Jul 9th

Why Dan Gilbert’s Open Letter to Cavaliers Fans is Killer PR 2.0

by @nateriggs

Lebron JamesI’m not a huge basketball fan, but I will say that Dan Gilbert has gusto.

He also seems to get how this social media stuff, and human business on the Interwebz, is working these days.

Some NBA critics are cringing at his Open Letter to Cavaliers Fans - claiming that it’s an emotionally-charged, knee-jerk reaction.  I, however, completely disagree.

To me, this open letter seems like a very calculated tactic that’s been extremely well executed, in terms of using social media to gain viral reach for the fans’ position.  It’s a rally cry.

Why?

  • Placement of the letter as a redirect on the Cavs’ homepage leverages the natural query volume generated by LeBron’s television announcement.  High potential to go viral VERY quickly (which, it already has on Twitter - to the tune of about 30-40 mentions each refresh).
  • Gilbert is talking directly to his paying audience: fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers (most of whom live in and around Ohio)
  • It’s passionate as heck.  He’s leveraging what Chris and Julien call, “One of Us.”  The copy uses “we” and “our” all over the place.
  • Gilbert is turning the folks who are upset about LeBron’s move into a motivated and technology-enabled tribe
  • The choice of using Comic Sans as a web font is unique enough to spark up its own conversation
  • Gilbert knew that this rebuttal would spread like wildfire

Basketball fan or not, what’s your take?

by @nateriggs

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Comments (25)
  • Andrewhfine

    I agree its a great PR strategy, but I'd give the execution an A- instead of an A+. On a scale of 1-10, 10 being abject hatred for someone, Gilbert's level of rage and vitrol was about an 20, when it should have been closer to a 14. Going over the top is okay, but what he's risked is turning Lebron into a victim and turning some of the conversation back into Gilbert's overreaction. Had he toned it down just a little bit, it would have still been incredibly powerful and would have accomplished the same goals.

  • Paul

    I strongly disagree that it's good PR. The difference with PR and marketing is, that in PR, especially in PR 2.0, you're not just talking to your target audience, you're talking to all stakeholders. Why would a basketball player with options ever sign with the Cavs knowing that this is how they take care of their employees in the future. That's horrible PR!

    That's the other thing, I agree with you that he's using the buzz and everything perfectly but this situation was perfect for him to position his team as an industry leader. Instead, he acts like a bullied child reaching out for sympathy and forgetting that even though he gets paid waaayy too much, it's still his job. They had a contract with him, he honoured it and now he's leaving. What's there to be bitter about? It's so unprofessional

  • http://nateriggs.com nateriggs

    See, I disagree there. I thought his letter was honest, emotional and a rally cry for fans, with out making an false claims. Essentially, he cited what LeBron had said in the media over and over.

    Seems to me that while LeBron's emotionless tone in the interview kicked fans in the teeth, Gilbert is siding with their hurt.

    Everyone seems to forget that Cleveland-folk pay the bills for the Cavs…

  • http://nateriggs.com nateriggs

    Because it's unprofessional and emotional is exactly why it is spreading!

    Yes, Gilbert could have written some politically correct and censored response – and no one would have cared.

    Frankly, I'm willing to bet that NBA players could care less about how the player is treated after they decide to leave (albeit in a pretty crappy way, in referencing LeBron's hour long TV special).

    No. What NBA players care about is fairly simple – money talks and bullshit walks.

    From a brand perspective, LeBron built his entire empire on being a hometown story. Yeah, he's an amazing player, but the fans got behind him because he was one of us. Love can turn to hate very quickly in that type of a situation…

  • El Beye

    Hello,
    I absolutely agree with Paul…I had the same reaction when I thought about the rebuilding stage that the Cavs have to go through now: why would a superstar to the level of LeBron come to Cleveland now that the franchise has shown how they treat a player who decides to leave?

    LeBron spent 7 years in Cleveland, that's a long time…the organization has not been able to surround him with the right talent to win a championship (he has given as much as he could throughout the years although he's being dismissed for not trying hard enough…he got 2 MVP titles).

    This media frenzy anti-LeBron is ridiculous and lacks class…the Cavs organization is really shooting themselves in the foot with that stunt and they are significantly hurting their chances at recruiting other talented players. They can pretty much forget it.

