Beyond the Field: Embracing Personal Branding in the Digital Era
Exploring the Power of Social Media in Shaping Athletes' Identities and Opportunities
Now more than ever personal branding seems to be growing in importance. A majority of us now can’t keep our hands or lives away from our phones and they are quickly defining how we interact with one another. This makes building your brand digitally a great opportunity to authentically connect with those around you and social media is where we tend to see this happen the most. I’m sure we would all agree that social media does have its negatives but when used right can do a whole lot of good!
In the world of sport, athletes can often be boxed into their profession when they are so much more. The person in the athlete is so much more important and social media provides athletes with the ideal platform for self-expression and the ability to tell their own story in the way they see fit. In an industry such as football, where players can be criticised from all angles and the average career potentially being short due to injury, being able to tell their own stories alongside leveraging their status and popularity to create numerous commercial opportunities for themselves is an avenue that social media creates. Footballers are set up well to maximise their social media platforms to their fullest capacity.
More footballers seem to be realising this as a lot of footballers are now active on various social media platforms using their platforms to showcase their personalities. This can range from business ventures, fashion, and music. Ultimately, showcasing various aspects of their personality is a win-win situation. A footballer can authentically connect with their fans whilst coming across as attractive to brands who may want to associate with them..
On LinkedIn, an elite football player that stands out to me in curating a personal brand is Mario Gotze. Mario Gotze is an angel investor and founder of a media and venture company called Companion-M. He regularly shares what he gets up to beyond playing football and has recently been vocal about encouraging more athletes to consider using their social media platforms productively. He explained that he chooses to focus on Instagram and LinkedIn as he feels they give him the space to share his ‘everyday life naturally and authentically’. It’s so refreshing to see footballers express more elements to themselves as this can open up many doors for them.
On Instagram, one player’s whose content I love is Memphis Depay. I feel his unfiltered approach to how he communicates through his platform makes it easy for his fans/audience to connect with him. He also showcases a variety of his interests and what he gets up to outside of football. He is sponsored by PUMA and also has content featuring their boots where he now serves as their Global Ambassador. He is an artist at heart who makes music, celebrates his Ghanaian culture, paints, and was even a front page model for a Brazilian magazine!
Ex Love Island and former footballer Tyrique Hyde is another really good example. He is using his popularity built through Love Island to create a new platform for himself on TikTok where he is keeping his fans engaged with a variety of content including music and what he gets up to with his girlfriend Ella. In his recent interview with Rising Ballers, it was great to hear him talk about his journey and story with football in an unfiltered manner and most importantly how open he was to creating opportunities for himself away from the game for example his decision to go on Love Island and passion for music; he also spoke about his desire to return back to football in some capacity.
The person in the athlete matters more than anything. Social media is a powerful medium that creates the space for athletes to be themselves which opens the door for authentic connection with fans. For brands, partnering with athletes is a great way to reach a wider audience, promote your products, and strengthen your ability to tell stories.
Check out Tyrique Hyde’s full interview with Rising Ballers below:
Check out Mario Gotze’s insightful post on a similar topic below:
Check out Memphis Depay’s Instagram profile:
https://www.instagram.com/memphisdepay/?hl=en-gb