Conor McGregor – The Brand
Conor McGregor has recently become a household name, not only Ireland but across the world. There are a number of reasons for this including his skill level, his mind set, his appearance and all of these successful factors have built one of the fastest growing brands in world sport. You can’t say that McGregor doesn’t have skill, but you also can’t say its skill alone that explains how he has rocketed into the limelight.
Conor McGregor is a marketers dream. He is loud, unique, audacious, competitive, motivated, interesting, likeable and he is consistent with all of those attributes.
Frawley Branding take a look at the Conor McGregor brand and see why he has such a large tribe following him.
“Notorious” The Brand
Conor McGregor is notorious for the build up to a fight. He is a one man promotion show, but he is promoting his win, not the fight itself. To be fair, he does boast a record of 18 fights, 16 wins, 13 KO’s and 11 within the first round, so we know that he is an explosive fighter (he also holds the record for quickest knock out – 4 seconds!!). McGregor is famous for his comments towards his opponents and any other fighter that crosses his path. He regards them as mere mortals who must look up to Conor as the greatest of them all. Conor doesn’t hold back and he is constantly in the face of his opponents.
So from this we gather his PR skills are outstanding and he keeps his message consistent and constant meaning he is rarely out of the mind of people. The brand is growing.
Now that he has your attention, how does he keep it? His style! Conor has been seen sporting famous Louis Copeland suits in Ireland, all custom fitted, but now he calls on the service of David August, a tailor who travels the world fitting and tailoring suits for the world’s richest. Conor also sports interesting haircuts which have become trends with teenagers and young adults in Ireland. Now we can see how Conor is a role model and a trendsetter. His uniqueness makes his brand stand out against the rest.
The timing worked out well for Conor McGregor and the UFC. They were planning on expanding to a global audience when Conor McGregor arrived on the scene. Within a few fights, he had secured a sell-out crowd in his hometown and become the face of the UFC globally in the process.
Another key attribute for a brand is to be engaging and Conor McGregor has perfected this. The Irish are well known for their proud passion. McGregor used this to capture the hearts of the Irish audience by including the fans in his success with the tag line “When one goes to war, we all go to war”. This shows a huge appreciation for the fans while engaging them in his career campaign to become world number 1.
Conor McGregor has built such a fast growing sporting brand that many top global brands are now starting to leverage on him like Jordan Speith in the world of golf. McGregor has managed to negotiate numerous contracts, including a digital campaign with Heineken, a brand ambassador position with Volvo that entitles McGregor to a new car and a book deal. Conor also has apparel sponsorship with the Dethrone Royalty Brand, which pays McGregor a monthly stipend, a per-fight bonus and royalties based on sales. Dethrone shirts are becoming so popular with fans that counterfeit goods were found being sold outside of the weigh-in leading up to UFC Fight Night 46. McGregor is in such demand that he has signed to do a documentary that he is getting paid to help put together.
Conor McGregor is now a global sporting brand and regardless of whether you are a UFC fan or not, you will see the Conor McGregor brand all over the media. Below, I have listed the marketing factors behind Conors branding success and if you have studied brands before, you will see similarities between Conor McGregor and any other successful brand globally.
- Conor is different to his competitors
- He has a simple direct message
- He keeps his message consistent
- He engages his audience
- He is interesting and entertaining
- He is a trendsetter
- His PR skills are excellent
- Other brands leverage off him