The advantages of being Zlatan Ibrahimović
Player represents a great commercial, advertising and social media attraction from where he goes
It is increasingly noticeable the size that the main football players have acquired in recent years. Many of them have great influence inside and outside the locker rooms that are reflected in astronomical salaries (such as the € 674 milion that Messi would receive in his contract with Barcelona), constant participation in advertisements, and participation in several events that often nothing have to do with sport. These and other practices became the rule and no longer the exception for the so-called “star players”.
Despite implying high costs, the importance of this group of players is enhanced by the rise of social media, the constant and rapid access to information and the valorization of idols in sport, which leads us to the following question: is it worth having a player “Popstar” in the cast?
Of course, everything depends on balance — considering the case of the Galactics who had three best elected players in the world and were not very successful — but at least from a commercial point of view, it is very likely that the answer is “yes” .
Even more so if this player has charisma, appeal beyond sport, a successful career in major clubs in Europe, and maintains a high performance sporting performance for many years. This is the case with Zlatan Ibrahimović.
“I am Zlatan”
Today, at the age of 39, the current Milan player has established himself as one of the main strikers of the last decades, accumulating passages for great teams, dozens of titles, individual awards, great performances, and acrobatic goals.
But an aspect as relevant as for his success to reach outside the four lines is his personality. Statements that overflow self-confidence and refer to yourself in the third person (which the title of your autobiography “I am Zlatan” alludes to) are his trademarks, which generate several types of games (video below), at the same time that they also share opinions… mainly in their country.
The son of immigrants of Croatian and Bosnian origins, the Swede — who returned to defend the national team after four years — contrasts with the physical and psychological stereotype of his countrymen. Ethnologists Åke Daun and Gillis Herlitz, for example, describe the Swedish people as “shy”, “reserved”, who tend to avoid conflict, which would make them even a “boring” people. Herlitz also points out that in Sweden “it is absolutely forbidden to speak or think about yourself very well”, that is, basically the opposite of what Ibrahimovic usually does.
With a confident, self-centered, defiant and even individualistic profile, the same things that generate antipathy to the attacker’s figure, also captivate and engage fans who appreciate the “whole of the work” (performance and personality). This attractiveness makes him capable of generating several commercial benefits for himself and for the teams in which he operates, and it is precisely from this moment that we realize the advantages of being Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Team
One of the main goals of any football team off the field, is to seek the identification of fans. This is because a fan identified in general, would be less susceptible to “abandon” his team in negative moments (sporting results and finances) and would tend to purchase more products (shirts, partner programs / season ticket etc.) which in turn, it would generate greater and constant revenue for the club.
For Kirk Wakefield, professor at the University of Baylor (USA) and sports marketing researcher in his book “Team Sports Marketing”, this identification can be achieved through five factors (photo below), one of which is the “attractiveness of the players ”.
A player could be considered attractive to fans by attributes of the TOPSTAR model: 1) Team: teams that served; 2) Extra field: cities where he lived, with whom he socially interacts, possessions etc; 3) Physical and mental characteristics: physical traits, personal values and personality; 4) Success: collective and individual titles; 5) Transferability: how attractive the player is to different groups (eg men / women, youth / adults, football fans / non-football fans); 6) Age; and 7) Reputation.
When we apply these concepts to the figure of Ibrahimovic, it is easy to see their prominence. With passages for teams like Milan, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain (all from cosmopolitan cities), 1.95m tall, champion of dozens of titles, long-lived, and with an eccentric personality that transcends football, the player can be considered as an important means to make a fan feel identified with whatever club the attacker operates.
With all these positive aspects, it is to be expected that any club that decides to hire him will gain prominence and be more and more known (brand awareness). This means, in other words, that the club’s brand is valued for the attention it receives from the general public — not just football fans — who, in turn, would also react more favorably to everything related to the club (positive brand equity).
Having someone like Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the squad means more appeal, reach and credibility of the brand and as a consequence, more chances for the club to have its products sold, especially shirts and other items associated with the Swedish.
Social networks
Ibrahimovic’s positive influence is easily measured when we analyze his arrival at the LA Galaxy (USA) in 2018. On March 23 the agreement was announced, and on the 31st of the same month the player made his debut in the classic against Los Angeles FC , when leaving the bench to play the final 20 minutes of the match with an unfavorable score of 3x2. The match ended 4x3 for the LA Galaxy with two goals from the Swedish: the first with a shot almost from the middle of the field, and the victory scored in the 45th minute of the second half, a debut worthy of a movie script.
In this interval of just over a week, the social networks of the LA Galaxy and the MLS League had a growth of more than 320 thousand and 100 thousand followers respectively, according to the Blinkfire platform (graph below). The interesting thing is to note that the biggest increase occurred on the day after its debut and not on the day of the announcement, which would indicate that a great hiring would be a gimmick, but that the great sporting exhibitions are what actually bring about, the attraction and fan engagement.
At the time Dan Stelly, responsible for MLS social networks, tweeted that the metrics established for the league’s social networks for the year had been achieved in 15 minutes with Ibrahimovic’s debut. Despite being a somewhat exaggerated message, it still shows the size of the media impact that was caused in a short time of the player’s passage through the United States.
Sponsors
Several global brands are also attentive to the image of the Swedish star, who has been the protagonist of several magazine covers (cover photo of the article), advertisements for major brands such as Volvo, Samsung, Nike, and even social causes such as the exciting play “ 805 million names ”. In it, Ibrahimovic tattooed 50 names of strangers who suffer from hunger, to promote the cause of the World Food Program (video below).
Attractive in other segments, the attacker will participate in the film “Asterix and Obelix: The Middle Kingdom”, when he enacted the role of the character “Antivirus” and in March this year, for example, he also ventured to sing at the traditional Sanremo Festival.
When acting in big clubs in his career, another appeal appears for some brands. Barcelona, Paris, Milan and Los Angeles were some of the global and cosmopolitan cities that Zlatan lived in and, for sports equipment companies like Nike and Adidas, this is very valuable for the business strategy they have, as explained by Athletic Interest.
The “Key Cities Strategy” causes companies, instead of allocating their resources to large-scale campaigns in different countries, to focus on advertisements in a small number of strategic cities. This is because they would be responsible for exerting great influence and setting new trends elsewhere; a kind of “ripple effect”. By acting not only in one, but in four global cities, Ibrahimovic would then have greater value for these sponsors.
Arrogant or confident, overrated or top athlete, football fans may even debate, but what is certain is that Zlatan Ibrahimovic becomes the center of attention wherever he goes, which, from a commercial point of view, is a big advantage.
Complementary articles:
- Personal Sports Branding in the Digital Age: The Case of Zlatan Ibrahimovic
- Zlatan Ibrahimović and influencer marketing: How credibility and parasocial interaction influence purchase intentions of a football player’s social media fans and followers
LinkedIn: theodoromontoto
