p38 :: Sport Do iconic stars sell tennis rackets?

o sponsor one of the world’s top built brands through aspiration. rently play with — and the racket they would tennis players can cost millions High and primary school learners are sup- ultimately like to play with, if money was no of dollars. The expectation is posed to be the most brand conscious con- option. that the player will then help sumers, and the most avid followers of sport The top 5 ATP players at the time of the sur- to recoup this investment by stars. We therefore sent a questionnaire to vey were , , Novak helping to sell rackets. first team tennis players at high and primary Djokovic, and Robin Soderling. TIs this a realistic expectation? schools across the country. Despite the teach- The top 5 WTA players were , Do high profile racket sponsorships sell rack- ers’ strike that disrupted so many schools, we Jelena Jankovic, , Caroline ets and create more recognition for the brand? received 228 responses from 42 schools and Wozniacki and . Since then The brands, the players and their agents will two tennis clubs. Samantha Stosur moved down to sixth place say yes, without a doubt. and moved up to third. Sports Trader decided to test this theory. Less than two-thirds, We worked from the premise that if no one Recognition knows that a specific brand is sponsoring a however, know that the Roger Federer and the had the player, the sponsorship might as well not even flamboyant reigning ATP highest recognition, with a high percentage of exist. Recognition of the racket that the play- champion Rafael Nadal respondents being aware of the tennis brand er uses must therefore be high. plays with a rack- they play with (all Wilson). We also believe that consumers need to like et. Less than two-thirds, however, know that a particular tennis star if they will be influ- the flamboyant reigning ATP champion Rafael enced to buy a specific brand. Popularity of Nadal plays with a Babolat racket. the player must therefore be high. We asked them to name the racket brand Even though one might think that young We then compared the recognition and popu- with which the top 5 ATP and WTA players play players would watch the players with local ties larity of the players with the brands the re- with, as we argued that dedicated tennis play- — especially as they often feature in doubles spondents play with, to test if Recognition + ers would know the world’s best players. To finals of tournaments — Wesley Popularity = Sales. test the impact of local players, we also asked Moodie () and (Babolat) gen- Sometimes factors like the price or avail- them to name the racket brands of doubles erated the least recognition for their sponsors, ability in retail stores may prevent consumers champions Wesley Moodie (South Africa) and with 12% and 7.5% of the respondents knowing from buying a tennis racket brand they want. Cara Black (Zimbabwe). which brands they play with. But, if they at least dream of owning a par- We asked them to name their favourite Some players clearly made a study of the ticular racket, the sponsorship could gener- player, and what racket he/she plays with. players and their rackets — naming the exact ate future sales. We also tested which players They were also asked which racket they cur- models they play with.

Sports Trader :: 2010 August/September Sport :: p39 Do iconic tennis stars sell tennis rackets?

Maybe — maybe not, was the verdict of the respondents to a Sports Trader survey of first tennis team players at school*. It is possible that aspirations are inspired by the world’s top players but this does not always translate into recognition or even sales. NELLE DU TOIT reports on the interesting results of our survey

