Page 193 - Introduction to Electronic Commerce and Social Commerce

182 • Sport, Media and Society

Suggestions for Analysis

Sport Web sites have the capacity to present the user with an interactive, multimedia

sport experience. Select an official Web site of a sport organisation (such as the Inter-
national Olympic Committee) and consider the way the Web site constructs the user’s
experience. What multimedia features are available? How interactive are the fea-
tures? How free are users to make their meanings by following hyperlinked threads?
How do certain features (like banner advertisements and navigation options) curtail
the possibilities? Are users also producers of the Web site’s content? Are users’ con-
tributions encouraged, and if so, how are they moderated and controlled?
Sport celebrities are often used as the face of a brand. Particular brands are linked
to particular individuals. Tiger Woods, Maria Sharapova, Kimi Räikkönen and Yao
Ming have all featured in the Tag Heuer ‘What are you made of?’ campaign discussed
in Chapter 5. Consider what qualities and characteristics link the sport celebrities
chosen to feature in advertising campaigns. In what ways are the products or brands
associated with their sporting or personal identities? Are their sports, playing styles,
abilities, looks or reputation involved in the transfer of meaning involved in the cam-
paign? Which celebrities are chosen for which products? How do companies manage
celebrities’ sport crises, which threaten the reputation of their brands?

Further Reading

Boydell, C. (1996), ‘The Training Shoe: Pump Up the Power’, in P. Kirkham, ed.,
The Gendered Object, Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Goldman, R., and Papson, S. (1998), Nike Culture, London: Sage.
Jackson, S., and Hokowhitu, B. (2002), ‘Sport, Tribes, and Technology: the New
Zealand All Blacks Haka and the Politics of Identity’, Journal of Sport and Social
Issues, 26: 125–39.
Lury, C. (2004), Brands: the Logos of the Global Economy, London: Routledge.
Nike Brand Design (2002), ‘NikeTown, London’, in O. Riewoldt, ed., Brandscap-
ing: Worlds of Experience in Retail Design, Basel: Birkhauser.
Riewoldt, O., ed. (2002), Brandscaping: Worlds of Experience in Retail Design,
Basel: Birkhauser.
Ruddock, A. (2005), ‘Let’s Kick Racism out of Football—and the Lefties Too! Re-
sponses to Lee Bowyer on a West Ham Web Site’, Journal of Sport and Social
Issues, 29: 369–85.
Trend, D., ed. (2001), Reading Digital Culture, Oxford: Blackwell.