At 2:30 p.m. Thursday, the day of “the decision” the producer from WABC who set-up my interview for his evening news program emailed to cancel. His source (ESPN) cited Miami as the winner of the LeBron James sweepstakes and thus, my opinions on the impact of LeBron’s hopeful signing with the Knicks became irrelevant. That’s the media for you – turns out he made the right call.
Like many, I maneuvered my evening schedule around LeBron’s self-promoting ESPN prime time announcement. I recall a time once when only Presidents could make such a request (to go on TV). I guess the rules have recently changed for global, iconic athletes. We saw the world stop and watch as Tiger Woods broke his post scandal silence and the same thing happened last night.
More people probably tuned into his “decision” than watched Game 7 of the NBA Finals. I can’t get the overnights fast enough and the advertisers, primarily brands he endorses, probably paid a fraction of what NBA sponsors paid for Game 7 units. Couple that with his ability to integrate the products/services he endorses to a combined audience of 2.9 mm (and growing) via Twitter/Facebook followers and we’re looking at a new growth phase in “Brand LeBron” as he charts his course towards pre-scandal, Tigeresque levels.
To pull off this charade, demonstrates LeBron is the closest thing we have in our country to “America’s athlete.” Clearly his popularity transcends avid NBA fans. I don’t think it’s necessarily good for a professional sport to be overshadowed by the popularity of one athlete, but let’s be honest; players like LeBron come along every other decade.
Whatever one’s opinion on his decision and his hijacking of the free agency spot light, the NBA easily handles any negativity because of their deep and diverse pool of talent. There’s always one, right? Unlike the PGA which was hurt immediately when the Tiger Woods scandal broke.
Hopefully savvy Cavalier fans will recognize what LeBron accomplished for their team and the City of Cleveland. He made them relevant and compelling for seven years and brought them within a series of a championship. He wants to win a championship and felt his chances were better somewhere else. He made a business decision but how he handle it was amateurish at best. Unfortunately, masses of Cavalier fans will look at LeBron as a villain, a sell-out whose decision leaves a horrendous taste in their mouth. They won’t appreciate how he said goodbye nor will they ever forget….
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I recently took students from Columbia University to a Red Bulls game to evaluate in-stadium signage as part of their summer curriculum. On my way home I walked past a group of event staffers breaking down sponsor activation booths. They were rolling up the inflatable, packing away banners and boxing up premiums.
I was encouraged to see staffers getting dirty and learning from the ground up that activation programs, at venues such as Red Bull Arena, remain critical to brands desiring fan engagement at passion points. My encouragement stems from years of observing young professionals who fail to recognize the value of these types of experiences.
As I committed to writing this entry, my thoughts wandered back to my first sports marketing assignment at Global Sports after college. I was part of a small team involved in producing the Hoop It Up National Finals on ESPN. Arriving on-site from the airport, I was immediately summoned to the roof of a nearby building. “Hey, Neuman, climb the ladder and get up here, we’ll teach you how to tether banners to the roof.” Thus began my education in banner tying and in essence, my career.
I went on to tie a lot of banners and looking back I realize how instrumental this education was in my career development. These were long hours and hard work. However, these on-site experiences served as the culmination of great ideas that made the sale a reality. Sponsor activations that promote products/services directly to consumers and the hard work to implement them are critical career stepping stones for all of us.
With a steady stream of young professionals with sport management degrees coming into the marketplace, getting a leg up on the competition will come through hard work, dedication, experience and doing some “grunt work.” So to jumpstart your career, find the nearest ladder and start climbing. There are a ton of banners left to be hung.
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Having two young children under six means taking a trip to the movie theater is a rarity. In a typical year, Vegas may put the over/under at three (3). Well, we’re not even out of February and my initial pilgrimage of the year is complete. I saw “The Blind Side” and it reminded me of something I learned a long time ago when I entered the sports marketing industry; we’re selling passion!
I’m not just talking about the Tuohy’s passion to facilitate Michael’s (Oher) education, embrace him as their own, or nourish him with the love and material things that so eluded him his whole life. I’m talking about the passion of SEC College Football.
Being a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, I’ve enjoyed my fair share of over-the-top “passion” experiences (Penn State and West Virginia come to mind) and my world still stops for an occasional Football or Basketball game. However, I recognized SEC Football was on another level when I managed a sponsorship for GSK’s BC Headache Powder (BCHP) several years ago. My experiences with BCHP, a regional phenomenon unto itself, provided a window into the world of Southeastern college football fans. You see, these fans consume football differently than you or I and it was the essence of this passion that was captured extremely well in the movie.
What struck me most was the scene of the family eating buffet style on the couch (watching Ole Miss on TV) on a holiday as opposed to sitting formally in the dining room. It took the addition of Michael for Leigh Anne (Tuohy) to relocate her family to the dining room, thus pulling them away from the game and their long-standing tradition. I really believe it was this scene and the one when Michael tells the NCAA investigator he wants to attend Ole Miss because “his family went there” that truly captures the essence of their passion.
As sports marketers, we are constantly educating companies on the value of leveraging fan affinity and pushing the importance of brand equity transfer. Intersecting a consumer who shares a like-minded interest at a passion point is the most direct approach to developing an emotional bond with the target audience. The movie accomplishes many things for me but the one area they didn’t turn a blind eye towards was replicating the passion of SEC Football and how it impacts the lives of its rabid fans.
Link to story on Michael Oher:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FhlbsJUJ9Q
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Back in July of 2003 Ken Hein from BRANDWEEK asked my opinion on Kobe Bryant’s sexual assault accusations. My two prominent responses were “there used to be a group of guys you knew would deliver” meaning they wouldn’t find themselves in any “off the field” trouble. The second was, “morals clauses will be tougher” and for the most part, they have been. Holly Sanders Ware’s article in the NY Post tackles this issue very well. http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/tiger_ad_tale_j6FkiixiLLO9lNpAZp8WgJ
Most sports marketers, brand decision makers and fans thought Tiger would be one of those athletes I defined in my former opinion. We now know this is not the case. Tiger is about to learn the consequences of mismanaging a PR crisis. Think back to the vastly different approaches taken by Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte when they were cited in the Mitchell Report last year.
More recently, look how David Letterman handled his office infidelities, with a pro-active announcement on National TV no less. Both Pettitte and Letterman were ahead of the press and didn’t allow rumors to develop because they robbed the media from formulating their own (potentially false) stories. Both Pettitte and Letterman’s situations were then relegated to lesser covered news stories soon after.
The Tiger fallout will be with us through the holidays and the impact on his endorsement contracts is something we in the industry will be closely watching. Keep in mind this will be no easy decision for his sponsors if more damaging fallout occurs. Tiger’s partners, especially Gatorade and Nike have literally built their brands around his image. There is simply too much revenue at stake. Stay tuned.
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