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Making digital connections with athletes and talent

One of the biggest commercial stories of Uefa Euro 2020 so far sprang from one of its briefest incidents. At a press conference before the defending champions’ opening game against Hungary in Budapest, Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo moved two bottles of Coca-Cola away from the table in front of him. He told the assembled media to drink water instead, and wrote them an easy set of headlines that soon made their way around the world.

Elite athletes and media

Ronaldo is one of a clutch of elite athletes – alongside the likes of Roger Federer, Serena Williams, LeBron James and Tom Brady – who still have an iron grip on the public’s imagination as they head into their mid-30s and beyond. It should be no surprise that they still command such attention with their origins in an era of more unified mass media, and a whole career of achievements and stories to connect them with fans.

The same is true of retired athletes. The stars of the recent past have long been valued for their experience – booked, of course, as media experts on their own sports. Increasingly, they are acting as cultural touchstones for supporters and brands as well. Eric Cantona and Ian Wright, two Premier League icons from the 1990s, are appearing in advertisements on British screens this summer, imbuing those campaigns with character through their instantly recognisable personas.

The commercial value of former greats is only one part of the picture. There are the tales they can share of years spent in celebrated, unusual lives, and the insights they can offer on teamwork, self-discipline and high performance.

Innovations due to changing environment

Until recently, that has typically been restricted to in-person corporate appearances or the after-dinner speaking circuit. Over the past 18 months, however, the mass adoption of remote communication, due to the public health restrictions on in-person events, has changed many people’s thinking about what is possible.

Messaging service Cameo grew exponentially throughout 2020, with stars ranging from Brett Favre to Michael Owen, Mia Hamm and George Foreman charging one-off fees for personalised videos. That has proved popular with fans willing to pay between a few dollars and $1,000 to commemorate birthdays and anniversaries or just enjoy the novelty of the interaction, but there is much greater value that can be unlocked through virtual appearances and the commercial appeal of celebrities goes far beyond just fan “shout-outs”.

There was a rise in 2020 of distanced events and sponsor activations. With Grands Prix closed to spectators, Formula One agreed a partnership with Zoom to enable a digital version of its Paddock Club hospitality service. Teams and partners of cycling’s Tour de France ran virtual ‘sportives’ and opportunities for guests to train with top riders using connected fitness tools like Zwift.

How Pickstar's changing the game

Olympic sponsor Airbnb, meanwhile, has been supporting athletes in curating their own personal ‘experiences’, where they offer a localised sporting activity in their hometowns. With physical events impossible for many of them in 2020, those were repurposed for online audiences, greatly expanding their reach in the process.

In this context, former athletes can be accessible in a whole range of settings to audiences all over the world. That makes it invaluable to have routes to them through dynamic, powerful, and intuitive platforms. Pickstar makes it faster than ever before to book athletes for events, social media partnerships and other appearances. Over 300 clients – including EY, BT, the NFL and Google – have been brought together with a network of over 1,800 stars, each of whom can be matched intelligently to any organisation’s needs. Direct communication with each athlete makes it possible to deliver the right experience on the right terms.

The scope for athletes to tell their own stories is getting wider. With the right tools, it can be even easier to join them.

Derek Redmond Olympic champion 3

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