Marketing Lessons from LeBron James Free Agency

Marketing lessons are all around us, but sports marketing is particularly intriguing.  Whether a fan or not, if you have caught the news in the last few days, you no doubt heard some report about Lebron James.  As I was thinking through observations of LeBron James’ free agency, I’m convinced there are some marketing lessons here for the rest of us; I’ve included some of my ideas below.  What is missing?  What do you think?

Marketing Lessons from LeBron James Free Agency

Be World Class

One of the most effective ways to market is to give others something to talk about.  LeBron has taken his natural gift and worked at it to become one of the best basketball players in the world.  He has a strong work ethic and one of the most rigorous workout programs of all his peers.  This has put him in position to be one of the most sought after athletes on the planet

What do you or your company have that is uniquely yours? What programs do you have or could you have to maximize that uniqueness?  What can you do to be world class and obtain “Lebron” notoriety in your market and with customers?

Make Teammates Better

The best compliment any professional can receive is how great they are to work with. One of the things LeBron is good at, is making others looks great (career high in assists last year – that’s where he passes the ball to a teammate who then scores). Marketing is a team sport.  Whether a virtual assistant, customer service rep, or even your email marketing or hosting service, making teammates look good is good for morale, it also good for business.

Maximize Opportunities with Partners

Make no mistake, LeBron is a team player.  In addition to being a great basketball teammate, he also knows what it is to partner with people outside his circle to make them look good.  During this free agency period, he is also hosting his Nike Basketball Camp.  Word is, he is not making a decision as to the team he will sign with until the camp is over later in the week.  Nobody knows how intentionally strategic this move is, but certainly Nike will benefit from this additional exposure.

Don’t Show Your Hand – Keep Them Guessing

While reading information about free agency possibilities, one of the frustrations the media has had is the lack of information from LeBron’s camp.  Yet, just yesterday he surprised many by showing up at his Nike Basketball Camp, he and a few other NBA players.  He was expected to skip yesterday’s and come to today’s camp, but so far today he is reportedly a no show.

There is nothing like curiosity to keep the attention of your market. Can you think of some examples of companies that do this well?

Think Long-Term

LeBron wants to be in a situation where he has the greatest chance to win multiple championships.  He wants to become a legacy, and not the legacy of the “best athlete to never win a championship”.  Being a winner on the court today positions him for accomplishments off the court years after he has left the game.  What are your long-term marketing objectives, what are you doing today to help get you there?

Control Your Message

Early last season he made it clear to the media that he wasn’t going to speak about his plans until the season was over.  He kept that promise which has been tested many times in recent months.  He will announce his decision on his terms.  NOTE: LeBron did open a twitter account today follow Lebron here (at this time already has nearly 35K followers).  FYI: Tiger Woods made most his announcements through his website in the last year.

Stay Home

Keep yourself in familiar surroundings; don’t stray too far from your roots.  So far, all the teams had to come to Cleveland to sell LeBron on joining their franchise.

The net result: during this free agency period, everything to do with professional basketball is overshadowed by, “Who will LeBron sign with?”  He has taken his craft and become world class with it, been a team guy all the way around, kept the media and competitors guessing, had a long-term view on things, while controlling his message from the comforts of home.  When he does make his decision publicly, you can be sure other big decisions will follow in response, which contains yet another lesson…

What do you think of these observations and lessons?  What’s missing?  Chime in using the comment boxes below.
Photo Credit: Wikipedia