    LeBron decided to leave the organization to win some titles, it is sad for the Cavs that he's leaving and I'm sure he would've liked to win some titles at Cleveland, the only problem is the Cavs did not make the appropriate moves to make LeBron stay….the responsibility rests on the franchise to bring in the right parts to make a winning team (look at LA or the Celtics…this is how they did it).

    Definitely wrong PR move by the Cavs.

    Thanks

  • http://www.theindielaunchpad.com davidmhuffman

    I honestly would have disagreed whole-heartedly yesterday. Actually, last night I called the letter “D-Baggy”.

    BUT – I wasn't really thinking about WHO he was sending this letter to…the Cavs fans.

    The average die-hard Cavs fan was so beaten down last night. This letter was, as you said Nate, a rally cry.

    On my facebook news feed today, almost every person I know of that is a Cavs fan was literally posting this letter with exclamation points with notes of how pumped they were now…

    I honestly think anything less than this, anything more reserved and professional, would have been dismissed and ignored.

    He wrote that letter as a fan. As a result, the fans are eating it up…

  • http://nateriggs.com nateriggs

    Fans buy tickets. That's all that needs to be said about audience…

  • http://nateriggs.com nateriggs

    See – here's where I disagree again. Your argument is valid in terms of basketball, but has VERY little to do with PR at all.

    PR is about the community of fans. Basket ball is about recruiting top talent.

    Top talent comes because of money in the NBA, not PR.

  • Cordelltony

    Dan Gilbert needs to fill seats, not rally the troops. Likely a high percentage of people who fill those seats on a nightly basis are corporations. CEO's and presidents who spend their day needing to be the face of their own company. Potential employees don't want the new boss out blasting a former employee for doing his job for the time he contracted to do it for and then leaving. Those companies buy blocks, rows, or even sections of seats and they see this as a business decision by Lebron not as a personal attack on a city. This team will need to win games to keep a fraction of those seats sold and it will take more of a roster than what they have now to accomplish that goal. Would you want to be the next guy to take a public lashing from Dan Gilbert if you leave at the end of your commitment? As a corprate ticket buyer, I would not be very impressed by this outburst, I'd rather have a ball player and a plan as your statement.

  • Oukristyn

    I would give the letter a C. It's smart for the Cavs to use this situation as an opportunity to rally the fans (and ultimately sell tickets.) But honestly, more people are talking about the Cavs today than they ever did even…on LeBron's best day. Where I think it falls short is that it talks too much about LeBron. The hopeful rallying cry Gilbert is trying to create is smothered in unproductive vengeance. Focus on the Cavs being a team – not one self indulgent player. No one wins when you just give each other the finger. Oh and the font…I think he should have written it in blood, or used cut up magazine letters just like serial killer do. Now that would send a message.

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  • Paul

    Dear Nate, PR wise, you got it wrong… You're implying that a message that spreads, is a good message. That is simply, not true. It's such a petty and unsympathetic sentiment! Was Kramer honest when he used the “n” word? Probably. Did it spread rapidly? Yes. Was it good for his PR? Hell to the no!

    And regarding your view on NBA players, Cleveland offerred more money right? So it's not all about that…

    P.S. I'm loving this discussion

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  • http://nateriggs.com nateriggs

    Lolz. Both really good points, Kristyn. :)

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  • http://twitter.com/IdeaMonster Sandy McMerty

    It's good PR because of one thing … it feels authentic, and it's the owner's opinion. It's what fans would like to hear from most owners. In this case it will likely make Cav fans more loyal and supportive to the club, which is exactly what the owner should want.

  • Paul

    Being authentic (or honest, or open) doesn't automatically mean that it's good PR… PR means public relations, not target audience relations. Though the die hard fans feel great about the letter and love the team even more, these are probably the people who already buy the tickets and didn't need any motivation. But in PUBLIC Relations, especially in this era, you're targeting players, ex-players, potential players, press, other teams, potential fans and everybody else. To a lot of other groups, it's a horrible message and that's why it's definately not killer PR, it's safe to say that it's bad PR.

    In time the only thing Gilbert will be remembered for is this. And the sentiment people have now because it's so fresh, will fade. All those stakeholders will remember his actions for being petty and childish.

    I feel as though Nate and other people in this discussion have a strange view on PR. I saw that Nate basically said that it's good PR because it's targeted at fans and fans buy tickets. That's marketing guys, not PR.

    I think the title should have been, Why Dan Gilbert’s Open Letter to Cavaliers Fans is Good marketing and bad PR

    Cheers

  • http://nateriggs.com nateriggs

    Okay, That's a fair argument.