...preferably with links!
I read this one in the print mag of ESPN awhile back and got a good chuckle out of it:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=4137488
the chuckle was more from the realization that, yeah, that's true! I think the phenomenon of the "stars/sports celebrities" trying to control their image isn't new, but what is new is in how they are currently doing it. No longer are their PR folks on the front line, but rather, the athletes themselves are on the front line (but is someone pulling their strings and advising what they ought to be talking about?).
The celebs are cutting out the middle man (that would be the mainstream media), and "massaging" public opinion how they see fit through the many tools of the new Web 2.0. It's an odd behavior these celebs are exhibiting, some might liken it to the celebrities "biting the hand that gave them what they have", so to speak.
The celebs have historically relied on the media to provide entertainment content and also sell the ads to the advertisers who then ultimately pay the salaries of the celebs who shoot balls, throw balls, hit balls, kick balls (oh, that didn't come out right! LOL!) - and yeah, pedal bikes! It's kind of incestuous, now that I think about it, eh? it'll be interesting to see how it all plays out...
I wonder if the next job of the PR/agent firms will be to arrange to sell things or broker deals through/via the celeb athlete platforms/websites/social network/web 2.0 portal of choice? Is that already going on?
but I digress - it's happening I think, whether we like it or not; whether we think it is the way it ought to be, or not. The interwebs are changing the way things are done, and I'm curious to see how the mainstream media will find a way to co-exist and leverage these new web 2.0 internets deals. They already are leveraging it, though, it seems...
It was pretty funny, actually, I read that article above and not soon after that, I was watching sportscenter - I think it was after LeBron made "the shot":
y'know this is the shot that Craig Ehlo (go Cougs!) was silently thankful for after having to re-live Michael Jordan replays for two decades...
Instead of interviewing celeb athletes after the Cav-Magic game, though, the guys on Sportscenter (or more than likely the research staff) just logged onto Kobe's twitter account and relayed kobe's thoughts to the world: "Wow" I think is what Kobe had to say about "the shot".
There were several other comments from pro "ballers" the crew at ESPN relayed over the air from blogs, tweets (is that how you say it), and whatnot. So, yeah, the beauty of the interactive web is that now there is more access, but the downside is that there is less control/objectivity of the content it seems. But since hapless fools like yours truly keep watching TV, reading print mags, etc... everyone seems to win, eh?
I mean, the celebs have control of how they wish themselves to be seen, the media gets content they might not have otherwise gotten (or would have had to pay more for) and dipsticks like me get to hear what kobe thinks - or is that really kobe?
;-)
what the heck does this have to do with bike racing? Well, I was watching the Giro the other day on Universal Sports, and saw what seemed like a four minute advertisement, errr, or was that a LANCE infomercial - after the long stage prior to the second rest day. I thought to myself, huh, I wonder what the PR company got out of that deal (a deal that was made possible by LANCE's refusal to speak to the media on the media's terms for the past week or so)...
Maybe LANCE's crew stumbled on to a new way to make money or promote their for profit website??? Will we see more access to this celebrity in the future, or will we have to wait for the "tweet" video that gives the celebs the control they desire?
But hey, if I keep watching universal sports, I've only got myself to blame - and maybe that's how business will be done from this point forward. Somehow, though, it just doesn't seem "right" to do it the way LANCE.com has done it during the Giro - y'know, the celebs "biting the hand that made them", so to speak.
Anyway, an interesting thing to watch and be aware of from this point forward, eh?
I can't wait to see how the interwebs will shape the world in the future. It'll be fun to watch it all evolve...but I have just one request for the internets, can you make the recap short, bulletted, and...preferably with links!
http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=4137488
the chuckle was more from the realization that, yeah, that's true! I think the phenomenon of the "stars/sports celebrities" trying to control their image isn't new, but what is new is in how they are currently doing it. No longer are their PR folks on the front line, but rather, the athletes themselves are on the front line (but is someone pulling their strings and advising what they ought to be talking about?).
The celebs are cutting out the middle man (that would be the mainstream media), and "massaging" public opinion how they see fit through the many tools of the new Web 2.0. It's an odd behavior these celebs are exhibiting, some might liken it to the celebrities "biting the hand that gave them what they have", so to speak.
The celebs have historically relied on the media to provide entertainment content and also sell the ads to the advertisers who then ultimately pay the salaries of the celebs who shoot balls, throw balls, hit balls, kick balls (oh, that didn't come out right! LOL!) - and yeah, pedal bikes! It's kind of incestuous, now that I think about it, eh? it'll be interesting to see how it all plays out...
I wonder if the next job of the PR/agent firms will be to arrange to sell things or broker deals through/via the celeb athlete platforms/websites/social network/web 2.0 portal of choice? Is that already going on?
but I digress - it's happening I think, whether we like it or not; whether we think it is the way it ought to be, or not. The interwebs are changing the way things are done, and I'm curious to see how the mainstream media will find a way to co-exist and leverage these new web 2.0 internets deals. They already are leveraging it, though, it seems...
It was pretty funny, actually, I read that article above and not soon after that, I was watching sportscenter - I think it was after LeBron made "the shot":
y'know this is the shot that Craig Ehlo (go Cougs!) was silently thankful for after having to re-live Michael Jordan replays for two decades...
Instead of interviewing celeb athletes after the Cav-Magic game, though, the guys on Sportscenter (or more than likely the research staff) just logged onto Kobe's twitter account and relayed kobe's thoughts to the world: "Wow" I think is what Kobe had to say about "the shot".
There were several other comments from pro "ballers" the crew at ESPN relayed over the air from blogs, tweets (is that how you say it), and whatnot. So, yeah, the beauty of the interactive web is that now there is more access, but the downside is that there is less control/objectivity of the content it seems. But since hapless fools like yours truly keep watching TV, reading print mags, etc... everyone seems to win, eh?
I mean, the celebs have control of how they wish themselves to be seen, the media gets content they might not have otherwise gotten (or would have had to pay more for) and dipsticks like me get to hear what kobe thinks - or is that really kobe?
;-)
what the heck does this have to do with bike racing? Well, I was watching the Giro the other day on Universal Sports, and saw what seemed like a four minute advertisement, errr, or was that a LANCE infomercial - after the long stage prior to the second rest day. I thought to myself, huh, I wonder what the PR company got out of that deal (a deal that was made possible by LANCE's refusal to speak to the media on the media's terms for the past week or so)...
Maybe LANCE's crew stumbled on to a new way to make money or promote their for profit website??? Will we see more access to this celebrity in the future, or will we have to wait for the "tweet" video that gives the celebs the control they desire?
But hey, if I keep watching universal sports, I've only got myself to blame - and maybe that's how business will be done from this point forward. Somehow, though, it just doesn't seem "right" to do it the way LANCE.com has done it during the Giro - y'know, the celebs "biting the hand that made them", so to speak.
Anyway, an interesting thing to watch and be aware of from this point forward, eh?
I can't wait to see how the interwebs will shape the world in the future. It'll be fun to watch it all evolve...but I have just one request for the internets, can you make the recap short, bulletted, and...preferably with links!
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posted by kraig at
9:19 PM
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