How athletes, brands use PR to control the message
Actor-slash-musician-slash-athlete. There have been many over the years; professional players have reimagined themselves as entertaining the masses beyond the field and court. But athletes as sportswriters?
Well, it’s the ultimate PR move: control the message. It’s becoming the norm, not just for athletes, but for brands associated with players and sports teams as well. If it were a sports stat, it would be time of possession, sometimes an indicator of who’s controlling the game. Here’s a look at those racking up the TOP minutes in the sports PR world:
— Last month, Derek Jeter launched The Players’ Tribune, a new online publication offering “unfiltered, honest and unique perspectives” direct from athletes. It solves the athlete’s challenge of speaking to several microphones in their face at the locker. Athletes feel poked, prodded, their words twisted. It also guarantees them that their narrative is heard. In 2013, Aaron Rogers gave 60 Minutes access to his inner sanctum; in turn, he asked that they include a discussion on the charity he was working with. CBS cut it. With Jeter’s publication — which I can see getting a broadcast partner down the road — athletes can escape the locker room without another “how does it feel?” question while also leveraging their good works or true feelings. With a chance to make their own statement, it’s the modern-day version of Jim McMahon’s headband. And posts on The Players’ Tribune aren’t just limited to one site: Blake Griffin’s post in The Players’ Tribune was picked up by every major sports outlet.
— Jeter’s publication comes on the heels of two major athlete stories being broken via byline in the last 18 months, both in Sports Illustrated: NBA star Jason Collins coming out and LeBron James coming home. The big PR question: did they have final cut of the stories? The opportunity to put back in or edit out things they might have told co-authors? Only the flacks involved will ever know. But with the degree of newsworthiness comes bigger outlets wanting to play ball. Seeing “exclusive” splashed across the page brings clickthroughs and sells magazines. As a sports flack, I’ve written byline pieces for athletes, both individually and through client-partners: it’s the perfect way to humanize the subject while organically weaving in a brand message.
— Two non-athletes that have succeeded tremendously in controlling their own messaging: Red Bull and, yes, the Redskins. Red Bull has its own studios and created its own hard-copy magazine with great distribution in Sunday dailies of major newspapers. Remember Felix Bumgartner’s space jump from last year? Like Nik Wallenda high-wire walks, it’s arguable it’s not sports. But with their massive following and controllable platforms, they quite possibly had the story of the year in our industry. Video was created, pushed and made every top-10 highlight and end-of-year roundup. As for the Redskins, they decided a couple of seasons ago they would limit the stories coming out of the front offices, instead deciding to do it themselves. Did they hear a backlash from beat reporters? Yep, but they bet on the hope that fans didn’t care who they got their news from. Recently, the team announced a content and marketing partnership with the Washington Times. The paper has denied a conflict issue, but for the Redskins, it’s a great PR move in a rough time for the organization.
Simply, the PR world has changed. From faxing journalists in hopes of news-and-notes section coverage to writing and editing articles and sending it out for media coverage, athletes and PR folk are now able to control the message.
Zack Smith is the vice president of consumer engagement/media relations at Taylor and can be found on Twitter at @SportsFlackZack.
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