Brands who got associated with Novak Djokovic have largely benefitted from the star’s record-breaking career. Except Sergio Tacchini that is. It seems the Italian apparel brand, which was once represented by Pete Sampras and John McEnroe, burnt its fingers despite being associated with Djokovic at the start of his unstoppable run.
In November 2009, Sergio Tacchini signed a 10-year deal with Djokovic, believing that the Serbian ace’s success would help them regain their relevance in tennis. The association ended three years later, with the brand pulling the plug in 2012.
Nole’s career trajectory went beyond what the sportswear brand would have imagined during the time of signing. However, that did not translate into business gains for Sergio Tacchini. Instead Djokovic, it seems, drained its coffers out.
The brand was paying the star hefty bonuses each time he won a Grand Slam, even as the sales plateaued. And that caused the association to plummet toward failure, said former American tennis pro Sam Querrey on Nothing Major podcast.
“The rumor was that he was essentially just putting them out of business because he kept winning every major… He’s just triggering bonus after bonus after bonus… Novak so much, they couldn’t continue and they dropped him or they went under or what happened but it ended,” he said.
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Djokovic won four Grand Slams in the period he was associated with Sergio Tacchini. His winning spree began with the Australian Open and Miami Open titles. He was the World No. 1 at the time, and things were looking bright. His apparel partners were bleeding though.
The split with Sergio Tacchini, in 2012, opened doors for Uniqlo to step in. The partnership was announced on the first day of the 2012 French Open.
Djokovic joined Kei Nishikori to represent Uniqlo
Djokovic joined Uniqlo as a global brand ambassador on May 27, 2012. The Japanese brand, much like the Italian one before, was keen to jump onto the Nole juggernaut. Uniqlo had a good presence in tennis already, through their association with Kei Nishikori.
“I am honored and also very excited to have been appointed as the Uniqlo global brand ambassador. Uniqlo is a cool brand with strong roots in Japan, a country whose culture and way of life I respect. I have a personal philosophy which I call ‘Be Unique,’ and this is based on my strong passion, drive and eagerness to keep improving myself,” Djokovic had said in a press release.
Nole continued his on court form sporting Uniqlo apparel. He reached the final at Roland Garros two weeks later, though losing a hard-fought affair with Rafael Nadal.
He went on to win seven majors in the six years he donned Uniqlo outfits while the brand’s global footprint increased manifold.
So what really went wrong with Sergio Tacchini?
All the factors which worked for Uniqlo were present for the Italian brand as well. The visibility was great, Djokovic was winning and was popular among the fans too.
The missing factor here, unlike what Querrey said, seems to be that Sergio Tacchini failed to leverage the star power in Djokovic. The Italians just could not implement marketing strategies to turn their star’s wins into solid numbers in the books.
