Lisa and I had the opportunity to appear as guests on Alex Rodriguez’s new show, “Back In The Game” airing on CNBC.
The show is based on the unsettling fact that roughly 60% of all professional athletes are broke within 5 years of retiring—mostly because of poor financial decisions. However, occasionally these athletes hit hard times because of issues with their reputation. For one reason or another, they are no longer marketable. This was the case with Ryan Lochte, the second most decorated US Olympic swimmer in history.
Ryan’s fall from grace is well documented. Incredibly public and international screw-ups damaged his brand to a point where sponsors dropped him. The loss of sponsors resulted in a financial squeeze. That financial squeeze was heightened by the fact that Ryan is nearing the end of his swimming career. Alex stepped in to help and immediately recognized that Ryan’s financial troubles were intrinsically linked to his brand problems. That’s when Alex called us, The M Network.
You see, we were part of the team that helped Alex get back in his game. When Alex Rodriguez was suspended from baseball for an entire season, he was in the midst of a full-on brand implosion. His business manager and development director knew that for Alex to succeed in his post-baseball business career, he would needed to radically change is public persona and repair and reshape his reputation. The M Network team stepped in to provide high-level brand strategy, messaging, presentation training, and media relations and public relations counseling.
As you watch this episode of “Back In The Game” we’d like you to keep in mind six points from The M Network’s “crisis” playbook. You will see these principles in action in the episode, but we want to enumerate them here in hopes that they will be helpful to anyone or any business that goes through a brand crisis of their own making:
1) YOU OWN YOUR BRAND
Blame is not a communications strategy. You must take ownership of the mistakes you have made and, while you don’t have to confess every single thing, you must be 100% truthful in the things that you do say.
2) A BRAND IS AN EMOTIONAL CONNECTION
Because your brand is rooted in the emotions of others, when you mess up, you do more than just make a mistake. You hurt other people’s feelings.
3) A BRAND IS SHAPED OVER TIME
“I’m sorry,” is the most necessary starting point, but it must be followed up by real, identifiable changes that are consistent over a long period of time. Honesty and truthfulness are primary among these changes.
4) A BRAND IS ONLY SYMBOLIC
What you say is very important. But your words only point to who you really are. This means that when you mess up, it’s not good enough to just say the right words. There’s no magic incantation that will make it all better. You actually have to make real changes.
5) A BRAND DOESN’T LIVE IN A VACUUM
The people and organizations with which a brand is associated can make or break brand rehabilitation efforts. Often times, that means breaking with the people and/or organizations that helped influence bad decision-making.
6) YOU CAN’T DO ANYTHING TO EARN FORGIVENESS
Neither you nor your organization deserves to be forgiven, and some people may never forgive you (depending on how badly their feelings have been hurt). You must understand, accept, and learn from those that will not forgive you, and you must become permanently gracious and suitably humble towards those that will.
It’s been great to see Alex take 100% ownership of his situation and commit to making personal changes that have already paved the way for what is an ongoing and effective brand transformation. Equally impressive is the fact that Alex is sharing what he learned with people like Ryan as well as others who could undoubtedly benefit from it. We are grateful for the trust he has placed in our team and were honored to have been given the opportunity share a little of what we know with others.
