strong, the power of the costumes, the heroes. That was Paulo’s ‘click’: he adopted the brand, invented a celebration that represented him and that generated a large community. ”
In 2018, Adidas, the player’s sponsor, even made a mask made with elements from the Copa 19 line of football boots, and at the end of the same year created a documentary about the player called “Behind the mask”, Which also reinforces the possibility of generating revenue from the celebration / player associations.
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