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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Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

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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Posted in Communication, Rugby League, Strategy | No Comments »

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 »

Will Tiger Woods Lose Any Sponsors Over This Latest Incident?

December 1st, 2009

There has been a lot of talk about whether Tiger Woods will lose any sponsors over his bizarre accident.

At the moment he won’t. And nor should he. Right now, these rumours about his personal life are just that, rumours only until proven otherwise.

In any case, its not always easy for a sponsor to walk away from a contract. They have to execute an escape clause which usually involves the athlete bringing the sponsor into disrepute.

So what are the common escape clauses in personal endorsements? Here are the major ones.

  • Being charged or convicted of a crime.
  • A positive test to drugs.
  • Breaking the laws of the sporting body (in this case the PGA).
  • Engaging in conduct that is obscene, indecent, immoral or unprofessional.
  • Doing anything that restricts the ability of the brand to promote the athlete or diminishes the commercial benefits provided to the sponsor.
  • Becoming of unsound mind therefore unable to fulfil sponsorship duties.
  • Not maintaining your elitist position in your sport eg. losing your PGA Tour card.

There are a myriad of others clauses but these are the most common in any contract.

If you know anything about legal contracts, the aim of the game is to make things so black and white in writing that there can be no dispute about a breach.

Tiger would have a strong case against any sponsor who wanted to pull the plug over this news story. There are simply too many grey areas for a sponsor to successfully argue a breach.

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Posted in Media, Sponsorship, Strategy, Uncategorized, golf | 4 Comments »

Retrospect

November 24th, 2009

Australian cricketer Mitchell Johnson has revealed that personal dramas led to his Ashes meltdown.

At the time, I knew this was the case. Having worked with elite athletes I know that personal issues affect performance more than the public can ever imagine. Especially when those personal issues are played out in the media.

Some athletes can block it out. Some simply cannot. For Johnson, this was the first time his personal life was put in the spotlight. Not only that, he was in the middle of an Ashes Series in England where the tabloids a ruthless and the crowds spiteful. He was always going to struggle.

As a sports manager the best thing you can do for an athlete in this situation, is minimise the longevity of the issue in the media. You need to put the issue to rest and avoid anything that may prolong debate. And I don’t mean hiding under the covers. You need to give the media something to chew. It can be as simple as saying “this is the situation or facts” and “this is my position” and “this is how I’m going to handle it” and “I don’t have anything else to say until I take the next step.”

The media will respect this and treat the athlete a lot better than if they were to hide in the corner.

Minimising the longevity of the issue helps but it’s an external solution to what is an internal issue for the athlete. That’s where mentors come in.

Having one’s personal life thrown into the spotlight is nothing new. There are millions of people who have gone through the same experience. People who have survived and come out the other side. Your job as a manager is to find these people and ask one to speak with your athlete. A simple phonecall can make the world of difference.

When faced with a personal problem, people get so focussed on themselves that they feel like nobody can relate to them and what they are going through. Wrong. There are people out who have gone through the exact same thing and they are only too happy to offer their advice.

If you look at another cricketer Michael Clarke, he has Shane Warne as a mentor. Warne has dealt with fame for a long time and can duly offer sound advice to a younger Clarke in that area. A manager can only wear so many hats, sometimes a manager must seek mentors for an athlete. People that can better relate to what an athlete is going through.

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

Gimme 5!

November 20th, 2009

I thought I’d share a video link with you this post.

I first discovered Anthony Robbins in 2000 and I’ve since read a number of his books and attended a few live seminars.

I was never one for personal development material when I was younger but I’ve always had a natural thirst for excellence or wanting to be better. I think everyone does.

The biggest gift Anthony gave me was to believe in myself and dream big. I can honestly say his work has been a huge influence in the way I live life.

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

Andre “The Punisher” Agassi

November 16th, 2009

A lot has been said about Andre Agassi’s book. Whether you like the guy, or you don’t, or you were a fan, but aren’t now, you’ve got to admit that being honest about your deepest darkest secrets is no easy caper.

Since the book’s launch, Andre has been battered from pillar to post. He’s had support too. But the majority of feedback has been scathing. And little wonder. Some of the revelations warrant a negative response from sports administrators and current tennis role models. That’s to be expected.

But dig a little deeper and I think you’ll find a very troubled soul who has finally found peace with himself.

For years Andre was worried about other people’s expectations. He was worried about what his father thought of him. He was worried about what the media thought of him. He was worried about what his fans thought of him. I’m betting a lot of people can relate to this approval seeking behaviour. Well Andre was king of it. But no longer.

The message from Andre’s book is this; “This is the real me. You either like it or you don’t. Either way I don’t care but I hope you learn something from my mistakes.”

There is no doubt Andre’s brand has been dealt a savage blow, and Andre himself knew that was coming. More importantly for Andre is the fact he no longer bows to other people’s opinions, something that contributed to his struggles in the first place. He is now a free man and that’s way more important to him personally, than what you or I think.

Living life according to other people’s expectations and approval is a dangerous game that will leave you exhausted and without a sense of purpose. Andre made that mistake for a long time but it seems he’s treading his own path now.

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Posted in Client Relationship, Communication, Personal Development, Tennis | No Comments »

Winning

November 11th, 2009

Continuing the Tiger theme this week, I thought his 60 Minutes interview on Sunday night was extremely refreshing.

In the interview, Tiger confessed that ‘winning’ was the big motivation to his success and work ethic.

Winning drives most elite sportspeople but few admit it.

Maybe it’s an Australian thing. We expect our heroes to be humble and promote enjoyment as their main motivation. But let’s be honest. Winning is a major carrot for elite sportspeople.

You only have to look at Andre Agassi. He admits in his autobiography that he hated tennis. So what drove him? It certainly wasn’t ‘having fun’.

Now don’t get me wrong, fun plays a major role for most sportspeople, but fun alone doesn’t motivate an athlete to rise at 5:30AM and do 1000 sit-ups. Winning does.

And that’s why Tiger’s interview was refreshing. Winning shouldn’t be a dirty word. Australian’s more than any other nation like to win. Athletes themselves like to win. So let’s not sugar-coat the truth. There is nothing wrong with wanting to win. It’s why the Michael Jordan’s, Kelly Slater’s, Lance Armstrong’s and Tiger Woods’ of the world are on top.

They use the concept of winning to drive them to be better. Aint nothing wrong with that. Refreshing isn’t it?

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