If there were a gold medal for Olympic sponsorship, all three Dufour-Lapointe sisters would be vying for it.
The trio of Canadian skiers – Justine, Chloé and Maxime – became press darlings during the 2014 Sochi Olympics, where each sister competed. In the mogul competition, Justine won gold and Chloé silver, sparking one of the most talked-about Olympic moments for Canadians.
Naturally, attention from brands followed. On Monday, the sisters announced their latest endorsement: a deal with Quebec’s Saputo that will see the Milk2Go brand on the skiers’ helmets at the Freestyle Skiing World Championships in January 2015.
As part of the campaign, Milk2Go will also re-air a TV campaign created by TraffikGroup that first appeared in the fall of 2013 and shows the sisters in training mode.
“The sisters have been inside our organization for a while and they portray the unity of a family and the values of working as a team, dedication to their sport and dedication to their training, while representing us as a brand,” said Philippe Duhamel, director of marketing and innovation at Saputo. “That’s a really good fit for us.”
Since Sochi, other brands have followed Saputo’s lead. The women modeled Hudson’s Bay Co.’s Olympic team outfits in press photos and the retailer gave away merchandise signed by the skiers. After their win, Oreo rushed to create an animation celebrating the run and Volkswagen offered each a free vehicle, even throwing in an extra for the athletes’ parents.
Earlier this month, the sisters announced a winter “Apres-Ski” collection with Aldo Group’s “Call It Spring” that will include boots, knitwear, accessories and handbags.
For Canadian marketers, the Dufour-Lapointe sisters have almost everything a brand could want: they’re young, beautiful, bilingual, family-friendly and have a proven track record in their field, both at the Olympics and the World Cup.
A winter Olympian’s sponsor struggles
The women’s image is squeaky clean, with no endorsement-destroying scandals on the books, and they’re active on social media, branding themselves as 3SDL on their joint Twitter account, which has 26,000 followers.
They have just one thing working against them – a lack of continuous exposure. That may seem like a counterintuitive thing to say about one of the biggest Canadian stories of the most recent Olympics, but Brian Cooper, president of the S&E Sponsorship Group Inc., said it’s the biggest challenge facing the Dufour-Lapointe family.
According to Cooper, TV coverage of skiing has dipped drastically, meaning the family will have to fight to remain relevant in non-Olympic years. For skiers, Cooper said, “it’s tough to stay in front of the Canadian public on a consistent basis. It’s not like hockey, where you’ll see 82 games and your stars are out there.”
Addressing that challenge, Saputo’s Duhamel said, “definitely it’s better to have the Olympic momentum than not, that’s for sure. However, it’s our job to make sure we continue with our advertising campaigns to keep them [in the public eye.] There’s also the World Championship this year, which will bring some attention to their performance.”
While Olympic stars in countries like France, Norway and the U.S. can turn Olympic gold into lifelong careers filled with endorsements, speaking engagements and book deals, Cooper said Canadian Olympians have struggled to earn big brand deals, medal counts notwithstanding.
Adam van Koeverden, for example, has won four Olympic medals, including a gold, and hasn’t struck any huge brand deals. And while the Dufour-Lapointe sisters have struck several deals, including a pre-Sochi endorsement from Oakley, Cooper said the deals they’re doing are small compared to their international counterparts.
During the Olympics, Cooper had pegged the family as breakout Canadian stars who would finally earn the type of deal afforded to athletes like Michael Phelps, the American swimmer who’s supported by Visa, Speedo and Subway.
“I thought Proctor and Gamble would come out after them,” he said, noting he’s surprised that size of deal never materialized. “It amazes me. I think they have the appeal and reach a strong segment of consumer society that makes purchase decisions.”
