Andrew Thompson Marketing 4200 Maria Sharapova: Marketing a Champion (A) Case Assignment Questions 1. (a) Should Max Eisenbud and the other members of “team Sharapova” engage in the Motorola partnership? Explain. b) Should they consider any of the other possibilities? Explain. After the tournament when Kournikova could not reach her mother with her unbranded cell phone, Motorola had the idea of sponsoring Kournikova. I personally believe that this was a great idea. It was, at the article said, a perfect storm for her. She was pinned against an opponent that was better than her, and won. She actually was a long short during the entire tournament. When she beat Williams and Motorola wanted to sponsor her, …show more content…
She was featured in thinks like Maxim magazine and the Sports Illustrated swimsuit editions. She was ranked as one of the most attractive people in sports and had a campaign ad for a sports bra. This coupled with her never winning a tournament. Maria was the exception to the rule because typically blue-chip companies only go after athletes that dominate the sport, despite athletes typically being regarded as some of the more attractive people in the public eye. Despite the efforts of her team, Kournikova was more renowned for her beauty than her tennis game. 3. How can we describe the “brand” Sharapova? Explain. The brand Sharapova can be described as beauty, strength, hard work, and perseverance. To me, Maria represented the “American dream”. Her parents came to America with no money, and she became one of the biggest stars in the world. Things were not handed to her and she understood from a young age that the only way to make it in sports was hard work and dedication. She represented a younger generation that did not quite understand that. She represented young, beautiful women that did not want to get by on looks alone. She also represented beauty, as she was one of the best looking athletes in the world. The brand “Maria” could be embraced by almost anyone because her passion and dedication to the sport and just being excellent in general is inspiring. She also represents the
Mia Hamm is the most talented women’s soccer player in the United States of America to date. She is one of the most recognizable soccer figures for both genders. She has dominated the soccer world since the late 1980’s, inspiring athletes across the United States and as well as the world. During her years on the U.S Women’s National Soccer team, she received numerous awards most notably the title for best all-around female soccer player. Because of these successes, she has developed one of the biggest fan bases across the world. Mia Hamm serves as a model for all collegiate and professional athletes combining her celebrity and passion for the
While participation of women in sports has increased, the media representation of women in sports remains problematic. Even the most talented elite female athletes like Michelle Kwan and Monica Seles are portrayed in a sexual fashion, as a way of deemphasizing their athleticism and neutralizing any possible threat they might seem to pose to male viewers. Very few male athletes are portrayed in such an objectified manner; they are portrayed as competitors first and foremost, not as personalities. Also, the media coverage of athletes is disproportionately focused on male athletes. The coverage of female athletes tends to stress individualized female sports where women can be sexualized like tennis and figure skating, versus competitive team sports like basketball and soccer.
Gender inequality in professional tennis is a real and alarming issue, from the pay gap between mens' and womens' tennis players to the low media coverage of women's professional tennis. This issue even goes as far as how differently tennis commentators discuss and analyze mens tennis as opposed to how they discuss and analyze womens tennis. When commentators discuss men's tennis they solely focus on the skill of the players, but when they discuss women's tennis they place more importance on the appearance of the female players, rather than their skill. This instance of gender inequality in professional tennis is further exacerbated by the differences in advertisements for male tennis players and female tennis players. The advertisements involving male tennis players display their athleticism and tennis abilities, whereas the advertisements including female tennis players are appearance-focused, with the females often wearing little clothing. This is corroborated by the popular belief that focusing on the physical appearance of female athletes is the only way in which generating money from women's professional sports is distinctly possible (Fink, 2015, p. 338). Female professional tennis players train just as hard as the men do, thus the gender inequality that exists in the sport is not necessarily a result of how women perform on the court. It is rather a result of how society perceives women playing in professional sports overall, which the mass media is partially to blame
Women athletes are often exploited by marketers and advertisers who want to increase their revenues and bottom line sales. Advertisers focus more on the women’s “skin” and sex appeal rather than women’s athletes, leaving the impression that woman are not as talented in the sports as male athletes (Roenigk 1). Many spectators and advertisers do not take female professional sports seriously and think that female athletes play more for fun. Therefore, female athletes do not receive as much attention for their talent. Advertisers exploit women athletes by focusing on their looks and appearances. Advertisers focus on the female athlete’s sex appeal rather than talent (Julius 2). Those who are more talented can be drafted to play professionally where they receive a salary. However, marketers still focus more on male sports. Therefore, increased revenue continues as spectators buy tickets to watch professional male athletes. The female athletes continue to generate revenues from sex appeal and looks over talent. This professional salary in no way compares to the pay received by professional male athletes.
