In July 2019, AFC Ajax’s chief executive officer Edwin van der Sar finalized one of the biggest transfers in soccer—that of Matthijs de Ligt, only 19 years old but already one of the sports world’s brightest stars, from AFC Ajax to Italian powerhouse Juventus FC for a €75 million fee. A few months earlier, Ajax had sold another young star, Frenkie de Jong, to Spanish champions FC Barcelona for a record €86 million. Once Europe’s most feared team, Ajax had lost its prominence to teams from Europe’s bigger leagues since the mid 1990s but gained a stellar reputation as a feeder of young talent to clubs in those leagues. Now, just as Ajax seemingly was making its way back to the highest echelons of European soccer—in the 2018-2019 season, Ajax managed to advance to the semifinal of the Champions League, Europe’s most elite club competition—the club would lose two players who played a crucial role in its comeback. Did van der Sar have the right strategy to find long-term success? Could Ajax continue to develop soccer’s next superstars—all while challenging Europe’s elite clubs?
|
Article Journal of Advertising Research June 2012 The Economic Value of Celebrity Endorsements |
Abstract
What is the payoff to enlisting celebrity endorsers? Although effects on stock returns are relatively well documented, little is known about any impact on sales—arguably a metric of more direct importance to advertising practitioners. In this study of athlete endorsements, we find there is a positive payoff to a firm's decision to sign an endorser, and that endorsements are associated with increasing sales in an absolute sense and relative to competing brands. Furthermore, sales and stock returns jump noticeably with each major achievement by the athlete. However, whereas stock-return effects are relatively constant, sales effects exhibit decreasing returns over time. We outline implications for practitioners.
Keywords: Stocks; Value; Advertising; Sales; Brands and Branding; Decisions; Economics; Marketing Strategy; Investment Return;
Citation:
Elberse, Anita, and Jeroen Verleun. "The Economic Value of Celebrity Endorsements." Journal of Advertising Research 52, no. 2 (June 2012): 149–165.
