Risky Business

March 5th, 2010

It’s hard to ignore the Brendan Fevola / Lara Bingle saga. It’s been dominating the headlines this week. And with little wonder. News editors go to bed at night dreaming for stories like this one.

Some people are curious about the timing of this story, given celebrity publicist Max Markson only signed Lara Bingle a week ago. It’s ridiculous to think Markson had anything to do with this story. But the whole thing does tick a few boxes from his perspective.

Firstly it gets Bingle in the news, increasing her public profile and reinforcing her celebrity status (not that she does anything, but it doesn’t matter in this day in age, plenty of people earn a buck from simply being famous). Markson knows out of sight = out of mind.

Secondly, the story rightly portrays Bingle as the victim. The victim card is incredible powerful with the Australian public. Most people don’t have a lot of empathy for Bingle. Rightly or wrongly she is regarded as a home wrecker and a spoilt princess. This story rightly allows her the victim card and that can go a long way to repairing her image.

Thirdly, it opens up a bidding war for Bingle to tell her story, cha ching.

These are all good results for Bingle’s manager. If earning a buck is a manager’s sole goal (which often it can be) then Markson is winning, winning ugly.

Chasing the quick buck is easy. However, turning a client’s brand around to attract quality sponsors is a totally different ball game. It will be interesting to see which game manager and client decide to play moving forward.

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Posted in Client Relationship, Communication, Media | 2 Comments »

The Fine Line

March 3rd, 2010

The Australian public are a fickle bunch. We want our sport stars to walk a tightrope. And if they step off the line, boy are we disappointed.

If a representative of the Australian public sat down with an athlete, they would give the athlete this advice:

  • Be the best BUT don’t tell everyone you’re the best
  • Stand up for yourself BUT don’t be a bully
  • Have a wholesome image BUT don’t forget to have a personality
  • Be confident BUT don’t be arrogant
  • Take risks BUT don’t make mistakes
  • Be a team player BUT stand out
  • Be charitable BUT make it a charity I’m interested in
  • Be available to the media BUT don’t overexpose yourself
  • Speak well in interviews BUT don’t be a robot
  • Have an interesting life story BUT don’t bring out the skeletons in your closet
  • Attract advertisers and bring money into your sport BUT don’t sell my kids sugary foods
  • Push yourself & train hard BUT don’t get injured

I could go on but I think you get the point.

The athletes that can follow this impossible advice are the ones rewarded with the popularity and sponsorship. Think Pat Rafter or Ian Thorpe for example.

The problem is most sportspeople can’t walk this fine line because it’s just too bloody hard.

C’mon Australia, let’s be less judgemental about our heroes.

It would be very boring if every athlete went by the rulebook when it came to conduct on and off the field. We want variety and a few characters. Heroes and villains. That’s one reason I love sport so much. It’s real. And in the real world, the people are real. Cut them a little slack.

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Coming Out of the Woods

February 19th, 2010

The sporting media is at the ready for the Tiger Woods press conference tomorrow.

Tiger will obviously have a prepared statement, although I do hope he speaks from the heart and not a sheet of paper. The public will appreciate an honest and genuine Woods as opposed to a commercially sensitive scripted robot Woods.

Honestly, I really expect Tiger to present himself well and win back some fans or at least start the healing process.

Some PR experts are slamming Tiger’s management group for not allowing questions, but if you think about it, a Q&A would create a circus. Tiger has a message he wants to get out and the best way to control that message is to stop at questions.

The only messages you will read in the newspapers the next day are Tiger’s statements about his remorse and his comeback to golf as opposed to what club Elin was hitting his car with.

From Tiger’s point of view, the whole world now knows his story. He regards the complexities of this story to be private / part of his personal life. The only thing left to do is apologise, rebuild and move on.

As a fan of Tiger, I’m not interested in the gritty details of his scandal, I’m interested in what he’s doing to make amends, to be a better person. I want him to hold himself accountable, acknowledge he let down a lot of people including the sponsors who supported him. And I want to see genuine humility and an effort through action to rebuild the trust with the public.

That’s just me. The media on the other hand, they have a million questions they want answers for. Time will tell if they get those answers.

