• Loading stock data...
Friday, March 29, 2024
2024 Best Venues nominations are open now through April 8! Submit Now

Wish Shopping Quickly Becoming an Unlikely Force in Sports Marketing

Wish now finds itself on the jersey of one of the most marketable athletes in the world. (Photo by J Alexander Diaz/Los Angeles Lakers)

You couldn’t wish for a better month-long span than the one San Francisco-based shopping app Wish just had in terms of leveraging the true power of sports marketing.

Wish is an e-commerce platform similar to Amazon, Overstock, or eBay that lets users shop for millions of products at a huge discount — all from their mobile phone. As the sixth largest e-commerce platform, according to its site, the company claims to be “empowering small business owners and entrepreneurs by giving them access to millions of new consumers … and providing access to affordable goods.”

The startup has grown rapidly over the last few years, in large part due to its aggressive advertising — and that was before setting the sports marketing world on fire in the wake of generating success from the World Cup and then LeBron James’ reverberating free-agency decision.

[the_ad_group id=”948″]

With roughly 32.5 million downloads compared to Amazon’s 29.2 million in 2017, the app was the single most downloaded app in 2017, per information provided by Crunchbase and Sensor Tower. Forbes has been astounded by the company’s fast rise to the top, as Wish doubled its valuation in less than six months.  

Detailed in the FOS newsletter earlier this week, Wish has had the best performing campaign “leading the way in ads at the World Cup,” according to data evaluated by MarketingWeek.

The ads were evaluated based on emotional engagement, engagement, business effect, and overall ROI. With their “Time on Your Hands” campaign, Wish’s ads have scored the highest of all those being run during the World Cup. With an overall score of 76.5 percent, and performing at three stars out of five, executives at MarketingWeek said that indicates “good ad potential for reasonable long-term brand growth.” Achieving that relevance and resonance on such a global stage is especially important for a company like Wish because that’s precisely its consumer-base.

Beyond that, back in 2017, it was announced that the shopping app secured the “patch rights” to place its logo on the Los Angeles Lakers’ jersey for what was reported as “something in the range of $36-42 million dollars for three years,” according to Recode.

Keep in mind, that partnership was agreed upon during “Life Before LeBron.”

At the time, Wish CEO Peter Szuclzewski said the decision to partner with a team like the Lakers was “basically a no-brainer,” given that Los Angeles is one of their largest metro markets stateside and the Lakers’ brand is incredibly popular in China, where a large percentage of their merchants and consumers are based.

Patch placement on the Lakers jersey gives Wish access to the L.A. market while generating brand exposure all around the globe.

LeBron — one of, if not the, sports world’s biggest stars — will be donning the Lakers yellow and purple next season. In large part because of LeBron’s presence on the team, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ sponsor, Goodyear, had the most valuable and best performing NBA jersey sponsorship, generating a reported $21 million in earned media for the company, according to Bloomberg.

The Lakers and Wish did well enough on their own as the fourth-most valuable patch partnership in the league, earning an estimated $5 million in social impressions despite not reaching the playoffs, and obviously not having LeBron. Now combine the two — Los Angeles Lakers, plus LeBron James, and you have sports marketing gold.

Want more content like this? Subscribe to our daily newsletter!

Not only has there been a huge spike in the sales of LeBron Lakers jerseys themselves, which set a single-day record for jersey sales with NBA rights-holder Fanatics, now the Wish brand is also tangentially connected to LeBron and all the fans and followers that go with him.

Between the Lakers, LeBron, and its effective presence at the World Cup, Wish nailed the sports marketing game over the last couple weeks.

Going forward, with its performance at the World Cup and NBA patch placement gold, the Wish brand will continue to have a direct line to its core customer base, as NBA and soccer fans tend to be more globally based, tech-savvy, and electronically engaged. And that’s not to mention all the people now Googling what the Wish name is on their new LeBron jersey.

