I've had partnerships with a variety of brands over the years.
There are of course a lot of benefits to these programs, but they can also be a lot of work,
and many of the ambassador programs you see online may not be all they're cracked up to be.
So in this video, I'm going to start by covering the different types of programs that are out
there, including ambassadorships, what I'd called sponsored ambassadorships, more traditional
sponsorships, as well as affiliate marketing programs.
I'll give you some tips on how you might be able to get involved in these different programs,
but also some reasons why you maybe shouldn't.
Because, as you'll see, there's no such thing as a free lunch.
Let's start with the most common which are ambassadorships.
Ambassador programs typically provide their participants with discounts on products, maybe
up to 30%, but little or no actual FREE product.
It's for this reason that I'd hesitate to use the word 'sponsorship' when it comes to
these relationships.
These programs are really common with nutrition brands like Honey Stingers and Nuun, as well
as some clothing and gear brands with programs like the Suunto Factory Team and Salomon Squad.
Just do a search for the words ambassador program along with the name of any brand to
find their program details and application form.
They usually open up for applications once per year, often around December, and most
require that you reapply annually.
But the application process tends to be pretty easy.
You'll just need to provide links to your online profiles, as well as a few paragraphs
about yourself and why you might be a good fit.
They may consider your follower count, as well as engagement and the quality of your
content.
But the bar tends to be pretty low because there's very little cost to the brand, maybe
a t-shirt and a bit of other swag.
You'll still be required to purchase product to get any real benefit from the program,
and they'll still be making a profit from you on those sales, unlike a pro deal or staff
discount where you might be getting under wholesale cost.
Some of these programs require that you post a certain number of times per month, or that
you participate in very specific online campaigns.
They may provide referral codes that you can offer to your friends and social media audience
for a small discount, like 10-15% on products purchased online.
This also serves as a way for the brand to track performance and ROI.
There's certainly no harm in participating in these programs, especially if you're already
a heavy user of these products.
These discounts could add up to a couple hundred bucks a year, especially if you're buying
But recognize that you are working as part of a guerrilla marketing team in exchange
for the same discount you might be able to get in a regular end of season sale or Black
Friday type of promotion.
And with so many athletes participating in so many of these programs, they provide little
in the way of clout.
The next level up is what I would call a sponsored ambassadorship.
Here you can expect to get a certain amount of free product as opposed to just a discount,
which may include nutrition, a watch, a specific team kit, or a budget towards a certain amount
of shoes and apparel from the brand's catalogue.
Some of the programs I've participated in will also provide a small budget for travel
to races, along with race entries and other benefits that a brand might have direct access
to as a sponsor of an event.
Examples of these programs include the Suunto Elite Team, the Honey Stinger Hive Elite Program,
and the Salomon Pro Squad which I'm a part of here in Canada.
These types of programs have been a huge benefit to me and have helped to cover the cost of
a lot of my gear and nutrition over the years.
I also love having direct access to product knowledge and the chance to test out new gear
and to provide feedback, along with some other fun opportunities.
But, there is also a much larger commitment required from you as a sponsored ambassador.
For example you might be asked to help out at events.
I've led some 'learn to trail run' clinics over the years for Salomon, as well as hung
out at the Salomon tent during race expos.
You'll also need to participate in online campaigns, and there will be an expectation
of exclusivity by not working with or promoting any competing brands.
These kinds of opportunities often come as a result of who you know.
But you will occasionally see calls for applications to these higher tiers alongside the applications
for the larger ambassador programs I mentioned before.
Smaller store-level teams exist as well, where you might get some shoes and apparel, in exchange
for helping out with in-store events or run clinics.
In fact, this is how I got my start in working with Salomon, by being asked by a friend to
be a store-level ambassador before eventually being invited to work with the national marketing
team.
Many specialty run stores are actually given a budget for products from brands to in turn
give to their ambassadors.
So I'd say that working with a store is a great place to start if you are looking for
this kind of support.
True sponsorships do exist but are increasingly harder to come by.
Think of athletes like Kilian Jornet who would be considered a professional athlete in every
sense of the word.
Sponsored athletes are usually paid a modest annual salary, along with having their travel
costs and race entry fees covered.
There will typically be performance incentives in place, like a bonus paid for reaching the
podium in a race, or for a certain level of social media engagement.
Even for an athlete like Kilian, his job is not just to run.
When he shows up at a race, he's gotta do interviews with media, and meet and greets
with fans.
And while it certainly looks glamorous being featured in all of those glossy Salomon films
and photos, that represents days if not weeks of working with film crews and photographers
each year.
In other words, his job isn't just to be a professional runner, his job is also to be
a media personality, an actor, a model, a writer, a brand ambassador, and so on.
So what value can you potentially provide as an athlete in exchange for participating
in one of these programs?
I think it's useful to look at how sports sponsorships traditionally have worked.
A young Michael Jordan who achieved a certain level of notoriety will catch the attention
of a brand like Nike who wants to attach their name to this rising star.
But Nike isn't only going to give him free shoes.
They're going to need to actually pay him to wear their shoes.
In fact, in this case they paid him to license his name to put on their shoes.
This makes sense because Michael Jordan lends credibility to the brand and that's worth
a lot of money to Nike.
People see him wearing Nikes, both in commercials and on the court, so they themselves want
a pair.
Value comes from earned media as well, which is the free press that Jordan got whenever
he won a game.
