Page 177 - Introduction to Electronic Commerce and Social Commerce

166 • Sport, Media and Society

however, provided the solution by presenting their brand of liberatory sports participa-
tion: ‘Just do it’. Many commentators have pointed out that this version of highly indi-
vidualistic, commodity ‘feminism’ reduces the struggle for gender equity to the highly
constrained exercise of consumer choice (Macdonald 1995; Cole and Hribar 1995).

Logos and the Frame of the Sport Brand

The logo functions as the face of the brand so that the brand can be seen. If a brand is
to be successful, brand awareness (being able to recall an example of the brand such
as Coca-Cola or Nike) must be connected to a brand image. The logo is central to the
brand image, and repeated exposure to the logo is the key to brand awareness.
The logo can be understood as an indexical sign of the producer of the prod-
uct. Sometimes logos are simulated signatures purporting to be that of the producer
(Betty Crocker, Paul Smith), having the effect of implicating ‘the organisation as if
it were an individual’ (Lury 2004: 80). Sometimes logos personalise the corporation,
not as a mark of origin, but as an iconic sign of the brand (e.g. the life insurance
company Scottish Widows’ living logo, a beautiful woman in a mysterious cloak).

The personality of the brand may be embodied in a person (real or fictional), but it
can also be a blend of characteristics. The mobile phone company Orange used con-
sumers’ positive associations with the colour orange to brand its range of products
(Lury 2004).
Logos are dynamic and are able to move across products, functioning as a frame
of activity, in much the same way as the frame of a movie screen (Lury 2004):

This movement or relay between frames across media is further extended in the
dynamic framing activity of the logo. Think here of the relation between fi gure and
ground, with the logo as the figure and the (dynamic) frames or screens being sites

in media as diverse as a poster, a window display, a television advertisement, a fi lm,
a sponsored event, as well, of course as products. In these cases, the logo may ac-
quire a face, but it is also a sign of a liquidity that flows through old and new media,

across windows, products, signs, screens and (computer) interfaces. (p. 94)

For example, the insinuation of Nike logos on clothing transforms everyday life into
a framed event. Lury (2004: 95) observed that the placing of insignia on the back
of clothing creates them as moving communication, where a Swoosh on the back of
a shirt means ‘you still have a face when your back is turned’.

The Celebrity Face of the Sport Brand

Lury (2004) argued that the use of the logo as a face or personality for the brand trans-
forms the relationship between producer and consumer from a one-off interaction to