The Power of Affiliation
Anyone who has been following the NFL for the past few months knows it's nearly impossible to do so without hearing about Taylor Swift.
Taylor Swift has brought over $300 million in brand value for the Chiefs and she isn't even a paid brand ambassador. She is simply affiliated with the Chiefs brand because of her relationship with player Travis Kelce. Now that’s a powerful affiliation!
When we refer to “affiliation” in this blog, we are not referring to “affiliate marketing”, which is the process by which an affiliate of the brand earns money by marketing that brand’s products. Instead, we are referring to accidental partnerships or unofficial brand ambassadors. An unofficial brand ambassador is a person who isn’t partnered with a brand in an official capacity (there’s no written agreement or any kind of contract in place) but they are unofficially associated with the brand. The person acts almost as an accidental influencer for the brand.
Taylor Swift would be considered an unofficial brand ambassador for the Chiefs. Unofficial brand ambassadors can be an extremely powerful marketing tool, and there have been some great examples throughout recent history (though Taylor is probably the biggest one). Although these types of brand relationships can be great, they do come with a downside. Read on to discover more about the power of unofficial brand ambassadors.
Why Unofficial Brand Ambassadors are a Powerful Marketing Tool
Although these types of partnerships are accidental, they work very similarly to planned partnerships and have many of the same benefits. Unofficial brand ambassadors can help brands reach audiences that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to. The unofficial brand ambassador could have a much larger audience than the brand, so they’re reaching the same type of audience but on a broader scale, or, they could be helping the brand reach an entirely new audience. More to come on that in the next paragraph…
Another way partnerships help brands reach audiences that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to reach is by partnering (accidentally or on purpose) with a brand ambassador that has a different audience than the brand. So, instead of reaching the same audience on a broader scale, you’re reaching a new audience altogether. For example, Stanley used to be a brand that catered mostly to blue-collar men. However, when Utah–based blogger and influencer Isabelle Baker posted about the Stanley Tumbler to her network of moms, it immediately took off. Although Isabelle’s audience wasn’t necessarily bigger than the 100+ year-old brand, she helped Stanley reach an entirely new audience, which ended up being the key to Stanley’s success.
In addition to reaching new audiences, partnerships, whether official or unofficial, can help build trust. Strong partnerships create connections between brands and customers through trusted third parties. These third parties are seen as being trustworthy. Their experience and any commentary on that experience is seen as being more authentic than communications that come from the brand itself. In addition, this person has already shared experiences and built up trust with their established audience before the partnership with this new brand. This trust then extends to the new partnership and the brand gets to reap the benefits.
Although paid partnerships still have a level of authenticity, with unofficial brand ambassadors, that authenticity is amplified. When there’s a paid partnership, the audience knows that there’s an incentive for the brand ambassador to say good things about the brand. However, without a contract in place or any money directly exchanging hands, if the brand ambassador says good things about a brand or is affiliating themselves with a brand, it’s seen as authentic and therefore more trustworthy.
Examples of Unofficial Brand Ambassadors
Taylor Swift & The Kansas City Chiefs
Since Taylor Swift is such a great example, let’s talk about her and the Kansas City Chiefs in a little more depth. Since her relationship with Kelce began in September of last year, Swift has added the equivalent of $331.5 M in brand value to the Chiefs. Most paid partnerships don’t bring a fraction of that much brand value, and Swift isn’t even being paid!
Beyond the monetary value, Swift has also helped the Chiefs (and the NFL as a whole) reach a group that they historically had a hard time reaching: young women. Remember how we mentioned that partnerships can help by reaching new audiences, whether that be a larger audience or a different audience altogether? Well, Swift does both for the NFL and the Chiefs, further amplifying the effect.
Although Swift is objectively helping the Chiefs build brand value and reach a wider audience, there is some controversy about how much attention she’s getting. Due to this controversy, they may not be taking full advantage of her added brand value, out of consideration for lifelong football fans who really just want to keep it about football. This means, at this point, the Chiefs and the NFL are unlikely to create an official partnership with Swift.
