Despite missing out on a gold medal at London 2012, Tom Daley is the Olympian most likely to benefit from increased sponsorship earnings as a result of the Games.
M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment (S&E) has identified the most valuable British Olympians in terms of their commercial potential and will offer free sponsorship advice to Team GB’s medallists to help them make the most of their success.
The first truly social media games have provided an unprecedented real-time insight into the British public’s attitude towards individual athletes. M&C Saatchi S&E has evaluated traffic across digital media* to establish those Olympians with the greatest earning potential as a result of their heroics over the past fortnight.
The top ten Team GB athletes in terms of social media mentions over the period of the games are as follows
- Tom Daley - 4,361,409
- Jessica Ennis - 796,346
- Mo Farah - 724,869
- Andy Murray - 571,223
- Bradley Wiggins - 380,645
- Chris Hoy - 339,799
- Victoria Pendleton - 127,432
- Greg Rutherford - 113,328
- Nicola Adams - 94,143
- Laura Trott - 87,357
According to M&C Saatchi S&E, social media gives as strong an indication of the popularity of individual athletes amongst consumers as it is possible to obtain without undertaking expensive and time consuming research. Measurements of reach and sentiment mean that those sponsors seeking an association with our leading Olympians have a head start when it comes to evaluating options.
Daley for example, accounts for 57% of all mentions amongst the top ten, which indicates that for every pound spent by sponsors across these ten athletes, he will attract over half of that investment. This is particularly poignant, since he achieved a bronze, not gold, medal. The fact that he has yet to hit his peak, combined with his online dominance, contributes even more value to the Daley name.
Steve Martin, chief executive of M&C Saatchi S&E explained: “Our view is that social media has revolutionised the way companies view potential endorsers. The greater an individual’s profile online, the more valuable they become to potential sponsors. It’s not only those athletes that are active on social media that will reap these rewards but it’s those that are being talked about that brands really want to engage with and be endorsed by.”
“As such, we are making a direct correlation between an athlete’s digital profile and their ability to attract valuable sponsorships. We are actively advising clients to make social media profile and popularity a key factor they consider when identifying potential brand ambassadors”.
M&C Saatchi S&E, which was crowned Sport Agency of the Year for the fourth time in five years at the Sports Industry Awards in May, is celebrating the success of London 2012 by offering three month’s free consultancy to Team GB’s medallists. The agency provides commercial and communications advice to Olympic silver medalist and recent world champion boxer Amir Khan and its industry-leading team of sponsorship and communications specialists will offer their expertise for free to any athlete seeking advice.
Martin said: “We are only too aware of the pitfalls that face athletes whose success attracts a media glare that they are just not used to. There are so many things for them to consider and so many opportunities on offer, yet many will not have the benefit of sound commercial advice. We’re offering those gold medalists that are just coming to terms with their success the chance to gain some independent advice that will help equip them to make the right choices when they are presented with sponsorship opportunities”.