Greater consumer awareness leads more and more companies to sponsor athletes and competitions from underprivileged communities
In recent years, investing in social projects has become a competitive advantage in the market, as it is an effective way to positively impact consumers who are increasingly aware of the social positioning of companies and brands. Today, this consumer values and buys products or services from those who adopt social inclusion policies. Among the various fronts that have been gaining more and more visibility is the sport’s support for young athletes from underprivileged communities. The number of companies that sponsor sporting projects in Brazil is already large.
For Ivan Martinho, professor of the sports marketing management course at ESPM, the market is aware of the dimension of the social role required by society. If, on the one hand, sponsorship of high-performance sports, which have guaranteed visibility, provides brand recognition, opportunities for customer relationships and fan engagement, on the other hand, support for sports projects and athletes from underprivileged communities, even if they have lower projection in the media, confers prestige and plays the social role that today all companies seek to have. Such investments, when made continuously, enable the transformation of citizens and can even bring international conquests to the country, as is the case of judoka Rafaela Silva, Olympic and world champion, who began her career in sport at Instituto Reao.
Girls in the Field
Sports brands such as Adidas, Puma, Vulcabras, the country’s largest producer of sports shoes (it owns the Olympikus, Under Armor and Mizuno brands) and the Centauro chain of stores, are at the forefront of these projects, after all, sports are their core business. However, the number of companies from other sectors that also started to wear the sport sponsorship shirt is growing. Like Ambev, the largest beverage manufacturer in Brazil. Since 2021, the Guaran Antarctica brand has supported the NGO Girls in the Field. Since last year, 52 girls formed by the project have been sent to professional clubs such as Flamengo, Corinthians, So Paulo and Santos, and another 12 girls have made it to the Brazilian Under-17 team. The project plays an important role when it comes to training young talent in women’s football, a role that many clubs are still unwilling to play. Laura Valverde, for example, one of the athletes who participated in the Girls in the Field project and is now an ambassador for the initiative. She is now part of Santos’ professional team and has already played for the Brazilian Under-20 team, says Juliana Grinberg, director of Ambev Soft Drinks.
She explains that Guaran Antarctica’s relationship with football dates back years and, in this process, she developed with women’s football the intention of bringing about changes and enhancing the sport’s growing visibility. We started our relationship in 2021 with the NGO Meninas em Campo, which democratizes access to women’s football and is the first grassroots women’s football project in Brazil, regardless of any football club, to be recognized by the United Nations on the #FootballForTheGoals platform. .
Juliana points out that Ambev’s proposal will have actions linked to campaigns that bring visibility to the sport and encourage society to increasingly connect with women’s football. One example, she says, was the #Presanos80 initiative, in 2021, where we brought up the reflection that investment in women’s football had stopped in time and we relaunched the bottle of guarana from the 1980s, with profit reverted to the project. We also had the Valeu a, Haters! action, where we collected offensive tweets about women’s football, which became seed paper for a new football field, at the headquarters of Meninas em Campo, among other initiatives.
Working day
The soccer World Cup held in Qatar, last year, led Adidas to support a social initiative together with Cufa (Central nica das Favelas). Together, they held the Jornada Al Rihla football tournament, the name of the competition’s official ball, which brought together men’s and women’s teams, and whose winners went to watch the FIFA competition in the Arab country.
Also following the proposal of being an inclusive football championship, all stages had exclusive vacancies for teams from the communities served by Cufa, totaling 134 teams that were part of the trajectory of the tournament. For us, it is an enormous happiness to promote this type of sporting event, and it is sensational to know that these young people will watch the World Cup live, thanks to our actions, said, in the final game of the tournament, Marcivan Barreto, president of Cufa So Paulo.
With the objective of promoting sport and the development of young people, as well as the residents of each region, with the cooperation and assistance of Cufa, Adidas sought courts within the communities to host the games. Before the matches, the venues received a complete revitalization and 5 courts and 1 field underwent this redesign.
In the women’s final, Goinia’s team, As Carioquinhas, with players Sarah Jessica, Amanda Gomes and Amanda Ferreira, triumphed. With a score of 9 to 6, between plays and brilliant passes, the team from Goiás guaranteed its victory against the Amazonian team, As Palestine.
We never travel to another country. In fact, that year we started traveling by plane. We never imagined watching a World Cup game in another country and Adidas is providing that. It’s the beginning of a dream, commented Amanda Gomes, player of Carioquinhas.
In the men’s category, the Sociedade Esporte Clube team, with the trio Cristian Magno, Luiz Eduardo Lopes and Wladir Caique Mendona Lima, was the great champion. In the final match, Manauaras secured their passport to Qatar with a score of 7-2 against Falces, from Rio Grande do Sul. Through football I was able to graduate and I’m going to win a trip to Qatar. Dream to be dreamed and when we manage to dream, if we work a little, we make it come true, celebrates Luiz Eduardo Lopes, from Sociedade Esporte Clube.
In addition to the cheering crowd that filled the arena’s stands, the championship featured the illustrious presence of big names in men’s and women’s football, such as Adriano Imperador, Zé Roberto, Dunga, Cristiane, Formiga and Caio Ribeiro, among others. As well as the brand ambassadors, Luva de Pedreiro, Futblack, Jukanalha, Negrete and Nat Guitler, among others, responsible for participating in skill challenges and interacting with the public in the arena, with the right to a photo session.
Read the full story in the June 12 issue of PROPMARK
