AmaZulu star Wayde Jooste spoke to Soccer Laduma's Fan Park about how South African footballers should look after their personal brands.
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What's the story?
Former Orlando Pirates baller Wayde Jooste recently spoke to Fan Park about player branding and some of his notable endorsements among other topics.
Jooste firmly believes that South African footballers could benefit from taking their personal brands more seriously, as it could open multiple doors beyond the beautiful game.
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Let's take a closer look at what Jooste had to say...
Wayde Jooste | Part 1
Experienced DStv Premiership campaigner, Wayde Jooste, knows a thing or two about marketing yourself as a footballer to attract brand partnerships.
Along with his boot sponsor PUMA, Jooste has worked with brands such as Sorbet, 32gi, Ster Kinekor and is an ambassador for Wellness Warehouse.
By proudly showing off his healthy lifestyle as a professional footballer, Jooste has shown that putting in effort in social media posts as a baller can open up unexpected financial opportunities.
The baller has also worked with a couple of major vehicle brands: "I've partnered with a few good brands in the past, mostly car companies such as BMW, Peugeot and Isuzu to name a few! Also with PUMA with regards to on the field endorsements and of course, me being me off the field I recently started being endorsed by 32gi which is a sports supplement company in South Africa," said Jooste on his brand partnerships.
Unfortunately, not all local ballers are ahead of the curve when it comes to their personal branding and Jooste agrees that many players are slacking in that department:
"I do think so, I think we're not really grasping the concept of it quite yet, it's still quite frowned upon in our country because most footballers aren't comfortable outside of football or some think doing off the field branding is 'silly' and a waste of time. Whereas this is you building your brand, which can open more doors for you post your football career," shares Jooste.
Although the likes of Vincent Pule, Keagan Buchanan, Bernard Parker, Aubrey Modiba and Linda Mntambo among a few others have put themselves out there when it comes to brand work, there's plenty of room for improvement for SA football's most talented stars to draw attention to their personal brands.
Jooste understands why it's important for players to build an off-field presence for themselves:
"I think it's important because as a footballer in the country, you're a brand yourself. So, it's important to market yourself well off the field as well and even after football, if you had a good relationship with those various brands, they might still use you in campaigns in other various positions," said Jooste.
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We've seen the likes of Teko Modise, Lucas Radebe and Siphiwe Tshabalala pave the way for local ballers to make money from their own names by partnering with a host of brands including; Betway, Lays, Future Life, Nedbank, Hollywoodbets and countless others, more local ballers should take notes!
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