He's humble, articulate and good looking. He's also the first Australian to ever win the US Masters. Crucially for brands, he's not some "old fat guy". Adam Scott made history this morning by becoming the first-ever Australian golfer to win the US Masters, beating Argentine Angel Cabrera in a play-off at Augusta National.
It's the 32-year-old Australian's first major title win. While he may have been marketable before, he's now a sports marketer's dream.
Jack Lamacraft, director of M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment, told AdNews: "As the first Australian to win the Masters, he will become a household name virtually overnight. There's not many Australians competing in the global sporting arena – there's only a few sports that are truly global, golf being one of them."
Lamacraft said while it was hard to put a dollar value on Scott, "whatever he was worth yesterday, he's worth half as much again, if not double, today". Octagon managing director Sean Nicholls agreed: "It's always hard to put a number on these things, but I would say yes, somewhere between those two figures is about right."
According to Nicholls, Scott had been smart by focusing on his on-course game and not chasing after dollars early on. “A lot of young golfers have gone out and ended up like a billboard after a couple of wins.”
Scott has been notoriously selective in his brand partnerships, which Nicholls says has worked in his favour. He is currently sponsored by Mercedes-Benz, Rolex, golfing brand Titleist and Japanese clothing manufacturer Uniqlo.
While the comparison can be drawn between Scott's US Masters win and Cadel Evans becoming the first Australian to take out the Tour de France last year, Nicholls and Lamacraft both agreed Scott would have broader brand appeal than Evans.
“Adam is just on a different level from Cadel,” Lamacraft said. “He will command a massive amount of interest, from a PR or content and digital point of view, everyone will want to know his story – brands will have an opportunity to tell that story.
"A lot of brands will want to use him. He's a golfer but he's not an old fat guy. He also embraces the Australian lifestyle, is into surfing and so on – he's not one of those people who's turned his back on Australia."
Nicholls added: “It's different [from Cadel Evans' Tour win] in that golfers have such a long career. Their opportunity to earn a living out of their sport is so much more elongated than cyclists, who have a few years at their peak when they need to earn all their money.”
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