Wednesday, July 25  

Vinokourov Tests Positive - Or How To Screw The Brand Of Yourself, Your Team & Your Country With One Easy Blood Transfusion

Lots of times in business you get boring quotes. Same in sport.

But every now and then you get a brilliant quote.

Like this one from Eric Boyer, Team Manager of cycling team Cofidis who are currently racing in the Tour de France.

He's talking about team Astana rider Alexandre Vinokourov, one of the pre-race favourites who has just tested positive for a blood transfusion prior to winning the time trial and a stage a couple of days ago.

Eric Boyer, Team Manager, (Cofidis):

"I feel sick. I hope that Vinokourov won't be a coward and deny everything. He said that he worked with Ferrari just for training plans.

He always told us what a brave guy he is, that he is stronger than the pain, that the French ride behind everyone else because they are lazier.

Now we see that he is a big bastard.

These practices discredit all of cycling again."

It's All About Branding

All of this impacts on branding.

There was a terrific story about the Astana team and Vinokourov. You see, Vinokourov personally put together the Astana team after his team was booted from last year's Tour de France because of other riders (not him) caught up in a drug scandal.

Vinokourov rang the Prime Minister of his home country Kazakhstan and together they built the team and found the sponsors.

Vinokourov was one of the favourites for the Tour de France this year before an early crash slowed him down. Astana, the name of the team, is the capital of Kazakhstan.

It would have been a fairytale win.

No blood transfusions needed for Jack (right) - just a hot chocolate about 40 kms into a 70 km ride and he's happy!

But Now...........

• But now the reputation and the brand of Vinokourov has been forever tainted.
• As has Kazakhstan, as has Astana (the team and the capital).
• As has the brand (to a smaller extent) of the Tour de France.

But One Brand That's Gone Up

One brand that has gone up in value is that of Cofidis (and that of Eric Boyer).

There's a guy, and by association a team, who wear their heart of their sleeve, who are passionate about their sport and who want to do the right thing.

Who aren't afraid to speak their mind. To speak out and say what everyone else thinks.

"....he is a big bastard."

Now that's branding!

Brendon

Labels: branding

Monday, April 16  

Why 1 Story Has Done So Much For Joshua (& Meg Cabot Helps Too)

I went out for Mexican food on Friday night with my family (best little Mexican restaurant called Mex on the Move at Currumbin on the Gold Coast).

I was telling my wife and kids about the world-class violinist playing in the Subway station I mentioned below. Except I couldn't remember the violinist's name.

"It's Joshua something....."

My 16 yo daughter, who only listens to classical music should my wife or I put it on, came out with "Wasn't Joshua Bell, was it?"

Ummmm, yes.

Turns out Laura had heard of Joshua Bell from, get this, the Princess Diaries book series (chick lit) by Meg Cabot.

Apparently one of the characters (Boris, she said) idolised Joshua Bell.

Off To The Music Store

A great thing the article below does is shows Joshua in action. And you get a sense of him from the writing - he seems like a good guy.

Which all impacts very positively on his brand.

So Laura and I thought we'd buy one of his CDs and have a listen. Off to the music store and ordered one (they didn't have any in stock).

The Power Of PR

I would have no doubt whatsoever that this one story of Joshua Bell has done more to:

• lift his profile,
• aid his branding, and
• boost his CD sales

than almost any one other strategy he (or his publicist) has ever done......even more than the mentions in Meg Cabot's fabulous books!

For any business, a public relations strategy can be a huge, huge boost for a whole range of reasons. If you have a business, large or small, then PR helps.

You can do it yourself, of course (the only thing you really need is a newsworthy story), or you can employ a PR agency to helps (they're generally great at thinking up newsworthy angles).

I employed a great friend of ours for a few months on a $1,200 retainer. The work we received from the added exposure was enormous.

I can't really think of a business that wouldn't benefit from a regular PR strategy.

Simple Example - My Newspaper Article This Week

Today a local newspaper is doing an interview with my family and I. You see, in 10 weeks I'm running the Gold Coast Marathon. My 12 and 14 yo sons (that's Jack doing a 10 km run last year) are running the 10 km on the day.

My wife Mel and my 16 yo daughter Laura are part of the wonderful group of hundreds of volunteers on the day.

The event wants that story run because it shows how a typical family can get involved, whether it's running the marathon or the 10 km or volunteering.

I'm quite keen for the story to run because it lifts my profile a bit.

The kids are keen because they get their photo in the paper!

And who knows - maybe, just maybe, someone will read the article and think "Yep, I could do that run. I've been meaning to enter. I'll do it."

Anyhoo, better go as we have the photo on at midday and I need to make myself look beautiful :o)

Cheers

Brendon

Labels: branding, public relations