Dame’s Crime
The blade of a brand cuts both ways.
Athletes & Creators have never had a sharper opportunity to connect with their audience, but using the wrong tool or tactic can dull their edge.
We have a Swiss Army Knife of tools in communicating these days: Twitter, Tik Tok, Instagram: Stories, Carousels, Reels, Broadcast Channels…it’s a dizzying and confusing array of options.
Dame Dolla AKA Dame Time AKA Damian Lillard lost an opportunity last week in a very sensitive situation. He’s maybe the most beloved TrailBlazer of all time, but demanded a trade this summer after years of speculation and loyalty. He finally got traded to the Milwaukee Bucks. What could have been an opportunity to express his heart, connect with fans and start off on the right foot turned into an illegible ALL CAPS carousel.
Let me teach you some wisdom of communication that I’ve learned in my years of marketing: both as a creator and working with athletes.
1. Be Bold, Be Brief, Be Gone. People are busy. They see over 4k-10k ads a day. The avg human has a 7 second attention span. We must grip attention and do it in a way that is captivating & clear.
If you can’t be brief, be bold or beautiful.
2. STOP YELLING. Caps are helpful to emphasize a point. I see this so often in sports where athletes will have a young designer help them (great start!) but they overuse CAPS.
3. Left Aligned: the Western human eye reads left to right. Left to Right, top to bottom. If you read this, you will not be able to UnSee this.
The Center Aligned problem is pervasive and everywhere.
4. Message to the Medium: JJ Watt screen shot his newspaper ad. Vertical Video rules the day on social. Dame is insanely talented & charismatic, I would have filmed something or cleaned up the length of this.
He dropped a song, which is amazing, but somehow translate that to IG where your 10 MILLION followers exist.
5. Leave the Inside Jokes Inside: wisdom from wedding toasts. My last beef with Dame’s post is that it targets very specific media members and front office employees who are not relevant to most fans.
But all of this requires having a communication strategy…
As an entrepreneur, I’ve tried to embrace the concept of “firing myself” from as many jobs as possible.
I assure you, the second I have budget to get me out of social media, I WILL.
Dame, JJ Watt and countless others need to find good help who have a deep understanding of social. This does not mean their social should be run by PR firms, but rather people who have an understanding of the athlete, their goals & desires and the platforms that allow them to advance those goals.
Only then can they maximize the moment, cut through the noise & reach their most sympathetic fans.
Dame is anything but Lame. It just pains me to see anyone miss a major connection moment for their career.
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