Cincinnati Reds pitcher reportedly shoplifts and gives brand unintentional notoriety
Disclaimer: This post in no way condones shoplifting or stealing of any kind to generate publicity.
Something just occurred to me, however, after friend and media colleague Rick Bozich of the Louisville Courier-Journal posted his thoughts after he purchased an American Rag t-shirt to try to find out why Cincinnati Reds pitcher, Mike Leake, would think the brand is so special that he’d steal several of them from Macy’s.
Will people visit their local department store or search online for American Rag t-shirts to discover the big deal on their own? Why would a professional athlete who makes approximately $425,000 per year and have more than $200 cash on his person reportedly steal these shirts?
In a funky state of affairs, I have a feeling that this company will sell a few more shirts this week as inquiring dressers try to answer those questions.
An extended NFL lockout hurts more than players and owners; bad PR is just part of the fallout
For anyone who follows the National Football League, it’s no secret that the relationship between owners and players is contentious as ever. A breakdown in mediation resulted in the National Football Players Association decertifying and a day later, owners locked out the players. Now the arguments, often expressed via social media, are sounding more like a clique of high school girls blaming each other for stealing boyfriends than grown adults who work with the most successful sports product in the United States. To read fan reaction is to realize that each side’s public relations efforts are already crumbling and falling on deaf ears.
While the 2011 season is months away from its scheduled kickoff, there are thousands of people who are worried about what an extended labor stoppage would mean for them. Some teams have reportedly made plans for people in their front office should activities not return to normal in short order. But aside from team personnel, assistant coaches, trainers and equipment managers, there are others who would be detrimentally effected by a shortened or non-existent season.
Consider everybody you meet on game day, from the person who directs traffic near the stadium, ticket collectors, food and merchandise vendors and even the custodial staff that cleans the facility after you leave. And it goes beyond that: retailers in stadium neighborhoods, hoteliers, restauranteurs, grocery stores that conduct and generate revenue from seasonal weekly game promotions and so on. That’s just in your favorite team’s community.
Expand to the sports industry and now we’re talking about media and support personnel who miss their weekly assignments because there are no games to cover. There are advertising agencies who enjoy lucrative deals to promote each week’s contest and excite communities about the season.
Yes, the NFL is much more than a game. It’s a billion dollar industry with thousands that depend on it to feed their families and pay the electric bills. Resolving the collective bargaining agreement means more than paying player salaries or sharing revenue among owners of million dollar properties.
Oh, and then there are fans, thousands who pack stadiums each week and despite escalating costs to sit in their seats, have supported the league in record numbers. To the players and owners: honor this valuable support group and those whose work depends on your product. Ditch the dissension and negotiate in good faith. Stop the blame game; fans will take their discretionary dollars elsewhere if they think the labor agreement is equal to grown men fighting in the media. They will tune you out faster than a parent tired of the big purple monster.
Litigation is on the docket, and we can only hope each side uses the opportunity to hammer out differences and sprint back to their jobs. There are a lot of people counting on it.
Is “The Belt” the Next Cheesehead?
I typically publicize things that other people produce: books, their talent or products. On occasion, I have what I think could be a salable idea. Today, I think it’s “The Belt.”
Do you remember 1987 when the Cheesehead took the world by storm? (Ok, the state of Wisconsin and mobile Packers fans…)
I believe that “The Belt” could be the next big thing. Again, the popularity would likely launch in Wisconsin, then… watch out world! Green Bay Packers quarterback, Aaron Rodgers made the gesture of donning a winning boxing belt during the NFL Playoffs and famously expressed the sentiment again when he accepted the Super Bowl XLV Most Valuable Player award.
Disengaged from social media since the start of the 2010 football season, Rodgers took to Twitter in a big way after the Packers’ Super win and many times, has “awarded” the belt to others, including University of Wisconsin basketball coach Bo Ryan after the Badgers beat Ohio State and a father who tweeted that his son had just returned from his third deployment.
Why would the creation of this belt be big? Rodgers. As he tweeted on February 14, he’s “beltified.” At least in the off-season, his engagement with fans and other players is loaded with value. During the season his fan base would carry on The Belt’s message. Rodgers could award belts at special events and sign them for fans. How about a non-profit effort that rewards strong people in tough circumstances? The possibilities are endless.
So, if this deal isn’t already in progress, someone with the tools to get it done: get to work. Oh, and call me because I already have the publicity plan in ink!
Mother Nature’s PR Efforts Fail at Super Bowl XLV
There was a record number of media credentials distributed for Super Bowl XLV in Dallas, er, North Texas. That means that whatever happens this week can potentially be reported more than 5,000 times.
Unfortunately, Mother Nature’s PR people didn’t get the memo that her “A Game” was required for this gig. It snowed, sleeted and froze and people found it difficult, if not impossible, to travel the city and its suburbs. Reporters wrote, spoke and tweeted about icy roads, dangerous driving conditions and the desire just to hole up in their hotels to stay warm instead of venture to restaurants that for months, planned for an influx of visitors.
To add insult, seven fans were injured when ice fell from Cowboys Stadium.
“Taxis didn’t operate at full force because of the weather; there were lots of long waits for transportation,” NFL Network and FOX Sports analyst, Charles Davis said.
I watched productions from location, among them, Dan and his Dannettes who shivered through the week while doing the Dan Patrick radio show and its TV simulcast in ice and snow. In a couple of cases, flurries through through the set.
“Basically, most of Dallas is paralyzed. Roads are impassable,” Mike Freeman, a national columnist for CBSSports.com, said.
I tried to contact the Ms. Nature and her publicist for comment, but she didn’t return my calls or emails. (Looking out my own window, she was likely admiring her work from atop of a four-foot frozen snow drift.)
