Analysis of the Approach to Online Advertising of Leading Sportswear Brands

Introduction

Sports clothes manufacturing, as a specialized sector within the textile industry, has its origin in the 19th century following the increase in the leisure time of workers. Since then, this market has grown steadily to become one of the most important economic sectors worldwide. At the same time, the purpose of this industry has also changed: while the sports outfit appeared in the modern age as an innovation destined to improving sporting performance, in post-modernity it has been used as a vehicle to spread commercial and political messages (Esparza, 2010).

Throughout the 20th century, sports have taken on an increasingly influential role in the development of fashion to such an extent that sports have become the driving force behind various tendencies, including the success of the casual outfit as the daily choice of millions of consumers, the rise of youth fashion culture (Badaoui, Lebrun & Bouchet, 2012; JenB, 2015), and above all, the association between specific dress styles and a sense of vitality (Riello, 2016). The relation between youth culture and fashion was established in the adapted model of Robertson, Zielinski and Ward, put forward in1984, suggesting that subculture leads to a series of values, which in turn lead to a certain life-style choice, all of which influence consumer purchasing behavior (Luna-Arocas, 1998). To this we must add the evolution and increase of women's sportswear, a market widely developed in the twentieth century and that for years has marked different trends in women's sportswear (Campbell, 2006; Smith & Burton, 1998). In short, an authentic culture of consumption framed in the global capitalism of the last decades (Smart, 2007).

As part of the marketing of these garments, targeted advertisements emerged at the very inception of the sports textile industry. Initially, these were limited to posters and announcements in the press, but today the variety of marketing strategies is not only extensive but highly developed, with audiovisual advertisements having the greatest impact on creating brand awareness and influencing mass purchasing behavior (Berger, 2008; Blakey, 2011; Smith, 2012).

Sportswear marketing relies heavily on the use of celebrity athletes. Indeed, almost from the outset, the textile industry has recognized the importance of associating sportsmen and women with a particular brand. The identity that certain sports professionals project generates a strategic value for the brand image (Smart, 2005); in other words, a brand exists when it means something to the consumer, this identity and the brand image are successful when the consumer relates it to their own values and experiences (Marín, 2010).

The use of the image of sportsmen and women also carries with it a focus on the athlete’s physique, which is visually spectacular and, for many consumers, unattainable, leading to an inevitable conflict between the buyer’s reality and their ideals (Barreto, 2006). This is one of the key concepts of sportswear marketing: to provoke in consumers a desire that goes beyond merely meeting common clothing needs such as comfort. Rather, it instigates in buyers a quest for individual or collective identity through identification with athletes, always mediated by the filter that each brand wishes to associate with its image.