Cristiano Ronaldo’s decision to remove two Coca-Cola bottles from view at a press
conference, and dent the value of the 💸 fizzy drink maker’s sponsorship of the European
Championship, has highlighted the risks brands face associating with sports stars made
powerful 💸 by the social media era.
The Portugal captain, a renowned health fanatic who
eschews carbonated drinks and alcohol, underlined his point 💸 by holding a bottle of
water while saying “agua”, Portuguese and Spanish for water. The water brand in
question happened 💸 to be owned by Coca-Cola too, but the damage – by a major sports star
with 550 million social media 💸 followers – was done.
“It’s obviously a big moment for
any brand when the world’s most followed footballer on social media 💸 does something like
that,” says Tim Crow, a sports marketing consultant who advised Coca-Cola on football
sponsorship for two decades. 💸 “Coke pays tens of millions to be a Uefa sponsor and as
part of that there are contractual obligations for 💸 federations and teams, including
taking part in press conferences with logos and products. But there are always
risks.”
Major brands have 💸 never been able to control the actions of their star
signings. Nike decided, stoically, to stand by Tiger Woods as 💸 the golfing prodigy lost
sponsors including Gillette and Gatorade after a 2009 sex scandal. However, Ronaldo’s
public snub signifies a 💸 different kind of threat to the once cosy commercial balance of
power between stars and brands, one born of the 💸 social media era.
“Ronaldo is right at
the top of social media earners,” says PR expert Mark Borkowski. “It is about 💸 the rise
of the personal brand, the personal channel, it gives so much bloody power. That’s what
has allowed Ronaldo 💸 to make a point [about a healthy lifestyle].”
Now 36, the world’s
most famous footballer has built an empire that has 💸 seen him make more thanR$1bn
(£720m) in football salaries, bonuses and commercial activities such as sponsorships.
What is crucial is 💸 the global platform social media has given him – half a billion
followers on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook – which 💸 has freed him from following the
commercial rules of clubs, tournaments and their sponsors. He is the highest earner on
💸 Instagram, commandingR$1m per paid post, and with more thanR$40m in income from the
social media platform annually he makes more 💸 than his salary at Juventus.
“People are
saying this is about athlete activism and there is some truth to that,” says 💸 Crow.
“Athletes are taking a more activist view, we are seeing that, most recently in press
conferences. And we will 💸 see it again.”
On Tuesday, the France midfielder Paul Pogba, a
practising Muslim, removed a bottle of Euro 2024 sponsor Heineken’s 💸 non-alcoholic 0.0
brand from the press conference table when he sat down to speak to the media after his
team’s 💸 1-0 win over Germany. Three years ago, he was one of a group of Manchester
United stars who boycotted a 💸 contractual event for sponsors to protest at the club’s
poor travel arrangements that had affected Champions League games.
Crow says the 💸 most
important example of athlete activism came last month when Naomi Osaka, the No 2-ranked
female tennis player, pulled out 💸 of the French Open after being finedR$15,000 and
threatened with expulsion by organisers for saying she would skip contractual media
💸 obligations because of the effect on her mental health.
Osaka, who has more than 4
million social media followers, used Twitter 💸 to explain her “huge waves of anxiety” and
the “outdated rules” governing players and media conferences, and announce she was
💸 pulling out of Roland Garros.
“Activism is now on every sponsor’s radar,” says Crow,
who believes Ronaldo’s move could mark the 💸 beginning of the end of product
placement-laden press conferences.
“My view is that for a long time now having
sponsors’ products 💸 on the table in front of athletes in press conferences looks
outdated and inauthentic and it’s time to retire it,” 💸 he says. “This incident
highlights that fact. Many of my sponsor clients have mentioned this in the past,
particularly those 💸 targeting younger consumers. It’s not as if sponsors don’t have
enough branding throughout tournaments and events anyway.”
