An emerging sector of social media-based licensing consists of celebrities—mainly guys—whose popularity is tied to their sports-themed YouTube videos highlighting successful trick shots.
Hasbro has introduced a line of Nerf backyard sports gear tied to Dude Perfect, a group of five best friends who make extreme-sports trick-shot videos and often use Nerf products. The Nerf Dude Perfect Collection, which the guys helped develop and design, grew out of an ongoing endorsement deal with Hasbro.
Other examples of trick-shot artists with licensing potential include Brodie Smith, a YouTube celebrity known for his Frisbee moves, who signed with Abrams Artist Agency to forge merchandising deals and seek digital and programming opportunities; Florian “Venom” Kohler, a trick-shot specialist in pool, who offers branded products on his website; and Carson Stalnaker, recognized for his basketball trick-shot videos, who licenses his content for use in commercials and corporate videos globally and counts more than 15 companies, including Mattel, Nectar sunglasses, and Nike, as clients, sponsors, or licensees.
The rise in such celebrities provides an opening for marketers of sporting goods and related products to attract teenaged and young adult fans, just as marketers of fashion and beauty, toys and gaming, home décor, and other categories have done with social media-rooted celebrities in their respective spheres.
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