Mayweather Vs. Paul: A Masterclass On Promotion and Personal Branding?
My social media feeds have been blowing up since they first announced the Floyd Mayweather/Logan Paul fight. You can’t help but wonder how many people have an opinion.
If you were raised watching the sport, or its forefathers Hunter and Ali, then calling this event a ‘real’ fight is a stretch. Anyone who’s watched boxing in the last 20 years knows that boxing is a different sport than it used to be.
Most boxers now rely on their image and personality as much as they do on actual fighting skills, which can lead to some pretty entertaining moments when the fight finally gets underway.
For example, if you watch Conor McGregor in his fights he’s very good at talking trash constantly about how great he is going to win before even throwing a punch. Floyd Mayweather has had one of the most successful careers ever because of his mastery over promoting himself and making money off that skill alone rather than what happens after the first bell rings. That doesn’t mean that these guys don’t know anything about boxing though.
A Clash of Personalities
When it was announced that Mayweather would be fighting Paul there were many people who saw this as another way to make money off two guys with personalities. For those who didn’t see it that way, the match between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Logan Paul was a thrilling event to watch two already very entertaining influencers go head-to-head in the ring for real. Most of us (Okay, me) were hoping to see Logan Paul get knocked the hell out that Saturday night, but alas, the fight went all 8 rounds. Logan Paul not only managed to survive the former champ but landed some decent punches on old Floyd.
In the first round, it was a close battle of jabs and counters but Logan Paul’s inexperience in boxing showed as he stalled at times.
Paul did manage to land a few decent punches on Mayweather from time to time though and even had his own cheering section in attendance that seemed excited by his performance.
Was It a Fight or Marketing Event?
Was it a statement of Paul’s newfound pugilistic abilities, or two seasoned marketing pros who know how to bait the consumers and get them to pull out their wallets faster than you can say “knockout?”
What you’ve all just witnessed wasn’t meant to be a real fight, it was pure entertainment and gave the audience exactly what they were begging for.
It was a genius marketing scheme and some call it a legalized bank robbery.
With an estimated 650k pay-per-view buys around the world, Floyd Mayweather and Logan Paul put on a masterclass in personal branding and product promotion.
No matter how you feel about their antics outside the ring (and yes there are plenty) when these guys market themselves correctly, they will always be the ones to add millions to their bank accounts.
Masters of Self-Branding
The marketing strategy for this event was executed perfectly, and Logan Paul had the perfect opponent to learn from.
Floyd Mayweather is a master of self-branding, as he has been able to keep his name in the headlines when no one else can with equal success.
Logan Paul, on the other hand, is notorious for playing the loudmouth jerk role. His missteps seem to be in the past and for all his troubles, he may have taken home a hefty paycheck of an estimated $5–20 million.
Mayweather has been able to capitalize on his name with some very lucrative ventures outside boxings most notably being an executive producer for Showtime boxing events that have given him millions more than he would have earned in a standard fight.
Of course, this is not to say that Mayweather and Paul are the same people. Logan Paul has been able to use his online presence (primarily on YouTube) to build an audience of young people who will be interested in seeing him fight under any circumstance.
Both men knew what they were getting into when they accepted this fight and the question was never about who would win, but how much money could be made.
The way in which Logan Paul has been able to build a huge following through social media is something that you can’t see from Mayweather’s perspective.
Mayweather doesn’t seem to have an online presence outside of his Twitter account, but he has a huge number of followers. He gained his fans the old-fashioned way.
Paul has been able to use his online presence (primarily YouTube) to build an audience that will be interested in seeing him fight under any circumstance.
Paul is ahead of the curve and Mayweather seems to be stuck fighting yesterday’s wars, which might seem old but can still generate a lot of money.
The real question with this match wasn’t about who’d win it all…but how much money both fighters made before and after they finally throw in the proverbial towel?
