Kim Yu-na Ranked Most Marketable Korean Athlete | Golden Skate

Kim Yu-na Ranked Most Marketable Korean Athlete

gsk8

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Jun 21, 2003
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Figure skater Kim Yu-na placed 44th on the annual list of the 50 Most Marketable Athletes in the world by British sports media SportsPro in association with Eurosport, released on Monday.

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FlattFan

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Jan 4, 2010
The problem with this ranking is some people are international stars. They can sell jersey in different markets. Kim (or Asada) can only sell stuff in their native market.

So to put them in the same league as Messi or Ronaldo is just reaching.
 

Krislite

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Sep 22, 2010
The problem with this ranking is some people are international stars. They can sell jersey in different markets. Kim (or Asada) can only sell stuff in their native market.

So to put them in the same league as Messi or Ronaldo is just reaching.

Kim is quite popular in other Asian countries, too, even (shockingly) in Japan. Her image is used for commercials/endorsements outside Korea.
 

FlattFan

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Jan 4, 2010
Kim is quite popular in other Asian countries, too, even (shockingly) in Japan. Her image is used for commercials/endorsements outside Korea.

Kim is popular in Japan because of her long time rivalry with Mao Asada, nothing's shocking about it. But if you think she can sell cookies or milk shake or beer in any other Asian countries, you must be her management team. No one outside of Korea will buy anything she's selling because of who she is.

Same story for Mao. Same story for any figure skating stars.
 

jenaj

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Kim is popular in Japan because of her long time rivalry with Mao Asada, nothing's shocking about it. But if you think she can sell cookies or milk shake or beer in any other Asian countries, you must be her management team. No one outside of Korea will buy anything she's selling because of who she is.

Same story for Mao. Same story for any figure skating stars.

DIdn't Janet Lynn do commercials in Japan after the '72 Olympics? Michelle Kwan had a deal with a Chinese tire company, as I recall.
 

FlattFan

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Jan 4, 2010
DIdn't Janet Lynn do commercials in Japan after the '72 Olympics? Michelle Kwan had a deal with a Chinese tire company, as I recall.

I mean in this era. The figure skating stars in past decades were global stars. The stars now are struggling to pay bills.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
The problem with this ranking is some people are international stars. They can sell jersey in different markets. Kim (or Asada) can only sell stuff in their native market.

So to put them in the same league as Messi or Ronaldo is just reaching.

I guess that's why Kim is number 44 and Neymar is number 1. I know I want to buy a Gillette razor from him. ;)

http://noticias.limao.com.br/imagens/materia/esportes/neymar_306(4).jpg

janaj said:
Michelle Kwan had a deal with a Chinese tire company, as I recall.

I have this poster. :)

http://imageshack.us/a/img477/6155/item153204wm.jpg

Michelle Kwan and Maxxis tires: they both perform under pressure! (34 pounds per square inch, in the case of the tires.)
 

Robeye

Final Flight
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Feb 16, 2010
I guess that's why Kim is number 44 and Neymar is number 1. I know I want to buy a Gillette razor from him. ;)

http://noticias.limao.com.br/imagens/materia/esportes/neymar_306(4).jpg
Newho?...ah, yes, did the sharks find him at the end? :biggrin:


I have this poster. :)

http://imageshack.us/a/img477/6155/item153204wm.jpg

Michelle Kwan and Maxxis tires: they both perform under pressure! (34 pounds per square inch, in the case of the tires.)
The creator of this marriage of rotations and radials was a marketing genius, but he didn't take it far enough. If I were in charge of a TV commercial for the campaign, I would have done a kind of montage shot with Michelle going into a spin that becomes a blur as the camera zooms in...then the shot pulls back, revealing the rapidly spinning tire on a sports car that is growling down the road. How's that for originality? :laugh:
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Ooh, neat image, Robeye.

And didn't Michelle do some sort of promotion in Malaysia recently?

I wonder whether any of the European skating champs (especially Carolina, who's so glamorous) have successful promotional images in any other EU countries. I bet Kostner would be a hit in German-speaking countries, since she's from that Alpine part of Italy.
 

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605
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Feb 27, 2012
Kim is popular in Japan because of her long time rivalry with Mao Asada, nothing's shocking about it. But if you think she can sell cookies or milk shake or beer in any other Asian countries, you must be her management team. No one outside of Korea will buy anything she's selling because of who she is.

Same story for Mao. Same story for any figure skating stars.

BTW, Virtue/Moir starred in a Toyota commercial for the Japanese market a couple of years ago. :)
 

jenaj

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Ooh, neat image, Robeye.

And didn't Michelle do some sort of promotion in Malaysia recently?

I wonder whether any of the European skating champs (especially Carolina, who's so glamorous) have successful promotional images in any other EU countries. I bet Kostner would be a hit in German-speaking countries, since she's from that Alpine part of Italy.

Michelle did a promotion in Singapore--for a shopping mall with an artificial ice rink. It's a combination of skill and star power. If Kiira Korpi had Yu Na's skills, I'm sure she would get endorsements outside of Finland.
 

Robeye

Final Flight
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Feb 16, 2010
I wonder whether any of the European skating champs (especially Carolina, who's so glamorous) have successful promotional images in any other EU countries. I bet Kostner would be a hit in German-speaking countries, since she's from that Alpine part of Italy.
My general impression (which anyone who knows better is obviously free to correct) is that there is no European skater with strongly established, transnational marketing power across the EU. Possibly the nearest thing to such a pan-European star was Katarina Witt, who was hampered (from a commercial point of view) because she skated for the GDR for the best part of her career.

Someone like Katarina would, IMO, rake in the loot today, despite the much-lamented decline of skating popularity in recent years (or, as jenaj suggests, if Kiira were to suddenly start skating like Yuna).
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Michelle did a promotion in Singapore--for a shopping mall with an artificial ice rink. It's a combination of skill and star power. If Kiira Korpi had Yu Na's skills, I'm sure she would get endorsements outside of Finland.

Yipes! Of course it was Singapore and not Malaysia. How could I have made that mistake? (Whoops.) Thanks, Jenaj. One thing that made Michelle such an asset there is that Singapore has a large Chinese population: I just looked it up, and ethnic Chinese make up almost 75% of the population. So a Chinese-American person of achievement, especially a congenial star like Michelle, would have extra appeal in Singapore, just as YuNa has extra impact among Korean-Americans such as my friends across the street from me. (Yippee! I have neighbors who are willing to talk skating with me.)

Golden411, that's a good point about Virtue/Moir. Japan has long been famous for paying celebrities from the States and elsewhere very well to appear in ads. In fact, many stars who wouldn't deign to appear in a TV commercial in the U.S. will happily sell Japanese products. So why not skaters? I know that both Virtue/Moir and Davis/White have huge followings in Japan, and didn't both couples issue statements of sympathy to their fans after the quake and tsunami?
 

aftertherain

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 15, 2010
If your familiar with Korean media
that title will be dethroned soon by this girl: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Son_Yeon-Jae

Um, probably not until AFTER Sochi. Yuna is too big of a phenomenon, especially in the Olympic season.

I agree, but I also think that Son Yeon-jae needs to win a title at a major event first that will cement her place as a sports star. She's already got endorsements, sure, but nowhere near as many as Yuna does.

On that note, she was simply delightful at the Olympics. If she hadn't dropped the clubs, I think she could've had that bronze medal around her neck.
 
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