More On Endorsements...

     To learn more about endorsements, I contacted Ms. Jackie Woodward, a sports marketing professional. I asked her how much do endorsements really help companies getting their name out there, since the endorsements play a big role in determining the superstar athletes' salaries.  To make it easier for me to understand, Ms. Woodward told me companies use endorsements for 3 reasons: Awareness, Brand Affinity, and Ability to sell more products.
 
     Whenever you watch a sports program, the league or association will most likely have an official sponsor.  Companies pay enormous amounts of money to become the official sponsor of something.  Just look at "the official gas company of the NHL", or "the official shaving cream of the NFL". The more your product is displayed, the higher amount of  consumers you'll have who are aware of your product.

     Because of Americans' craving for sports entertainment, what better way is there than to display a product that a professional athlete uses him or herself?  This is how companies get consumers to have an affinity for something. For example, I'm a Chicago Bulls fan. If I see Derrick Rose say how much he likes wearing nike footwear, not to mention he has his own shoe named after him, I'm going to have a more natural liking for that company's shoes since I am a fan of the Bull's best player.

     Lastly the ability to sell more product will sky rocket with the combination of awareness and affinity. Imagine from a Steeler fan's judgement of Heinz ketchup.  Not only is the stadium named "Heinz Field" but one of there favorite players, big Ben Rothlisberger, says he uses Heinz ketchup whenever he has a hot dog. Plus, "if a professional athletes like Rothlisberger is eating this stuff, it has got to be healthy!", is something you'll find a lot of people thinking.

 

So, to sum it up, companies are willing to pay the big bucks to individual athletes and entire sports programs because of the fame they will get from it.  This technique goes back to when Babe Ruth played ball, and is still used today because of how well it works. To answer my original question of "how effective are endorsements for companies?", I would say EXTREMELY.