Neymar at Puma, Cristiano Ronaldo for life at Nike, Sterling soon at New Balance. The OEM transfer window can be as hectic and exciting as the traditional transfer market. It must be said that marketing has taken on a whole new scale for a player’s career since the advent of social networks and the multiplication of national, continental and world competitions as well as their live and full broadcasting. Over time, the player has evolved into a marketing product with maximum daily exposure, which brands have seized at the cost of astronomical investments.
Puma and adidas, precursors doubled by Nike
It was from the 1950s that marketing in football really took shape with new equipment manufacturers that began to flourish to equip the stars of world football. It was against a background of rivalry between the Dassler brothers that Puma (Rudolf Dassler’s brand) launched the revolution with its first football boot, the ATOM, in 1948. A pair that was notably worn by the ensemble of West German players against Switzerland, in a historic friendly match in November 1950 since it was the Germans’ first international match after WWII.
In 1953, adidas (the brand of Adi Dassler) responded with the adidas Argentina and its interchangeable crampons, which at the time constituted a revolution, which was a great success since it was with this pair that Helmut Rahn scored the goal. victory in the final of the 1954 World Cup (3-2), synonymous with the first World Cup for West Germany.
During this battle between the two German equipment manufacturers, other brands tried to make their mark such as Kopa (the French equipment supplier to Raymond Kopa), Miter, Stylo Matchmakers (which equipped George Best) but none could compete in the duration with Puma and adidas, who were able to quietly establish their domination by equipping superstars like Cruyff, Pelé and Maradona for Puma and Platini or Rummenigge for adidas.
Then Nike quietly entered the dance in 1971 with its first football boot “The Nike”, before hitting very hard in 1994 with the Tiempo, which we found at the feet of the Brazilian team, world champion. year. Then there was the release of the Mercurial in 1998, of the Brazilian star Ronaldo, to respond to the Adidas Predator, the flagship shoe of Zinedine Zidane and David Beckham, released in 1994. The beginning of the 2000s definitely marked a turning point in the relationship between equipment manufacturers and players since the latter began to sign amazing contracts to wear a brand at their feet on and off the field.
A hunt for superstars
With the full broadcast of matches from the major European championships as well as the arrival of social networks, football has increasingly become a sport of statistics. In a good way, but also in a bad way. That is to say that we have seen more and more players being motivated by goal records to the detriment of collective play. This state of mind, this record hunt, has made the equipment manufacturers happy because they have been able to directly associate their image with the exploits of the stars they sponsor. Nike has dominated the market thanks to Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Cristiano Ronaldo and now relies on Kylian Mbappé to take over. Adidas did more than resistance with Zidane, Beckham or even Lionel Messi while Puma was left behind because he failed to attract a superstar in the 2000s apart from Samuel Eto’o.
Since then, the emergence of Antoine Griezmann has allowed the German brand to step out of the ranks and bridge this gap, as have the signings of Kun Agüero and Luis Suarez. But Puma lacked a SUPERSTAR to really shake up the hierarchy and this is why the recent arrival of Neymar in the German team was a risky investment that absolutely had to be taken.
Winner / winner
Besides, few people had seen the blow coming. Face of Nike for more than fifteen years (he was signed by the brand at 13), the Brazilian suddenly decided to leave the ship, while a new collection from the American equipment supplier awaited him and was to be released during the fall, to join Puma, which has been particularly aggressive since the start of the 2020/2021 school year with the signing of artists like Booba or more recently Dua Lipa. If the figures have never been officially and publicly revealed, Neymar would have signed a contract earning him 25 million euros per year according to The Sun, against 8.5 million euros per year when he was at Nike. What would be the most lucrative sponsorship contract on the market since Lionel Messi would touch 15 million euros per year with adidas and Cristiano Ronaldo, 12.5 million, at Nike.
