X Marks the Spot

While I was attending the last few LA Galaxy games and looking at the giant half-pipe they'd built in the Home Depot Center parking lot, I knew I was going to write something about the X Games. I thought it might be something about how this event, now in its 13th year, had established and legitimized a whole new set of fringe sports (leading to inclusion in the Olympics). Or, maybe it would be about how this event had provided a more traditional marketing opportunity to reach the teen and post-teen demographic groups that are so difficult to reach through traditional methods. However, after the first 2 days of competition, there is only one image I have of the X Games and I can't get it out of my mind... Jake Brown's shoes "exploding" off his feet after his spectacular wipe out on Thursday night.

First of all, if you haven't seen the video, you have to watch it (and if you're like me and have seen it a dozen times, you'll probably watch it a few more times)...

Wow! I'm not sure what's so appealing about seeing that guy free fall 50 feet, but I can't stop watching. I think it has something to do with why we watch daredevils like Evil Knievel, NASCAR crashes and NHL fights. It's the extreme end of the sporting world, where guys who are talented enough, brave enough, or stupid enough, risk personal injury and push the edge of the envelope (while we watch from the safety of an armchair).

But what does any of this have to do with business? How do we interpret this? Beth Shuster, an LA Times staff writer, wrote about it from the perspective of a mother, and her lesson was "be careful, be really careful." I think the same lesson can be said for business. Jake Brown was trying a trick that was never done before in competition, but he was completely out of control. If you watched the BMX Bike Big Air competition on Friday, you saw several competitors back out before the final leap if they were losing control, or Mat Hoffman, a legend in the sport, decide to take his licks and limit his losses by falling on top of the quarter pipe (making it a 20-foot fall onto padding rather than duplicate Brown's 50-foot fall to the bottom of the ramp).

You need to take risks and you need to innovate in the business world, but you must know your limitations and measure and manage the consequences. Risking it all may make for compelling viewing, but it's just plain stupid as a management philosophy.

It's not personal, Sonny. It's strictly business.

Bud Selig, Major League Baseball's commissioner, has been under some pressure lately regarding whether he'd try to attend Barry Bonds' record tying and breaking home run games. It's no secret that Bud doesn't like Barry for all the steroid hullabaloo. However, Bud made a move last week for the good of the game he's responsible for leading & selling... he said he was going to start attending Barry's games in the hope of seeing him break the record. That was the right thing to do. It was a good PR move and in line with his responsibilities as MLB's chief executive.

Unfortunately, Barry's struggling in another slump, and now, after 8 days of following Barry, Bud's had enough. He described his arduous journey (spending a week in SF and 2 days in LA) as a "Herculean effort". Watching 8 baseball games was Herculean??? This coming from the guy responsible for leading baseball??? You want your employees to be open and honest, so you don't want him to lie, but wouldn't you expect that the MLB commish should be singing a different tune? He should be saying "I'm happy this has given me the opportunity to get out of the office and to the ballpark" and he shouldn't need a PR person to tell him that.

Bud has let his personal opinions get in the way of doing his job, and that's something that no professional can ever let happen.

Strategy and Execution... Which is More Important?

Bill Walsh, Hall of Fame football coach, passed away this week. Walsh is one of my favorite examples to use from the sports world when talking about business. Yes, he was a strategic genius, responsible for inventing the West Coast offense. But the three things I'll always remember Walsh for are...

1. His demeanor. He was quiet and thoughtful, not a blowhard like so many other coaches. There's more than one way to skin a cat, and there's certainly more than one way to teach and motivate your employees.
2. His coaching legacy. Not only was he a great coach, he was a great mentor. There have been 28 other head coaches in the NFL and college who were his assistant coaches, and they have won 8 Super Bowls.
3. His ability to be a strategic innovator who could lead world class execution. My favorite story about Walsh is the fact that he used to "script" the first 10-15 plays of the game on offense. The strategic options were endless, and he and his coaches would spend many, many hours preparing strategically for a game. But when the time came, he made a decision and had his team practice and perfect 10-15 plays that were going to be run to start the game. This commitment and focus on excellence in execution resulted in his teams getting off to fast starts, and building momentum that was almost impossible for opponents to overcome.

AEG & The Home Depot Center: A case study of synergy and excellence

When I attended the David Beckham unveiling I spoke of a well coordinated marketing effort by AEG, owner of the LA Galaxy, but that's selling them short. It's a lot more than a well coordinated marketing effort, AEG is demonstrating that they are a well coordinated organization, utilizing all their assets and capabilities, and optimizing their commercial opportunities. That was clear when going to see David Beckham's debut against Chelsea this past weekend.

To understand AEG, you have to first take a look at how AEG describes itself... The Ultimate Fan Experience. Although AEG does many things in the sports and entertainment world, including owning sports teams, promoting concerts, and producing movies, it's primary focus is on the fan experience, and therefore, on the venue. Their list of venues is growing, but two of their most prominent are located here in LA so I've had a chance to experience them firsthand. The Staples Center is home to the NBA's LA Lakers and LA Clippers, as well as the NHL's LA Kings. The Home Depot Center is home to MLS' LA Galaxy and Chivas USA.

