The link above is to a great article in today’s NY Times regarding crisis management PR. I wholeheartedly agree that in this day and age, coping up to the crisis quickly and sincerely is the best option whenever possible. Tiger, BP, Toyota and Goldman Sachs all unsuccessfully tried to minimize their mistakes, blame others, cover up, etc. Eventually the truth comes out and the only way to minimize the damage is to own up to the truth. Further, it seems in all of these cases, either there was no strategy in place at all, or egomaniacs made decisions because they were in denial about the seriousness of the issue. Tiger had a press conference because eventually he had to do something, but he did it in a way that made him look insincere and without remorse. Same for Toyota, BP and Goldman Sachs. Regardless, if reaction to a crisis takes place too long after the crisis hits, it is like trying to stuff the genie back in the bottle. The public formulates its consensus quickly these days, and if a brand wants any role at all in influencing that consensus, it needs to move quickly and decisively.

Many of us have spent the last 12 months holding our breath, looking for signs that the sports economic landscape is beginning to return to normal. Highest ratings in Super Bowl history? Check. Upfronts went well? Yes. Consumer spending up a little? Perhaps. Things might be looking up. But in the athlete endorsement world, I’ve noticed signs that things will never be the same.

Rewind to the summer of 2008. Athletes were riding the economic wave that brought deals in multiple categories for even marginal all-star caliber athletes. Any time an athlete got hot, deals followed. And the hotter the athlete, the more leverage the agent had in negotiations with the potential sponsor. But by the next fall, athlete endorsements were dealt a 1-2 blow unlike any punch Mike Tyson ever landed. I refer to that double whammy as the “Tiger Recession.” I believe that the Tiger Recession will go down in sports business history as a 12-month span that forever changed the world of athlete endorsements.

The first blow of course was the economic crisis that began in the fall of ’08. The meltdown wiped out entire categories such as banking and autos from athlete portfolios. Advertising budgets were slashed. CMOs looking for quick budget cuts found endorsement deals an easy target. Expensive endorsement contracts dried up like Death Valley in August. One example: Two years ago, Vitaminwater boasted more than two dozen athletes on its roster. Today? Just a handful.

The second, and likely more permanent, blow came when the Tiger Woods scandal broke in November of 2009. Prior to that infamous Thanksgiving weekend, Woods sat at the mountaintop of athlete marketability. He was arguably the most marketable athlete of all time. He seemed untouchable. He was the standard bearer: champion, philanthropist, charismatic, family man. When his image came crashing down, and several of his sponsors ran for the hills, sponsors everywhere started to worry about the risk of associating their brands with such potentially high-profile falls from grace. The epilogue to the Woods mess came in December 2009, when TMZ announced plans to launch TMZ Sports. Athletes will be under scrutiny more than ever before. Top that with the LeBronathon, and you get completely new rules for athlete marketing.

Accenture was among the sponsors who dropped
Woods after reports of infidelity emerged.

As the ice begins to thaw, and sponsors are once again considering aligning with athletes to help increase the strength of their brands, it is foolhardy to assume things in the athlete marketing world will return to normal. Those of us engaged in athlete endorsement deals need to consider two key questions:

1. What will sponsors be looking for from their spokespeople?

2. What can athletes do to increase their marketability in the post-Tiger Recession world?

21st century endorsements

Because deals will remain few and far between as long as the economy sputters, it’s a buyer’s market. Expectations on spokespeople will increase, and sponsors are likely to expect more for less. During this year’s World Congress of Sports, Jackie Woodward of MillerCoors said it best: “Last year we were asking, ‘How much?’ This year we are asking, ‘How much do we get?’”

While Woodward was referring to sponsorships, the same questions are being asked regarding endorsements. During a recent pitch, a potential sponsor asked me to include an activation plan with my athlete proposal. We’ve always brainstormed activation plans with sponsors, but none has ever asked us to provide a complete activation plan ourselves. I believe this was a sign of things to come, and clearly implies much more onus on the part of the athletes and their agents to deliver more than image/likeness rights and a few appearances.

Athletes looking for deals should expect to deliver beyond a few production days. Here are the key elements of 21st century endorsement deals, and what athletes can do to deliver on those elements:

1. Shorter terms. Sponsors don’t want to get stuck with bad contracts any more than teams do. Expect more sponsor renewal options as well. Athletes will have to deliver results during the term to earn renewals.

2. Stronger morals clauses. They’ll have real teeth, allowing the sponsor an out any time an athlete is involved in controversy. Athletes interested in endorsements should embrace their role model status and deliver on it.