Drake & The Toronto Raptors
Although now he has had multiple official partnerships with the Toronto Raptors, it didn’t start out that way. Drake was simply a huge basketball fan, and since he was from Toronto, he gravitated towards The Raptors. Drake was an extremely successful unofficial brand ambassador for the Raptors. He made the Raptors seem “cool” and, similar to Taylor Swift, Drake helped the Raptors reach a new audience, a young and multi-ethnic audience. This helped to future-proof the brand as Canada becomes more and more diverse and more young fans come into the mix. Some sources even went as far as to say that he turned basketball into what hockey used to be for Canadians.
Unlike the Chiefs, the Raptors were completely thrilled about Drake’s affiliation with the brand and began creating official partnerships with him. For example, allowing his clothing brand, OVO, to design The Raptors’ jerseys. However, Drake still went beyond the official partnerships, especially when the Raptors were in the NBA championships in 2019. He even went as far as performing free concerts outside the Raptor’s venue during away games.
Michelle Obama & J. Crew
How about a non-sports-related example? Former First Lady Michelle Obama absolutely loved J. Crew and said it was her “go-to”. Once the public saw that J. Crew was the choice of the First Lady, it went from being a comfortable, somewhat chic affordable clothing brand, to being a part of the fashion landscape and an essential part of every woman's wardrobe.
Although Michelle wasn’t a paid influencer, simply by wearing and speaking positively about J. Crew, her influence was a huge success driver for the brand. For example, a 2010 study found that after Michelle wore a J. Crew outfit on The Tonight Show in 2008, J. Crew’s stock increased 25%!
Unfortunately, J. Crew may have relied a little too much on Michelle’s influence, and with Michelle spending less time in the spotlight after 2016, J. Crew suffered. In 2020, the brand filed for bankruptcy. Although it was due to a myriad of reasons (including COVID-19), the fact that their star influencer wasn’t in the spotlight as much as she once was, certainly didn’t help.
The Downside of Unofficial Brand Ambassadors
Although unofficial brand ambassadors can be great, there can be a very real downside. Specifically, without a contract in place, the brand doesn’t really have much control over the unofficial brand ambassador’s relationship with the brand. For example, the Chiefs and the NFL are reaping the benefits of Swift’s relationship with Kelce now, but what would happen if they were to break up? Since they have no formal contract in place, Swift could start bad-mouthing Kelce, the Chiefs, and the NFL as a whole. This could lead to all of the new fans (Swift’s fans who became Chiefs fans) leaving overnight, with most of that added brand value leaving with it. It could be even worse than this if the fans follow Swift’s lead and start actively bashing the Chiefs and the NFL. Without a contract in place, the Chiefs have absolutely no control over the messaging, which could ultimately be devastating.
So…Are Unofficial Brand Ambassadors Good or Bad?
Unofficial brand ambassadors can be great. They can help reach new audiences, build trust, and ultimately build brand value - without any compensation.
However, while reaping the benefits of unofficial brand ambassadors, it’s important to proceed with caution and be aware of the lack of control. One option to combat this is to create an official partnership with the brand ambassador, even if you can’t afford them as a full-time ambassador and it’s only for certain projects (similar to what the Raptors did with Drake). This way, the brand will still have some control over the messaging and the relationship.
Speaking of Taylor Swift and the NFL, the much-anticipated Super Bowl is coming up! We will be posting a blog on the Super Bowl ads next week. Be sure to follow our LinkedIn page so you don’t miss it!
Sources:
https://www.shopify.com/ca/blog/affiliate-marketing
https://fortune.com/2024/01/29/how-much-taylor-swift-worth-nfl-kansas-city-chiefs-travis-kelce/
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/17/style/stanley-tumbler.html
https://sproutsocial.com/insights/influencer-marketing/
https://www.cnn.com/style/article/j-crew-bankruptcy-fashion-history/index.html
https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/04/business/j-crew-bankruptcy/index.html