Over the next few days we'll rate VandyMania's top five offensive and defensive players. Today we'll take a look at Pinson, Alabama native Zach Cunningham.
If someone ever met Andrew Urdiales he would be the type that one would forget. He is not very outgoing and would keep to himself, during his childhood he did not have many friends and was an average student. Urdiales was a marine stationed in Southern California when he committed his first murder killing Robbin Brandley a twenty-three year old college student. From July 1988 to August 1996 Urdiales would go on to kill seven more women. Most serial killers kill each victim similar to all the other victims, Urdiales was different though his first murder he stabbed the victim to death while his last he shot in the head.
In “Tarmageddon,” Andrew Nikiforuk is talking about his ideas and explain how the tar sands influence in Canada, such as environment pollution, policy and economic. The author wrote an excellent title which guides and attracts audiences to continue to read the essay and find out the reading purpose in this article. In addition, he directed to use the keywords, “dirty oil” and “corrupt petro-state”, to mention what is serious issue effect in Canada. Andrew Nikiforuk ,who is Canadian journalist, he has wrote a number of articles. The Green Interview indicate that “Andrew Nikiforuk has won seven National Magazine Awards, and his investigative writing has been honoured by the Association of Canadian Journalists.” Therefore, I believe article of
She is known for being one of the best women soccer players in history, not only because she was an exceptionally talented soccer player, but because she changed women’s sports. She proved to girls all around the world that they can be successful athletes and that they can be just as good as boys or even better. As I continued to analyze Mia Hamm’s life, I realized that she is much more than a talented player. I realized that she was the best in the world and that she was a big influence to girls around my age to play soccer. If I happen to get a chance to research Mia Hamm again, I would search for information on the Mia Hamm Foundation. She made a “non-profit, national organization dedicated to raising funds and awareness for families in need of a marrow or cord blood transplant and to the development of more opportunities for young women in sports”
Serena Williams is the number one women’s tennis player in the world. Her outstanding skills have earned her 50 million dollars through just prizes; that is more than any other athlete in the world (“Serena Williams Fast Facts”). Her fast reflexes, amazing skills, and outgoing personality have made her known as a powerful woman and an inspiration to many young girls. This African-American woman is almost six feet tall and is made of steel. With her long, muscular legs and her quick arms, no wonder she is number one!
In today’s world, men’s sports seem to always be in the spotlight while women’s sports do not draw much attention, as if women who play sports are not taken seriously. This happens on all levels of sports, and I have personally experienced it myself through basketball in high school. While the gym would be full for any of the boys’ games, our games had very little support with almost empty bleachers. When it comes to the professional level, when women’s sports do get covered by the media, most people judge female athletes more on their looks rather than their athletic skill, which is negative and unfair.
When women decide to participate in sports traditionally for men such as bodybuilding, they risk the chance of being socially stereotyped as lesbians, or simply viewed as "less feminine" then say women figure skaters. For example, Venus Williams is seen as criticized for being very masculine in build and judged on that by her performance. The media has commented on how well she plays, and has compared her to men in her sport. She receives fewer endorsements than many other tennis players do because of her looks (but mainly due to her race).
An example of a female athlete being ridiculed for portraying society’s idea of non-femininity is Martina Navratilova. Martina was the first female tennis player who began to play tennis more as a power sport than a sport of technique. Subdued by an oppressive communist system that controlled the Czech Tennis Federation, she was seen to be playing in the style of men instead of playing women's tennis. As she did not fit into society's image of how a woman should look, behave and play tennis, she was ridiculed and branded as the proverbial ‘bad egg’ when compared to her contemporaries. Additionally, she was branded as a lesbian, which caused more hardship for her as she was forced to face a world which was much more homophobic at that time than it is now. Her sexual orientation is not a prime issue; it was something that was used against her and something that was assumed simply because she did not portray the feminine image that is expected of women.
In the last one hundred years women have made tremendous inroads in many facets of life. Of that there can be little doubt. Women may now hold jobs, own property and participate in professional sports. Today women can compete in sports, once a vestige of male domination; there is now room for women in that arena. But even today women in sports are not portrayed in the same light as their male counterparts. To a large degree this is because of today's cultural ideal of women.
Public figures inspire children all over the world and give them the confidence to do great things with their life. Many young girls today will look up to successful female athletes such as Ronda Rousey, Gabby Douglas, and Serena Williams. They are not only great athletes, they are also evidence to young women everywhere that if you work as hard as you can, then you can be as
Q: 3 Why do you think GM chose to establish a joint venture with AvtoVAZ, rather than a wholly owned subsidiary? What are the risks associated with GM's joint-venture strategy?