3. True spokesperson advocacy. Sponsors are looking for athletes who genuinely love their brands. Fit is key. Athletes need to advocate the brands, know their customers and understand their objectives.

4. Increased media obligations. Athletes have microphones in their faces after every game. Sponsors will look for more exposure through traditional media channels.

5. Authentic cause-marketing elements. Athletes need to engage in causes they genuinely feel passionate about.

6. Social media engagement. Facebook fans and Twitter followers are 21st century Q Scores. If athletes don’t have loyal, engaged and numerous fans in the social-media world, they’re not as valuable to sponsors.

7. Metrics. As marketers continue to receive more pressure to demonstrate ROI, athletes and their representatives will need to do the same. ROI can include Facebook impressions, tweets, clicks and direct sales.

8. Incentives. In addition to minimum guarantees, athletes will be incentivized. Flip is doing this now through their celebrity-branded cameras.

9. Connection with fan base. This may be the biggest lesson from the Le-Bronathon. Who are LeBron James’ fans now? Residents of Miami. He won’t be much help to sponsors in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles or Ohio any time soon. An athlete has to have an identifiable and loyal fan base. The broader the market reach and demographic base the better.

Do I believe endorsements are a thing of the past? Absolutely not. There’s no one more loyal than the fan of an athlete, and brands will always want to leverage that brand loyalty.

The tenets of athlete marketability remain the same: talent, success, integrity and charisma. To increase their marketability, athletes need to do more than win championships and appear in all-star games. They need to engage in genuine community work, embrace both traditional and digital media, and partner with brands they believe in. And they need to show sponsors with enthusiasm, professionalism and results. Those athletes will earn the lion’s share of endorsement opportunities. The rest will be sitting on the bench, wondering where all of the deals went.

Bill Sanders (bsanders@bdasports.com) is chief marketing officer at BDA Sports Management and author of the blog “An Athlete Marketing Guy” at www.sportsmarketingblog.net.

Size up your customer, and deliver something they'll love.

While in Taipei last week to work on the Yao Ming Charity Tour, I hopped in a Taipei cab to get to a meeting. I sat in the front, while two of my Chinese colleagues sat in the back. The cab was spotless. The cleanest cab I’ve ever seen outside of London. The driver, smartly dressed in a coat and tie, sized me up and pressed a few buttons on his entertainment system. “Rush Hour” began to play on the 2 small flat screens he had in the cab. But not at the beginning. It was the classic scene where Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker dance to “War”. I was surprised, and the cabbie cracked a million dollar smile.

Moments later, in very broken English, the cabbie asked “You like rock and roll?” Uh, yeah cabbie. It’s what I live for. He presses another button or two, and “Satisfaction” is cranking. This is some cab ride!

The cabbie then starts talking to my friends in the back. They explain to me that this cabbie’s goal is to make his customers happy, even if it is just for a few moments while they ride in his cab. He sizes each customer up, and takes a guess on what kind of movies or music they might like. He says he is right 90% of the time. I ask if all Taipei cabs are like this. Apparently not. Just this one.

I immediately realize that literally everyone can do effective marketing. This guy loves his job. He wants to make his customers happy. He reads them, and takes a shot at delivering what they like. He would take the same approach if he was a CEO or an elevator operator. The guy is a genius, and I was lucky enough to ride in the best taxi cab on the planet.

I think it is big not only because of who is available, but more importantly where it looks like they are going. The buzz is the result of a superstar free agent class mixed with cap space in the biggest media markets in the country. I don’t think we’d all be nearly as glued to ESPN.com if the cap space was in Toronto, Minnesota and Memphis.

Truth is, I’m hoping LBJ ends up in NY, Chicago or LA. Sports leagues are built on big-city dynasties. The Yankees. The Cowboys. The Lakers. These are the dynasties. And since I feed my family through the popularity of the NBA, I do have a personal stake in all of this. I’d love to see LBJ come to LA, where the battle between Kobe and LeBron would be waged in my hometown. But ultimately I think the league really needs the Knicks to get back in the mix. New York is the heart and soul of basketball, and we’re all paying the price as long as the Knicks aren’t a championship caliber team. LeBron in NYC is the tide that lifts all boats. I think if he ends up there, it carries the NBA for the next 10 years. So come on LBJ, hit the road and head to the Big Apple. The league needs it’s cornerstone franchise to matter again.

But a funny thing happened to me during the show. Like thousands of other fans in the Bowl that night, I was armed with my iPhone. I snapped a few pictures throughout the show. When JT started “Fire and Rain”, I turned on my iPhone’s video camera. From my 2nd section box seat, you could barely see JT on the phone. But I wanted to capture the moment, and share it with my Facebook friends.

