I am aware that the country has much more important concerns. But there are no small worries. Today I’m talking about Russian sports brands and their athletes.
When I was 12, I had a dream – sneakers from an American company. Not just any, but a specific model. On the letter “H” you also remember. Probably everyone wanted them in 2013.
Now I’m 22 and know that the most talented designers on the planet have worked to make me want these shoes from this particular company. The annual budget of this (specially sought after) American advertising firm is around 4 billion dollars. I think the main competitors are not spending less.
All these “Impossible is possible”, #I’m only better and so on must remain in your memory, especially if you were born in this century or a little before. So we have been taught long and professionally what we should want.
And now we are in a unique situation – all these monsters of the world are gone. That is, you can buy everything, the borders are open – but no one presses, “advises”, does not whisper with all irons: “Buy from us!” And it’s a chance!
Look here: import substitution has a long history in food products. With success. I don’t know about you, but I’ve almost completely forgotten what western brands in food are (I admit, there are a few more that I haven’t given up on yet).
A lot has happened in the restaurant industry over the year – well-known Western logos have been replaced by very Russian logos. Probably, Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy would have frowned on “originally Russian” names like “Big Hit”. But over time, they’ll probably replace it with something like “Big Punch.” The main thing is that the brand is already ours, local. And it is unlikely to give way to the monsters of the world in the future. Or do you think differently?
So far, not much has changed in the sport. But companies that have learned to do decent things – they are. This I know for sure.
During my four years in the national team (including the juniors), I have received and continue to receive equipment from our biggest brands. They’re great, they sponsor national teams, which probably costs them a pretty penny. By the way, I can rate the quality of their stuff as “good” on average. Sometimes it’s “great”. Rarely “satisfactory, but to improve”. And I train two or three times a day. The product can be said to be a resistance tester.
But here’s what frankly surprises me: they almost never announce themselves through top athletes. I’m sure you will immediately name the brand Krish is associated with or the brand Messi is associated with. I think most fans know what Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams are into. But you are unlikely to say which brand is promoted by Alexander Bolshunov, Evgeny Rylov – or any Russian football player of your choice.
It is frankly incomprehensible to me. “Earn on Sunday, sell on Monday” works in all countries. Probably, even in ancient Greece it worked like this – I do not know, however, which company sewed chitons and sandals of the then Olympic champions.
Everyone in the world is in awe – oh, here comes Norway, a country of five million people, who have won the most gold medals at the Olympics yet again! Plus not only Russia, but also the United States, Germany, Canada, which have eight times the population and the climate is similar. And why?
There are many reasons, but one is very fitting for the topic of this column: they promote sport and physical education in Norway through outstanding champions. Not with posters on city streets, but through the concept of “a champion in every home”. Through jackets, T-shirts, socks with the name of this champion and his personal logo. Cross-country skiers know that brands bearing the name of Norwegian champions crowd out more traditional ones that are not associated with anything in our and other winter sports. Moreover, they crowd outside Norway.
Are active athletes really developing new styles and compatibility? Of course not!
I don’t know Petter Northug well, but I had the opportunity to ask him, and I took advantage of it: “How do you develop your brand of clothing and accessories? Where does time come from? What he smiles at: “I left it to the professionals” (“I left it to the professionals”).
In Norway, there is a whole incubator (it’s not for nothing that I went to Skolkovo again in the last few months – I learned the buzzword!) to promote the brands of top athletes. Exactly great, champions. They will invent a beautiful legend for everyone – someone fights for girls’ participation in sport, someone saves nature by making clothes from plastic bottles. Designed, sewn (in China), beautifully packaged – and now people not only in Oslo, but also in Lazutinka and Meshchersky in costumes with the names of great Norwegians. Yes, and in my native Yelizovo too, the magic of the name.
Russia has not bowed to sanctions for a year. Headline: “The World Bank has significantly improved its forecast for Russia’s GDP in 2023: instead of falling by 3.3%, as in January, it now expects a fall of only 0.2% . And in 2024, Russia’s GDP will grow by 1.2 percent.” We have to use that. And then my younger sister, at age 12, will want sneakers not from an American company, but from ours – and for whether the model is called Nepryaeva or Valieva. These are not fantasies – these are plans!
Source : MatchTV
I am Sandra Jackson, a journalist and content creator with extensive experience in the news industry. I have been working in the news media for over five years. During this time, I have worked as an author and editor at various outlets producing high-quality content that attracts readers from different demographics.