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Listen First, Speak Second

February 17th, 2010
Listen First, Speak Second
It’s amazing how many sales people rush into their sales pitch expecting to deliver what they think the other person wants to hear. When in reality, simply sitting back and listening first gives you the ultimate upper hand.
I see this all the time in business. Because sales meetings can be nerve racking, most salespeople will jump straight into talking about their product or service because it makes them feel comfortable. Problem is, you’ve assumed what the other person wants hear and you’re probably way off the mark.
It’s a bit like the telephone sales rep that calls you with a long sales pitch and THEN asks you about your personal needs. You lost me at hello.
I know this advice sounds so obvious but you would be surprised at how many people make this mistake, particularly in athlete management.
If I meet with a client who wants representation, I can assume they want me to get them endorsements. Alternatively I can simply ask them want they want from me. Sometimes the answer back is not so obvious. I then tailor my discussion to their feedback. Suddenly I’m different to every other manager they have met with.
The only way to get someone to understand you is to understand them first.It’s amazing how many sales people rush into their sales pitch expecting to deliver what they think the other person wants to hear. When in reality, simply sitting back and listening first gives you the ultimate upper hand.

It’s amazing how many sales people rush into their sales pitch expecting to deliver what they think the other person wants to hear. When in reality, simply sitting back and listening first gives you the ultimate upper hand.

I see this all the time in business.

Because sales meetings can be nerve racking, most salespeople will jump straight into talking about their product or service because it makes them feel comfortable. Problem is, they’ve assumed what the other person wants hear and they’re probably way off the mark.

It’s a bit like the telephone sales rep that calls you with a long sales pitch and THEN asks you about your personal needs. They lost you at hello, right?

I know this advice sounds so obvious but you would be surprised at how many people make this mistake, particularly in athlete management.

If I meet with a client who wants representation, I can assume they want me to get them endorsements. Alternatively I can simply ask them want they want from me. Sometimes the answer back is not so obvious. I then tailor my discussion to their feedback. Suddenly I’m different to every other manager they have met with.

The only way to get someone to understand you is to understand them first.


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Posted in Communication, Personal Development, Strategy | No Comments »

Crossroads

February 15th, 2010
“A lot of people think I’m cocky, and I think cocky can be cute. Being arrogant is totally different. I’ve learned that now. If cocky is when, before someone throws you a pitch, you think you’re gonna hit it, then yeah, I’m cocky. Arrogance is talking about it in the dugout all day.” – John Mayer

Mayer should heed his own advice. Because “talking about it in the dugout” is exactly what has caused the singer his latest media crisis; an explosive tell all interview courtesy of Playboy magazine. http://news.ninemsn.com.au/entertainment/1011527/myer-apologises-breaks-down-on-stage
Mayer’s interview is filled with explosive quotes for the tabloids but the real question is why on earth was Mayer in talks with Playboy in the first place?
Everyone knows Mayer has a history of kiss and tell. Sitting down with Playboy magazine was always going to lead to trouble.
Ok I get it. Mayer has an album to promote. His record agency appoint a PR firm (external or internal) to put the bait out – John is available to talk about his new album, who’s interested? Playboy put their hand up. The rest is history.
When a PR company go all out in the pursuit of publicity they go for quantity not necessarily quality. You see, PR agencies are judged by how many times a logo appears or a word is mentioned. It’s hard to knock back media requests when publicity alone is the goal.
This can lead to some dangerous traps for celebrities. It gives certain media access to your client, media you otherwise would never consider.
It’s difficult to avoid such PR plans by sponsors, so you’ve got to rely on solid media training for your client.
If was preparing John Mayer for an interview with Playboy I would have said “Now John, the magazine is likely to bring up A, B, C. Ideally they want you to talk about X, Y, Z. What I want you to do is stick with 1, 2, 3. If you can’t do that, then I’ll kick your ass. Got it?”
You can’t always hide from sections of the media, one day you’ll come face to face so it’s best to be prepared.

“A lot of people think I’m cocky, and I think cocky can be cute. Being arrogant is totally different. I’ve learned that now. If cocky is when, before someone throws you a pitch, you think you’re gonna hit it, then yeah, I’m cocky. Arrogance is talking about it in the dugout all day.” – John Mayer

Mayer should heed his own advice. Because “talking about it in the dugout” is exactly what has caused the singer his latest media crisis; an explosive tell all interview courtesy of Playboy magazine.