Halfway through the song, the dude in the bright yellow jacked tapped me on the shoulder. “I’m sorry sir, no video cameras”. Seriously??? Still?? I was floored that such an archaic policy was still in place. It made me realize that the “no videos” policy is likely in place in countless venues across the country.

I remember when consumer grade video and digital cameras went mainstream. Sports and concert venues wouldn’t allow them. Anyone caught with a digital camera at a Laker game would lose the camera for the night. I guess these policies were put in place to “protect” ancillary revenue streams such as DVD sales and photo licensing. Even then, I thought it was narrow minded. But today? It’s flat out stupid.

Think of the pros and cons. I guess JT and Carole King could be concerned that my iPhone video would cannibalize their DVD and HBO sales. That thinking is so 10 years ago. Conversely, if I did post my little iPhone video of “Fire and Rain”, my 300 Facebook friends might have seen it. And some may have bought tickets to see the show when it came to their town. Others might have bought a few JT albums on Amazon. And if everyone like me with an iPhone had taped Fire and Rain, how many of their friends would have seen it? And bought concert tickets? And reminded people just how talented JT and his old writing partner still are?

It was over 30 years ago that the Grateful Dead bucked conventional wisdom by embracing bootleg recordings. They famously welcomed it, and sat people with recording devices right up front. Those licensed recordings helped spread the word that the Grateful Dead were a “must see” band. The Dead also allowed for unlicensed productions and sales of Dead branded memorabilia. Again, the Dead allowed their raving fans to spread the word. Their popularity, to a great extent, was directly attributable to unlicensed recordings and merchandise. IN THE 1970′s!!

Forty years later venues like the Hollywood Bowl, and artists like JT and Carole King, just don’t get it. This shouldn’t be a surprise I guess, given that this is the same industry that fought digital downloads to protect their bloated CD margins. An outdated desire to protect dwindling DVD, CD and broadcast revenues, they completely miss an opportunity to allow their most die-hard fans to become advocates. If you think of the thousands of fans who will catch this tour, and the hundreds of thousands of fans that they reach through their social media, a massive opportunity is being ignored. Sadly, JT, Carole King and the Hollywood Bowl are stuck in the past.

Another point to consider, and this is something we tell our clients all of the time: athletes are not paid just to perform on the field. Team revenue comes from ticket sales, sponsorship sales and broadcast revenue. Those revenue streams are not only dependent upon the performance of the athletes, but on their character as well. Take a look at the turnaround in Portland. Their philosophy is “we’d rather lose with good guys than win with bad guys”. And by committing to players with character, they won back the community and now the team is winning again.

As a die-hard Pittsburgh Steelers fan, the Big Ben thing has hit close to home. Luckily I’ve been able to shield my 9-year old son from the fall of his hero. But Big Ben was one of his role models. I didn’t plan it that way, but watching Ben play has made my son a raving fan. He’d be crushed if he knew what happened. So even though I don’t like it, Big Ben is a role model. At least in my house. A failed role model, but a role model regardless.

So my take is, whether they like it or not, pro athletes absolutely are role models. They’re being watched by the fans, especially the kids. They need to accept that fact and act accordingly. As you can see in the cases of Big Ben and Tiger, fans no longer accept an athlete only for his talent. They expect character as well.

Pro teams do all they can to appeal to the masses. Variable ticket pricing, variety of food choices, inoffensive broadcasters, the list goes on and on. Teams are apolitical, hate controversy and try to be all things to all people. When your goal is to sell 20,000 (or 40,000 or 80,000) tickets to each home game, the last thing you can afford to do is offend anyone.

The same goes for players. Although some (but not all) high profile athletes got behind Barack Obama in 2008, most want to appear neutral when it comes to divisive issues such as religion or politics. If the goal is to attract the family friendly sponsors of the world, sports icons stay away from anything that might offend anyone.

Which is what made this news a double-double. Not only did the Suns make a very bold statement by deciding to wear the Los Suns unis on Wednesday and letting the world know why they did it, but their superstar MVP point guard went on PTI and very clearly expressed his point of view. Steve Nash, in no uncertain terms, backed his team and expressed his outrage at the new law. When was the last time a superstar athlete took a position on a lightning rod issue like this? Aside from Muhammad Ali protesting Vietnam, I really can’t think of another example. If it is true that roughly half the population of Arizona supports the new law, then the Suns and Steve Nash know full well that their positions are going to upset a lot of people. Yet, they went public anyway.

At worst, Ben is guilty of something unforgivable. No means no. We may never know if that’s the case or not, but if so then he’s lost me for good.