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

March 22, 2024, Brooklyn, NY, USA; Northwestern Wildcats guard Brooks Barnhizer (13) and Northwestern Wildcats guard Boo Buie (0) react in overtime against the Florida Atlantic Owls in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament at the Barclays Center.

‘An Expensive Game’: March Madness and NIL Collectives Are Intertwined

At schools nationwide, collectives are fueling NCAA tournament runs and vice versa.
Iowa’s Caitlin Clark (22) waits to be announced in the starting lineup against West Virginia in a NCAA Tournament round of 32 game Monday, March 25, 2024 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa.

The Women’s Trading Card Market Is Overlooked. Can Caitlin Clark Change That?

Traditionally, women’s sports cards have been a marginal part of collectibles.
The Sports Illustrated cover signed by Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, February 27, 2019, at Don & Charlie's, 7501 E. Camelback Road, Scottsdale. Don Charlie S

Everything You Need to Know About the Ongoing ‘Sports Illustrated’ Saga

Understanding the strange state of affairs for the nearly 70-year-old publication.
podcast thumbnail mobile
Front Office Sports Today

MLB Opens Season With MLBPA, Ohtani, and Ownership Dramas

0:00
0:00

Featured Today

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Inside the Big East’s Bizarre Online Subculture

Peeling back the curtain on the ‘phenomenally weird’ Big East online ecosystem.
Mar 21, 2024; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Stetson Hatters guard Stephan Swenson (30) reacts during team practice at Barclays Center.
March 22, 2024

First-Time NCAA Men’s Tourney Bids Could Be on the Verge of Extinction

Power and success are consolidating around the richest teams in college sports.
March 17, 2024

‘Everybody Was Under Suspicion’: The Day Selection Sunday Was Scooped

In 2016, the ‘Selection Show’ backfired when the bracket was leaked anonymously.
Sep 3, 2023; Seattle, Washington, USA; Orlando Pride forward Ally Watt (11) and Orlando Pride forward Julie Doyle (20) enter the stadium before the game against OL Reign at Lumen Field.
March 16, 2024

So Long, White Shorts: Here’s Why the NWSL’s Uniform Pivot Matters

There’s finally a growing trend to adapt women’s sports to women’s bodies.

Careers

Powered By

Careers in Sports

Looking for a new job? Check out these featured listings and search for openings all over the world.
Live Nation
Multiple - USA Careers
Adidas
Multiple - USA Careers
Spotify
Multiple - USA Careers

WWE Borrows From UFC, Puts On-Mat Advertising in the Ring

The wrestling outfit is learning from its MMA counterpart’s playbook under the TKO Group.
September 16, 2022

NBA Legend Scottie Pippen Latest Celebrity To Endorse LIV Golf

The former Chicago Bull is part of LIV’s celebrity marketing campaign.
Drew Brees smiling while wearing hat
December 2, 2022

Drew Brees, PointsBet Pull Off Elaborate Lightning Publicity Stunt

The video racked up over 2 million views in about 12 hours.
Sponsored

How Daily Fantasy Sports Solved NBA Fantasy

The remarkable growth of the #1 Discord sports server in the world.
al michaels and kirk hergstreit
September 15, 2022

Amazon’s Advertising Blitz Ahead Of First ‘Thursday Night Football’

‘Thursday Night Football’ has launched massive marketing takeover ahead of Chiefs-Chargers.
June 21, 2022

NBA Finals Broke Records on Social Media

The NBA closed out the season with a bang on social media, eclipsing 2 billion video plays for a 19% increase over last year.
June 21, 2022

Gallo Winery Could Be New Player For Super Bowl Spots

Anheuser-Busch is giving up Super Bowl alcohol exclusivity for first in decades. NFL sponsor E. & J. Gallo Winery might step up with own commercials in the Big Game.
June 13, 2022

NBA’s Latest Floating Court Hits London’s River Thames

Hennessy continued their global initiative with the NBA by creating a floating court in the River Thames.