Robin van Persie named Premier League’s ‘most marketable’ player
The Premier League kicks off again this weekend and sponsors will be hoping its top players are match-sharp to raise the appeal of their brands worldwide. At the front of sponsorship scouts’ little black books is Manchester United’s Robin van Persie who has beaten Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere and Tottenham Hotspur’s Gareth Bale to be crowned the League’s most marketable player, according to the latest celebrity brand tracking data.
The rankings are taken from Repucom’s Celebrity DBI Index, which uses the “Endorsement” metric – a measure of the degree to which people identify the star as being an effective product spokesperson – to determine those who offer sponsors real value for money.
The Dutch striker’s score is 71.34 as his status as last season’s top scorer and appearances in high profile campaigns for United kit sponsor Nike, Adidas and BT Sport this year lifted his personal brand value. The player’s “Trust” (65.21) and “Trend-Setter” (72.4) scores were also the highest of the League’s top five marketable players.
Elsewhere, Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere is the League’s second most marketable star with a score of 69.38. The England international, who has appeared in campaigns for EA Sports, Pepsi and Nike, was also found to be the player most fans felt had a life they wanted to aspire to, with an Aspiration score of 77.09.
Gareth Bale comes third in the rankings with an Endorsement score of 68.28 as he enjoyed another fine campaign for Spurs that saw him named the Professional Football Association’s player and young player of the year. Speculation is mounting that the Welsh star will part ways his current club and join Real Madrid’s stable of Galacticos, a move Repucom claims could put him on track to become the “world’s most marketable megastar”.
Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart and Chelsea FC’s Frank Lampard ranked fourth and fifth respectively with scores of 67.08 and 62.21.
The Celebrity DBI index is a global independent panel that quantifies consumer perceptions of more than 5,000 celebrities. It spans 13 markets worldwide and represents the views of more than 1.5 billion people.