What isn’t in question is the fact that he is guilty of very bad judgment. Athletes are paid millions not just to perform on the field. They are also paid to help sell tickets and sponsorships, increase fan loyalty and improve the image of his/her team locally, regionally, nationally and globally. The Steelers brand is one of the most respected brands in all of pro sports. Ben represents that brand. As the starting QB, he carries a bigger responsibility than anyone else in the organization. No one-not the coach, not the Rooney’s-no one is a higher profile representative of a team than its star player.

Ben is also guilty of completely ignoring the golden rule of 21st century sports: we live in an age of transparency. The truth will come out eventually, and the public will eventually find out exactly what kind of person you really are. Tiger Woods is just the biggest example of this, but he is far from the only example. Big Ben cannot walk into any room (or bar) without every single person knowing he is there. When he arrives, he should know that practically everyone in that room is carrying around a cell phone equipped with a camera. If Ben is drunk, if he is hitting on a girl, if he gets in a fight, it will be front page news before sunrise.  Athletes must realize this. Those that ignore it are doomed for the same fate that Ben is now facing.

What now? For the Steelers, I hope the rumors that they are shopping Ben aren’t true. He’s still one of the 5 best QB’s in the league, and the best QB the Steelers have had since Terry Bradshaw. I love the team’s commitment to character. These aren’t the Raiders. But I also think people make mistakes, and should be given an opportunity to redeem themselves. The team needs Ben and Ben needs the Steelers. If Ben is sincerely remorseful, if Coach Tomlin can look Ben in the eyes and trust that he’s learned from this, he deserves another shot. The fans deserve another shot as well. It could be another 20 years before we find another franchise QB. I’m having Kordell Stewart flashbacks, and I don’t like them.

As for Ben, I recommend he really look in the mirror and get to the bottom of his self destructive behaviors. I deal with pro athletes for a living, and I know most of them are adrenaline junkies. Those that get in trouble often do it in the off season when things slow down and there is no game night rush to feed off of. In Ben’s case, I think it runs deeper. I really thought he would wake up after the motorcycle accident. I ignored the first sexual assault charge, because I know athletes can be targets for women trying to get rich quick. I figured if there was anything to it, charges would have been filed and Ben would have his day in court. This is his third strike, so there is clearly something there he needs to address. I also suggest he not take his fans for granted. Over the first 6 weeks of the season, Ben should engage in the community like never before. He should get in touch with at-risk kids and remind himself how damn lucky he is. He should make himself available to the media, using it as a channel to demonstrate some growth and remorse. The rebuilding process will take time, but as I said: it is a transparent world. If Ben is sincere, we will know it. If not, perhaps that top 10 draft pick isn’t such a bad idea after all….

We’ve created a formula to help determine athlete marketability. It is:

Athlete Marketability=(Talent+Success)+(Integrity+Charisma)

If this formula is accurate, then clearly Tiger’s marketability has taken a hit of epic proportions. This is no small story, as we appear to be seeing the biggest fall from grace in the history of modern sports. I know absolute statements like that are often considered hyperbole, but in this case I don’t think I am exaggerating. If in time he gets back to dominating on the golf course, puts in his share of public apologies and focuses on real and significant charity work (see: Lance Armstrong), Tiger may regain some of his lost luster. But a return to his previous status as king of the endorsement world appears very unlikely.

In the wake of scandals, endorsers often forever lose opportunities with family and kid-centric categories such as fast food, cereals, soft drinks and candy, etc. Kinder bailed on Kobe pretty quickly in the wake of his mess. Kellogg’s dumped Michael Phelps. Now Gatorade appears to be backing off of Tiger. Apparel brands (such as Nike) and adult-focused brands (such as Gillette) tend to pull back on advertising until the dust settles, but they often stick with their spokesmen as the damage is less severe among their target demos. Some have even argued that Tiger’s scandal HELPS him with companies like Gillette-showing that Tiger isn’t perfect, making him just like the rest of us. I don’t really buy that, as spokespeople are paid to endorse products because they AREN’T like us. They are supposed to set the standards that the rest of us aspire to. Besides, Gillette’s tagline (“The best a man can get”) is a little awkward given Tiger’s mess.

The impact a scandal can have on marketability also depends on the type of scandal and the profession of the spokesperson. Actors and musicians seem to get a pass on sex scandals in the long run, as Hugh Grant has demonstrated. When I see posters for his latest romantic comedy, I still see Divine Brown in Sarah Jessica Parker’s place. But apparently, studios and their audiences have moved on. And as we’ve seen with Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian, the sex tape is now apparently a pretty good career move for women in Hollywood who want instant fame in our reality-obsessed society.

