Brandweek
LAILA ALI, who added some punch to her promotional power with Dancing with the Stars, is now fighting for more exposure via deals with Kellogg, Nickelodeon and Subway.
The boxing champ and daughter of the legendary Muhammad Ali, Laila Ali has seen her profile skyrocket since the ABC dancing contest (she was a third-place finalist), with a hosting gig on NBC's American Gladiators and regular segments on CBS' Early Show. She and her reps are in discussion for various licensing deals, and she's set for more rounds of exposure via 5 million boxes of Kellogg's Smart Start cereal, a new series on MTV Networks and a Subway sponsorship that will focus on healthy choices while eating for two (Ali's pregnant with her first child).
"She's an elite world champion athlete, so health and fitness is central to who she is," said Eric Kaufman, president of Premier Sports & Entertainment, Los Angeles, which shepherds Ali's promotions and endorsements. "But she has a unique selling point in that she's relatable to a lot of demos."
While it may seem like she's everywhere come fall, Kaufman says the strategy is to focus on building her as a long-term brand in areas like wellness, cooking, beauty and mom-to-be products, apparel and fitness gear.
Ali's appearance in Smart Start's "Get Up & Go" promotion in August springs from her ongoing deal with adidas. The cereal boxes will direct consumers to adidas.com/training where they can watch the workouts of Ali and other athletes and get tips from professional trainers. They also can win adidas gear and a chance to go to the Athletes' Performance Institute, training ground of world-class athletes.
The sports marketer chose Ali because "combining her relevance as an icon to women while leveraging adidas training content allows us to encourage consumers to be active in addition to eating healthy," said Stephen Pierpoint, vp-sports performance at adidas America, Portland, Ore.
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