Brand Awareness – Brand Ambassadors Banter

by Adwright, 23 September 2021

In our last article, we explored how the wins and losses of athlete brand ambassadors impact brands. Recently, we picked up more athlete brand ambassadors making headlines in Singapore when they make a friendly challenge to the public sparking much controversy. We like to run along the tracks to discover how much value a brand ambassador brings to the table.

Backstory

Singapore’s top marathoner, Soh Rui Yong, issued an open challenge to any Singaporean to run 2.4km in under 7 minutes. He offered a $700 cash reward and 700 bottles of Pocari sports drink to each person who succeeded – out of his own pocket.

Pocari Sweat is one of Soh’s sponsors.

Soh, a two-time S.E.A. Games champion, threw down the gauntlet after completing a 2.4km run in 6min 53.18sec at the Pocari Sweat Singapore 2.4km Challenge on September 4. This challenge drew mixed reactions from netizens.

Another Brand Ambassador Follow-up

Following up to that, Joseph Schooling, Singapore Olympic gold medallist and fastest butterfly swimmer, has challenged Soh and everyone else to a 200m butterfly swim with a 10-sec head start. As a reward, Schooling is offering a Boss suit – out of his own pocket. Not surprisingly, the banter between Singapore’s fastest athletes has attracted plenty of responses.

Branding and Marketing Bonanza

The sub-seven-minute 2.4km run challenge has proven to be a marketing bonanza for Soh’s sponsor Pocari Sweat and other businesses that jumped on the bandwagon with their offers of gifts.

The prizes offered are piling up, and the list of perks from other sponsors keeps going.

Brand Ambassador, Soh’s Controversy

According to Soh’s post on Facebook on September 12, there are some hate comments from keyboard warriors and S.A.F.’s commando fraternity to smear him.

Kudos to Soh. He managed to round it all up to end the ‘hate’ with much love and offer more prizes.

Soh has also invited the fastest Gurkha ever over 2.4km – Subas Gurung – to join him in next month’s 2.4km as a special guest.

Through Soh, the Pocari Sweat 2.4km run has gotten exciting and very entertaining. In fact, in the name of sportsmanship, he found new sponsors willing to sponsor a cash prize for Subas (since he is not Singaporean) if he runs below 7 minutes.

Of course, the bonus prizes for Singaporeans or any nationality just keep coming.

Brand Ambassadors Support Brands

While there has been controversy over Soh’s open challenge initially, it has ultimately ramped up brand awareness of the Pocari Sweat 2.4km run. With so many different runs in Singapore, by far, Pocari Sweat’s run stood out, garnering the most exciting and entertaining comments from netizens.

Soh’s fame also increased due to his tongue in cheek banter and his efforts in rallying for more sponsorships for this challenge. His move has grown his admiration amongst the non-running community too.

Overall, Soh built up the brand awareness of the run, and the run now is likely the most anticipated track meet Singapore has ever witnessed. He also raised more than $20,000 worth of prizes to attract more participants to join the run.

Soh – not bad at all as a brand ambassador who started with a sub-seven-minute 2.4km challenge with just one social media post.

Brand Ambassadors Reflect Brand Value

Recently, Adwright worked with De’Longhi and its P.R. alliance team to launch the latest Perfetto campaign, with Brad Pitt being the new global campaign lead in Singapore.

To De’Longhi, Brad Pitt was the obvious choice as there was a natural alignment between the brand and him on values, a passion for coffee, and a strong global influence. Furthermore, Pitt and De’Longhi are also masters in their industries, known for pushing the boundaries of their respective expertise. Pitt is considered the quintessential embodiment of the De’Longhi spirit: bold and international but, at the same time, sophisticated and elegant.

De’Longhi is an industry leader in the speciality coffee category. Hence, the ‘Perfetto’ campaign is a pivotal moment for the brand to showcase its commitment, passion and creativity as it continues to grow, influence and celebrate the world’s coffee routine with the ‘Perfetto moment’.

Adwright has worked with clients on various sponsorships and endorsements with brand ambassadors. The key consideration is always on the brand fit and how the collaboration achieves win-win. The brand ambassadors must be authentic and reflect a company’s brand value. With our vast branding and marketing experience, speak with us at enquiry@adwright.com or call us at 6227 7227 if you want to embark on a brand ambassador journey. Let’s partner together on this exciting route and run forth to a winning campaign.

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