World tennis superstar, TAG Heuer watch brand ambassador and simply beautiful - Maria Sharapova resists the crisis by her own rules
Maria Sharapova was born on April 19, 1987 in the city of Nyagan, the Tyumen Region, where her parents moved from Gomel after the Chernobyl accident. Soon the family moved to Sochi, where Masha at the age of 4.5 began to play tennis under the supervision of coach Yuri Yutkin. It is curious that Masha’s father was friends with Yevgeny Kafelnikov’s father, and it was Yevgeny who gave the girl the first racket. In 1995, the Sharapov family moved to America, where Maria continued training. In 2001, at the age of 14, Maria took part in the first professional tennis tournament. Today, Maria Sharapova is a well-known Russian tennis player, winner of three tournaments from the Grand Slam series. She is the only Russian woman who took first place in the world ranking of the Women's Tennis Association. In 2008, Maria Sharapova first played for the Russian national team in the Federation Cup. One of the richest and most popular athletes in the world. The face of the own brand Maria Sharapova Inc. UN Goodwill Ambassador.
Sportswoman and beauty
Maria Sharapova, who won the famous Wimbledon tournament at the age of 17 and won the Grand Slam Cup three times, before she was 21, made an accurate throw and hit another very competitive venue - in the business field. I must say that today Maria is the highest paid athlete in the history of world sports, her income in 2008 alone amounted to $ 26 million. But, unlike other famous sports beauties, Sharapova came up with an innovative and unprecedented sports marketing initiative, which brought together all her achievements in tennis and the strategy of a real business woman. The name of Maria Sharapova was given to the new fashion brand Maria Sharapova Inc., which is as strong as the famous “Screaming Cinderella” hit on the ball. And neither the collapse of the market, nor a shoulder injury that forced Masha to spend eight months away from the courts, could not slow down the development of the Maria Sharapova Incorporated brand.
To our question about how her natural data influenced her career choice, Maria replied: “I never really thought about my own physical appearance. This is perhaps the only thing I never control. But as a child, I realized that I have God-given talent. I loved to play tennis and I was never afraid of stress and hard training. Constant work is what I control. This is what I can do daily to achieve all my dreams. When I’m 17 years old won the Wimbledon tournament, people began to pay attention "both on my game and on my physical form. But all I would like to say about this is that I want people to remember me as a tennis champion and nothing more."
Champion in business
The lion's share of Sharapova’s ever-growing success came from advertising campaigns, and tennis wins and official salaries accounted for only 20% of her income. Maria’s business acumen has become so legendary that the famous eHow website, which gives advice to everyone and for any reason, has published a six-part answer to the question "How to conduct marketing in the same way Sharapova does?"
At 22, Maria Sharapova went far beyond the sports world, becoming not only an influential celebrity, but also a global brand. Masha has agent Max Eisenbad, who should be thanked for creating and maintaining an ideal support strategy. Eisenbad, who has been working with Maria since she was only 12 years old, has been working with IMG, the world leader in representing young talents and the main catalyst for what should become the head of marketing for the multi-billion dollar global sports industry. “Maria’s strength, when it comes to business, is her incredible ability to say the word“ no. ”She chooses the advertising campaigns in which she participates very carefully and, above all, strives for long-term relationships. She is really a professional business woman and she’s very comfortable speaking to different audiences so that it’s easy to forget that she’s only 22 years old. "
The daily challenges facing Max Eisenbad allow him to build healthy business relationships with all the sponsors of Maria Sharapova. Due to the very busy schedule filled with training and competitions around the world, Sharapova has only 20 days a year to devote to their obligations to sponsors. Associate Marketing Associate at Harvard Business School, Anita Elbers, wrote a case study on Maria Sharapova’s business phenomenon. Anita notes: "It seemed surprising to me how much useful things Masha created over the past 20 days."
Many sponsors agree that their interest in Sharapova is not just attention to the athlete and champion Maria Sharapova, but a look at Maria as a person. Even after a shoulder injury caused Sharapova to stay out of court for eight months, the watch company TAG Heuer in March 2009 continued to build its marketing campaign around her. Watchmakers were followed by companies such as Cole Haan and Sony Ericsson. And if success on the court certainly attracts sports-related sponsors such as Nike, Prince and Gatorade to Maria, the remaining sponsors of Sharapova in their advertising campaigns also focus on her as a great tennis player. Each advertising campaign is carefully thought out, and the image of Maria Sharapova is used throughout the world in basic advertising and marketing concepts, including PR, Internet and trade marketing. The status of a star and the widespread recognition of the face of Maria Sharapova are already proven values.
