COMMUNICATION PATTERNS OF STAR ATHLETES’ BRANDS ON DIGITAL CHANNELS: A COMPARISON OF THE GLOBAL AND CROATIAN HIGHEST-PAID SPORTSMEN AND WOMEN

Osobni brendovi sportaša grade se na istim principima kao i drugi brendovi – kombinacijom jedinstvenih i prepoznatljivih setova asocijacija i kvaliteta pomoću kojih se stvara određen brend imidž. Emocionalna povezanost s publikom osobito se učinkovito gradi kroz komunikaciju na društvenim mrežama koje su neodvojiv i jedan od ključnih mehanizama u izgradnji snažna osobnoga brenda. Prema Modelu imidža sportaševa brenda (MABI) izdvajaju se tri najznačajnije dimenzije imidža: sportska izvedba, atraktivan izgled i utrživ način života. Rad se usredotočuje upravo na navedene dimenzije koje su obrađene metodom analize sadržaja pri čemu su obuhvaćene tri kategorije sportaša: najplaćeniji sportaši i sportašice na globalnoj razini te najplaćeniji hrvatski sportaši. Cilj je rada utvrditi zajedničke elemente, karakteristike i obrasce u digitalnoj komunikaciji brendova sportaša na društvenoj mreži Instagram te ustanoviti razlike u dominantno zastupljenoj dimenziji imidža kod različitih skupina sportaša. Kao vrsta sadržaja najzastupljenijom se pokazala fotografija, a kao izvor vlastiti sadržaj sportaša. U ukupnome su uzorku ravnomjerno raspoređeni sportska izvedba i utrživ način života kao najistaknutije dimenzije brend imidža, a pojedinačno su najzastupljenije sportske teme na koje otpada četvrtina sadržaja. U približno jednakome postotku zastupljene su i objave iz privatnoga i obiteljskoga života. Obiteljski život i promoviranje timskoga duha najizraženije je kod hrvatskih sportaša, a sportašice su značajno snažnije usmjerene na privlačan izgled kao dimenziju brend imidža. Čak petina objava kod sportašica oglašivački je sadržaj, po čemu su značajno iznad analiziranih sportaša.Personal brands of athletes are built on the same principles as other brands - by combining unique and recognizable sets of associations and qualities that create a specific brand image. Emotional connection with the audience is particularly effectively built through communication on social networks, which are inseparable and one of the essential mechanisms in building a personal brand. According to the Model of Athlete Brand Image (MABI), we distinguish the three most important dimensions of brand image: athletic performance, attractive appearance, and marketable lifestyle. This paper focuses on these dimensions of brand image and uses the Content Analysis method to analyze three categories of athletes: the highest-paid male and female athletes at the global level and the highest-paid Croatian athletes. The main objective of the paper is to determine the common elements, characteristics, and patterns in the digital communication of athletes’ brands on the Instagram and to determine the differences in the dominant image dimension of different analyzed groups. The most represented type of content was photography, while most often source was the athlete’s own content. In the total sample, sports performance and marketable lifestyle are evenly distributed as the most prominent dimensions of the brand image. The most represented topic is sports performance, which accounts for a quarter of the content, while posts including private and family life are also represented in an approximately equal percentage. Croatian athletes most frequently post about family life and team spirit, while female athletes are significantly more focused on attractive appearance as a dimension of brand image. As much as a fifth of the content of female athletes is advertising content, which is significantly higher than the numbers of analyzed male athletes