Erling Haaland, the fashionable Norwegian striker who plays for Borussia Dortmund is worth € 110 million. The fair price is signed by Transfermarkt, the number one appraiser in world football. Meanwhile, in full marketing ecstasy, Haaland influences the commercial strategy of the chemical consortium Evonik, one of the club's main sponsors..
The rise of Haaland has caused Evonik to move token internally. And take the opportunity to exploit one of the subsidiaries of your group -Medax-, of Norwegian origin and dedicated to nutritional supplements. This is how you implement your brand image in your native country. And, for example, he sealed his logo in the last Clásico against Bayern Munich in the previous campaign. It was a special match and Dortmund and Evonik had a nod with the Norwegian public.
Haaland radiates marketing in Norway. And Haaland Helps Care For His Countryman's Diet With Scandinavian Berry Tablets. The 'nine' of Dortmund posed wearing the shirt with the name of Medax and showing the product in his right hand, on the occasion of the great game of the year in the Bundesliga.
The Dortmund shirt has also become this season, coinciding with the rise of Haaland, in an experiment. Now, there are two sponsors. And not one, as is tradition. The contract with Evonik has been modified and that company will only appear on the Dortmund shirt at the German Cup and in international competitions, as well as in friendly matches abroad.. This is how Haaland could be seen against Sevilla FC recently in the Champions League.
For the Bundesliga, on the other hand, Dortmund has won a new sponsor, which is the internet provider 1 & 1. Dortmund Managing Director Hans Joachim Watzke called the model “innovative”. The two contracts are in force until 2025 and can provide Dortmund with up to € 40 million per year., depending on sporting successes.
Soccer produces unthinkable changes. This company -1 & 1- had to do without the usual colors of its logo, blue and white, when landing at Dortmund. Its official emblem is identical to that of Schalke 04, Dortmund's staunchest rival. And Haaland's team couldn't allow such meddling. 1 & 1 at Dortmund is black and white. In Spain, Coca Cola in the Real Betis stadium, in Benito Villamarín, its logo is green and white. And not the classic red and white. Advertising tuning to highlight the association between the club and the client is becoming common.
Pique of sports brands
Haaland has also driven the spike between Nike – his personal brand of boots and that he wears the Norwegian national team – and Puma – Dortmund's sponsor. Haaland is a Nike icon. The club, on the other hand, is Puma. Something common in the world of elite football. Messi is Adidas and FC Barcelona is Nike, for example.
The competition is fierce. And in that scenario, the signing of Haaland by Dortmund had its intrahistory. The Norwegian footballer managed to improve his contract with Nike by leaving Salzburg and arriving in Dortmund.
According to a report in the British magazine 'The Atletic', the head of Puma in Norway, Björn Gulden, made Haaland an offer at that time. A circumstance that his agent, Mino Raiola, took advantage of to negotiate an extension and improvement of his contract with Nike.
The German magazine 'Sport Bild' managed at the time that Puma's offer, despite the fact that Haaland remained faithful to Nike, served to bring the player closer to Dortmund where, in addition, he multiplied his income by eight compared to what he earned in his previous team, Red Bull Salzburg. It went from 1 to 8 million euros in salary.
The fight between Puma and Nike may be the beginning of struggles for the image of Haaland, a footballer whose media attention increases every week.
Meanwhile, the pandemic takes its toll on the Bundesliga. Hans-Joachiw Watzke, the CEO of Borussia Dortmund, said these days in Handlesblatt that playing without an audience causes them to lose 4 million euros for every home game. Figures that They could force a player to sell at the end of the season and thus avoid resorting to bank loans if the coronavirus does not remit and continues to punish the football industry.
Icon in Norway
Haaland also does not go unnoticed in Norway. Your selection already exploits your image. And although he debuted with the senior team in September 2019 and has only played seven international matches -in which he has scored six goals-, he has already become the main advertising image of the team.
When the Norwegian Football Federation presented its new jerseys half a year ago, Haaland was the face chosen as the face of the men's team, ahead of other players with more weight in the team such as Martin degaard or Joshua King.
Three months later, the Dortmund forward was elected Norwegian football's Golden Ball for the first time at the annual gala organized by his country's federation. And Bama, the largest food group in Norway and together with the National Lottery, the main sponsor of the men's team, also exploits it as one of its advertising faces.
The Norwegian giant is burning stages. It awakens commercial interest in Europe. And he completes his service record in the section of his image being an ambassador of the Eat, move, sleep movement (eat, move and sleep), a campaign by Bama and the Norwegian Federation to promote good nutrition and the healthy practice of sport among the Norwegians.