Since beginning his NFL career, Juju Smith-Schuster has been a fan favorite with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Not only is he an excellent player, but he has one of the best personalities in football. His enthusiasm radiates throughout the whole team and helps to lift everyone up during good and bad games. This outgoing personality translates directly to what Juju does outside the game of football as well. Although he is very good at football, he isn’t wide receivers in football (yet at least). Nevertheless, he is still one of the best marketed players in the NFL even though he is not the best player in the league. Through his own self marketing efforts, Juju has been able to become one of the most well-known athletes and exemplifies how to branch out to be more than an athlete.
Since making it to the NFL, Juju has made it known that he stays true to himself. He has not changed who he is because of his rise to fame and this has benefitted him. He loves having fun and is not afraid to go against the norms. When he first got to the NFL, Juju started making YouTube videos and streaming video games because he enjoyed doing it. He began to amass a very large social media following and now has over 1 million subscribers on YouTube alone. He was one of the first athletes to begin doing this and now this is the norm for athletes. He got criticized that this was taking away from his NFL career, but it has not proven to be true yet as he is still performing well. Not only this, but Juju even played Fortnite with the Ninja, Drake and Travis Scott. This got everyone talking whether it be the video game community or sports world. This blew up Juju’s popularity and as said before, started the trend for athletes to stream and play video games. Besides video games, Juju has also released clothing designed by himself for fans and followers. In addition to this, Juju has (or has done) endorsements with Oakley, Adidas, Pizza Hut, New Era, Call of Duty, and Art of Sport just to name a few. This is very impressive for someone so young like Juju, but is due to his own marketing efforts and following on social media. Juju has not shied away from being himself since coming into the NFL and has changed how players can gain popularity not only in the NFL, but in sports as a whole. He did not follow what everyone else was doing and went down the path less traveled by others in sports and is benefitting because of it.
How Star Wide Receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster Became His Own Brand
I’ve always been impressed with how JuJu has branded himself since coming into the NFL. He has built a large following on social media which has allowed him to launch the products and do endorsement deals. I think this entrepreneurial mindset will help him to be successful long after his career is over.
I think this is a unique take on what it means to be an entrepreneur. typically when thinking of an Entrepreneur you think of someone who is successful based of a product they created. However, JuJu’s product is himself. Through that he has a gained a rather substantial following that he uses to have fun and entertain. This brand he is building of himself has landed him many endorsements and promote products.
This is a great example of how personality and image are the hottest commodities in today’s business and entertainment industry. Juju has the perfect personality for the spotlight; humble, easy-going, funny, energetic, and upbeat.