Mayer’s interview is filled with explosive quotes for the tabloids but the real question is why on earth was Mayer in talks with Playboy in the first place?

Everyone knows Mayer has a history of kiss and tell. Sitting down with Playboy magazine was always going to lead to trouble.

Ok I get it. Mayer has an album to promote. His record agency appoint a PR firm (external or internal) to put the bait out – John is available to talk about his new album, who’s interested? Playboy put their hand up. The rest is history.

When a PR company go all out in the pursuit of publicity they go for quantity not necessarily quality. You see, PR agencies are judged by how many times a logo appears or a word is mentioned. It’s hard to knock back media requests when publicity alone is the goal.

As a manager, this can lead to some dangerous traps for your celebrity clients. It gives certain people or publications access to your client, media you would otherwise never consider.

It’s difficult to avoid these situations, so you’ve got to rely on solid media training for your client.

If was preparing John Mayer for an interview with Playboy I would have said “Now John, the magazine is likely to bring up A, B, C. I don’t want you talking about A, B, C. I want you to stick with X, Y, Z. If you can’t do that, then I’ll kick your ass. Got it?”

You can’t always hide from sections of the media, one day you’ll come face to face so it’s best to be prepared.

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Posted in Client Relationship, Communication, Media, Sponsorship, Strategy | No Comments »

Wiki-fied

February 4th, 2010
I’m surprised with this week’s attack on celebrity agent Max Markson over his attempt to edit a client’s profile on Wikipedia.
“I changed and deleted a lot of things that I didn’t like, being the good spin doctor and manager that I am,” Markson said.
The attacks have come from people who don’t have wiki profiles, who don’t understand what it’s like to have an online profile edited and maintained by strangers. Imagine that for a second. I’m betting these people would be on wiki editing their profiles quicker than you can type QWERTY.
It’s easy to criticise Markson, but I’m pretty sure you’d want him to do the same if he was your manager.
I’ve long monitored the wiki profiles of my clients. As a manager, I can’t always control what the newspapers or magazines say, but I can control wiki so of course I’m going to use that to my client’s advantage.
C’mon you do the same.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/entertainment/sydney-confidential/the-internets-in-a-spin-over-naomi-robson/story-e6frewz0-1225826502872

I’m surprised with this week’s attack on celebrity agent Max Markson over his attempt to edit a client’s profile on Wikipedia.

“I changed and deleted a lot of things that I didn’t like, being the good spin doctor and manager that I am,” Markson said.

The attacks have come from people who don’t have wiki profiles, who don’t understand what it’s like to have an online profile edited and maintained by strangers. Imagine that for a second. I’m betting these people would be on wiki editing their profiles quicker than you can type QWERTY.

It’s easy to criticise Markson, but I’m pretty sure you’d want him to do the same if he was your manager.

I’ve long monitored the wiki profiles of my clients. As a manager, I can’t always control what the newspapers or magazines say, but I can control Wiki so of course I’m going to use that to my client’s advantage.

That aside, Markson is laughing right now. All this free PR for his clients online web-based program, The Naomi Show – LoveLife, before it launches. Brilliant.

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Posted in Client Relationship, Communication, Media, Strategy | 3 Comments »

Tennis, Cricket, TV and Crowds

January 27th, 2010

The tennis is pulling the crowds, but struggling for TV viewers, meanwhile cricket is doing the exact opposite, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

This is an easy one to solve.

When choosing a sport to watch on TV, people look for an emotional investment that goes beyond the need to be ‘entertained’.

Most of the Australian Open coverage features non Australians and although they’re the best in the world, it’s hard to get emotionally vested in the outcome. We’ll flick to the cricket subconsciously because simply put, Australia is playing, suddenly we have someone or something to really barrack for.

So why are cricket crowds down then?

Cricket doesn’t attract new fans to games, it’s the same people every summer going through the turnstiles. It’s a mix of backyard, grade, park and retired cricketers who love the game. The problem is these people are the same people who attended the Twenty/20 Big Bash recently. And anyone who has been to a Twenty/20 game will tell you, it’s hard to go back and sit through a one day international after the fly by the seat of your pants of Twenty/20.

