Let’s support our Olympic athletes!
Or perhaps you’d want some Summer Olympic or Paralympic athletes attending your firm’s client party, and chatting up your impressed clients. You can make that happen — while also doing good for your country and its dedicated, hard-working athletes.
Law firms generously support their country and countless charities (see more here).
That’s the NHD logo on the biathlete’s unique rifle.
Most USA Olympic athletes are flat broke.
They’re living on Ramen and maxed-out credit cards. Most only train part-time because they get almost no financial support from the US government, unlike nearly every other Olympic country (see e.g. HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel’s surprising “Olympians in Debt” video excerpted here.
The brand-name superstars receive giant sponsor contracts and Wheaties boxes, but most of our lesser-known kids pay for their own training and athletic equipment. They reach into their own wallets for travel, meals, and lodging when attending the Olympic-qualifying events all over the world.
America’s athletes need our help.
And America’s law firms can have a role in helping them compete. Let’s help our kids win, have some fun, and enhance our firms’ marketing! It’s a win-win-win, a gold medal opportunity all around.
A number of years ago, we worked with one of Portland, Maine’s top firms, Norman Hanson & DeTroy. Not just terrific lawyers, many competed at high levels in a variety of sports (including the managing partner, who regularly mushed across Alaska in the Iditarod long-distance sled dog race!).
We developed an aggressive sports-themed brand and website for them, and looked for other local sports-related marketing opportunities. The firm chose to support a local Portland Olympic-hopeful biathlete (cross-country skiing plus target shooting). You can see two ads here we ran in the local papers.
The IOC and US Olympic Committee have strict and vigorously enforced marketing rules e.g. where and when they can wear your firm’s logo, so be sure to check the rules carefully.
Below are some of the types of marketing opportunities I’d suggest that you can negotiate for, depending upon how much your firm contributes in sponsorship dollars:
- Athlete wearing law firm logo in training, pre-Olympics photos, and elsewhere
- Preferred seating with athlete’s family during the Olympic games
- In-person attendance at one or more law firm events
- Autograph-signing party
- Attend a training session
- Participate in a training session
- Autographed athletic equipment (tennis racket, oar, etc.) to hang on a wall
- Autographed Olympic training jersey suitable for framing
- Signed, framed “thank-you” poster of your athlete in competition
- Photos for your website and social media banners
- “Supporting America’s Olympic athletes” page on your website
- Print ads showing athlete in competition and with the firm
- Broadcast photos via social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, etc.)
What are your firm’s core values?
Athletic sponsorship is a terrific way to do some tangible good while supporting your firm’s brand.
Is your firm “tough?” You could reinforce that by sponsoring an Olympic boxer, wrestling, or judo. (Are you small and tough? You could sponsor one in a lighter weight class.)
Are you “fast,” “strong,” or “precise”? Sponsor a sprinter, weightlifter, archer, or fencer.
Is your firm especially collegial or team-focused? Consider sponsoring a soccer, rowing, or rugby player.
Do you represent high net-worth individuals? Consider golf, sailing, or equestrian.
It’s pretty simple:
Identify the sports you’d like to support, then conduct a little internet research to help you find the right athlete, ideally someone nearby. Many of them have Kickstarter fundraising campaigns already. You don’t need a big-name athlete — those with high name recognition might be out of the “price range” of smaller firms and probably already have big corporate sponsors. Instead, find a legitimate “Olympic hopeful” who’s on the path to making the team. The lesser names or smaller sports are the athletes who truly need the help, and are more likely to accommodate your marketing desires as well.
It takes an extraordinary amount of money to become an Olympic athlete — and a statistically improbable confluence of talent, genetics, effort, luck, support, coaching, and more. Here’s an interesting Jen Reviews article describing 15 such elements, written by a two-time Olympian, Nick Catlin, “What it Takes to Become an Olympic Athlete: 15 Essentials According to a Two Time Olympian.”
USA! USA! USA!
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Need a new brand or website? 
Start by reading the definitive book on the subject, “We’re Smart. We’re Old. And We’re the Best at Everything. The World’s First No-BS Guide to Legal Marketing and Branding” available at Amazon here.
Contact Ross directly for more information at +1.847.921.7677 or ross@fishmanmarketing.com