Know what brand play: Venus Williams 2% (Wilson) The largest number of these top school play- Roger Federer 83% (Wilson) 1% (Wilson) ers play with Wilson rackets (26%). This is Fed- Venus Williams 70% (Wilson) 1% (Babolat) erer’s racket. He scores the highest on recog- Serena Williams 68% (Wilson) Robin Soderling 1% (Head) nition and popularity, and one can therefore Rafael Nadal 57% (Babolat) Of the respondents who named Nadal as assume that he sells rackets. 40% (Head) their favourite player, only 65% of them knew “In 2004 when Roger Federer started to win Andy Murray 38% (Head) that he played with Babolat — whereas 84% of everything, we saw an increase of 700% in 6.1 Robin Soderling 35% (Head) players who are Federer fans knew he played Pro racket sales,” says Brad Summers of Wil- Jelena Jankovic 32% (Prince) with Wilson. Slightly more than half (54%) of son. Caroline Wozniak 22% (Babolat) the players who like the third most popular “I think (the success of a sponsorship) de- Amanda Stosur 20% (Babolat) player, WTA #1 Serena Williams most, knew pends on the consistency of sponsoring top Wesley Moodie 12% (Head) she played with Wilson. players — as Wilson have done over the years,” Cara Black 7.50% Babolat Federer is therefore not only the most popu- says Summers. A longer history of player spon- lar player amongst these youngsters, they are sorship ingrains the awareness into a young Popularity also very aware of the tennis racket he plays player’s mind. Roger Federer (43%) and Rafael Nadal (35%) with — whether he is their favourite player or Prince is the racket brand owned by the sec- are clearly the favourite tennis stars as they not. One could therefore expect that Federer ond highest number of players (20%). Jelena were the only players who were named as the would sell rackets. Jankovic and are the two high favourite by more than 10% of the respond- His rival, Nadal, on the other hand, gener- profile players linked to the brand, but Janko- ents. The young players named 36 different ates much less racket brand recognition for his vic only generates 32% brand recognition, and players as their favourites — but apart from sponsor, Babolat — even amongst those who Sharapova is the favourite player of only 2% Serena Williams (named by 7%), none of the say he is their favourite player. respondents. others have a significant following amongst The Williams sisters deliver high brand rec- But, although Sharapova, currently ranked our respondents. ognition (about 70%), but not necessarily #16, was not included in the list of top #5 WTA Favourite player among their fans — nearly 50% of the players players, respondents noted that her name was Roger Federer 43% (Wilson) who say Serena is their favourite player don’t missing and asked why she was not included in Rafael Nadal 35% (Babolat) know what racket brand she plays with. the list. “Maria Sharapova, the popular former Serena Williams 7% (Wilson) winner of Wimbledon, the and Maria Sharapova 2% (Prince) Recognition + Popularity = Sales? the US Open, has for long been the face of Novak Djokovic 2% (Head) So, based on the above information: do tennis Prince rackets, who helped drive sales,” says Andy Murray 2% (Head) stars sell rackets? Roberto Vaglietti of Prince. Yet, it is not pos-