Does Ms. Nature not care about her image? Does she think she can dump inches of snow and ice on a community and a most heralded event and resurrect herself with clear conditions on Game Day? Does she think she can inflict inches of cold precipitation and leave the otherwise absent sun out of the team photo?
If I was her, I wouldn’t so much as wander into a piano bar for fear TMZ may show her enjoying a night out after putting the Dallas and its surrounding business community in a position of lesser hospitality than for what they’re known. I’d also reschedule the chilly stuff to make sure the sun was included.
This is supposed to be the National Football League’s showcase week. What has Mother Nature been thinking? Not only would sun, clear roads and dependable electricity have made a difference in attitude, it would have resulted in many more dollars being spent in the area … and made Dallas Cowboys’ owner, Jerry Jones, that much more proud. What must he think now about conditions that he cannot control? This is HIS city, and he undoubtedly counted on Ms. Nature to help him make a Super impression.
“Dallas turned into Radio Row-to-room service only for most of us that were working,” television and radio host, Tim Brando said. “I was just happy to have power.”
On a positive side, the weather should have little effect on Green Bay and Pittsburgh fans who traveled to North Texas and are accustomed to tailgating and watching games in the most miserable conditions. That’s if they got there. Reports are that many flights going to DFW have been delayed– again.
Mother Nature: time for new representation.
Social media makes sports notes news
This week we’ve seen two sports stories that may have remained personal conversations explode into national news stories.
The most recent was a conundrum caused by the Green Bay Packers which told players on Injured Reserve that they wouldn’t appear in the team’s Super Bowl team photo because it would be shot before their arrival, days after active members landed in Dallas, site of Super Bowl XLV. The other is Chicago Bears’ quarterback Jay Cutler who was replaced early in the second half of the NFC Championship game…or was he?
There are two issues at play with both of these cases: 1) team management decisions put their respective clubs in the positions of controversy and 2) social media, specifically, Twitter, drove each story.
The Packers’ picture and Bears’ QB shuffle became stories because people in decision-making positions within each organization made poor choices. The Packers didn’t consider that their 15 players on IR, several which helped lead the team to its successful season, were instrumental enough to the organization today, that they belonged in a photo that commemorates National Football League’s most prized event. In Chicago’s case, Cutler was pulled for the game for an undisclosed, maybe a knee ailment. While rumors circulated social media about why he was no longer playing, Bears PR released nothing to media about why he was out. Speculation led to acerbic tweets and other social media posts about Cutler’s heart and desire in the biggest game of his life. After all, he didn’t look hurt. How bad could it be? We didn’t know, because the Bears told no one about his condition. All we knew as observers was that he was out of the game walking the sideline, saying little if anything to any of his teammates. Was he really hurt? Was he detached and unsupportive of his team? From fans to former players, dozens of people had their say. (To make matters worse, he was allegedly spotted walking stairs to the second floor of a restaurant after the game — no limp, no crutches.)
Each of these stories erupted because of the speed and reach of social media. When Bears’ PR didn’t specify a reason for Cutler’s absence in the game, his past reputation of being standoffish and distant took front-and-center as people took to Twitter to speculate why he wasn’t playing. In the Packers’ case, tight end Jermichael Finley and linebacker Nick Barnett shared their displeasure on their Twitter pages. Media pounced, fans piled on and stories took on the heat of five-alarm fires. (The Packers changed their photo plans and will now include IR players in a rescheduled photo session, while Cutler’s story still has hot spots.)
What may have been innocuous days-in-the-lives of NFL teams and players became topics of media and water cooler discussion because of the instant effects of social media. It shows us again, the ramifications of a media tool if it’s not used knowledgeably and productively. It’s much like a misguided quote to a reporter but LOTS faster.
As I write, the first “controversy” over the pending NFL labor situation is now emerging in an erased tweet by Matt Hasselbeck directed toward Antonio Cromartie. With that in mind, it’s in the league’s and Player’s Association’s best interests to reinforce the rules of social media and its consequences when its used without thought. Once words are out there, even if you delete the post, the words live on somewhere on the Internet.
When you write, review your words, and be sure your message is what you intend, then hit SEND. Image management suggests Cutler should have gone directly home after he left Soldier Field instead of walking up steps on a supposedly gimpy knee. Owners and players can’t cry foul on a peer then say your organizations are united. Today, you are what you write, if not what you say and how you dress. Have fun with social media; inform us and entertain us, but use it responsibly.
Do you have other examples of recent events that grew bigger than life because of social media’s influence? Please share and I’ll share with my audience.
Public relations begins with customer service
I was reading through a list of “special” days created for feature calendars such as Chase’s Calendar of Events and Brownie Locks and on the latter’s website, came across something called “Customer Service Day” that was scheduled January 17.
While most of that date’s holiday mentions via traditional and social media focuses on that which honors the late civil rights leader, Martin Luther King, Jr., and reverentially so, I was surprised to see that someone thought the need to create a day specifically to recognize customer service. After all, shouldn’t Customer Service Day be celebrated everyday?
Showing your customers the finest service should always be Priority One when you consider your business’ public relations. Even if they haven’t spent a dime with you, clients, customers and those who might be should be respected and assisted. To not show personal consideration and thus, class, is to close the door on a current opportunity or one that may arise in the future. There are even ways to be courteous if you don’t want to work with someone – and yes, that happens.
Before you produce a news release or build a Facebook Business Page, be sure that your business has a foundation in place to build positive public relations. That happens the minute someone answers your phone, an email or walks through your door. Be kind, courteous and respectful. Quality customer service is the basis for good PR.
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