Cricket already knows how to capture TV eyeballs and bring people through the gates, it’s called Twenty/20. Cricket needs to tweak the packaging of Twenty/20 to meet the needs of broadcasters, advertisers, players and fans. Get the formula right and cricket won’t have to worry about crowd figures.

As for Tennis, it’s more difficult. It needs to produce more home grown talent, that we know, but it also needs more heroes and more villains, players to hate, players to love. Only then will it attract more TV viewers.

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How to Tame a Troublemaker

January 22nd, 2010

The Daily Telegraph has revealed that senior Sydney Roosters players confronted troublemaker and new recruit Todd Carney in highly emotional meeting over the Christmas break.

Is this the first time Todd Carney has seriously been held accountable by his teammates? It looks that way on the outside.

Now I’m not suggesting Carney’s former club the Canberra Raiders didn’t try to reign in their star prodigy, they did, but there is a big difference between being suspended and losing the respect and trust of your peers.

Look around at any football club with a troublemaker. You’ll often find that the troublemaker is the leader of the pack or someone that has the natural ability to influence others. These troublemakers are nearly always top blokes and they befriend teammates easily with a larrikin personality. It’s incredible tough for anyone within the team to stand up to this person and tell them to seriously pull their socks up.

Sometimes the coach or the captain will put their foot down, but often it’s without the support of the rest of the team who don’t want to lose the friendship of the troublemaker. As you can imagine this creates a siege mentality and only disrupts the harmony of the team.

To tame a troublemaker you need all your senior players to unite and put that person on notice. It’s the only way.

It seems the Sydney Roosters understand this and have rolled the dice. The ball is now in Carney’s court, and only time will tell if he truly respects those around him.

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Who Wants to Be An Athlete?

December 14th, 2009

Collingwood boss Eddie McGuire fears AFL stars are becoming easy targets after one of his players was allegedly king-hit in an unprovoked street attack.

It’s not uncommon for elite sportsman to be targets in public. I’ve spent a lot of time in public places with high profile athletes and most of the attention is positive, if a little overbearing.

On the negative side, a couple years ago, I went to a bar with an athlete. This was a weeknight after a long day of sponsor commitments and the athlete felt like a beer to unwind before retiring to his hotel room. We only stayed for two drinks but that was enough time to attract trouble.

First it was happy snaps. Some tipsy office workers wanting photos. Next it was two drunk guys who proceeded to talk in your face as opposed to at your face. Next came the unwanted female attention with some direct and rather disgusting language. And finally it was a group of drunk guys who all of a sudden became experts on my athlete’s sport and started to criticise and hurl insults. We didn’t react. Instead we got out of there, but that didn’t stop one of the guys pushing the athlete whilst yelling “you think you’re better than us?”

I think that last statement sums up the feeling amongst the troublemakers. These people need to bring others down to feel important. And there are plenty of them out there. Eddie has a point.

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Tiger Woods’ Big Lesson

December 4th, 2009

Does everyone have a right to their own privacy? Absolutely but the game changes when you’re in the spotlight.

I’m not going to excuse the behaviour of Tiger Woods. His transgressions are morally and ethically wrong. But is it really our business?

The public have this week reconfirmed their insatiable appetite for drama and scandal involving high profile people.

The wake up call for Tiger and every high profile athlete around the world is obvious. The lines between athlete and celebrity are blurred and have been for a while now. These days people are not only interested in how you perform your talent, but they are interested in how you live your life.

Sometimes this sucks, but its reality.

One prominent Australian who can probably relate to what Tiger Woods is going through is former NRL player and media personality Matthew Johns. Earlier this year, Johns was hammered in the Australian media for an incident that happened years ago. By the time the public put their swords away, the common feeling towards Johns was one of remorse. Looking back, the majority of people thought he was hard done by. Yes the same people who at the time poured petrol on the media’s fire.

The media know the public are gagging for these kind of scandals. So from now on, they’re not going to sit around and wait for someone to kiss and tell. They’re going to chase it. And chase it hard.

Athletes beware. Your private life is someone else’s gateway to a big pay day. Michael Phelps learnt that last year and now its Tiger’s turn.

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Posted in Communication, Media, Uncategorized, golf | 2 Comments »

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