2010 August/September :: Sports Trader p40 :: Sport

Prince rackets were very much in evidence named as their favourite player. Having won at this year’s Wimbledon tournament. Vera 16 Grand Slam titles, 4 ATP World Tour Finals Zvonareva, who plays with the Prince EXO titles in 5 years, reached 27 ATP World Tour 3 Black 100 racket, reached her first Grand Slam final this year, after which she jumped 1000 finals and was the first man to be ranked to #9 in the world. She also reached the finals world no.1 for 4 consecutive years (2004- of the Ladies Doubles event. made 2008), it is easy to see why young tennis play- headlines all over the world when he battled ers could believe that he has some sort of an in the longest tennis match in history. He won the 3-day match 70-68 in the advantage playing with his racket. fifth set and is now ranked #18 in the world. Yet, despite the fact that Rafael Nadal is cur- Prince team players Mike and are rently sweeping all opposition out of his way in on the verge of becoming the team with the a quest to remain at the top — and is a media all-time most doubles wins. Looking to cap- favourite to boot — his sponsorship is not sell- ture their 62nd ATP title, they reached the Wimbledon quarter finals this year. ing rackets in SA. Could this be attributed to the fact that Babolat is available in so few SA retail stores? sible to say with conviction that these players The respondents who aspire to play with Playing ability is not so much of a factor sell Prince rackets. Dunlop, Maxed, Pro Kennex and Rox Pro and when it comes to recognition of player’s racket Head is owned by the third highest number of all currently play with these rackets. The fact brand, nor is local affiliation (although his ma- respondents (15%). Recognition for the three that a Western Cape respondent said that if ternal tie could be a factor in Roger Federer’s Head players among the top #5 ATP players is he could have his pick over any racket in the popularity). When we asked respondents to not very high — Novak Djokovic 40%; Andy Mur- world, he would remain playing with his Rox name the racket used by Wesley Moodie, SA’s ray 38%; and Robin Soderling 35% — and their Pro racket, indicates that Rox Pro’s promotion top ranked doubles player, more respondents popularity ratings are fairly low — 2% and 1%. of junior tennis in the Western Cape and the thought he played with Wilson or Prince than This is followed by the 13% respondents Boland has been successful. the Head racket he actually plays with. The who play with Dunlop rackets. Some of the same happened with Cara Black, a top ranked world’s top players, like , A good marketing strategy female Zimbabwean doubles player. More re- Nicolas Almagro and Fernando Verdascvo, are spondents guessed that she plays with Wilson sponsored by Dunlop. But none of respondents that undoubtedly links a or Prince than the Babolat racket she actually named them as a favourite. Although sponsor- brand with a player is the plays with. This was a month after these play- ship of top players cannot account for Dun- only way a player will sell ers faced each other in the mixed doubles final lop’s sales other initiatives, like the Dunlop D rackets for that brand. at Wimbledon. squad that promotes and develops young ten- The lack of sponsorship awareness is not just nis players, could account for a more sustain- a pattern reserved for doubles players, two of able brand in the eye of consumers. Why players choose a brand the world’s top singles players had sponsor- is the brand that the fifth most From the above one thing is clear: there is no ships that were not recognised by many play- respondents bought (8.5%). Again, top player clear-cut answer. ers either. Only 22% respondents knew that recognition and popularity cannot account for Different players have different reasons for WTA #2 plays with Babolat, sales of this brand. aspiring to own a racket, or buying one. and 20% know that WTA #6 Amanda Stosur play Babolat and Pro Kennex are owned by the It was obvious from the high number of with Babolat. sixth highest number of respondents — namely learners in some schools playing with the same A good marketing strategy that undoubtedly 6% of them. With high profile players like #1 brand of racket — especially in primary schools links a brand with a player is the only way a Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick, Caroline Wozniaki — that coaches or other members of their player will sell rackets for that brand. Avail- and Amanda Stosur promoting the brand, one squad had an influence on the racket brand ability of the brand in retail stores has time would not expect Babolat sales to first team they bought. According to Oliver Ciganek of and again proved to be an important part in tennis players to be on par with Pro Kennex — a Tecnifibre a coach is extremely influential accumulating sales as many purchasing deci- brand sold mainly through a discount chain. The when school-level players choose a racket. sions are made in store (where a number of recognition and popularity of these top players Others admit to player influence. One player optional rackets are on display). therefore do not translate into a comparable noted that even though she does not play with What the survey did reveal, however, is that percentage of Babolat racket sales in SA. a racket, her favourite tennis player, young school-going first team tennis players Aspirations , plays with Yonex and therefor had different motivations for wanting to own Yonex would be her ultimate racket brand of a specific racket — some were swayed by their But, what do the young players aspire to play choice if no logistics stood in her way. coaches, others by the brands’ involvement with if money was no object? Others believe that a specific racket could in developing local players, some remained Most of the players (41%) said they would provide a player with the upper-hand, wheth- loyal to the brand they currently play with like to play with a Wilson racket. A high 65% of er they are a fan or not. Some aspire to own and many were swayed by sponsorships of top the players currently playing with Wilson also Federer’s racket even though Federer was not international stars. say this is their aspirational racket brand. This is followed by 24% who want to play with Babolat. The low number of players own- *First team players from 42 high and primary schools and 2 tennis clubs from all over the ing Babolat (6%) vs the much higher number country responded — overall 228 learners. A considerable number, considering that the survey aspiring to play with the brand, shows a sales was conducted right in the middle of the teacher’s strike and the tennis season for school potential that is clearly not being tapped into children had not yet began. As an incentive to encourage learners to complete the question- in the SA market. Only 14% of the players who naire, several tennis brands offered rackets as prizes in a lucky draw: aspire to own the brand actually play with it. • Head Microgel Extreme Team racket. Head rackets are used by 3 of the top 5 players in Head is the brand that 11% of the players the world. aspire to play with — and 48% of those that • Prince EXO 3 Black as used on tour by Maria Sharapova. aspire to play with the brand, already do. • Rox Pro XF 5.2 100% power graphite racket. As with all Rox-Pro rackets all these great Prince, the ultimate brand for 10% of the features are included at an affordable price making Rox Pro a must have. players, commands strong loyalty as 52% of • Wilson BLX Pro Tour racket as used on tour by Juan Martin Del Potro. the aspirants already play with the brand.