The Brazilian, who also had to face competition from his teammate Kylian Mbappé within the comma brand, would have himself taken the lead (via his father and his management team as revealed by the Team, editor’s note) to leave Nike two years before the end of his contract and join Puma, which had equipped his mentor and model Pelé in 1970. It should be noted that a sponsorship contract which links a player to an equipment supplier can bring in much more than the contract entered into by the same player with his club. According to our information, Mario Balotelli’s contract with Puma earned him more than his annual salary at OGC Nice. This is why the choice of the equipment manufacturer is crucial for a professional player and that affect plays little (in any case much less than money and the status that we can promise them within the brand) in this decision.
The choice of the player also remains crucial for the equipment manufacturer who will directly link his image to that of a player, who could behave inappropriately off the pitch. Generally, the equipment manufacturers protect themselves through clauses which can stipulate a cancellation of the sponsorship contract in the event of serious abuse of the player. What will count for the equipment manufacturer is obviously the level of the player but also his popularity and the values he already conveys. “He is a whole. His way of behaving, his outfit, his relationship to social networks… He is perfect for us. Now, the marketing of a brand like Puma is no longer just sport but the culture surrounding sport. We are looking for personalities who transcend genres, who are also interested in fashion, music… and this is the case with Neymar ”Puma CEO Björn Gulden told the Team.
First come, first served?
To attract the future stars of tomorrow, equipment manufacturers send teams of scouts / scouts around the world to find the future football nugget. For market outsiders like Puma, this scouting is crucial, if not vital. “At the end of the 2000s / early 2010s, Puma had assembled a team of recruiters to find promising players who could carry the image of the brand in the years to come. It was a time when the brand no longer had any flagship players other than Eto’o and when Nike was truly on top. So we had this challenge, to attract young players to us before they explode in the eyes of the general public. For my part, I went to see the matches of the France U16 teams to find these players. It was during this period that the brand signed Olivier Giroud while he was playing in Tours, Antoine Griezmann when he was barely starting at Real Sociedad, Thomas Lemar in Caen or even Kalidou Koulibaly in Metz. It was a challenge because at the time, the players did not necessarily identify with the brand and the products were not as good as they are today. And of the four players I mentioned, only Thomas Lemar went elsewhere (at adidas, editor’s note) while they all exploded at a high level so it shows the importance of this approach ”, tells us Serge Costa, former scout at Puma who is currently assistant coach at Amiens SC and specialist in player development.
Some promising players are tracked very young, around 11/12 years old, and sometimes even at 9 years old like Shane Kluivert. The most promising of them will be able to quickly land a golden contract like Youssoufa Moukoko, the young Nigerian from Borussia Dortmund who had signed a contract of nearly 1 million euros with Nike at 14 years old. And to keep the interest of other players, equipment manufacturers generally send products (shoes, clothing) for free. The goal of this approach, to create affect by coaxing them and playing on the psychological bias of reciprocity (“We send you products for free because we believe in you so we hope you won’t forget us when you turn pro”).
A losing battle for the “small” equipment manufacturers?
With less visibility and therefore a limited budget, the “small” equipment manufacturers, or at least challengers, find it difficult to exist in this market ultra dominated by Nike and adidas. Equipment manufacturers like New Balance, Lotto, Kappa have therefore chosen to rely more on clubs and their jerseys to stand out and be profitable. It must also be said that these equipment manufacturers are also penalized by a more restricted distribution network than the behemoths. While Nike and adidas branded products are present in almost all general sports stores around the world, this is not the case for New Balance, Under Armor, Lotto, Kappa or Mizuno.
Despite this disadvantage, New Balance is currently trying blows. In addition to having Sadio Mané as a muse in its ranks, the American brand has recently approached Raheem Sterling and Sergio Ramos, as revealed to us on the FootyHeadlines.com site. The two are currently under contract with Nike but the fierce competition within the comma brand could push them to choose an equipment manufacturer willing to spend big sums on them while offering them a status of muse # 1, # 2. , n ° 3 that Nike cannot offer them.
With the aggressiveness of Puma, the new policy of Nike, which reduces its expenses, and the emergence of outsiders like New Balance, the transfer window of the equipment manufacturers promises to be as agitated in the years to come as the traditional transfer market. .