Why do sponsors love Maria Sharapova?
Maria Sharapova is a marketing package created by the providence of God. About her inspiring life story and three victories in the Grand Slam tournaments can be filmed. Born in Russia and raised in America, Maria Sharapova is a talent that has absorbed different cultures. She has a phenomenal appearance, which makes her one of the most attractive athletes of all time. Maria Sharapova is 188 cm tall, which makes her the tallest athlete in the world.
Confident and balanced Maria is an excellent speaker with an impeccable image and a unique sense of style that extends far beyond tennis and goes into the field of fashion and design. “There are many male athletes in the world who have the image of a star who are chosen for advertising campaigns,” says Max Eisenbad, “for example, Tiger Woods, Lewis Hamilton, David Beckham, Roger Federer, Michael Jordan, and so on. But just "several selected women. And this gives Mary a competitive advantage over many other women participating in promotions."
For Jean-Christophe Babin, CEO of TAG Heuer, Maria Sharapova is the quintessence of women representing the TAG Heuer brand. “She is a winner who never gives up. No matter what happens to her - victory, defeat, injury or success, nothing can stop her. And it is not a matter of victories or star status. For Mary, moments of strength or weakness are vital lessons, and these are just the values that TAG Heuer shares and promotes. "
The partnership of Maria Sharapova with the watch company TAG Heuer was a winning one for both parties, starting in 2005.
And if Sharapova is a brilliant asset in the “portfolio” of TAG Heuer, then her connection with this luxury watch brand is no less honorable. The watchmaker TAG Heuer gave it an unprecedented recognition and supernova status. “What is most important to me in partnership with leading brands is the opportunity for my own growth and development,” says Maria. “For example, TAG Heuer has supported me since 2005, and as a luxury brand with a very clear understanding of relationships in the luxury world, it helped me build a more refined image. I attended two photo sessions for TAG Heuer - first with a photographer Patrick Demarchelier and, more recently, with Tom Munro. The shooting was carried out in a magnificent setting, in a very stylish and luxurious atmosphere, with designer clothes and accessories, even haute couture underwear. The result was very sexy and elegant photos. The use of unsaturated colors in these images became an ideal communicative vector of communicating with me as a woman and not as an athlete. Of course, TAG Heuer uses these images to image his brand, but I have enough advantages, thanks to their publication, because these the photographs show that I am much more than just a tennis player, and this strengthens my position in the luxury market. "
Studies confirm that the decision to sponsor Sharapova, made in 2005, was wise for the avant-garde Swiss watch brand TAG Heuer. This world-famous tennis player today occupies the first lines of ratings. According to a study of Internet resources in 2008, Maria Sharapova was the most requested sportswoman in search engines for yahoo.com, despite her absence from tennis courts since August 2008.
Celebrity and brand
The David Brown Index (DBI), an American company with a 1.5 million consumer research team monitoring over 1800 celebrities, shows that Maria Sharapova is interested in a fairly wide audience in the United States with results comparable to the list. " A "leading Hollywood star. In addition, Maria Sharapova was twice marked by Forbes magazine in the list of "100 Most Influential World Celebrities" in 2007 and 2008, becoming, by the way, the first Russian woman in this rating.
Brand Maria Sharapova Inc. Already became recognizable along with other leading trademarks with a centenary history. We asked Masha what she planned to do when she stopped playing tennis and left the big sport. Maria replied: "It is too early to talk about it, because I still participate in international competitions, but, as it seems to me, I will go to work in the fashion industry."
Sharapova has already demonstrated her ability to create and manage a design team when she participated in the creation of a new TAG Heuer sunglasses line, which will appear on the markets this fall. Her desire to conquer the world of fashion is as passionate as the one with which the girl once won her first international awards on the most prestigious tennis courts in the world. Who knows, maybe these very determination and the habit of winning, by all means, will bring this talented and knowledgeable young woman to the top of the world of style and luxury, creating a worthy competition to today's luminaries. True, a little later, after Maria Sharapova forever hides her tennis racket in a case.