Sports Trader :: 2010 August/September p42 :: Sport What the sponsors say

Does it pay to sponsor top tennis Maria Sharapova is driving sales of Prince’s new EXO 3 stars to become ambassadors for Black your brand? FANIE HEYNS asked some local tennis brand managers

Dunlop The sponsored team of Dunlop is growing lo- cally and internationally through the D Squad programme, says Mark Ridl, head of marketing and branding of local distributor Super-Brands. Dunlop’s new Aerogel 4D range has been developed in collaboration with its current elite D Squad and the results are paying off, he adds. Current D Squad players include Nikolay Dav- ydenko, , Jurgen Melzer, Nicolas Almagro and . Jurgen Melzer and Tomas Berdych are using Rox Pro International, for example, sponsors the Aerogel 4D 300, while Nicolas Almagro and Many of the juniors will a tennis academy in America. use the Aerogel 4D 500 Tour and tell us about racket chang- Wilson Dominika Cibulkova the Aerogel 4D Super-lite. es amongst the pros even “We have records of every racket we have sold Head before the international over the last 10 years and I can tell you that Online commercials on You Tube (www. brand does top players drive sales enormously, says Brad youtube.com/user/headtennis), featuring ten- Summers of local Wilson distributor The Golf nis stars like Novak Djokovic, ranked second in visibility on the tour. There has been a great Racket. the world, and Andy Murray, ranked #4, have upswing in top-end racket sales over the past “When Roger Federer started to win every- been very effective marketing tools, says Mia year in SA and internationally and she at- thing, we saw an increase of 700% in 6.1 Pro Goslett of Omni Sport, SA distributor of Head. tributes it to Head’s presence on the ATP Tour. racket sales,” says Brad Summers of Wilson. “When Djokovic started playing with the Currently three out of the top-five men The same can be said when Jo-Wilfried Tsonga YouTek Speed, which was very visible on TV, in the world are playing with Head rackets. started using our Blade racket, the immediate Head SA was inundated with sponsorship re- Djokovic plays with the YouTek Speed, Murray months saw an increase of over 320% in sales. I quests from players who follow him. South with the YouTek Radical, Robin Soderling (#5 have countless more examples to back this up. Africa’s top-players are using these new rack- in the world) uses the YouTek Radical, as does “Many of the juniors will tell us about racket ets and this filters down to the lower ranked #13, Marin Cilic. In addition, Mikhail Youzny changes amongst the pros even before Wilson players who aspire to follow the number one, (#14) and Ivan Ljubicic (#16) use the YouTek does — that is how in tune they are with top two or three in the country. They, in turn, are Extreme. pros,” says Summers. “I would estimate that the players buying the rackets,” says Goslett. Closer to home, SA’s #1 ranked player, Kevin at least 70% of our sales in top end player She believes it is important to have brand Anderson, also plays with Head. rackets are driven by juniors — tournament players and school kids. They not only know Prince which rackets they use, but also what strings, Apart form Maria Sharapova who has undoubt- bags etc they are using.” edly helped drive Prince sales, other current Over the years Wilson’s sales have benefit- tennis stars that create interest in the brand ted from the presence of three superstars and are the Spanish clay-court specialist David salesmen who have endorsed their products. Ferrer as well as Juan-Carlos Ferrero, former These superstars are , winner of winner of the . fourteen Grand Slam-titles, Serena Williams, The Bryan twins, Bob and Mike, who have winner of thirteen major-titles in singles, and won 66 titles on the ATP-tour, also endorse Federer, record holder in men’s tennis with Prince-rackets. sixteen singles titles. He is considered by some critics as arguably the greatest ever male ten- Rox Pro nis-player. Because Rox Pro has a smaller marketing Federer signed a lifetime deal with Wilson, budget and does not concentrate on signing but the trust in Wilson evolved over a long expensive tennis stars, they are able to ensure time, thanks to messrs , Jimmy affordable rackets of excellence, says Patrick Connors, John McEnroe, , Sam- Franck, marketing manager of local distribu- pras and now Federer, says Brett Summers. Dunlop tennis ambassador Nicolas Almagro secured tor WET Sports Importers. The Williams-sisters followed in the footsteps the seventh title of his career, and second title in two They have allied themselves with junior ten- of Billie Jean, and . weeks, by winning the Allianz Suisse Open on the 1st nis in the Boland and Western Cape where de- “One player won’t assure everything; you of August. Almagro played 17 aces in two sets when he beat the seventh seeded 7-5, velopment of the tennis stars of tomorrow is need a large tour presence,” he believes. “The 6-1 while playing with his Dunlop Aerogel 4D 500 strong. This is in line with international market- fact that the product is endorsed by so many Tour tennis racket. ing strategies aimed at promoting junior tennis. top players contributes massively to sales.”

Sports Trader :: 2010 August/September