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Murray’s Branding Magic   by Katie Matthews

A little over a year ago, Andy Murray answered his critics by reaching the final of the US Open. Standing face to face with the sport’s most celebrated player, Roger Federer, Murray was on the edge of becoming sports PR Gold.

With a successful run of competitions behind him and a new title of world no. 3, Murray’s image, which had already undergone a bit of a transformation to help shake the ‘surly scot’ portrayal, was ready for reputation management phase two. Mere days after triumphing in the US, his scraggy stubble and unmanageable hair were gone, along with his (at times) tempestuous attitude; and in came the steely determined (and clean shaven) look of a man destined for glory. The Murray brand extraordinaire was born.

Murray continued to see the benefit of his reputation management, and thanks to an ongoing public relations campaign, he was able to come to return to Wimbledon in 2009 with the support and backing of the majority of the British public.

His PR team were still clearly in action throughout the tournament, with Murray choosing immaculately pressed English whites courtesy of Fred Perry – the quintessentially English tennis clobber – to accompany his now infamous muscular physique. He also decided to leave his much-loved Scottish-flag sweat bands behind. A clever move from his sports PR team who wouldn’t want to provide any reminder to a Wimbledon crowd of Murray’s previous inflammatory comments when he said he would be “supporting anyone but England” when asked about Scotland’s absence from the 2006 World Cup.

Bowing out of Wimbledon in the semi finals, but with the elusive ranking of World number 2, ‘Murray Mania’ had been responsible for one of the most profitable championships in the tournament’s history, with Murray himself being reported to have brought over £150million to the British economy and around 200,000 new players to the sport. Quite a triumph for Murray’s PR agency, and exposure that the LTA certainly appreciated.

The effective PR of the now global Murray brand continued in September, with Adidas signing to Murray for £3million a year, and sponsors Highland Spring, Head and RBS were continuing their support.

A wrist injury in late September however caused Murray to pull out of successive tournaments, including the Shanghai Open. He also failed to make an impact at the Davis Cup thus his ranking has slipped to world no. 4.

Although this blip in his career has not, so far, affected his status as a heavy-weight attraction to sponsors, Murray will be wanting to make sure he can find his form again in time for next month, when the ATP Masters final makes its UK debut at London’s O2 arena. This will be a huge opportunity to boost both his on-court and off-court earnings, and Murray will not want to miss out.

With only the top 8 players invited to compete for the ultimate title, Murray could leap back up the world rankings, and, if he wins will surely be a favourite to win a Grand Slam in 2010.

This would also only mean good things for Murray’s public profile, his status from the point of view of sponsors, and the affection he holds in the eye of the British public. It would also undoubtedly help his sports PR team to win over the rest of his doubters and critics that still linger from his ‘surly Scot’ days.

About the Author

Katie Matthews is working in a public relations company in UK and recommends you to visit http://www.pha-media.com/

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