Tag Archives: sports

Sports and Social Media…Why it’s Good PR

If you spent any time around the television (or your laptop) this weekend, you most likely were glued to the NFL Divisional Playoffs. One game in particular had my attention… The New York Giants versus the Green Bay Packers (cue NFL Films music).

Being a huge fan of G-Men, I was on the edge of my seat the whole game. However, it was one play that showed why social media is a great companion for sports broadcasts. With the Giants leading 3-0 in the first quarter, Packers receiver Greg Jennings apparently fumbled the football after a catch. Game referee Bill Leavy went to the replay booth to review it. Leavy decided that it wasn’t a fumble, despite the game broadcast showing multiple angles that the ball was coming out. Continue reading

Rashard Mendenhall: Shut Yo Mouth!

Two years ago I was talking to an executive of an NFL franchise. Twitter was just blowing up and I counseled him that the team should be harnessing their players’ burgeoning interests in getting on the social media tool as a means of connecting with fans.

Set the tone with your employees, teach them how to use it, and you’ll potentially have a quality brand ambassador.

His response to me was, “There’s no way in hell we’re letting our players on Twitter.”

And I thought, “Man, he doesn’t get it. He has no choice. His players will be on, and he’ll have lost the battle before it even begins.”

All of this brings us to the case of Rashard Mendenhall, the talented yet troubled Pittsburgh Steelers running back. Continue reading

Team Building and Bonding

I’ll be the first to admit, I am always skeptical about team building and bonding things. Many public relations agencies have their methods of team bonding, from purge days to beer Fridays. Being part of a team is integral to working at an agency. Got to have trust right?

Now I’ve been through my fair share of team building exercises over the years, from ropes courses to stupid scavenger hunts where you have to go into a diner and just say “burgermeat,” but recently I encountered the most amazing team building exercise – one that I will back 100% and recommend all agencies get involved in…Intramural Sports! Continue reading

Maximizing Your Superbowl Investment

With just about two months before Super Bowl XLV (or the “Big Game” if you don’t have the promotional rights to say Super Bowl), brand plans for Dallas-week are in full swing. Countless companies will launch new products and campaigns because of the heightened media commitment and fan interest. With so many companies crowding the marketplace, brands often use celebrities/athletes to differentiate themselves and get noticed. Here are several tips to accomplish those goals at the Super Bowl:

1. Know Your Milestones…
A brand can’t just go and hire any celebrity as their endorser, they have to be relevant. So who’s relevant at the Super Bowl? Well, this year it’s being played in Dallas so the marketability of former Cowboys greats like Emmitt Smith, Troy Aikman, Deion Sanders, coach Jimmy Johnson, Moose Johnston and others increase. Also, Continue reading

PRBC Sports PR Hall of Fame: One-Liners

Welcome, welcome, welcome!  You’ve made it just in time to the

GRAND OPENING of the PRBC’s Sports PR Hall of Fame!  Grab a Danish and some orange juice, we’re about to get underway!

At the PRBC Sports PR Hall of Fame, we honor people from the sports world that have effectively mastered the art of public relations, for better or for worse.  This Hall encompasses athletes, managers, owners and even fans.  Nobody is off-limits, as long as they are linked to sports.

When deciding who should be included in the inaugural class, many factors were considered. We won’t go into detail about them here because…well…we won’t.

At it’s core, PR is about image.  And your image is defined, in large part, by your words.  So, we are proud to induct the following athletes into our “One-Liner” wing! Continue reading

How To Be a Great Captain

a miniature statue of a ship captainThere is no “I” in “team” but there is a captain even if there is no “C”. A few weeks ago Cog wrote on the importance of teamwork in PR and how as PR professionals we often work collaboratively. However the post reminded me that behind every great team is a great leader. Someone the team trusts, believes in, and who believes in the betterment of the group. Perhaps it’s the manager that goes the extra to mile, ensuring all players are on board or making sure the separate tasks are meeting the end goal. In the simplest terms, thanks to Dictionary.com, a captain is a person who is at the head of or in authority over others;a chief; a leader. In my opinion, if you want a successful team you need a great leader. Marie and I came up with a few necessary traits, in no particular order, we feel a leader should have.

(Note: Marie and I know taking on the role as captain isn’t all rainbows and unicorns and we needed someone to play devil’s advocate. In true PRBC fashion, we turned to our resident devil, Cog, and asked if he would put together why, although our traits are important, it’s not that easy. You can see that post here)

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Christina’s Coffee Talk: Rob Guerrera

Over the last six months, Coffee Talk has taught me and hopefully you, about the many sectors of public relations. We’ve learned about agency and corporate life, entertainment, and consumer PR, juggling careers and a family, and how to go solo and much more. PR is so diverse that we can learn something new about it everyday, but what about the rest of our communications professionals? We work with media professionals on a daily basis, yet we never really get the chance to see what a day is like in their life. So I’ve decided to open Coffee Talk to media professionals too. I will interview hard working professionals from all different levels to give us an inside look at their daily life. First one to bat, Rob “Stats”  Guerrera, production assistant for ESPN’s “Mike & Mike in the Morning”.

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It Takes All Types to Be a Successful Communicator

Corporate CasualOne of the things I love about the communications profession is the fact that while walking down the street, it’s often difficult to immediately pick us out from a crowd. Let’s be honest: You can usually tell with one quick glance when someone is a real-estate agent, lawyer or an account (perhaps because each requires significant training and/or licensing in their respective professions that often gives them a bit of an aura of being . . . different from the rest of us, but I digress). But when walking down the street, you can’t really immediately pick out a communications pro. We just come in all shapes, sizes, demographics and personalities. Continue reading

The Intrigue of Sports Villainy

Mug shot of man in drag with blue wig and feather boaWe love our sports heroes. Oh, do we LOVE our sports heroes! Babe Ruth, Joe Montana, Magic Johnson, Roger Federer, Mia Hamm, Cal Ripken, LeBron James, Peyton Manning – the “good guys” of sports are beloved by fans and marketers alike.

These stars win championships (or compete for them every year), donate money, work in the community, sponsor brands – they do everything heroes should do.

Heck, Drew Brees has helped rebuild New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina with time, effort and money – and just last night brought the Super Bowl trophy to his adopted hometown. It didn’t complete the economic and social recovery, but it gave the city something wonderful to rally around.

But you know what? Continue reading

From Sports to Tech PR: Finding New Career Passions

Football players in press conference

As a former sports PR guy, a career I immensely loved and was extremely passionate about, but also grew out of for many reasons (to understand a majority of those reasons, check out my friend Jeff Esposito’s excellent PRBC post about working in sports PR from Friday here), I have both fond memories of that profession, and a sense of understanding now that moving on from it nine months ago was the right thing for me to do.

Jeff gave an excellent rundown of what it is like to work in PR in the sports world. Yes, it can be incredibly exciting, and yes, you do get to work around some amazing athletes. And there are many other benefits and fantastic qualities to working in that profession. But it has its downsides— Continue reading