The HDC certainly put its best foot forward on Saturday. Beckham's debut was part of a doubleheader called the World Series of Football. It's not often that the Galaxy sell out, but as you can imagine, it was absolutely packed for Beckham. And like everything else that AEG has done around his arrival, it was another well executed day on all fronts. Here are a few examples...

The signing and participation of top flight sponsors such as Samsung & Best Buy...

...and adidas was there in full force as well with a strong presence outside the stadium.

Inside the stadium there were tents that allowed the 27,000 attendees to interact with the sponsors.

And perhaps my favorite... getting LA Sheriffs to hand out Simpson's masks that were used for an in-game promotion for tickets to The Simpson's Movie premier.

Special room was made for the extraordinary amount of media, with ESPN's broadcast studio out in full view.

The outer concourse of the stadium is filled with food and beverage concessions, and is more than adequate to service a sell out...

...oh, and they had a few Beckham shirts available for purchase (both inside and outside the stadium).

There was even a celebrity or two (or twenty) on hand to add to the media buzz.

AEG has designed a superb stadium complex in the HDC. It's perfectly sized and laid out for soccer (though they host other events, such as the X Games, HBO Boxing and concerts, and the adjoining tennis center host a WTA event while the track & field center is home to a Major League Lacrosse team), and it's operated in a way that reeks of class. They truly are delivering an "ultimate fan experience" by utilizing all their assets and executing with excellence. Heck, the day even won over curmudgeon sports writer Bill Plaschke!

Padraig Harrington - Character trumps talent

In stark contrast to the Michael Vick affair, Padraig Harrington demonstrated what a strong character can accomplish. After almost throwing away his first major title at The Open this past weekend with an 18th hole reminiscent of Jean Van de Velde, he prevailed in a playoff. During an interview after the victory the announcer suggested it was destiny that he win, to which Padraig quickly corrected him by saying something like "it wasn't destiny, it was hard work... years of hard work and and a hard path traveled."

Yes, Harrington is talented, but so are the many golfers he's competing against. But, this is a man that doesn't take his talent for granted. He's a grinder, and there's a lot to be said for grinders in all walks of life.

You can talk the talk, but do you walk the walk?

I really didn't want to post about this again because the Michael Vick story disgusts me, but I'm finding some of the reaction by the media to be so idiotic that I just had to speak up.

Most high profile sports writers, including Bill Plaschke and Michael Wilbon, are saying that Michael Vick should be given a paid leave of absence to focus on his legal issues. Wow! I like the way this works... get indicted on federal charges and get a paid vacation (and at $6m per year, that's a pretty good boondoggle). I wonder if their opinion would be the same if the same type of past behavior and current allegations were made against a star member of their staff. Would they want to be associated with this type of story?

Arthur Blank, founder of Home Depot and owner of the Atlanta Falcons, is at least saying the right things.

"Given the differing perspectives and strong feelings around this issue, we probably won't make everyone happy, but we are committed to doing the right thing. As the owner of this club, that's ultimately my responsibility. In the meantime, know that I'm saddened and distressed about this."

This issue goes far beyond good and bad PR. A talented workforce is an absolute requirement to a successful team, whether it be in business or sport. However, a team's performance is reliant on more than just functional talent. No employee is irreplaceable, and values, character and chemistry are just as important as talent when crafting a winning team.

Now that he's talking the talk, let's see if he walks the walk and treats Michael Vick the same as he would any other employee. You can't have two sets of standards and values when building a team.

PR Survival Handbook - #318

Lesson #318 - What to do when your top employee is indicted for staging dogfights

I can't tell you how many times I've seen it happen... business is cruising along and then your top employee gets caught staging dogfights. No, that hasn't happened in your business? OK, well maybe Michael Vick's situation is a bit odd, but what isn't strange about it is the issue of getting negative press as the result of actions of your employees. Just take a look at what happened last week with Whole Foods CEO John Mackey or with Don Imus and the Rutgers Women's BBall team.

The NFL has been struggling with a ton of negative PR issues lately, and only in case of the Chicago Bears releasing Tank Johnson did a team take action that was more severe than the league. In Michael Vick's case, I'm wondering what everyone is waiting for. Will Arthur Blank, owner of the Atlanta Falcons and founder of Home Depot, treat Michael Vick like any of Home Depot employees? Will he live by the values that built Home Depot into an American success story, one of which states "We exercise good judgement by "doing the right thing" instead of just "doing things right." We strive to understand the impact of our decisions, and we accept responsibility for our actions"?

Any organization with a strong set of values is able to deal with these issues quickly, without emotion, and ultimately, correctly for the long-term health of the business. However, if profit is the only value of your company, you'll remained flummoxed when bad things happen. This is not a case of guilt or innocence, but rather one of professionalism. If actions and associations of employees embarrass the organization and destroy value then you need to take action (the quicker, the better). At the very least, the Falcons need to suspend Vick without pay until this situation is resolved. However, if they live by their values, they'd just fire Vick and move on.