Athletes generally get a pass on sex scandals, especially when they keep on winning. This may not be the case with Tiger, as he was held in much higher regard than most. However, extra-marital affairs, run-ins with prostitutes and having children out of wedlock barely make the headlines unless the athlete involved is a superstar. Politicians and religious leaders don’t get such a pass. I don’t expect Eliot Spitzer to win elections anytime soon, and it is likely that Bill Clinton will always be remembered first and foremost for the famous blue dress.

Drug scandals are generally much tougher on athletes than they are on other celebrities. Politicians can bounce back with a stay in rehab. If Marion Barry could bounce back from his video taped crack pipe encounter, then I suppose almost any politician can. Actors, musicians and super-models seem to almost get a complete pass on drug and alcohol issues.  Athlete images however are rocked badly when drug scandals surface. This is primarily due to the fact that an athlete’s physical performance is their calling card. We revere athletes because of their physical accomplishments. When athletes achieve those accomplishments with the enhancement or influence of chemicals, we view them as frauds. Major league baseball may survive the steroid scandals, but the Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire will not.

Fortunately, bigotry, anti-Semitism, gay bashing and other forms of race, gender and religious bias seem to be almost impossible to recover from regardless of profession. Such tirades completely derailed the careers of Michael Richards, Mel Gibson and Isaiah Washington.

My takeaway from the Tiger scandal? It simply reinforces something that has become blatantly apparent in recent years: we live in the age of transparency. Now more than ever, the truth comes out. Whether it is DNA evidence or a video-equipped iPhone, the truth is revealed. Celebrities are especially vulnerable to 24/7 surveillance and there is no avoiding it. Perhaps in this environment, being a fraud is the worst offense of all.

As a “glass half full” person, I think this is a good thing. It forces icons to be authentic. If you are a racist, an adulterer, a junkie, a kleptomaniac or a nut-job, you will be exposed. If you sell yourself as the “all-American guy” and you are not, the truth will come out and you will be viewed as a fraud. In my mind, that is the biggest lesson from both Kobe and Tiger’s incidents. Prior to his mess in Denver, Kobe was considered the next-MJ. Brands loved him, kids loved him, everyone loved him. He appeared to have it all together. But when you are a “happily married family guy” who gets accused of rape, suddenly you are the emperor with no clothes.  His fall from grace led to Tiger’s rise. Now the throne is empty for the next king of the mountain.

(Another thought: if a guy wants to fool around, why get married? No one held a gun to Tiger’s head and said “hey marry this gorgeous Swedish blond girl or else”. There was no shotgun wedding, as he and his wife were married almost four years before their first child was born. Even if there was an unplanned pregnancy, these days an icon can have a child out of wedlock without tarnishing his image. LeBron James, one of the other faces on the Mount Rushmore of athlete icons, had a baby out of wedlock and no one batted an eyelash.)

My advice to athlete-icons, celebrities, politicians, or just about anyone else who cares about their image: Be Authentic. Whoever you are, be just that and the public will accept you. If you try to manufacture a false image in order to win elections or secure endorsement deals, you will be exposed as a fraud and you will likely never recover. Hats off to Andre Agassi, who took matters into his own hands and admitted to a pretty nasty drug habit. Just weeks later, no one is talking about it and Andre is probably just as popular as he has ever been. But if some call-girl came out and told the story? Andre’s image would be in ruins.  With ubiquitous cameras and 24/7 news channels, we are all being watched. We live in a time of authenticity and the age of transparency. And I think that is a good thing.

Apple continues do to something better than anyone: they OWN the consumer experience. iPhone does what you need it to do, but it is a joy to use. I can’t put it down! I admit I’m spending a bit of time on fun stuff such as Tap Tap and Topple. But more than that, there are genuine tools that help me get things done better than the Berry did.

I say all of this because although I would never bet against Google (they too get the importance of customer experience), I do not believe they are taking the right path by knocking iPhone. People have tried this before and failed. Apple users are extremely loyal and passionate-they’re “raving fans”. Google won’t convert iPhone users.

They may however convert current Blackberry customers thinking about switching to iPhone. My biggest reservation was not the keyboard, it was AT&T. So far so good, but I was nervous about that switch. I have friends in the telecom business who feel the Android will eventually outsell the iPhone. Perhaps they are right. I do believe Android will be a huge hit. But from marketing terms, taking direct aim at a single competitor kind of corners you into being compared to that brand. I think Android would be better served establishing itself as a stand alone superstar, not as an alternate to the iPhone. iPhone has an amazing head start, loyal fans and thousands of aps. Why compare yourself to iPhone? There’s plenty of room at the table for Android to succeed on its own.