Branding the Legacy of “The Flying Finn” *
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Branding the legacy of “The Flying Finn” * By Miia Grénman, Juulia Räikkönen, Ulla Hakala & Kalle Virtapohja A postcard motif: Nurmi memorial in front of the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki. It was signed by Paavo Nurmi in 1963 and sent to the Editor of the Journal. The runner’s statue was commis- sioned in autumn 1924 by the Finnish government. It was the work of sculptor Wäino Aaltonen who was 30 years old at the time. The statue originally stood at the Helsinki Atheneum, and now has returned there. A copy of the original statue was placed in front of the Olympic Stadium in 1952. There are other copies in Nurmi’s home town of Turku, in Jyväskylä, and in “His imprint on the track world was greater than a focal concept in marketing literature and is now Lausanne. any man’s before or after. He, more than any frequently discussed in relation to sports and athletes Photo: Volker Kluge Collection man, raised track to the glory of a major sport in (Arai, Ko & Ross, 2014). Athletes can be considered as the eyes of international fans, and they honoured cultural products and brands in their own right but, as him as one of the truly great athletes of all sports.” this case demonstrates, their legacy can expand to many (1986) other fields – even long after their lifetimes. A brand in sports is defined as a name, design, or symbol which This paper examines sport tourism from the perspectives differentiates it from the competition (Shank, 1999). of tourism studies and brand management by taking Accordingly, Nurmi was a name, and his legacy is a the legendary Finnish athlete, Paavo Nurmi (1897– brand: he had a name, a distinctive appearance, and 1973), as a case example. During his running career, he a strong personality. In this paper, we discuss how his won nine gold and three silver medals in the Olympic human brand has been leveraged to various categories Games (1920–1928), and is still considered one of the of sport tourism and levels of branding. greatest athletes of all times. His achievements had an The brand of Paavo Nurmi forms the basis for a series enormous significance for his country, the young and of sport tourism events that manifest his legacy and small nation which had just declared its independence bring thousands of domestic and international sport from Russia. tourists to Nurmi’s home town, Turku, in Finland. The In Nurmi’s time, target-oriented branding was not a most significant event is the Paavo Nurmi Games, an topical issue but, during the past decades, it has become internationally recognised track and field meet for the 20 world’s leading athletes. The Paavo Nurmi Games is a to either actively participate in sports (e.g. scuba diving, part of the European Athletics (EA) Premium Permit skiing, and golf) or passively watch and observe sports Circuit and is also highly ranked by the International (e.g. sports events and sports museums), where Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), rising to the either sport or tourism can be the main IAAF World Challenge Permit in 2017. motive (e.g. Gibson, 2002; Ritchie, 2005). The Paavo Nurmi Games represents a traditional form In this paper, we follow the of sport tourism, which centres on a passive observing classification of Gibson (1998; 2002), of various sporting events. Indeed, event sport tourism in which sport tourism is portrayed has been the most recognised form of sport tourism as a leisure-based activity with with large-scale sporting events, such as the Olympic three overlapping categories: active Games, greatly influencing this tendency (e.g. Gibson, sport tourism, event sport tourism, 2002). Currently, there is also an increasing demand for and nostalgia sport tourism. more active forms of sport tourism that involve active Although this categorization has been participation in various sports-related exercises and criticized for viewing events mainly as events (Gibson & Fairley, 2014). As a response, the supply a spectator phenomenon and considering of active sporting events has increased significantly nostalgia as a sport tourism type, instead of a during the last few years, of which the Paavo Nurmi motivational factor (Weed & Bull, 2004; Weed, 2009), it Nurmi medal, created Marathon in Turku, with thousands of participants, is a offers a solid base for analysing sport tourism centring in 1974 by Raimo good example. on the legacy of Paavo Nurmi. Heino. On the reverse Our aim is to describe how Nurmi has opened the Active sport tourism comprises several activities such as are the three Olympic way to multi-level branding and how his legacy is skiing, fishing, and biking, as well as active participation cities in which Nurmi maintained and extended by various factors in order in different events and sporting tournaments (Gibson, won medals: Antwerp, to benefit the local and national tourism industry, and 1998; Ritchie, 2005). During the last decades, active sport Paris and Amsterdam. even society, in a wider sense. In order to complete tourism has increased