And earned media is cheaper than having to rely strictly on paid advertising.
But with social media, everything has changed.
Yes, we still have athletes like Kilian Jornet who are being paid by Salomon to wear their
shoes, and who even help in product testing and design.
Salomon is leveraging Kilian's personal brand in the exact same way that Nike did Jordan's.
Kilian is in the media all the time, his photos are on the covers of magazines, he's in films,
and of course is winning races, all while wearing head-to-toe Salomon branding.
But brands like Salomon don’t really need any more Kilian's.
They've got most of the top names in the sport already on their roster.
What's harder to get access to are more grass-roots channels.
And this requires real people who can talk honestly about their products, whether they're
doing so on social media or face to face at events within their communities.
Brands are paying a lot of money to access audiences with their content on platforms
like Facebook.
And even when they're not paying to directly promote their content, they're still paying
a marketing team to develop and publish it, and in some cases, spending huge amounts on
professional photographers and filmmakers.
Those films from Salomon cost tens of thousands of dollars, and in some cases over 6 digits.
So that's where you come in, and the question you need to ask yourself is what value that
you can offer a brand.
This might be access to your audience on social media, as well as the ability to produce your
own content.
Remember, in the past a brand would have had to hire a professional photographer, to potentially
pay a model or at least get one of their sponsored athletes to participate in a shoot, and then
to pay someone to post it.
So you're kind of doing that all in one.
You might be leading events or providing coaching or nutritional advice, where product placement
could be a natural fit.
Just take a look at how a brand like Clif Bar is already trying to engage with consumers.
There's a reason why they hand out samples at race expos, instead of just brochures talking
about the nutritional benefits of their products.
They want you to taste the product, because you're either going to love it or you're not.
So if you're leading events where you have the opportunity to hand out free samples as
well, then the brand just saved money by not having to pay someone to attend - they're
leveraging you as an extension of their marketing team instead.
And as an athlete, it's a win-win since you can in turn get nutrition for your own racing
and training.
This is how I've worked with brands like Clif Bar myself.
And then there's press and other earned media.
If you are doing news-worthy things fairly consistently, whether those are strictly athletic
pursuits or maybe something around charity work, that media attention may be something
a brand might want to attach their name to as well.
But all of this is work and takes time, and time is of course money.
Think about how much all of that free or discounted product is really worth to you, and compare
that to the time investment that will be required.
You may be able to just put in a few extra hours at work instead, or to pick up a side
gig where you'd make much more money, which you could then spend on whatever products
you want without being limited to a single brand.
Consider as well the opportunity cost in any of these programs.
Getting some free shoes is great, but may not be worth it if it means having to skip
your long run to help out at an event on a Saturday morning.
And lastly, there may be exclusivity agreements as part of any of these programs, where you're
required to train and race in only one brand of shoes, for example.
You'd better hope those are really a great fit, because you may actually be putting your
season in jeopardy, if not.
But there are other options, like Affiliate Marketing Programs.
I’d worked with Suunto for several years as an athlete ambassador, but when the program
I was a part of recently ended, it freed me up to begin testing out and working with other
brands of watches like Coros as a content creator.
Before dedicating myself exclusively to a single brand of watch again in the future,
this opportunity cost would have to be factored in.
This is why you'll see many creators who do gear reviews stay away from exclusive sponsorship
agreements, instead favouring these more traditional Affiliate Marketing Programs.
They might get given a product to review in a YouTube video or on a blog, along with a
discount code to provide to their audience, and may get commissions from any products
sold.
But there's no exclusivity or ongoing commitment required, it really is just a business transaction.
There's also a dangerous trend I've seen of semi-professional photographers and filmmakers
essentially undercutting the rest of the industry, something I've tried to be really careful
of myself as a video production professional.
This is ultimately more of a moral argument.
But remember, any product you receive actually costs a fraction of its retail value to the
company.
Not to mention the fact that brands will have a certain amount of product earmarked for
promotional purposes, whereas the costs for paid content creation would come from a completely
different budget and likely handled by a different department altogether.
So if you’re a professional hoping to use an ambassador program as a foot in the door
so you can eventually start charging a brand for your content, it might not be the best
strategy.
But maybe you're already involved in doing events, or you're already publishing a lot
of relevant content on a blog or YouTube channel.
For example, I've long been a fan of the inReach, which is a two-way satellite communications
device that I recommend always carrying when in the backcountry.
Not only had I been using the product for years, but I was already talking about it
in videos, on my blog, and during in-person educational events that I lead on backcountry
safety.
So it was a no-brainer to try to work out an agreement where they would provide me with
the latest devices and cover my monthly subscription costs, along with a discount code that I could
pass along to my audience.
But imagine if I wasn't already such a strong proponent of safety and in using and talking
about the product - the arrangement just wouldn't have made much sense for either party.
So maybe you're already a big fan of a brand and you're already using it pretty much exclusively.
You might be publishing content or putting on events.
Having to watch product knowledge webinars may actually be exciting to you.
Then it's almost certainly going to be a win-win.
Just make sure you're not doing it because it feels like the thing to do as a runner,
or simply for your own ego.
Even if you're winning local races, getting a sponsorship is not the next inevitable step.
If you've got a well-paying job and running is just a fun hobby, maybe it's best to keep
it that way.
Let me know what your own experience has been with these kinds of programs in the comments
below, good or bad.
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