SAN FRANCISCO -- Anne White has never won a major professional tennis title, but a well-designed marketing program has helped her reap the endorsement riches once the private domain of such stars as Chris Evert-Lloyd and Martina Navratilova.
Last year, the personable 25-year-old West Virginian was ranked the 48th-best women's tennis player in the world, falling behind such non-household names as Helena Sukova, Barbara Potter, Kathy Jordan and Kate Gompert among others.
She won $57,073 from the sport but likely at least doubled that with her off-court endorsements, which include contracts with a racket company, a sporting goods maker and a leading food company.
Why has White become better known than many of the players ranked ahead of her?
The cause of her fame is what she terms 'the Wimbledon incident.'
In 1985, White took a calculated marketing gamble and shocked the tennis community by wearing a form-fitting body suit for her match against Pam Shriver at the Wimbledon tournament. The outfit put her on the front pages of newspapers around the world and moved her into the household name category in the crowded world of American sports stars.
'I thought about it for three or four months,' she said. 'It was a risk. I really didn't know what kind of reaction I would get. But it also had a practical side. My match was at 9 p.m., and it was cold out there. I wanted to wear something that would keep me warm and be functional.'
Since that time, White has lived with the notoriety from the incident and used it to her advantage. White had endorsement contracts with Pony Sportswear Inc. and Weight Watchers Inc. before heading to Wimbledon, but the incident has kept the companies interested in her despite a roller coaster ride in the rankings.
'It (wearing the body suit) most definitely put her in the elite group of players considered for endorsements,' said Lisa Young, a spokeswoman for Weight Watchers. 'When we took her on a promotional tour to different cities after Wimbledon, she attracted a great deal of attention for our product.'
Young said White fit the kind of profile Weight Watchers was looking for to help promote its new frozen food line.
'Their (Weight Watchers) whole market is young active career women,' Young said. 'Anne fits that mold very well. She not only is an athlete, but she has a very active life away from the court. I think it's her well roundedness that is attractive to the company.'
White said she also believes in staying fit, and she looks the part.
'There is a boom in fitness right now, and Anne embodies fitness,' said Joe reher, an agent for the Cleveland-based International Marketing Group, which represents White. 'She also is very knowledgable when it comes to marketing. She is outgoing and is very aware of what it takes to attract clients.'
International Marketing's strategy with White has been to project her to clients as a women of the 1980s.
'Active, attractive and in tune with her surroundings,' Dreher said. 'That's how we see Anne, and we feel that's how the corporate world also views her.'
White said her awareness about what kind of money can be made off the court has come from watching others on the Tour.
'When you first get on the Tour everything is new,' she said. 'But after that wears off, then you start looking around. I think you have to pay attention to business and see how the public reacts.'
However, White's momentum is slowing on the corporate front, and she needs a victory in a major tournament to pick up speed once again.
'It (White's contract) is still under evaluation on a year-by-year basis,' Young said. 'If she continues to decline in the rankings, it might be hard to sell her.'
White has hammered a niche for herself in the multimillion-dollar world while endorsement superstars Evert-Lloyd and Navratilova have been at their primes. However, players like 17-year-old Stephanie Rehe -- last year's newcomer of the year -- are poised to rush in and fill the void that will be left by Evert-Lloyd's and Navratilova's retirements.
'When you are planning a marketing strategy for a young player, it's much different than handling an established star,' said Josh Ripple, Rehe's agent at ProServ Inc. 'You are basing your plan on how good the player is going to be. Secondly, you look to see if there is anything other than tennis that is marketable, and lastly, you find out what they want to do.'
Ripple said he feels Rehe's time currently would be better spent on the court than in the studio or hawking products in shopping malls.
'When I was making up a marketing plan for her, I did not want to get her too involved off the court,' he said. 'Everyone says she is going to be a great player, but we have chosen at this time to leave her on the court and get her game together.'
Ripple did go about gathering 'tool of the trade' endorsement contracts for Rehe and left it at that for the present.
'The tool of the trade endorsements are taxing enough,' he said. 'She has a contract with Reebok, so there are about 14 days a year she has to appear at functions for them. She also has a racket deal with Yonex. That's enough for now.'
However, Rehe's future as a corporate darling may be tied to a combination of luck and national media.
'Stephanie has moved up pretty quickly already,' he said. 'But the only way she can move up to the next level is to do something on national television. For example, Carling Bassett vaulted into the national limelight after she played Chris Evert in a match on television in 1983. Gabriela Sabatini becomes a major name when she reaches the semifinal of the French Open. Television plays probably the most important role in the athlete's future.'