its popularity among traditional this task, we have conducted interviews, documentary sports, such as skiing and golf (Gibson & Fairley, 2014), but analysis, and participant observation. This paper is also among endurance sports, such as marathon events, written by academic researchers and, notably, one the number of which has exploded globally (Burfoot, of the authors has been writing a biography of Paavo 2007). This trend is partly explained by the increased Nurmi, providing access to inside information and awareness of the benefits of an active lifestyle, tourists’ ensuring the accuracy of the factual content on Nurmi. desire for a variety of experiences, learning and engaging Sport tourism The “Flying Finn” – so called for his wonder- During the past decades, sports and tourism have fully easy running developed into highly desirable leisure time activities style. The photo shows and have also become significant economic activities Nurmi in the German (Roche, Spake & Mathew, 2013; Weed & Bull, 2004). Stadium in Berlin Tourism is regarded as one of the world’s largest which was to have industries (UNWTO, 2016), while sport as the world’s held the Olympics in largest social phenomenon (e.g. Delpy Neirotti, 2003). 1916. Ten years later Accordingly, sport tourism has become a major sector Nurmi set a 3000 m of the global travel and tourism industry (e.g. Ritchie, world record with a 2005). It is noteworthy that several scholars have argued time of 8:25.4 min. sport tourism to be more than the simple combination Photos: Volker Kluge Archive of sport and tourism – greater than the sum of its parts (e.g. Weed & Bull, 2004; cf. Gibson, 2002). Weed and Bull (2004, p. 37), for instance, have considered sport tourism as “a social, economic, and cultural phenomenon arising from the unique interaction of activity, people, and place”. The exact definition of sport tourism has been widely debated, not only in terms of the core concepts of sport and tourism, but also how the field itself is described and how sport tourism is categorized (e.g. Weed, 2009). Sport tourism is frequently characterized by travelling, JOH 2 | 2017 Branding the legacy of “The Flying Finn” 21 “The runner Nurmi” – events, such as regional and amateur competitions, bronze statuette by the popularity and economic importance of which has the sculptor Renée been noticed by both scholars and tourism professionals Sintenis. She was in- (Gibson & Fairley, 2014). Compared to short-term spired when she saw mega-events, small-scale sporting events can provide him run in Berlin on communities with more positive and less negative 11th September 1926. impacts as they often use existing infrastructure, require Although the German minimal public funding, are more manageable, and may Otto Peltzer took the minimize tourism seasonality (Higham, 1999; Ritchie, 1500 m world record 2005). Today, many cities prioritize local sporting events from Nurmi in this race and focus on both spectators and active participants with 3:51.0 min, she in order to generate tourism income and develop did not choose the destination image and branding (Gibson & Fairley, 2014). winner as her model Nostalgia sport tourism refers to something or but instead decided on somebody associated with sports. It is generally related the Finn as the subject to physical artefacts, such as sports halls of fame and for her work. museums, sport tourism tours to famous sporting stadiums, or sport-themed vacations (Ritchie, 2005). Photo: Nationalgalerie Berlin Furthermore, it relates to social interactions within different sport tourism groups, such as fan group tours (Fairley, 2003). Nostalgia sport tourism is still the least researched area of sport tourism and also largely ignored by the tourism industry (Gibson & Fairley, 2014), offering a vast future potential. Sport tourism and the legacy of Paavo Nurmi In general, legacy refers to what is inherited from one person to another, from one organisation to another, in something new, and also greater opportunities to take or from one generation to another (Holt & Ruta, 2015). part in sporting activities during their vacation (Gibson & In sport management literature, legacy often refers to Fairley, 2014). mega-events, especially the Olympic Games, which Event sport tourism is, to date, the most researched must succeed in their own terms but also respond to area of sport tourism, entailing large-scale events, such the public’s expectations of renewing a city, reviving as the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup (Ritchie, an economy, and even re-branding the nation (Holt & 2005). These mega-events are characterized by an Ruta, 2015). Instead of the mere short-term effects of extraordinary significance, scale, and reputation with sporting events, legacy refers to a wider transformation, an international focus in terms of athletes, spectators, long-term activities, and alternative forms of and substantial media spectacles that boost the impacts such as creating new skills and improving tourism industry and attract new businesses (Gibson communications (Holt & Ruta, 2015; Preuss, 2007).