Sorare, the new French unicorn which offers a platform for exchanging sports cards using the blockchain, has given itself a great publicity stunt by inviting football and tennis stars to its board. Founded in Paris in 2018, this start-up welcomed in January 2022 Serena Williamsas an advisor to the board of Sorare and Kylian Mbappe, since June 29, 2022 – as an investor and ambassador. But also previous years Gerard Piqué, Rio Ferdinand or Antoine Griezmannalso as investors.
A major marketing asset to bring the start-up closer to the fans of the players. These stars will concretely help the start-up, with 130 employees, based in Paris and New York, to build a strong brand in sport and to become a giant in entertainment. Because, after starting with the
football, Sorare,
remained rather discreet until then, has the ambition to extend to American and women’s sports, like its partnership with the North American Baseball League (MLB). The twenty-three-year-old French football world champion, Kylian Mbappé, will notably help the start-up to build the product and also, in terms of marketing, thanks to its huge fan base, to reach a wider audience.
“These personalities are not part of the decision-making bodies. We ask them for themes, or business advice. Serena Williams is the only one with a larger role. She advises the management committee on our development in the United States,” comments Thibaut Predhomme, chief of staff at Sorare. The personalities, like Antoine Griezmann, are not paid. “The only ones have a more extensive specific partnership using their image for their communication, and very specific actions,” adds Thibaut Predhomme.
Nicolas Julia CEO and Adrien Montfort CTO of Sorare.
– DR
A return on investment
Treat yourself to a sports celebrity, a movie star like standard bearer of its brand? Many leaders dream of it, but few allow themselves to do it. “It’s a great comm. By bringing a celebrity into the capital, there is a real possibility for a start-up that is launching to reduce by five or ten the cost of image rights, in return for a percentage of the company’s capital. , believes Eric Trastour, director of Oxygen communication, an agency specializing in celebrity marketing and influence marketing.
The interest is not only based on the realization of advertising campaigns and the conquest of end consumers. “This approach can reassure financial partners, federate the employees of a company. The manager can invite the celebrity to an ‘incentive’ seminar or to an event where he brings his best clients,” adds the expert.
Building an authentic partnership
To seduce the stars and ensure that the marriage contract is registered in the time, several conditions must be met. First of all, theinterest of personality for society to be real. In order not to tarnish its image, theBrand DNA must correspond to that of the celebrity. “There is nothing worse than the public realizing that the ambassador is there for the financial interest, as was the case with Gad Elmaleh and LCL. We felt he was there to cash a big check, ”says Eric Trastour.
Sorare has ambitions to expand into American and women’s sports, like its partnership with the North American Baseball League (MLB).
– DR
To attract the various athletes, Sorare has highlighted its missionand developed partnerships and a roadmap personalized. One of the more social aspects of the partnership between Sorare and Kylian Mbappé concerns the foundation of the player Inspired By KM in order to help disadvantaged young people discover the opportunities offered by the blockchain, the new Internet. “Athletes want genuine partnerships and are not looking to join a moving train. They must have a specific goal, ”confesses Thibaut Predhomme.
Target young retirees
It is also necessary to ensure that you present your business model well to seduce agents, even if it means promising them significant subsequent gains, and to target people who have recently retired. A company operating in the field of sport therefore has every interest in approaching Tony Parker, Wilfried Tsonga or Roger Federer. “It is important that celebrities have time to be an actor in society and are not often monopolized by contractual obligations vis-à-vis their sponsors”, advises Eric Trastour. For consumers to associate a brand with a personality and give the company and personality time to build their objectives, it is better to work over time, at least one year. “To be effective, the contract or partnership must be for two years, or one year renewable,” says Eric Trastour.
Last advice: you have to study theimage du people, his power on social networks, in order to best exploit what he is going to communicate. Because the objective for the entrepreneur is to broadcast photos of the celebrity, or even a video clip, on his website, his Twitter or Facebook page, or to relay key messages from the star. “You have to analyze the impact that the influencer will have on the Web. Some refuse to be present on Insta or communicate very little”, notes Eric Trastour.
